noah_and_grace_through_faith.pdf |
As we read the Bible, we find that nearly 1,700 years after creation the world had become a wicked place. In fact, the scriptures teach that man was consumed with wickedness. All of his thoughts were evil continually. Things were so bad that God saw fit to destroy man, and He was sorry that He had ever made man. Just when it seemed that all hope was lost one man found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God extended grace to Noah, but it was through faith that Noah benefited from it.
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The Old Testament contains the most poignant stories of ancient man. Within its pages are contained the greatest accounts of man's history. Both the good and the bad can be found within its pages. In the Old Testament we can read of great moral victories as well as defeats. It contains accurate pictures of man and his struggles. This, of course, is for the purpose of giving us an example as the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians. There are lessons to be learned and some of the most practical lessons come from the Genesis account of the first man and woman.
The question of how everything originated has always been within man. In fact, the Bible teaches us that God placed it there. Man has a desire to know how he came to be as well as the universe around him. Yet, God's creation is so vast that we simply cannot know it all, otherwise, we would be God. God has, however, provided us with the information we need to know Him.
Upon completing His creation, God looked upon all that He had made and said, "It was very good." It was a world free from murderers or thieves. There was no strife, hatred, or jealousy. It was void of all pain and suffering. Unfortunately, this state did not last long. That fateful day upon which man gave into temptation and disobeyed the Creator, sin was brought into God's creation. Since that time it has had devastating effects on the entire world.
When Adam chose to disobey God, he essentially removed God's standard and made one of his own. As a result, God's paradise became a place of pain, suffering, and death. If this were the end of the story it would be tragic indeed, but a promise was given by God. It was the promise of a redeemer. God foretold of a descendant of the woman who would deliver a crushing blow to the serpent and defeat him. We know of this redeemer as Christ the Son of God. His mission to redeem man led Him to the cruel cross of Calvary. Thus we have two very important periods of man's history, Eden and Calvary.
David, by inspiration of the Spirit writes of a time that he certainly could not remember. A time in which he dwelt microscopically inside of his mother's womb and began to develop. It is a story of life unseen and unnoticed by man, but observed and maintained by God. Not all people share this wonderful view of life. To some, life is not fearfully and wonderfully made. It has little or no meaning and can easily be discarded. How can some people have such a low appreciation for life? We will discuss this in the second part to our lesson "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made."
One of the most perplexing questions for man to answer is that of the origin of life. Is the human body the result of divine design or is it the product of a series of accidents in the evolutionary process. More specifically, who are we as individuals? Are we the creation of God designed for a purpose, or just the result of a cosmic accident with no real purpose? The Bible has the answers to these questions.
As we read the Bible it becomes very clear that everything that was made was made by God. The scriptures teach that in the beginning God created. Well, how long ago did everything begin? Does the Bible actually tell us the age of the earth and the universe? More importantly, does it really matter? What difference does it make what I believe and when God created? Isn't it enough just to believe that He created? We hope to answer these questions and more through a careful study of the word of God.
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