All Glory to God the Father and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
From Westminster Shorter Catechism, questions 6 through 10:
Q. 6. How many persons are there in the godhead?
A. There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
Q. 7. What are the decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Q. 8. How doth God execute his decrees?
A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
Q. 9. What is the work of creation?
A. The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.
Q. 10. How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
When I was around 14, having grown up in a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, we had confirmation classes every Saturday morning that I practically had to be dragged to. We did not use the Westminster Shorter Catechism, thankfully to my young and carnal mind, but something the Lutherans had created to bend our young and resistant teenage brains into loving Christ. The default standing of Man is to run from Christ. To count the bible as foolishness. We love our sin and want to hold on to it. Interestingly, John 1 verses 9 through 13 deals with this. Well frankly, the whole bible deals with this, but we will narrow our focus just a bit to keep our eye on the ball, as it were.
John 1: 9
There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
With the Incarnation of Christ, and through the Sovereign power of God, every man has enough light to be responsible. God has planted his knowledge in man through general revelation of creation and conscience. This blessing of general revelation does not however produce salvation, but either leads to the complete Light of Jesus Christ or produces condemnation in those who reject such light. Condemnation that you see played out in many of our big cities just about every night this summer. The condemnation that you see in California where churches are are told they cannot meet, indefinitely, yet Planned Parenthood and abortions continue unabated.
It is quite striking that demons have a better understanding of scripture than most people do. We find Jesus casting out demons in Matthew 8 verse 29: And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
They know who the Son of God is and that they are doomed to eternal torment. The coming of Jesus Christ was the fulfilment and embodiment of the light that God had placed in the heart of man.
John 1: 10
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
We go back to the creation and know that the world was made through Him. I try to remember if this was ever made known to me in my small town Lutheran Church and while I have a pretty good memory, I don’t think so. I could be wrong, but verse by verse teaching was not in vogue back then in our part of the world. It doesn’t really matter as that was then and I was not a believer and this is now and I am. Christ was the agent of Creation (John 1:3) and we did not know Him (John 1:10). Even though we have a bit of Light installed in us, we do not know him. The Jews, brought out of Egypt, saw miracle after miracle, saw a burning cloud go before them (Exodus 40:34-38), water from a rock (Exodus 17:1-7), food on the ground every day (Exodus 16:4-5) and yet they did not know him. God in His Mercy sent His Son to save the world (John 3:16) and yet they did not know him. Consider us, with access to all the information that we have today, where we can look back into history and see how this story plays out, we for the most part do not know Christ.
Why is that? When we were young, we drank milk, as we grew older, our liking for milk lessened as a drink of choice, but not in our churches. What am I talking about?
Hebrews 5:13-14
13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Do you like your church sermons light, full of good news and short? No uncomfortable pieces of scripture that deal with our sin, talk of hell and damnation, tell us we are accountable once we accept Christ and can no longer live as we once did? I know I did. Squirmed a bit in the pew when the preacher went a little long. I am not saying that you have to attend a church that goes on for 2 hours, but it does have to preach to the whole counsel of God. See this video by Grace to You Church and John MacArthur for what Essential Doctrines a church should have.
The trouble is that would we even know if we are still a milk drinker at church? This is where scripture comes into play. When you start to read it, it may not all make sense. But, little by little, the more you read, the more you know. This is the Holy Spirit at work in you. You have less desire to sin. Yes, you have to work at this, put away those things that you know are causing you to sin. And pray to a Loving Father in Jesus’s name. He wants to hear from you. The Holy Spirit helps in this too.
Romans 8:26-27
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
John 1: 11
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
Who were His own? Mankind in general and the Jewish nation in specific. We are His creation. He owns us. Is that a shocking and uncomfortable thought to you? Put away your milk. So Christ came into His own, and they did not receive Him.
Matthew 23:37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
And because the Jews were by and large unwilling to recognize Him as the Christ, the Gentiles were included. We, the Gentiles have always been included, from the time of Abraham.
Genesis 22:15-18
15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
God’s plan all along was one of blessing for all nations. Because of Israel’s witness to God’s power and love, Gentiles throughout the Old Testament were drawn to the God of Israel. They came to know God by the testimony of his people and the Word he revealed. Paul’s mission was to bring the Light to the Gentiles. He always started in a Jewish synagogue, and if and when they rejected him, he sought out the Gentiles. We all are creatures of God and those of us that have repented their sins and acknowledged Christ as their Savior, we are children of God. A free gift that costs everything is how I like to look at it.
John 1: 12
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
Children of God. I hope you can fathom how awesome that is. Once you have received Him, believe His birth, death and resurrection, repent your sins and follow Christ, you are no longer just a creature made in God’s image, but now a child of God.
John 1: 13
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
This verse says right here that our salvation comes from God. Think about that. Do you hold to the idea that you have some part to play in becoming a child of God? How? You, the clay, how do you affect or control the Potter (Jeremiah 18:1-12). Yes we have free will, right up to the point where God says “You are Mine.” And be thankful for that, because if we had a part to play in our salvation, we’d probably screw it up.
If you have questions about any of this, please let me know, or better yet, seek the answers in your bible. Also look into the scriptural references provided in this bible study.
Rom. 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.