[Thought questions for Creation and Morality January 30, 2013]

Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com

1. Depending on the Creator. What was God’s intention when He created mankind? Did He have a grand plan or did He just want to create a pleasant and invigorating environment for His new friends through eternity? Why do you think God laid down a firm rule about not eating from one of the many fruit-bearing trees in the Garden of Eden? Was it a test of obedience? Or was there something evil about that tree? How could life with God be free in this earthly paradise if we have to listen to the Garden’s owner and do what He says? After the final resurrection and the recept of eternal life, will we keep on obeying God forever?

2. In the image of God. It is said (tongue in cheek) that when God finished making man, He looked at the work of His hands and said, “I can do better than that!” and created Eve. Can the relationship between man and woman be as strong as the relationship between the three members of the Godhead? What does an “image” of a person reveal about that person? What does it not reveal? What is the “image of God?” Do you think we’ll be overwhelmed by awe when we first see God in His fullness? Do you and I look like God? Act like God? How close can we come to His presence–now? in eternity?

3. Of one blood. Do you believe your veins course with the blood of all humanity? Or is your blood different from anyone else’s? We’re told that Eve’s name given to her by Adam was Havah, translated as “Eve” and meaning “life giver.”  What made Eve worthy of such a title? Do you think that sending women to fill active combat roles in war contradicts the “life giver” role of women? Or does it support her role as an equal with man? How can we say we all have the same blood? Are we all brothers and sisters in the Lord? Will our blood change as we live on through the centuries with our Creator? If so, how do you think it will change?

4. The character of our Creator.  Is being like Christ a requirement for salvation? Have you ever known someone who seemed to perfectly reflect the character of Christ? Can we learn to be more like Christ it we don’t know what Christ is like? Can we ever be fully like a pefect God? How can we learn to accept into the fellowship of Christ people who are very different from us? Do you attend a church every week in which all of the members seem to be reflecting God’s love? Do temptations sometimes creep into the hearts even of staunch church members that cause us to reflect a spirit other than that of Jesus?

5. Morality and accountability. Is it possible to be a forthright, moral person without being accountable for your behavior? Where should we place our accountablity? How do you picture the final judgment? Are you sometimes terrified for fear that you will have forgotten to ask forgiveness for a sin? Or that you allowed a sin to express itself? Are you confident? or frightened? about the consequences of the judgment? Has God forgiven you? Does He meet your need for guidance as you struggle against the inventor of sin in this world? Is it ever a case of you against the world? Or you against the devil? Who is on your side? Is your alliance with God enough to carry you through no matter what?

6. Fossils and our future. I read Friday’s comments and said to myself, “What? Do fossils exist that seem to predate Adam?” Once I asked an Adventist scientist, “Where are the people bones from the Flood?” He said, “I don’t know. It could be we have yet to discover them.” Have you ever seen pictures of “people bones” that didn’t look anything like the skeletons of today? What is the danger of speculating about the cause of events that happened unknown numbers of years ago? When an archeologist says, “This fossil is about 25,000 years old,” how can you respond without coming across as a hard-headed Bible-banging self-made scientist? What should our attitude be towards those with different opinions from ours?

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