2023-Q4-L01

2023-Q4-L01: God's Mission to Us: Part 1

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 3:9-15; Genesis 28:15; Exodus 29:43,45; Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:14-18; John 3:16; John 14:1-3

Memory Text: Memory Text: “Then the Lord God called Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ ” Genesis 3:9

Flaws with Missions

Several "flaws" with our mission outreach/effort:

Theory vs. Practice. Examples: Swimming (theory vs. practice). We learn about fishing without fishing itself.

Top-down vs. bottom-up.

Those who are "sent" vs. those who remain with the baggage.

Telling others how to live vs. Showing others how to live.

Knowledge vs. Love. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Doctrine vs. Discipline.

Notes

What is God's mission.

Relational. Let us make man in our image. If God is going to have a meaningful relationship with a creature He created, it will have to be a creature that is like Him.

God wants us to grow and do great works.

What was God's original plan for man. Psalm 8: Man was made a little lower than the angels (for a little while). But His ultimate goal is that Man will be higher than the angels. This is by virtue of the Son of God becoming the Son of Man.

The common approach to evangelism is "How to get a man to go to Heaven?" which is not wrong in and of itself.

But the fundamental issue is not about getting someone to heaven. Why? Because sin in heaven began with a perfect creature, the angel Lucifer, who had no propensity to sin. Sin on earth began with two perfect creatures, who had no propensity to sin.

So, perfecting an individual does not solve the fundamental problem.

God's ultimate goal is not taking people to Heaven, or the creation of a New Earth.

God's ultimate goal is that men should be like me. God-likeness.

What does it mean to be "saved"?

Can someone who is saved get the mark of the beast?

What do you mean by being saved? Is someone saved by:

Making a proclamation of faith, of being baptized, joined a Christian church,

goes (or has gone) on missions overseas, or on missions in the community

And what about Matthew 7:22-23. Many will come to me saying "Lord, lord..." That is, individuals who did many good works in the name of Jesus. Are these people Christian?

In the parable of the 10 virgins, 5 were wise and 5 foolish. These 10 virgins were all in the church, yet 5 could not enter the wedding feast (i.e. the kingdom). That is, 5 were not saved eventhough they had some oil (HS) in ther lamps.

Were the leadership in Christ's day, who were influential in having Jesus crucified, where they saved?

Were the persecutors in the Dark Ages, who killed literally millions of Christians, believing the were doing the works of God. Will these persecutors, who claimed to be followers of Jesus, will they be saved in the coming kingdom?

Is salvation based on knowing the truth about the Sabbath, or the mark of the Beast, or the Sanctuary service, or the 3 angels' messages? In other words, is salvation based on the correct doctrine of the Scriptures? (trick question!)

New heart and right spirit.

Psalm 51:10-13: Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. 11 Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners will be converted to you.

The way sinners are restored to God, is if we first are restored to God.

The legal mechanism of salvation is that God did something (past) and that is all I need. That is, my record of sin and guilt is blotted out in the records in heaven. That is, I am a forgiven sinner versus an unforgiven sinner.

Salvation is character-based.

Answer: To be marked "beastly" is to manifest the character and behavior of the Beast.

Thus, To be marked "saintly" (the seal of God) is to manifest the character and behavior of God (and of His Christ). These are they that follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

God does forgive everyone. But, not everyone wants to be forgiven. Not everyone wants to go to heaven. For the majority of people, heaven would be a torment. Why? Because they cannot handle living in a holy environment. Their selfish heart is not suited for heaven. THUS, the transformation of heart is everything. It is also a willing and cooperative heart. You are willing to be made willing. You are loving because you want to be loving.

REMEDY: Removing the death causing principle and restoring the life giving principle to mankind.

God does not need to be changed. We are the ones that need to be changed.

The nature of Christ

Was Jesus nature that of Adam, before the Fall or after the Fall? Answer: Neither.

Adam and Eve were created without the propensity to sin. They were perfect, new babes of Creation. Not knowing sin or with the inclination to practice it. They were not tempted to lie, steal and kill, because that was not in their nature and would actually be abhorrent to them.

Today: We are born with a set of parents who are both sinful, both with the propensity to sin. And, we are, therefore, born with the same nature.

Jesus: Was not born with a set of imperfect parents, nor with a set of perfect parents (as the Catholics believe). Jesus was born from an imperfect mother and a perfect Father. Thus, Jesus' birth was unique. His nature was and is unique.

Jesus declared himself, almost excllusively as the "Son of Man" throughout his ministry. He was also identified as the Son of God and he himself declared the same before the Sanhedrin. That's why they declared "blasphemy" to his statement.

Jesus, then, by virtue of his mother, is the Son of Man; and, by virtue of his Father, the Son of God.

Jesus' nature is the nature that we can have.

Jesus was born with the CAPACITY to be tempted. But he was also born with the CAPACITY to say "No!" The temptations Jesus had were real, as real as they are to us, but just as real was his capacity to resist them.

Everything Jesus did was with the same power available to us. It required Jesus to be dependent on His Father's power throughout his life.

Jesus' greatest temptations were to distrust His Father. To the very end, Jesus remained loyal to his Father's will, even to death. That is, Jesus manifested the greatest form of faith any man can experience--to face eternal extinction in order not to show disloyalty (breach of trust) to the Father.

The temptation to Adam and Eve revolved around eternal life and death. In type, this was the same temptation Jesus experienced at the cross, but with far greater consequences.

SUNDAY. The God Who Reaches Out to Us. Genesis 1-3

From the lesson: God created us in His image and likeness. He gave us a perfect world, and His purpose was that we would live in perfect connection with Him, a relationship centered in His most precious attribute: love. But for love to be real, God also gave us another precious gift: free will—the freedom to choose which way to follow. Of course, God gave clear instructions to Adam and Eve about the danger and deadly consequences of disobedience (Genesis 2:16-17). Satan, in turn, deceptively persuaded Eve that she could eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but without any negative results. On the contrary, he claimed that they would “be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Unfortunately, Eve chose to eat and gave the fruit to Adam, who made the same choice. The perfect creation, then, was stained by sin.

Of course, God knew exactly where they were. Dominated by fear, Adam and Eve were the ones who needed to see what was going on. But they also needed to be confronted so they could understand the dreadful consequences of their sin. Satan also needed to be defeated. For that, God then began to present His mission: the plan of redemption (see Genesis 3:14-15)—the only hope of “reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

MONDAY. The God Who Longs to Be With Us. Genesis 17; 26; 28 (Abraham)

TUESDAY. The God Who Became One With Us

Notes

Why did Jesus have to come as a Man (i.e. the Son of Man).

Answer: The only way to fix human beings is to fix what was broken in human beings.

The termination of the sin condition.

Several factors:

Truth: About God, His trustworthiness, about sin and Satan.

If an angel came to tell us the truth about God, it would not have had the same effect. We would have learned the world of angels, but it would not have applied to us. An angel does not (did not) go through what we go through.

To be restored to Trust by the revelation of Truth. (As the revelation of truth was revealed by Christ, the revelation of truth will be revealed by his saints.")

New Birth: You must be born from Above. A new nature. New desires, righteous motives, we want to honor God, love others, not act to protect self. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. We become partakers of the divine nature. We have the mind of Christ.

EGW

The terms:

"fully divine" - none

"100% divine" - none

"fully human" - only once below.

ST June 17, 1897, par. 8: Had he not been fully human, Christ could not have been our substitute. He could not have worked out in humanity that perfection of character which it is the privilege of all to reach. He was the light and the life of the world. He came to this earth to work in behalf of men, that they might no longer be under the control of Satanic agencies. But while bearing human nature, he was dependent upon the Omnipotent for his life. In his humanity, he laid hold of the divinity of God; and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing. Christ did nothing that human nature may not do if it partakes of the divine nature.

"his divine nature": 163 occurrences. Generally, the phrase, "we become partakers/participation of his divine nature"

21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 6: [Sermon notes, St. Helena Sanitarium Chapel] “His divine nature.” [Verse 4.] A question was asked if Christ brought His divine nature. Of course He did. He was humanity and divinity combined. Here He was tempted in all points like as we are, that He might know how to succor those that are tempted; and then every soul that will follow His example and His teachings shall be a partaker of that divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. If you want heaven, why, you must every one strive for it.

COL 169.1: “The Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” When Satan seeks to cover the people of God with blackness, and ruin them, Christ interposes. Although they have sinned, Christ has taken the guilt of their sins upon His own soul. He has snatched the race as a brand from the fire. By His human nature He is linked with man, while through His divine nature He is one with the infinite God. Help is brought within the reach of perishing souls. The adversary is rebuked.

ST June 17, 1889, par. 8: The sin of Adam and Eve had divorced earth from Heaven, and finite man from the infinite God, but Christ had passed over the very ground where Adam had failed, and at every step he was a conqueror. Every victory he gained elevated humanity in the scale of moral value before Heaven. It was impossible for man to redeem himself, and this was the reason that Jesus took human nature upon himself, that through humanity his divine nature might reach and lift up humanity.

WEDNESDAY. The God Who Continues to Be With Us

From the lesson: Christ’s death was part of the reconciliation process, not the end of it. Through His resurrection, Jesus conquered death and received “ ‘all authority . . . in heaven and on earth’ ” (Matthew 28:18). Based on this reality, He then commissioned all of His followers to make disciples around the world, with an awesome promise: “ ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age’ ” (Matthew 28:20).

Notes

The concept of dual atonement is implied in the lesson. That is, the death and resurrection of Christ did not end the conflict.

Desire of Ages, "It is Finished" page 761.

Jesus voluntarily surrendered his life to Satan's power and death. God the Father, in turn, allowed Satan to manifest his full force of evil on His Son. The purpose of this was to reveal the true nature of evil and thereby conquer the lies perpetrated by Satan. That is, the true nature of sin is the desire to destroy the true nature of God. They are complete antithetical (def. directly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible). One cannot continue to exist with the other. One must continue to exist and one must be extinguished.

God's universe cannot be a perfect universe, if sin is allowed to continue in some corner of the universe. The reason is that sin cannot continue without God allowing it to exist. God is the source of life, sin is the source of death. If left alone, sin will destroy itself.

"Every sin must meet its punishment, urged Satan" p. 761.

DA 762.2: The law requires righteousness,—a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God's holy law. But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character, a goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:26.

THURSDAY. The God Who Will Come Back for Us. John 14:1-3

FRIDAY. Further Thought:

APPENDIX

Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man in our image." The plural pronoun "us" which occurs only four times in the Old Testament gives no hint of who the "us" includes. The "us" could have very well been His divine council which included angels. Some commentators certainly regard this as a possibility. The four instances of "us" are Genesis 1:25; 3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8.

These are EGW's comments on the Creation itself and this verse in particular:

RH February 24, 1874, par. 3: God, in counsel with His Son, formed the plan of creating man in His own image.

1SP 24.2 (also in SR 20.2): After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God said to His Son, “Let us make man in our image.” As Adam came forth from the hand of his Creator he was of noble height and of beautiful symmetry. He was more than twice as tall as men now living upon the earth, and was well proportioned. His features were perfect and beautiful. His complexion was neither white nor sallow, but ruddy, glowing with the rich tint of health. Eve was not quite as tall as Adam. Her head reached a little above his shoulders. She, too, was noble, perfect in symmetry, and very beautiful.

3MR 425.3: The Father and the Son rested after Their work of Creation. “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 God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested.” Genesis 2:1-3. The death of Christ was designed to be at the very time in which it took place. It was in God's plan that the work which Christ had engaged to do should be completed on a Friday, and that on the Sabbath He should rest in the tomb, even as the Father and Son had rested after completing Their creative work. The hour of Christ's apparent defeat was the hour of His victory. The great plan, devised before the foundations of the earth were laid, was successfully carried out.—Manuscript 25, 1898, 3, 4. (“The Man of Sorrows,” typed, February 24, 1898.)

YI August 10, 1899, par. 3: God said, “Let us make man in our image.” He gave to the work of his hands not only a form resembling his own, but a mind capable of comprehending divine things. His understanding, his memory, his imagination,—every faculty of man's mind,—reflected the image of God. . .

DA 769.2: In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after Their work of creation. When “the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them” (Genesis 2:1), the Creator and all heavenly beings rejoiced in contemplation of the glorious scene. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. Now Jesus rested from the work of redemption; and though there was grief among those who loved Him on earth, yet there was joy in heaven. Glorious to the eyes of heavenly beings was the promise of the future. A restored creation, a redeemed race, that having conquered sin could never fall,—this, the result to flow from Christ's completed work, God and angels saw. With this scene the day upon which Jesus rested is forever linked. For “His work is perfect;” and “whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.” Deuteronomy 32:4; Ecclesiastes 3:14. When there shall be a “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21), the creation Sabbath, the day on which Jesus lay at rest in Joseph's tomb, will still be a day of rest and rejoicing. Heaven and earth will unite in praise, as “from one Sabbath to another” (Isaiah 66:23) the nations of the saved shall bow in joyful worship to God and the Lamb.

Comment on DA 769.2: It was the Father and Son who created the world. It was God the Father and His angels who saw the work completed by Christ.

DA 834.2: But He waves them back. Not yet; He cannot now receive the coronet of glory and the royal robe. He enters into the presence of His Father. He points to His wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet; He lifts His hands, bearing the print of nails. He points to the tokens of His triumph; He presents to God the wave sheaf, those raised with Him as representatives of that great multitude who shall come forth from the grave at His second coming. He approaches the Father, with whom there is joy over one sinner that repents; who rejoices over one with singing. Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan. They had clasped Their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled. When upon the cross He cried out, “It is finished,” He addressed the Father. The compact had been fully carried out. Now He declares: Father, it is finished. I have done Thy will, O My God. I have completed the work of redemption. If Thy justice is satisfied, “I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” John 19:30; 17:24.

Two things are evident in the above EGW quotes: (1) Only two Divine Beings were involved in the "work of Creation;" and (2) Man was created in "a form" resembling the form of the Father and the Son. That is to say, man's physical appearance resembles that of the Father and the Son.

Who is the "us"?

Genesis 1:26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image..."

Genesis 3:22: Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—”

Genesis 11:7: Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Isaiah 6:8: I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

Psalm 8:5 (WEB): "For you have made him a little lower than Elohim, and crowned him with glory and honor." Literally, "For you have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor."

Various modern translations have "God" instead of "angels," including: ASV, AMP, CSB, Geneva, Good News, MSG, NASB, RSV. Hebrew Bibles translate it as "the Divine."

Pulpit Commentary. There is no place in the Old Testament where Elohim means "angels;" and, though the LXX. so translate in the present passage, and the rendering has passed from them into the New Testament (Hebrews 2:7), it cannot be regarded as critically correct. The psalmist, in considering how man has been favoured by God, goes back in thought to his creation, and remembers the words of Genesis 1:26, 27, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him" (compare the still stronger expression in Psalm 82:6, "I have said, Ye are gods"). And hast crowned him with glory and honour; i.e. "and, by so doing, by giving him a nature but a little short of the Divine, hast put on him a crown of glory such as thou hast given to no other creature."

Jewish Commentary. "Elohim" is properly translated as divine; this explains why people are adorned ... with glory and majesty, typically divine qualities. The tradition that "elohim" should be rendered here as angels (LXX, Tg., Radak) is the result of the discomfort of depicting humans as too God-like--a discomfort not shared by the psalmist.

Adam and Eve and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Was there anything wrong with the fruit of this tree? Answer: No.

1. People think that the major problem with us and God is a broke rule.

2. People think that the solution between us and God is the forgiven of sins. That it is a legal problem of pardon of guilt. That Jesus paid it all and once forgiven, we are "saved."

Genesis 3:9-15 Questions: (1) Where are you? (2) Who told you that you were naked? (3) Did you eat of that tree that I told you not to eat?

The truth is: God is more interested in the missing Adam than the missing fruit.

What Adam lost by eating of the fruit was an intimate, trusting relationship with God. He lost His faith in God. He lost a true understanding of God. He doubted God's character. He went on the journey, the path of doubt, suspicion, and questioning. And so, our knowledge of God is at best, warped, if not entirely false.

The fundamental problem we have with God is not legal, but relational.

The Serpent's approach with Eve was to first have her doubt God's nature before he got her to break the rule.

You can't do bad stuff until you believe God doesn't care about you.

Why did God ask Adam, "Where are you?"

Did God know where he was? Answer: Yes. Then why the question?

It was to give Adam a chance to speak for himself; to take accountability; to recognize his condition; to seek for help.

The term: "To come to himself" in the story of the Prodigal Son is something we all face. It is a coming to terms with my own condition. It is self-evaluation in the most honest, unbiased sense.

When you think it's your mission (and not God's), then you have a tendency to not respect other's intelligence. Then you begin to dictate and enforce your thoughts and opinions.

Truth and Love. It can be Truth without Love, or Love without Truth.

Hierarchy of needs.

Man to replace the fallen angels

ST May 29, 1901, par. 1: God created man for His own glory. It was His purpose to re-populate heaven with the human race, if after test and trial they proved to be loyal to Him. Adam was to be tested, to see whether he would be obedient or disobedient. Had he stood the test, his thoughts would have been as the thoughts of God. His character would have been moulded after the similitude of the divine character.

(Ibid., par. 2}: But Adam did not endure the test....

RH May 29, 1900, par. 12: The great Architect wants to form us into a holy temple for himself. Only those who are partakers of the divine nature can understand this. Those who walk even as Christ walked, who are patient, gentle, kind, meek, and lowly in heart, those who yoke up with Christ and lift his burdens, who yearn for souls as he yearned for them—these will enter into the joy of their Lord. They will see with Christ the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. Heaven will triumph, for the vacancies made in heaven by the fall of Satan and his angels will be filled by the redeemed of the Lord.

RH May 8, 1894, par. 1: Jesus came to our world to dispute the authority of Satan, who claimed supremacy over the earth. He came to restore in man the defaced image of God, to impart to the repentant soul divine power by which he might be raised from corruption and degradation, and be elevated and ennobled and made fit for companionship with the angels of heaven, to take the position in the courts of God which Satan and his angels lost through their rebellion. But men have failed to co-operate with Jesus in his divine mission, and have placed themselves under the black banner of the prince of darkness, giving themselves up to be the agents through whom the powers of darkness work for the destruction of humanity. It is Satan's purpose to counteract the work of Christ, and in his counsels he lays plans by which to convert every soul into a channel of darkness. The earth is the field of battle in which the powers of light and darkness are in controversy over the human souls for whom Christ died.

5T 473.2: Satan urges before God his accusations against them, declaring that they have by their sins forfeited the divine protection, and claiming the right to destroy them as transgressors. He pronounces them just as deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. “Are these,” he says, “the people who are to take my place in heaven and the place of the angels who united with me? While they profess to obey the law of God, have they kept its precepts? Have they not been lovers of self more than of God? Have they not placed their own interests above His service? Have they not loved the things of the world? Look at the sins which have marked their lives. Behold their selfishness, their malice, their hatred toward one another.”