INTRODUCTION
Glimpses of Our God
Who can look at those photos from the Hubble
Space Telescope and not marvel at the beauty of the cosmos? Astonished
at the famous photo of the “Sombrero Galaxy,” one writer said: “How can
we begin to fathom the knowledge, the power, the reasoning, the truths,
and the purposes that went into the Sombrero Galaxy (which is just one
among billions of others)? Here we are, so small and so isolated, a
speck of the creation with so much in our view but so infinitely beyond
our grasp.”
More astonishing than the universe itself,
however, has to be its Maker, because only something greater than the
universe could have made it.
Of course, as Seventh-day Adventists, the God
whom we worship and serve is the One who, indeed, has made the
universe—everything from the Sombrero Galaxy to the quarks that compose
all matter in it and everywhere else, as well.
It is in this context, that of the Lord whom we
worship and serve, that our quarter’s lesson is going to do some
“theology,” a technical term for “the study of God.” After all, is it
not important to know about the God whom we worship, trust, and
serve—the One we are called to love with “all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind” (Luke
10:27)?
The picture of God in the Bible is very
expansive. Yes, God’s love is underscored, over and over again, but
there is so much more about Him that He wants us to know. For example,
there are hundreds of different names for God in Scripture. Each one of
them could give a deeper and more informed understanding of the great
God of heaven and earth. He is so much more than a benign Santa Claus
in the sky who doles out assistance at our request. (A professional
poker player recently won millions of dollars in a tournament, and then
publicly thanked Jesus for it!)
This quarter we’re going to look at God, at
various aspects of Him as they have been revealed to us and at what
these things mean for us on a practical level. We’re going to start
with some of the “basics,” such as the Trinity—the amazing teaching
that God is One God and yet composed of three Persons. From there,
we’re going to focus on God as Creator, the doctrine that forms the
foundation of all that we believe. Next, we’ll look at His work of
redemption, because in a fallen world being created isn’t enough. We
need to be redeemed, as well. We’ll also look at God as both a God of
grace and a God of judgment. We’ll then look at His holiness, His law,
and the Sabbath, all of which stem from the essence of His character
and help us understand more about what He is like.
And we also are going to look at some other
aspects of God not commonly thought of, such as God as a God of beauty,
of history, and even of romance. Among other things, such as prayer and
ecology (that is, we want to look at some of the practical aspects of
what it means to serve our Lord), we’re going to look, too, at God’s
great promise of the Second Coming, which leads to the climax of
history and the end of humanity’s horrible experience with sin.
God is big (after all, He created—along with
everything else—the Sombrero Galaxy!). We are so small in contrast. How
grateful we should be, then, for every bit of light He casts our way.
This quarter we’ll look at some of that light. It’s up to each of us,
individually, as to how faithfully we walk in it.
Jo Ann Davidson is a professor of
Theology at Andrews University Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Contents:
Giardina
Sabbath School Study Helps
Jerry Giardina of Pecos usually prepares a
series of helps to accompany the Sabbath School lesson. He includes all
related scripture and most EGW quotations. Jerry has chosen the "New
King James Version" of the scriptures this quarter. It is used with
permission. The study helps are linked from each
lesson and links to the whole quarter's Helps are provided here.
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