As deep and pervasive as the effects of sin have been on humanity, our plight is not irreversible. The Bible speaks about the possibility of renewal and restoration of the image of God in us, at least to some degree. Study the following passages carefully: Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:23-24. What hope is presented? The Bible clearly holds … Continue reading –>
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the … Continue reading –>
God Made Us [Thought Starters for Man: God’s Handiwork October 17, 2012] 1. Better and better, or worse and worse. Which is it? Think of all the advances in human life today. Open-heart surgery for an inborn infant? Travel to Mars in a space ship smart enough to look around and take pictures? The transformation … Continue reading –>
One of the many great obstacles for those who read evolution into the biblical creation account is the Fall. In the Bible, the world and humanity were perfect when created, a teaching that contradicts evolution at the most basic level. Only through transgression did suffering and death enter the world, a concept that’s contrary to … Continue reading –>
Key Thought : God created man in His own image. While the fall marred His image in man, He has purposed to restore that image in His children. [Teaching plan for “Man: God’s Handiwork” October 15, 2012] 1. Have a volunteer read Romans 5:14-16. A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what … Continue reading –>
Whatever else it means to be “made in the image of God,” it also shows that we were made to be in relationships. What are those relationships, and how should we, made as we are, act in them? Read Genesis 2:19-20. What does that tell us right away about humanity’s relationship to the world? Notice the autonomy, … Continue reading –>
“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Genesis 3:7 As soon as sin began, legalism began. Adam tried to cover his shame by his own works. However that did not work. Just three verses after Adam makes … Continue reading –>
As we saw yesterday, Adam and, of course, Eve were literal people, not symbols or myths but actual flesh and blood beings made “in the image of God.” Obviously, being made in the image of God is something good, something sacred, something that bestows inherent value on us. What, however, does that really mean? Read Genesis … Continue reading –>
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. 1:27). What does this text tell us about our origins that is so radically different, even openly contradictory, from other views of human beginnings, such as evolution? It is impossible to miss the … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Gen 1:27; 1:26; Mark 12:13-17; Gen. 2:19-25; Acts 17:26; Rom. 5:12-19. Memory Text: “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3). Key Thought: God created humanity in His own image; sin defiled that image. God’s plan is to restore that image in us. A nineteenth-century … Continue reading –>
Read Ellen G. White, “Danger in Speculative Knowledge,” pp. 427-438, in The Ministry of Healing; “The Word Made Flesh,”pp. 746-749, in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5; “Preface” and “Introduction,” pp. 5-7, in The Great Controversy. “God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled … Continue reading –>
More than half the world’s population lives in cities, yet the Adventist work in the cities languishes. God has a heart for cities. Speaking of Nineveh, He asked, “Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (Jonah 4:11, NIV). When Jesus came to this earth, He “had compassion on [the people] because they were … Continue reading –>
