Have you ever asked yourself how all of this started in the first place?
How did man's journey begin? Where did God come from? Where are we
going as the human race? As you work your way through these studies, many
questions will be presented. As you and your sponsor discuss these issues
that are vital to your s
uccess as a Christian, our desire is
that you find the answers and begin to put them into practice in your
life. After all, it is the living of your life by God's plan that will
bring fulfillment to your existence here on earth and lead you to an eternity
with God.
Remember that as we travel this journey together, our authority for all the
life principles we will teach you will come from the Scriptures. Our hope
is that by the time you finish this course, you will come to the same
conclusion as we have. God's Word is true and it can be relied upon as
the guide for your life. So anytime we refer you to a Scripture
reference, please take the time to read it for yourself. By doing so, you
will not only see for yourself that what we are teaching you is true, but you
will also find that by the time we are finished, you will become familiar with
the Bible as a reference book. So how did all this begin?
Principle #1 -
God is the Creator.
That makes Him the owner.
The Bible says in Genesis Chapter one that in the beginning God said let there
be light and there was light. When things were just beginning for man,
God was already there. God is an eternal being. As difficult as it
may be for our minds to comprehend, God has always been. In fact, the
Bible says that God is the Creator of everything. In the first chapter of
Genesis we are told how God made the heavens and earth and everything in
them. That includes us.
When someone creates something, the act of creating makes the
creator the owner. The Scriptures tell us that God owns the cattle on a
thousand hills. Why? If God created them, He owns them. You
will discover through this line of thinking that mankind has a tremendous
responsibility to God. In Genesis 1:27
the Bible tells us that God created us. The mere fact that we owe our
very existence to someone is a humbling thought. Unless God had decided
to bring us into existence, we wouldn't even be here. Think about
that: God loved us enough, even before we acknowledged Him, to give us
life so that we would have the opportunity to decide whether or not we would
believe in Him.
Principle #2 - Mankind needs a Savior.
Why did God create us? Mankind is such a mess. Why would God want
to cause Himself so much grief by creating man? The answer to that
question is simple, yet profound. God loves us. In fact, the Bible
tells us that before we were born, God knew us. Think of that: Before you
were even born, God knew your entire life with all its good and bad, and He
still loved you enough to give you life.
In the beginning when God created man and placed him in the garden, the plan
was for man to share his life with God forever. The garden was a perfect
place. God wanted man to live there forever, enjoying what He had made
for him. The rules in the garden were simple. Man was given freedom
to use everything there with one exception. Man was not to eat from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As long as man obeyed, his life
was blessed and wonderful. How much better could it get? Man was
living in a perfect environment with a perfect partner and fellowshipping with
a perfect God. Had there been no problems, Adam and Eve would still be
alive today, and you could invite them over for dinner. Obviously,
however, that isn't the case. Something happened that interrupted this
idyllic setting.
In this perfect setting, something happened to turn the whole thing upside
down. There was a part of God's creation that didn't follow the
plan. Prior to Adam and Eve, God had made an anointed cherub who carried
a lot of responsibility in heaven. His name was Lucifer. Because of
his position, he came to believe he was as important as God Himself. He
challenged God's authority and as a result was banished from heaven.
God's judgment of him placed him under Adam's authority in the garden.
Satan, as he became known, was so upset that he began encouraging Adam and Eve
to question God's rules about living in the garden.
The question he asked of Adam and Eve is the same one He asks mankind
today. "Hath God said?" When we are trying to decide how to live
our lives, the struggle inside us is the same: Are we really accountable to God
or not? As Adam and Eve started questioning God's rules, eventually they
arrived at a dangerous conclusion. By deciding they could make their own
decisions about how to conduct their lives, they fell prey to the same way of
thinking that caused a breach in the relationship between God and Satan.
Once man decided to make his own decisions, submitting to God's rules became
difficult. Eventually man decided to do what he wanted and ignored God's
rules.
That scenario pretty much describes the condition we find man in
today. Mankind decided that he was better equipped to make his own
decisions, and he turned his back on God's leadership. Once he had made
that decision, man found himself separated from God just like Satan was.
The decision to reject God's leadership and make his own decisions about how to
run his own life was called sin
. The problem with sin was that once it had been committed, there was no
way to remedy the problem. Man could not simply say, "Whoops!" and fix
the problem himself. A violation had occurred for which a price had to be
paid. The problem for man was that, since it was God's law that had been
broken, it was up to God to decide what price would be required to pay for the
offense. God's price was the offering of sinless blood. However,
once mankind had sinned, there was no longer anyone in the human race who was
qualified to pay the price.
Principle #3 - Man cannot save himself.
The results of man's actions were disastrous. He tended to think that he
was the only one who would be affected by the decisions he had made. In
this case nothing could have been further from the truth. When man
decided to lead himself, everything around him began to suffer the consequences
of his decision.
Relationship with God
The first casualty of man's decision was the loss of an open relationship with
God. The Bible says that whoever finds God, finds life (Proverbs
8:35). When man lost his relationship with God, he lost eternal
life. In fact, God placed cherubim with flaming swords east of Eden to
guard the way to the tree of life. Sin cost man his source of life.
Family
Sin has a cascading effect that multiplies if it is not dealt with. In
our continuing story, we see that once the primary relationship with God had
been broken, the problem of sin spread to Adam's family. One of his first
two children killed the other one. People have been murdering each other
ever since. Because man was then presently making his own rules, he could
change them whenever it was convenient. Today, we understand that this
ability to change the rules has left us with shifting standards which breed
insecurity. Consequently, divorce is accepted when it is
convenient. Abandoning children is justified. Abuse is explained
away. Mankind desperately needs divine intervention to put the pieces of
broken relationships back together.
Nature
Man's rebellion disrupted God's balance and brought chaos to all of
creation. The former rulership of life had been replaced by death.
Everything from man's health to his environment began to suffer a downward
spiral to destruction. Even the social structures that were intended to
bring quality and fulfillment to life were left empty. Today's
consequences? Polluted water, dirty air, aborted children; Godless
courts, schools, and governments - all testify of the results of man's failed
attempt to determine his own destiny. Without a continuing relationship
with God, man is doomed to the futility of trying an endless list of good ideas
that end in even bigger problems. Communism, an entitlement approach to
welfare reform, and schools without morals have all led to disaster.
Partnership with Heaven is the only way to find lasting solutions to man's need
for leadership.
When man realizes that there is a problem with his life, he begins to look for
a solution within himself. People tend to turn to good deeds to help them
feel better. People go through seasons of personal resolve, promising
themselves that they are going to reform. The sad truth is, however, that no
amount of good works can bridge the gap sin created between God and man.
The
wonderful part of this story is that God had a plan to solve the problem before
we needed it. When the separation occurred between God and man, we were
not the only ones who were hurt. God was hurt! Difficult as it may
be to understand, He wants
to fellowship with us, and He loved us enough that He arranged to pay the price
for our sins Himself. He was so confident His plan would work that He
went to prepare a place for us to live with Him forever.
Discussion Points:
1. What was God's plan for mankind from the beginning?
2. How did man disobey God?
3. What was Satan's role in this disobedience?
4. Who is going to solve the problem?
Memory Verse:
All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that
was made.
John 1:3
