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Being Firm in the Foundations of the Christian Faith

Being Firm in the Foundations of the Christian Faith. Foundations of the Faith. Gripping The Sword The Bible - GW Mar Proofs & -isms The Trinity - GW Apl Abba Father God The Father - AG May Saviour not Super-star God the Son - GW June

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Being Firm in the Foundations of the Christian Faith

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  1. Being Firm in the Foundations of the Christian Faith

  2. Foundations of the Faith Gripping The Sword The Bible - GW Mar Proofs & -isms The Trinity - GW Apl Abba Father God The Father - AG May Saviour not Super-star God the Son - GW June Who ? not What? God the Spirit - GW July In The Beginning Creation Matt Frost God's Image Smudged Man - AG Oct Missing the Mark Sin - GW Nov God’s Plus Sign The Cross - AG Dec God's Image Salvaged Salvation - GW Jan God's People Together The Church - GW Feb Jesus Returns The 2nd Coming - AG Mar Know Who You Believe……………… ………………Know What You Believe

  3. Study 1 The Bible • The Scriptures were not given to increase our knowledge • but to change our lives. • Dwight L. Moody

  4. Study 2 The Trinity sufficiently understandable but ultimately incomprehensible

  5. Study 3 God the Father

  6. Study 4 God the Son Jesus Saviour……. ....Not Superstar

  7. Study 5 God the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit Who?... ….not What?

  8. Study 6 Creation “In the Beginning God....”

  9. ‘How’ of creation • ‘Why’ of creation • ‘Who’ of creation • God’s Glory

  10. ‘How’ of creation • ‘Why’ of creation • ‘Who’ of creation • God’s Glory

  11. Hebrew title: ‘In the Beginning’ Greek Title: ‘Genesis’ (origin) Author: Moses (mainly) Date of Writing: c. 1280-1240 BC Location: Mesopotamia • No time to address all ‘contextual’ issues (see John H. Walton – NIV application commentary)

  12. Genesis 1v1: “In the beginning God created (‘bara’) the heavens and the earth”. “And God Said….and God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the nth day”. 1 Light and dark 2 Sea and Sky 3 Earth, vegetation and separation of water. 4 Sun, moon and stars 5 Birds and Fish 6 Animals and humans “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” 7 God rests. Genesis 2 – retelling - role of humans Genesis 3 – Fall (Adam, Eve, Serpent) Genesis 3–11: remaining section different to Genesis 12 - 50

  13. Charles Darwin Origin of Species (1859) Descent of Man (1871)

  14. Myth • Age day theory • Gap-theory • Revelatory Day theory • Literal (Young-earth creationism) • Framework (literary) approach

  15. MYTH • popular understanding of ‘myth’ (Walton, J) • Not ‘how we fell’ but ‘how we fall’. • Removes apparent conflict • Still speaks of human condition (& need for redemption?) • New testament understanding (Jesus / Paul)

  16. Age-day (concordist) • Day (‘yom’) = ages / period of time. • Broadly similar progression: • matterlifecomplex lifeHumans • But…… • Earth with no sun and moon? • Trees before marine life • Birds before land animals?

  17. Gap Theory Thomas Chalmers

  18. v1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. V2: “Now the Earth was (became) formless (‘Bohu’) and empty (‘Tohu’). GAP

  19. Revelatory days • Gods revelation to Moses over 6 days. • P. J. Wiseman (1948) • v1: “In the beginning God created (‘made known’) the heavens and the earth”.

  20. Literal (Young-earth creationism) • creation occurred about 6000-1000yrs ago. • days are 24 hour periods • Omphalos: an Attempt to Untie the Geological Knot (1857) • Flood Geology

  21. Origen (2nd century AD): “What man of intelligence, I ask, will consider a reasonable statement that the first and second and the third day, in which there are said to be both morning and evening, existed without sun, moon and stars, while the first day was even without a heaven? And who could be found so silly as to believe that God, after the manner of a farmer, ‘planted trees in a paradise eastward in Eden’…I do not think anyone will doubt that these are figurative expressions which indicate certain mysteries through a semblance of history.”

  22. Augustine of Hippo (4th century AD): “..of what fashion those days were, it is either very hard or altogether impossible to think, much more to speak. ….That day in the account of creation, or those days that are numbers according to its recurrence, are beyond the experience and knowledge of us mortal earthbound men. And if we are able to make any effort towards an understanding of those days, we ought not to rush forward with an ill considered opinion, as if no other reasonable and plausible interpretation could be offered”

  23. Framework (literary) approach DAY 1 Light and dark DAY4 Sun, moon, stars DAY 2 Sea and sky DAY5 Fish and birds DAY 3 Fertile Earth DAY6 Animals, humans DAY 7 God rests. Ultimately Genesis 1 is about ‘who’ not ‘how’.

  24. ‘How’ of creation • ‘Why’ of creation • ‘Who’ of creation • God’s Glory

  25. Why did God create the world? NOT because he needed us or because he was ‘lonely’: "The God who made the world and everything in it … is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything" (Acts 17:24-25) “Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened his hand.” (Thomas Aquinas) Fulton Sheen, when asked why God created the world, responds, “Love overflowed.” (see also the divine romance by Gene Edwards) Ultimately – we don’t know!

  26. ‘How’ of creation • ‘Why’ of creation • ‘Who’ of creation • God’s Glory

  27. “it [Genesis] explains in story form the nature and character of God, and the place of man in God’s creation” ESV study Bible (Ed. Wayne Grudem)

  28. Genesis1: 1 -25. • “This is not a passage about the ‘how’ of creation, nor even primarily about the ‘why’ of creation. Rather, it is a passage but about the ‘who’ of creation....an overture that introduces us to the Creator God” • Bible Speaks today: Creation. David Wilkinson

  29. God as the creator Gen 1v1 : In the beginning God Created Heb 11v3: By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (NIV) Key doctrine: ‘ Creation ex nihilo’

  30. God as the creator • Creation myths: • Egypt: creator god Ptah uses waters (god: nun) to create earth • Ra and Toth (sun and moon deities) • Mesopotamia: gods of watery chaos - Apsu, Tiammat & Mummu. (‘Bara’ Gen 1v1, 21&27) • Monotheism NOT Polytheism • Scientific materialism: • Big Bang (Quantum Vaccum) vs steady state: • Multiple universes

  31. God as sustainer “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being”. Revelation 4v11 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” Colossians 1: 16&17

  32. God as sustainer “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” Matthew 10: 29. Key doctrine: ‘God is immanent and transcendent’

  33. ‘How’ of creation • ‘Why’ of creation • ‘Who’ of creation • God’s Glory

  34. Key scriptures: • Psalm 104: “How many are your works O Lord, in wisdom You made them all” • Job 38 – 41: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations......” - Romans 1v20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse”

  35. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands”. (Psalm 19)

  36. “That is the eternal question, is life all there is of life or do we only know one hemisphere before our death? Speaking for myself I have no idea what the answer is but the sight of the stars always sets me thinking” (Van Gogh)

  37. I see Your face in every sunrise The colors of the morning are inside Your eyesThe world awakens in the light of the day I look up to the sky and say You’re beautifulI see Your power in the moonlit night Where planets are in motion and galaxies are brightWe are amazed in the light of the stars It’s all proclaiming who You areYou’re beautiful, You're beautifulI see you there hanging on a tree You bled and then you died and then you rose again for meNow you are sitting on Your heavenly throne Soon we will be coming homeYou’re beautiful, you're beautiful

  38. When we arrive at eternity’s shore Where death is just a memory and tears are no moreWe’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring Your bride will come together and we’ll singYou’re beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautifulI see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautifulI see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautifulI see Your face, I see Your faceI see Your face, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful

  39. Bibliography David Atkinson. The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Genesis 1 – 11. David Wilkinson. The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Creation. John H. Walton. The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis. Ernest Lucas. Can we believe Genesis today? Denis Alexander. Creation or Evolution: do we have to choose?

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