“Hey, Ben. Here’s one for you. How is being an Alaskan salmon like being a Christian?” Mark looked at his friend for two seconds.1 “They both get wet.” “C’Mon, Ben, that was too easy. Where does the Alaskan salmon begin its life?” “Hatched from a fish egg laid in a mountain stream.” “So, Ben. Would you … Continue reading –>
Key Thought: It is vital and necessary for us as fallen beings to acknowledge God’s exalted holiness and to seek His cleansing blood and righteousness. [Teaching plan for “The Holiness of God” February 1, 2012] 1. Have a volunteer read Genesis 2:3. A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main … Continue reading –>
Read Luke 4:31–36. What testimony is given there about the holiness of Christ? What is significant about who gave that testimony too? What lessons can we draw from this story about God’s holiness? 1 Demons, who are fallen angels, remember who Jesus really is, and even they—in their nastiness, hatefulness, and rebellion—are constrained to acknowledge Him and … Continue reading –>
Did your parents ever tell you that you’d gotten too big for your own britches? Usually your parents were giving you fair warning that you had stepped over the disrespect line and you needed to step back quickly or experience a refresher course in who was the parent and who was the child, right? Well, … Continue reading –>
In the Old Testament, we find a consistent record of human responses to a God who is holy. What about in the New? Some modern Christians argue that the Old Testament presents a primitive and outdated picture of God, a God who is harsh and very prone to anger. But when Jesus comes, He is … Continue reading –>
After enduring inhuman suffering at the hand of Satan, Job cries out: “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5, 6). What does this response tell us about God’s holiness in contrast to human sinfulness? In what … Continue reading –>
What is the first time the concept of “holiness” (from the same root often translated “sanctified”) is mentioned in Scripture? Gen. 2:3. How significant is the fact that the first thing deemed holy in the Bible is time?1 This text gives us our first understanding of holiness. It shows that something, in this case time, is “set apart” … Continue reading –>
Ellen White gets it! She understands the twenty-first-century heart-cry to know and experience God, to do something meaningful and enduring in life, and to grapple with issues of poverty, alienation, health, education, diversity, inclusiveness, integrity and eternity. Yet she’s dead. The principles she espoused transcend time and are more pertinent and applicable than ever. Yes, … Continue reading –>
Even a superficial study of church history makes it clear that it’s all too easy to develop ideas about God and then to worship these ideas instead of God Himself, the God revealed in the Bible. As the skeptic Voltaire quipped: “God made man in His image, and man has returned the compliment.” We may … Continue reading –>
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it … Continue reading –>
