Friday: Further Thought – God or Mammon?
Further Thought: Stewardship, as we understand it, started with God placing Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden home that they were to care for and manage (Gen. 2:15). In this perfect environment they were to make the garden livable, a task that could not have been that hard. God authorized their new role and taught them about their responsibility. Taking care of Eden would give meaning and bring happiness to the new family.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
The Hebrew verb for “dominion” (Gen. 1:26, Gen. 1:28) means “to bring under control and rule.” This was, given the context, not a harsh dominion but a benevolent rule in caring for God’s creation. This responsibility has not stopped. In this environment Adam and Eve were to learn that God was the Owner, and they were His managers, or stewards. From the start God intended that Adam and Eve have positions of responsibility and trust but not as owners. They were to demonstrate to God that they were faithful to their tasks.
“Adam and Eve were given the garden of Eden to care for. They were ‘to dress it and to keep it.’ They were happy in their work. Mind, heart, and will acted in perfect harmony. In their labor they found no weariness, no toil. Their hours were filled with useful work and communion with each other. Their occupation was pleasant. God and Christ visited them and talked with them. They were given perfect freedom. . . . God was the owner of their Eden home. They held it under Him.” – Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, p. 327.
Discussion Questions:
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"... God and Christ visited them and talked with them... ." - Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, p. 327.
I cannot understand why there is mention of "God" and "Christ" as though there are two individuals.
They are three in one, even Christ always mention the Father(God.)
I agree, Beverley. Saying "God and Christ" seems a bit like talking about you saying, "Beverley and her physical body." One of the texts this week brought out the fact that Christ is the visible manifestation of the invisible God. Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit is invisible like the wind. The only visible person in the Godhead seems to be Christ. We converse with the Father because He is the Character and Mind of Christ. This is instilled in all who are receptive to the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart.
I think that the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy teaches that we are made in His image--body, spirit, and mind. It takes the three to make one.
When Adam spoke with His Creator he spoke to the One he was patterned after--God, Himself
Like in the beginning, the LORD, said let us make man.It was more than one. God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three working for our salvation. So God and Christ was doing what they do.They visited and they talked.
On :Further Thought" for Friday's lesson, the last paragraph states -
"Adam and Eve were given the garden of Eden to care for. ... God and Christ visited them ..."
Sister Beverly Rossini wrote above, "I cannot understand why there is mention of "God" and "Christ" as though there are two individuals."
In other words, she does not accept as factual that two beings, "God and Christ" visited them.
She is correct and I can find no evidence of such a statement in the Scriptures of Genesis to Malachi.
Genesis 1:1; In the beginning, God (singular) created ...
Genesis 1:26; And God (singular) said, Let us (plural) make man
Only God is the Creator, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Isaiah 40:28, so he could not be speaking to another creator therefore on further study you will find that God is speaking to the angels who are witnessing the creation of the new planet called Earth, see Job 38:7, Genesis 11:7 as evidence.
Genesis 1:27; So God (singular) created man ...
Genesis 2:7; And the Lord God (singular) formed man ...
Genesis 1:28; And the Lord God (singular) blessed them ...
Genesis 3:8; And they (Adam & Eve) heard the voice of the Lord God (singular) ...
Genesis 3:9; And the Lord God (singular) called ...
Genesis 3:13; And the Lord God (singular) said unto the woman (Eve) ...
After examining the applicable Scriptures, there must therefore be another reason, another explanation for the belief that "all things were made by him", that is, by Jesus Christ.
By the way, the name Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus does not appear anywhere in the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi yet notwithstanding God himself in the form called Jesus Christ told the church -
John 5:39; Search the Scriptures (Genesis to Malachi), for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
It is interesting that Jesus Christ said, you think that it is the Scriptures that give eternal life however the Scriptures testify of me.
Me who?
This begs the question, Who was Jesus Christ?
The Truth always leads to a desire for more.
Experience a holy Sabbath and remember we cannot keep the Sabbath holy unless we ourselves are holy.
Mr Wiggan, Mrs Wiggan and a son are three different persons, with different ideas and tasks and performed quiet differently from each other. I accept that they perform their different task for one specific reason: a strong, godly family who longs to be save for etenity. And I believe thay are Wiggan. Hope this help.
Thank you, Colon, for your clarity and diligence to keep the truth straight. I believe God is one and was still "one" when Jesus was conceived. To me it seems that Jesus was the physical human temple God was clothed with to reveal Himself to mankind in humanity.
Jesus is the antitype of all that the tabernacle in the wilderness typified. He is the real thing.
I think Jesus' prayer for us in John 17 is telling us that it is God's will that we be tabernacles that also house the Spirit and the Mind of God as did Jesus. We are to reveal God to the world by accepting His Mind in us that we may show the righteousness and Love of God to all we come into contact with.
I am happy the term "Lord God" appears in many of the texts because we know that Jesus Christ is Lord of lords.
Christ is the spoken word of God which became flesh and the Holy Spirit is his power in operation. God spoke and his word created, God put his Spirit in man and he became a living soul. Three in one operating together. What a mystery.
I would like to know more of the meaning of "Christ is the spoken word of God".
In regards to Christ "became flesh", how do we understand evaluate "flesh" against the passages of John 5:51, 38, 33?
The hearers responded to "Jesus" in John 6:42 regarding his flesh and where they thought he was from.
1 Corinthians 15:50 makes clear the subject of flesh.
Adam and Eve were given "beautiful" garden where the problem came from but the problem was not the garden but failure to adhere the landords's instructions the same applies to material world, its not bad,but we must honor God with all our possessions.
There is a sense in which theology is relatively “unimportant”. I should be “big enough” to be able to work or worship with people whose theology is different from mine. There may even be ways that we can “work together” in the process of encouraging people to trust the Lord.
At the same time, there are two ways that theology IS important. 1) My theology has an effect on how I understand what I read in my Bible. 2) In the process of encouraging people to trust the Lord, there are advantages and disadvantages to the use of certain words and phrases.
The word, “god”--whether or not it is capitalized, is understood by most English-speaking people to mean anything or anyone who is worshiped. The word, “worship”, is understood to mean more than prayer--more than attending formal meetings in church buildings. Worship includes anything we do that shows who has our highest allegiance.
I consider God the Son to be “God’s thought made audible”.
Have you ever seen a “red letter edition” of the Bible? It seems to be the intention of the publishers of such Bibles to print the words of Jesus in red letters.
So far as I know, Jesus wasn’t known as Jesus (Yahshua) before his incarnation but I believe the person who spoke to Moses from a bush on Mount Horeb saying, “I AM THAT I AM. . . . Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Ex. 3:14) is the same person who later said, “I AM the Good Shepherd”, “I AM the living Bread”, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, Before Abraham was, I AM”.
The word, “trinity”, has the disadvantage of emphasizing the threeness of God without a corresponding emphasis on his oneness. For that reason, I prefer to refer to my God as “triune” and prefer to refer to myself as “triunitarian”. I avoid using the phrase, “God and Christ” and I avoid using the word, “they”, when referring to any two or all three of the three persons who comprise the one God I worship.
Some people have been taught that the concept of one God being three persons is incomprehensible and that, because it is incomprehensible, it should not be taught. Each person should decide for himself whether it is incomprehensible and my illustration doesn't “prove” anything but, only this morning, I explained my belief on this subject to the pastor of a Church of God congregation by opening the piano on the lower level of the church building and showing him that, in the treble register, each note is comprised of three strings. When the three strings are properly tuned, they are not “in harmony”. Rather, the three strings function “as one”. The vibrations of each string of the triunision has a physical effect on the other two strings such that the three strings vibrate at exactly the same frequency.
It would never be appropriate to refer to a given note on the piano as three notes--although each note in the treble register is comprised of three strings. And it would never be appropriate to refer to the three strings of a triunision as one string, although the three strings comprise only one note. In doing missionary or evangelistic work, I prefer to work with people who are careful about such things.
It is appropriate to be “critical” of sloppy theology in the sense of encouraging people to be more precise in their choice of words. At the same time, there are writers whose writings are “inspiring”--writers who even might be considered to be “inspired”--but who weren't/aren’t theologians. I suggest not being too “critical” of their choice of words except in a context where such criticism might help them to hone their communications skills.
Whenever the topic of the Godhead comes up, we get a rush of comments on the various alternative views. Here are a few thoughts that we need to consider:
Genesis 1:1 and Isaiah 55:8,9, should contribute something to this discussion. Opinions may be plentiful but we can only submit to authority.
This has always been a difficult subject. My husband happens to jewish and I am told that I worshipped "three gods" and in judaism there is only one God. "Chema Israel ... ." I am quite comforted by your comments. Thank you all. Each sheds a little more light. Isn't the path of the just as the shining light that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day? Prov.4:18