Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sunday morning Foundations Classes
God's Positioning System (GPS)

Lesson #8

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followed by earlier lessons posted below in descending order-- 

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In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus tells us, "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden...” The COVID-19 quarantine has created both a threat and yet a unique opportunity to share Jesus Christ with others through social media—e.g. Facebook, email, Twitter, Instagram…

Our collective “family tree” begins here. Adam’s sin and its consequences fell on his children, their children, and every generation thereafter. Why are we held accountable for Adam’s sin? Because we inherited Adam’s DNA and propensity to sin. Nevertheless, we have enough sins of our own to be accountable for, which is why God’s Plan included a Savior. 

“All have sinned” not some, but all. Putting it into perspective, Adam sinned of his own free will, even though he was perfect in every way, and lived in a perfect Garden with a perfect climate; yet, like Lucifer, an anointed cherub (angel) who resided in heaven, but sinned of his own free will, just as we have, and do. Rarely is someone forced to sin.  

As previously stated, “Who are we?” hangs on who Adam and Eve were. As their descendants we inherited their fallen nature. Some may wonder, why couldn’t God have forgiven them with a stern warning, and not drive them out of Eden? Most would see it as a relatively small sin, so what was the big deal? 

Why did Adam willfully disobeyed God’s direct command? All it took was a single sin to break his relationship with God, whose holiness finds even the smallest sin, repugnant and intolerable. Sin is contrary to God’s holiness and cannot under any circumstances reside in His presence. To understand the consequences of sin, we also need to recognize the holiness of God and how repulsive sin is to His very nature. 

Did God intend for Adam and Eve to live forever ‘if’ they did not eat from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9)?” God being Omniscient knows all things even before they occur. Therefore, He knew they would make that choice. So, why did He place that particular tree in Eden, opening the door for that choice? Something we will explore further.  

The tree was a simple test that anyone should have been able to abide by, yet Adam and Eve chose not to abide by that one simple rule, especially with everything else available to them including the Tree of Life (Gen 2:9). Suppose parents never set rules for their children, what kind of adults would they grow into? Most of us probably know of an undisciplined child without rules. 

Being Adam and Eve’s offspring, we inherited their falling nature, being born into sin and death, incapable of living a sin free life by our own choices. Both Lucifer and Adam were created sinless, and yet neither remained free of sin. Their failure is a clear message that even if Adam didn’t sin, the possibility of us sinning would still be there except temptation would be more than a piece of fruit.

All of creation, every animal and plant were subjected to frustration, when everything lost its original beauty and glory, being instead subject to death and decay, leading to discouragement and frustration. Think of all the things in today’s culture that you find repulsive and frustrating. Coronavirus being one. 

The origin of sin began when Lucifer (Satan, the Devil), a high-ranking angel, incited a rebellion of 1/3 of all angels, and being hurled from heaven to earth. Why to the earth and not hell or some distant part of the universe? We can be certain God had and has a plan. Nothing is left to chance by God or the result of a random act. 

 Lucifer (Satan) rebelled against God and was judged (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14). It’s believed 1/3 of the angels rebelled with him, who became the fallen angels or demons mentioned in the Bible. As seen in Eph. 6:12, these angelic demons are a formattable enemy, who now occupy the earth as demons. 

Mark 5:9, tells us that the number of falling angels in this event, now demons, were legion. This legion of demons possessed a single individual yet easily occupied a herd of 2000 pigs (v.13).  

Demons cannot enter a “born again” Christian indwelled by the Holy Spirit, but many others in the world are influenced by them. As God is pushed out of society, the Devil gains a greater foothold and greater influence.  

Since hell was created for the Devil (Satan) and his followers, we can readily presume it didn’t exist when Satan was cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:9). Angels, like man, were created with immortal souls; being unrepented of their sins, they will be eternally separated from God. In the meantime, they remain hostile enemies engaged in spiritual warfare against God’s Church and people (Ephesians 6). 

Spiritual warfare is real. So why doesn’t God put a hedge around His people to protect them from this spiritual onslaught? The answer can be found in the book of Job, especially chapter 1. Everything God does and allows is for a valid reason. Even the angels themselves are learning from witnessing the events taking place on planet earth, the consequences of sin itself, and the Church’s response.  

Four Attributes are highlighted in bold. Being Omnipotent, God is all powerful, nothing can hinder or stop it. Being Omnipresent, all time is laid out before Him, from Genesis to Revelation—nothing is hidden, no intent is secret. Being Immutable, He is unchanging; what He says He means; what He plans will come to pass. Being Omniscient, He is all knowing; no secrets are hidden from God, even those buried deep in one’s heart.

We have been looking at “what we will learn”, but just as relevant is “what won’t we learn.” We will be stretching our minds, but we won’t learn anything contrary to Scripture. 

The Bible doesn’t fully describe heaven, nor is it entirely silent about heaven. The Bible doesn’t say a lot about heaven because it’s a spiritual realm. Nevertheless, even if something is marginally understandable, it’s far better than being totally in the dark. Albert Einstein is an example of stretching one’s mind on difficult matters. 

Huh? What does this have to do with the Bible? Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created…”  Einstein provided insight into creation itself. Mass and energy are equivalent and convertible into each other, being different forms of the same thing; just as God created light which is energy, and the stars, being both mass and energy, produce light. The point being, we can explore further to gain more insight. 

God didn’t put our mind in a closed box with a locked lid. I think He delights in us seeking to understand His creation and our relationship with Him. Albert Einstein is an example; so was St. Augustine in the things of God. The more we understand the complexity and intricacy of creation, the more we appreciate the Creator’s awesome majesty and creative power. 

Some of what we saw we won’t learn, actually can’t learn. But, we need to continue with what we will learn. 

The Bible does contain information, thought limited, on everything we will be looking at. Books about heaven may not be 100% correct, but they are helpful in shedding light where there is no light regarding what heaven may be like. Hopefully, this study will do likewise not only in regard to where we are going, but also in regard to who we are. 

We may not get a full picture of heaven, but we will get more insight than we generally have. Our study won’t concentrate on it, but we will explore it as best we can, and it’s certainly inclusive with “where are we going?”

Back to “Who are We?” God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth (Gen. 2:19-20). Man was created in the “image of God,” with an immortal soul and free will to make decisions regarding everything placed under their care.  

The Bible is clear, God’s plan was a man and woman, pre-determined in the womb, and not by personal preference or shifting cultural trends. 

Gen. 1:24-25 names the kind of creatures God created. It’s obvious that God took pleasure in the scope and depth of His creation. If you have pets, think of the love you feel for them and desire to share your love with them. Better still, the love you feel for your children. Or the joy you get from your garden. Think of the hurt it caused God when angels and man chose sin over His love. 

God affirmed His creation as “VERY GOOD” (Gen. 1:31)—but that was then, and this is now. As a culture and society we are on a slippery slope away from God. Why then, didn’t God restrict man’s ability to sin? If He did, man wouldn’t have been created in the image of God, not like God, but in His image—sinless, with dominion over the earth, and ability to reason.  

What lies ahead is a New Heaven and a New Earth. What about the current earth? 71% of the earth’s surface is covered with water, most of which is teeming with a variety of life. Understanding the earth as it is, should give us better insight into the New Earth yet to come. 

Think of the variety of life in the sea alone, from colorful tropical fish to giant whales. Were sharks always predators or only after the fall?  

When we think of the human body, we don’t think of water, yet 99% of our body is H2O (water). We look solid and feel solid, yet, we are comprised mostly of water. What does this have to do with the Bible? It dovetails into Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created…” Creation isn’t just a “poof” and there it is. 

Even water is more space than solid matter. Every atom was carefully and creatively designed by God. How can any rational thinking person not believe in God? The biblical answer is because they, like Lucifer, a high ranking cherubim, they want to live without constraints. Note: a molecule is a group of atoms bonded together. As real as atoms are, we see the end-product, not the atoms. 

We had a brief look at atoms, but again, what we see and touch as solid matter is actually an assembly of atoms. Do angels have spiritual bodies in a similar manner but different? Is there such a thing as spiritual atoms? I believe so, because angels are never portrayed as a vapor or puff of smoke, or version of Casper the friendly ghost. 

What are these verses intended to convey? First to inform that there is a God and that He created all things.  The world didn’t evolve by chance or appear out of nowhere. It was carefully designed and crafted, down to each atom, the building blocks of everything we see, touch and smell. In other words, there is more to God’s creation than is visible to the naked eye. The same can be said of the New Earth yet to come or the New Heaven.

Light, in physics, is the electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. Do we think in those terms? NO! Nevertheless, that is the reality of creation, which is but a reflection as to Who God is and His awesome creative power. 

Gen. 1:1, goes from the atom to the outer reaches of the universe. The goal of our study, isn’t to understand science, but rather, to appreciate the divine Artist Who created it all. We too are carefully crafted, but God isn’t finished with us just yet, regarding who we are and where we are going. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for loving us even though we are unworthy of Your love, and for Your saving grace that redeemed us from the Fall. Amen!

END OF LESSON #8