Rivermont Presbyterian Church
College and Career Sunday School Class
Creation
Redemption
Fall
An Outline For Discussion
Compiled by P. Ribeiro and Adriana Ribeiro
(Main sources: Scriptures, Creation Regained by Albert Wolters, and The
Transforming Vision by Brian Walsh and Richard Middleton, Patterns of the
Western Mind, J. Kok, An Introduction to Christian Philosophy, J. Spier, Contours
of a Christian Philosophy, L. Kalsbeek, Perspectives in Philosophy, J Van Kyk)
He who was seated on
the throne said, I am
making everything
new!” Rev. 21:5
Do not
conform any
longer with
the pattern of
this world,
but be
transformed
by the
renewing of
your mind.
Then you will
be able to test
and prove
what God’s
will is - His
good,
pleasing and
perfect will.
3Rom.
12:2
(For Sunday School Class Use Only)
1
Introduction
Lesson 1 - June6, 1999
The Format
Open debate (Socratic method), group dynamics / participation.
The Standard
The Word of God
The Motivation
A sense of great frustration - corporate and personal:
Ineffectiveness of Christianity to shape public life (Rom 12:1-2, 2 Cor. 10:5))
Dualistic view of Christian Service (secular versus sacred).
Objective - The Title (What does it mean?)
Biblical worldview and its significance for our lives as we seek to be obedient to Scriptures
Long tradition (Augustine, Calvin…)
Reformational (after Protestant Reformation)
Scripture Alone (as opposed to Scriptures and Tradition)
Reformational (Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, Herman Dooyeweerd, D. Volenhoven)
Contribution through theology, philosophy, and other academic disciplines
The Challenge
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your
spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer with the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and prove what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. Rom. 12:1-2
It is by no means easy to hold beliefs for which you would be willing to die, and yet to remain open to new insights; but it is precisely such a
combination of commitment and enquiry that constitutes religious maturity." -- Ian Barbour
2
Do you have a worldview?
How do we respond to evangelism, to pacifism, or
patriotism?
What words of condolence do we offer at a
graveside?
Whom do we blame for inflation?
What are our views on abortion, homosexuality,
capital punishment,
discipline in child-rearing, racial segregation,
artificial insemination, cloning, arts and films,
extramarital sex?
Would we discourage our children from becoming
involved with arts or politics?
When taxation is unjust , do we cheat on our tax
forms?
Life Perspective
What is a
Worldview?
The direction = obedience to God
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step
with the Spirit. Gal. 5:25.
German Weltanschuung
=
World-and-Life-View
Confessional Vision
Principles, Ideals, Values,
Vision of Life, Vision of
the Future
Generic Definition:
The comprehensive framework of one’s basic belief about things
Components of a worldview:
Things (anything which is possible to have a belief)
Beliefs (not feelings, not opinions)
Basic Beliefs
Framework (pattern)
3
What role does a worldview play in our lives?
Guide to our life
Shapes the way we see the events and issues
Humans are incapable of holding purely
arbitrary opinions or making entirely
unprincipled decisions.
What is the Scope of a
Worldview?
Are we always consistent with
our worldview? No!
Sometimes we hold to
conflicting beliefs or fail to act
in harmony with the beliefs we
hold.
Cultural life is not only rooted in
the dominant worldview; it also
orients life in terms of that
worldview.
Education
Politics
Religious
Institutions
Health
Care
World
view
The contradiction of our fallen
nature. Rom. 7:15-25
Family
Legal
Institutions
Environment
The tension / crisis is fundamentally
religious because our worldview rests
on a faith commitment:
1 - Who am I
2 - Where am I?
3 - What’s wrong?
4 - What is the remedy?
1 Pe. 2: 9-10
A chosen people
Arts
See, I set before you today life and prosperity,
death and destruction. Dt. 30:15-20
2 Pe. 3:11
Advancing the Kingdom
speeding His coming
4
What is the relationship of Worldview to Scripture?
Our worldview must be shaped and tested by Scriptures!
Scriptures speaks to everything in our life and world
including technology, economics and science!
Read and Discuss
Act. 17:11 (Bereans)
Rom.12:2 (Renewal of our minds)
Rom. 15:4 (Scriptures teach us)
2 Tim. 3:16-17 (Scripture the basis for our understanding)
What is the relationship between worldview
theology and philosophy?
Theology and Philosophy are specialized fields of inquiry that not everyone can engage in (Acts 7: 22, Prov. 8)
Biblical wisdom does not increase with advanced theological training (1 Cor. 1:20)
Academic knowledge - different from - Wisdom / Common Sense
(1 Cor. 1:25 - God’s Wisdom)
Worldview, philosophy and theology are alike in being comprehensive in scope, but that they are unlike in that a worldview
is pre-scientific, whereas theology and philosophy are scientific.
Philosophy - Structure
Theology - Direction
Worldview - Structure and Direction
5
What is unique about the Reformational Worldview?
Nothing apart from God himself falls outside the range of these foundational realities of biblical
religion.
Lordship of Christ over all creation - 2 Cor. 10:5;
Life is religion - 1 Cor. 10:31
Definition of a Reformational Worldview
(Herman Bavinck)
God the Father has reconciled His created but fallen world
through the death of His Son, and renews it into a Kingdom of
God by His Spirit.
The terms:
Reconciled, Created, Fallen, World, Renews, Kingdom of God
are held to be cosmic in scope
The ministry of reconciliation
2 Cor. 5:17-19
6
Summary Questions
1 - What is a worldview? Explain the four basic components of the definition.
2 - What is the role of worldview in life. In what ways does a worldview serve as a guide to our
lives?
3 - What is the relation between Scripture and worldview?
4 - What does Rom 12:2, and 15:4 tell us?
5 - What are the differences between theology, philosophy and worldview?
6 - What is unique about the reformational worldview? In which ways does it differ from other
worldviews advocated by Christians?
7- What is the distinction between an integral worldview and a dualistic worldview?
8 - How should we then live?
910 -
7
Lesson 2, June 13, 1999
Biblical Worldview: Based on Creation
An Outline For Discussion
Let us sing: This Is My Father’s World
Creation
Fall
Redemption
Summary Questions from the first lesson:
•What is a worldview?
•What is the role of worldview in life. In what ways does a worldview serve as a guide to our lives?
•What is the relation between Scripture and worldview?
•What is unique about the reformational worldview? What is the distinction between an integral worldview and a dualistic worldview?
Introductory Words
As Christians we often pay only lip service to the biblical doctrine of creation. We think it important perhaps for refuting evolution, but
otherwise we do not place much value on it.
Jesus Christ and the redemption He brings are the the focus of Scriptures, but the worldview of the Scriptures does not begin with Christ
and salvation. It begins with God and creation. The first article of the Apostles’ Creed emphasizes the Genesis account: “I believe in God,
the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” This is where Christianity begins. Creation is the starting point.
The biblical message is a call from sin to reconciliation with God. But what is sin? And what do words like salvation , redemption and
reconciliation mean? It is impossible to offer an answer to these questions if we do not have an implicit idea of creation. For it us creation
that is affected by both sin and salvation.
To talk about sin we must look at how God’s creatures disobeyed Him and how His creation was distorted. What is salvation but the
outworking of God’s love for His creation. In worldview terms we cannot answer the questions “what is wrong?” and “what’s the remedy?’
unless we first address the issues of who we are and where we are? Answering these questions will direct us through the biblical themes of
creation, fall and redemption - these themes constitute the basic flow and movement of the Bible.
We must remember that these are not merely interesting ideas to be discussed. The worldview of of Scriptures calls the people to
commitment and action. Just as we cannot be neutral about the person of Christ and the salvation He offers, we cannot ignore the radical
implications of the biblical teaching on creation (Walters).
God is not a creator who failed. He does not plan to scrap creation! He is recreating, restoring, redeeming it - making everything new.
This is our Father’s world! We are called to participate in His redeeming work. Creation eagerly awaits for it: Rom. 8:18-27.
8
The Law of Creation
What is the correlation between
the creating activity of God and
His created order?
Creation
Gen. 1
In the
Beginning
Activity of creating
Cosmos (created order)
Providence
Beautiful
Arrangement
Continuous
2 Pet. 3:5-7
MAKES
RULES
CREATOR
All Creation
Natural Laws
Men
Necessity
Instinct
Personal Responsibility
Ps. 44:3 !
Biblical Laws
Creator’s Sovereign Activity
Originating (Gen.1 ); Upholding (Heb. 1:3); Guiding / Ruling (2 Pet. 3:5-7)
His : Power, Breath, Word, Rule, Hands, Plan, Will, Call, Decree, Ordinances, Statutes
Creation Definition:
The Correlation of the sovereign activity of the Creator and the created order.
LAW
(Creation)
Law is the manifestation of God’s sovereignty in creation: the totality of God’s ordering acts toward the cosmos. Ps. 33:9
9
God Imposes His Law on the Cosmos
What are the ways in which God
imposes His law on the cosmos?
Indirectly
Directly
(through human responsibility)
Norms
Gen. 1:27
Entrusted to mankind
norms for culture and society
marriage, government,
doing justice,making tools …
(direct orders)
Laws of Nature
gravity, thermodynamics
photosynthesis, heredity
Gen. 1:1-26
Discovered by
physics, chemistry, biology ...
Norms can be violated (Gen. 2:15-17)
Laws of nature cannot be violated
•All of human life, in all its vast array of cultural, societal, and personal relationships, is normed
•The almighty Creator lays claims to it all; the absolute King requires His will to be discerned in it all..
What is the difference between
“norms” and “laws of nature?”
What is the difference between
general and particular laws?
In the Secularized Western Mind
Laws of Nature - Acceptable
Norms - Not really
They prefer “Values”
What is wrong with replacing the word “norms” for the word “value” ?
Discuss Ps. 147:15-20
Is there a difference between God’s word of command to snow and
His command to His people?
10
The Word of God in Creation
(Creation by Word - Creation by Wisdom)
What is the connection between
God’s word and His Law (command)?
“Fulfilling His Word - Fulfilling His Biding - Obeying His Voice” (Ps. 148: 8)
Creatio ex nihilo (Gen.1:1 ) -Creatio secunda (Gen. 1:2)
“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made” (Ps. 33:6)
“Long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and with water (2 Pet. 3:5)
“By faith we understand that the universe was fashioned by the word of God” (Heb. 11:3)
Upholding (Heb. 1: 3)
In the beginning
was the Word,
and the Word
was with God,
and the Word
was God. He
was with God in
the beginning.
Through Him all
things were
made; without
Him nothing was
made that has
been made. In
Him was life, and
the that life was
the light of the
men. John. 1:1-3
Governing - (Ps. 147: 18, 148:8)
Creation took place through Christ - Christ is the “mediator of creation” (John 1:1-3, Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2, 2:10)
Christ is intimately involved in the preservation of creation (holding together - Col. 1:16, 17; sustaining all things - Heb. 1:2,3)
Creation by Wisdom: Prov. 8:22-31, Job 28:25-27; Ps. 104:24; Ps. 139:14
Worthy of Worship: Jer. 10:1-16; Ps. 119:89-91
Covenant with creation (creation is a covenantal response to God’s Word) Jer. 33:20-21, 25-26; Ps. 96:9-10
“Let there be light”
E = mc2
11
The Scope of Creation
What is the scope of creation?
Creation has a scope much broader then the common usage gives it.
•Not just realities investigated by natural sciences
•All disciplines (sociology, political science, etc.) are under its scope
•God’s ordinances also extend to the structures of society
•Human civilization is normed throughout. Everywhere we discover limits, standards, criteria. In every
field of human affairs there are right and wrong ways of doing things. For everything God created is good.
Examples: Marriage and Authority (1 Tim. 4:3-4; Rom. 13:1-2; 1 pet. 2:13)
•Culture, education, sexuality, human emotionality … are not normless. Our reasoning is subject to the laws
of thought, our speech to semantic principles.
•Everything is subject to given laws of God: Everything is creational.
•Meaning and purpose is the essence of all that is created.
12
Summary Questions
What is the correlation between the creating activity of God and His created order?
What is the difference between “norms” and “laws of nature?”
What is the connection between God’s word and His Law (command)?
What is the scope of creation?
What is our response?
Ps. 143:10 (Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground)
James Houston calls the Christian community to a fresh sense of its mission:
I appeal to evangelical Christians to use the whole range of their professional skills to speak prophetically about our times. We
need deeper analyses of the pathology of scientific, technological social and political evils in our contemporary world, in light of
the eternal realities revealed in God’s Word. A new missionary enterprise is involved: to go virtually into every professional area of
life, just as in the past we have emphasized the geographical penetration of our world with the gospel.
The biblical idea of stewardship of creation balances authority with servanthood. This strikes at the heart of our humanity.
Although we are the lords of the earth, we are also servants of God. We are called to exercise our rule in obedient response to
God’s ultimate sovereignty. Subduing creation is an issue of covenantal responsibility (Gen. 1:28)
This is my father’s world!
13
Lesson #3, June 20, 1999
Rivermont Presbyterian Church
College and Career Sunday School Class
Biblical Reformational Worldview:
The heavens declare the glory of God
Based on Creation (2)
An Outline For Discussion
Summary Questions from Lesson # 2
•What is the correlation between the creating activity of God and His created order?
•What is the difference between “norms” and “laws of nature?”
•What is the connection between God’s word and His Law (command)?
•What is the scope of creation?
•What is our response?
Creation
Fall
Redemption
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. Rom. 1:20
Introduction
The scope of creation goes beyond the physical realm. From physics to sociology, from biology to economics - everything is creational
-all is subjected to God’s given laws.
There is no tension between the universal and particular in God’s law.
God’s law reflects his constancy (universal laws). But He also deals with creation on a particular basis. He who commands snow and
makes the wind blow and rain fall, can revert the natural process of the fall (He surprises us with miracles everyday - a testimony).
The primal command to subdue the earth (often called “creation mandate”) is a cultural mandate. In all our activities, by which we
interact and/or develop creation, we respond to God’s cultural mandate (in obedience or disobedience).
The major emphasis of the biblical vision of life is wholeness. This vision is both refreshing and life affirming.
14
The Revelation of Creation
Theses and Talking Points
1 - The law of creation is revelatory: it imparts knowledge (Ps. 19:1-4). Even the NT stresses God’s revelation in creation
(Acts. 14:17; Rom. 1:18-20).
2 - God speaks plainly through his works, but we may opt not to hear Him - however, even the Gentiles, “who do not have
the law,” can sense God’s normative demands through creation.
3 - Conscience is the intuitive attunement to creational normatively. (Rom. 2:14-15)
4 - Creational law speaks so loudly that even in the delusions of paganism, its normative demands are driven home into
their inmost being. God does not leave Himself unattested; He refutes to be ignored. He asserts Himself in an
unmistakably display of His “eternal power and divine nature” so that we cannot fail to take note of the Creator’s claims on
our obedience.
5 - Wisdom means ethical conformity to the divine constitution and creation. (Pr. 1:22-23)
6 - The connection between Wisdom and creation is made very explicit in Proverbs. (Prov. 8:22-23, 27-30). Wisdom is
beside him like an amon (standard). Wisdom is the standard by which God works. Job 38-4.
7 - The Lord teaches the farmer his business: An explicit example - Isaiah 28:23-29.
8 - The creation order is knowable - this fact is the basis for all human understanding.
9 - Many argue that the creational scheme has been altered by the fall. They fail to recognize the constancy of God’s will
for creation, and the power of Jesus Christ in restoring our faculty and discernment. We need spiritual discernment
(wisdom and understanding). (Eph. 1:17-18; Rom 12:2; Heb. 5:14; Col. 1:9-10)
15
The Revelation of Creation (contd.)
10 - Christians of all vocations and walks of life - business executives, farmers, barbers, academics, politicians,
educators, homemakers, lawyers - must hear, not only in their private but also in their professional capacities, the wellknown exhortation of the apostle, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect
will” (Rom. 12:2)
11 - How does God’s speech in creation relate to His speech on Scripture? Is there a danger in putting too much
emphasis on general revelation? Do we not compromise the Reformation’s great principle of Sola Scripture?
12 - We need to have the guidance of Scripture and the exercise of “sanctified common sense.”
13 - As a message of salvation the revelation of creation is useless.
14 - Seeking the council of Scripture: Scripture are spectacles through which we are enabled to read the book of nature.
“Thy word is lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105)
Just as old or bleary-eyed men and those with weak vision, if you thrust before them a most beautiful volume, even if they recognize
it to be some sort of writing, yet can scarcely construe two words, but with the aid of spectacles will begin to read distinctly; so
Scripture, gathering up the otherwise confused knowledge of God in our minds, having dispersed our dullness, clearly shows us the
true God. John Calvin
15 - The law is fulfilled in that the shadow is replaced by the substance, and the Jewish law is not longer binding for the
people of God. On the other hand, the law is fulfilled in that Christ reaffirms its deepest meaning (Mat. 5:17).
God did the implementing for His people in the Old Testament, while in the NT He in large gives us freedom in Christ
to do our own implementing of His norms (the blueprint of the law of creation). (Rom. 2:12; 3:31, 5:20; 6:15; 7:12; 8:2;
10:4-11)
16
Summary Questions
1 - In what sense or senses does creation constitute a revelation?
2 - Do you agree with Walters’ definition of conscience as intuitive attunement to creational normatively?
3 - What are the meanings of wisdom?
4 - How does God rule creation?
5 - Explain the nature and importance of the fundamental knowability of the creation order.
6 - What is meant by spiritual discernment?
7 - How is Scripture comparable to spectacles?
Conclusions
The heavens declare the glory of God. No excuses, please!
The revelation of creation, however, is useless as a message of salvation.
The revelation of creation is like a verbal explanation that an architect gives to an incompetent builder who has forgotten how to read
the blueprint. With the explanation everything becomes clearer, and the builder can proceed confidently with the task.
We need spiritual discernment from Scripture.
Praise to God for His complete revelation in Scripture. With the help of our Lord Jesus, the Lord of the Universe, let us celebrate His
beautiful creation and obey His command to subdue and develop the earth. We were placed in a garden, but are going to a city.
Taking action: seek wisdom; look at creation; make a point to know and name God’s creation; but first and foremost recognize your
creator and listen to His Word - Read it daily and meditate on it. And finally let us live by it.
17
Lesson # 4, June 27, 1999
Rivermont Presbyterian Church
College and Career Sunday School Class
Biblical Reformational Worldview: Based on Creation (3)
The Cultural Mandate: From a Garden to a City
Creation
Fall
Redemption
An Outline For Discussion
Introduction
The heavens are telling of God; the very shape of starry space makes news of His handiwork.
One day is brimming over with talk for the next, and each night passes on intimate knowledge to the next night there is no speaking, no words at all - you can’t hear their voice - but their expression travels throughout the whole earth! Their uttered noises carry to the end
of inhabited land.
God set up a tent for the sun at the ends of the earth - have you seen the sun?! Beaming forth like a bridegroom from his marriage-bed!
The sun laughs joyfully like a strong man glad to run a race: it always rises from the edge of the heavens, and it circles over and around to the (other) ends of
the sky - nothing is able to hide from its burning heat.
The leading of the Lord God is utterly reliable, bringing people back to life again.
The magnificent testimonies of the Lord prove themselves to be everlasting true, making inexperienced young people wise.
The commanding words of the Lord are truly straightening, causing one’s heart to laugh and be glad.
The task imposed by the Lord is bound to be integrally whole, making one’s eyes shine with insight.
Fear of the Lord is cleansing: it stands up for ever and ever.
The ordering judgements of the Lord are firmly true - more desirable than gold, yes, than much gold,
sweeter than honey, yes, than natural honey of the honeycomb.
Let me, your servant, also be warned by these ordinances, Lord, for in keeping them much good results -who can discern all one’s errant missteps?! O Lord set
me free from the spoilsome sins kept hidden from my notice! And please hold me back from every overweening presumption - I am your servant, Lord - Do not
ever let self-confidence push me around: then I will (finally) be able to be unpretentiously blameless, rid of all the guilt-making rebelliousness…
Let the sayings of my mouth and the inarticulate groaning of my heart be something acceptable in front of your face,
O Lord God, my rock! the One who always comes through to set me free from my bondage.
The Good News of Psalm 19 is that the whole world of rocks and dirt, wind and seas is a chorus of praise to the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth, not
metaphorically, but literally. And Psalm 19 proclaims that the ways of God set up creation and assigns tasks in history are paths of shalom when they are
followed in covenant with Him. Psalm 19 offers a restoring vision and redemptive direction for those who want to join the world-wide chorus of “Praise
God from whom all blessings flow” rather than be a human candle-holder looking on blankly as our 20, 40, 60 or 70 years go past like a yesterday.
Psalm 19 - Rainbows for the Fallen World by Calvin Seerveld (adapted)
18
The Revelation of Creation (contd.)
Theses and Talking Points
9 - Many argue that the creational scheme has been altered by the fall. They fail to recognize the constancy of God’s will
for creation, and the power of Jesus Christ in restoring our faculty and discernment. We need spiritual discernment
(wisdom and understanding). (Eph. 1:17-18; Rom 12:2; Heb. 5:14; Col. 1:9-10)
10 - Christians of all vocations and walks of life - business executives, farmers, barbers, academics, politicians, educators,
homemakers, lawyers - must hear, not only in their private, but also in their professional capacities, the well-known
exhortation of the apostle, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2)
11 - How does God’s speech in creation relate to His speech in Scripture? Is there a danger in putting too much emphasis
on general revelation? Do we not compromise the Reformation’s great principle of “Sola Scripture”?
12 - We need to have the guidance of Scripture and the exercise of “sanctified common sense.”
13 - As a message of salvation the revelation of creation is useless.
14 - Seeking the council of Scripture: Scripture are spectacles through which we are enabled to read the book of nature.
“Thy word is lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105)
Just as old or bleary-eyed men and those with weak vision, if you thrust before them a most beautiful volume, even if they recognize it to
be some sort of writing, yet can scarcely construe two words, but with the aid of spectacles will begin to read distinctly; so Scripture,
gathering up the otherwise confused knowledge of God in our minds, having dispersed our dullness, clearly shows us the true God. John
Calvin
15 - The law is fulfilled in that the shadow is replaced by the substance, and the Jewish law is not longer binding for the
people of God. On the other hand, the law is fulfilled in that Christ reaffirms its deepest meaning (Mat. 5:17).
God did the implementing for His people in the Old Testament, while in the NT He in large gives us freedom in Christ to
do our own implementing of His norms (the blueprint of the law of creation). (Rom. 2:12; 3:31, 5:20; 6:15; 7:12; 8:2;
10:4-11)
19
The Revelation of Creation (contd.)
Structure of Creational Normativity
Fifteen aspects of reality in which all human activity takes place:
1- arithmetic
2- spatial
3- kinematics
4- physical
5- biotic
6- sensitive
7- analytical / logical
8- historical
9- lingual
10- social
11- economic
12- aesthetic
13- juridical
14- moral / ethical
15- pistic
(discrete, individual, separate entities)
(continuous extension)
(movement)
(energy)
(life)
(feeling)
(making distinction)
(human culture)
(communications)
(interactions of human beings)
(stewardship)
(harmony)
(justice)
(love)
(faith)
Examples: A tulip, the launching of a manned space craft, etc...
20
The Development of Creation: From a Garden to a City
1 - Is the creation process finished with the creation of man?
Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds
of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Gen. 1:28
The Lord God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Gen. 2:15.
2 - We must must now carry on the work of development by being fruitful, and subdue the earth. The development of
the created earth is societal and cultural in nature (civilization). Mistakes: The tower of Babel, etc.
3 - The creational or cultural mandate is of such fundamental importance for the whole history of revelation, and
therefore for a biblical worldview.
4 - History is the generational unfolding and opening up of the possibilities hidden in the womb of creation, both
natural and human.
Gen 2:4 “These are the generations of heavens and of earth when they were created” (KJV).
Generations = historical developments arising out of ...
5 - Creation is not something that, once, made, remains a static quantity.
6 - If we see that human history and the unfolding of culture and society are integral to creation and its development,
that they are not outside God’s plans for the cosmos, despite the sinful aberrations, but rather were built in from the
beginning, were part of the blueprint that we never understood before, then we will be much more open to the positive
possibilities for service to God in such areas as politics and film arts, computer technology, and and business
administration, developmental economics, skydiving, and soccer!
21
The Development of Creation: From a Garden to a City
7 - The discussion of creational development can easily give the impression of a humanistic cultural optimism. There is
always something unreal and dangerous about talking of the development of creation apart from sin and redemption.
8 - The ravages of sin, however, do not annihilate the normative creational development of civilization, but are rather
parasitical upon it.
9 - The new heaven and the new earth the Lord has promised will be a continuation, purified by fire, of the creation we
now know. Rev. 21:1
10 - Describing the new earth as the new Jerusalem, John writes that “the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into
it ... The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it” Rev. 21: 24,26. This very likely refers to the cultural
treasures of mankind being purified by the fires of judgment, like gold in a crucible.
11 - But what about 2 Peter 3:10? Discuss
12 - Read also 2 Peter 3:6-7-13. Does “destruction” here mean annihilation?
13 - There is no reason to doubt that the works of man will be transfigured and transformed by their liberation from the
curse, but they will be in essential continuity with our experience now - just as our resurrected bodies, though glorified,
will still be bodies. It may be, as Herman Bavinck has suggested, that human life on the new earth, compared to that life
now, will be like the colorful butterfly that develops out of the pupa: dramatically different, but the same creature.
Perhaps the most fitting symbol of the developments of creation from the primordial past to the eschatological future is
the fact that the Bible begins with a garden and ends with a city - a city filled with “the glory and honor of the nations.”
And as He spoke He no longer looked like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and
beautiful that I cannot write about them. And for us this is the end of all stories, and we can most truly say that they all
lived happy ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their
adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the
Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
The Last Battle. C.S. Lewis
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Summary Questions and Conclusion
1 - In what sense or senses does creation constitute a revelation?
2 - Do you agree with Walters’ definition of conscience as intuitive attunement to creational normatively?
3 - What are the meanings of wisdom?
4 - How does God rule creation?
5 - Explain the nature and importance of the fundamental knowability of the creation order.
6 - What is meant by spiritual discernment?
7 - How is Scripture comparable to spectacles?
8 - How does the development of creation imply civilization?
9 - What is meant by the creation or cultural mandate, especially in relation to history or the historical process?
10 - What is unreal about addressing the development of creation apart from sin and redemption?
11 - Describe how gnosticism and humanism deny the goodness of creation. Be familiar with 1 Tim. 4:4
Conclusion
Religion is distinct from worship. Religion encompasses our whole life, whereas worship is only a small part of it. We are active in
worship when we pray, participate in a church service, or take the sacraments. We also have a divine calling outside of the narrow sphere
of worship. We are to perform our tasks for the Lord through faith and to seek to attain His honor and glory by walking in the Covenant
and withdrawing nothing from Him. The entire life of a believer is religious. To worship is not any more pleasing to God than to be
engaged in science, engineering or any other God-given task.
Our labor is not vain in the Lord, but will further the coming of His Kingdom. “For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face;
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I have been known.” (I Cor. 13:12)
Schedule
July 4
July 11
July 18July 25
August 1
August 8
August 15
August 22
Fall
Fall
Redemption
Redemption
Discerning Structure and Direction
Discerning Structure and Direction
Discerning Structure and Direction
General Discuss - Recap
The Scope of the Fall, The Relation of Sin and Creation,
Structure and Direction, World as Perverted Creation
Salvation as Restoration, The Kingdom of God
Jesus’ Ministry, Comparison with Other Views of the Kingdom, Illustration
Reformation
Societal Renewal
Personal Renewal
23
Lesson # 5, July 4, 1999
Rivermont Presbyterian Church
College and Career Sunday School Class
Biblical Reformational Worldview: Fall (1)
Creation
Fall
Redemption
The Whole Creation Has Been Groaning
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that
the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of
the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth
right up to the present time (Rom. 8:19-22)
An Outline For Discussion
Introduction
It is our responsibility to serve the Lord our Creator, and yet we are not forced to do so. It is possible to disobey, to depart from who we
are called to be. And this possibility became reality in the Fall. The Fall has cosmic implications. It affected society, culture, personal
lives, and the nonhuman world.
As we study the first chapter of Romans we see that we live in God’s world and are intuitively aware that there is a powerful creator
worthy of our worship. But we suppress this knowledge. Rom. 8 reveals the extent of the Fall to the nonhuman world.
And because of the Fall and our religious nature, if we do not worship God, we will worship a false god. The consequences are fatal:
Idols are the root of disobedience. (Ex. 20:4). But thanks to God for providing redemption through His Son, Creator, Sustainer and
Redeemer.
Now Choose Life (Dt. 30:19-20)
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The Scope of the Fall
What is the nature of the fall and its effect on societal,
cultural, personal lives and on the nonhuman world?
Theses and Talking Points
1 - The Bible teaches that Adam and Eve’s fall into sin was not just an isolated act of disobedience but an event
of catastrophic significance for creation as a whole. (Gen. 3:17-19-21)
2 - The effects of sin touch all of creation; no created thing is in principle untouched by the corrosive effects of
the fall. Whether we look at societal structures (family, state) or cultural pursuits (art and technology), or bodily
functions (sexuality, eating) we discover that the good handiwork of God has been drawn into the sphere of
human mutiny against God. It is creation that is tainted by sin throughout. (Gal. 5:16-26)
3 - Examples
Marriage (distortions: divorce, serial monogamy, etc.); State (distortions totalitarianism, tyranny, etc.); Political
Systems (distortions: response to the pressure of special interest groups, etc.); Creational Structures (economies,
environmental, etc); Arts (bad taste); Science and Technology (technicism, etc). (Rom. 1:21-32)
4 - Distortion is perhaps most obvious in our personal lives, where the effects of the fall are most readily
recognized by Christians. Murder, adultery, theft, blasphemy, etc. (Rom. 3:19-20)
5 - The Bible even ties bodily sickness to the root cause of sinfulness (1 Cor. 11:30).
6 - The Bible teaches that all evil and perversity in the world is ultimately the result of humanity's fall, and is
clearly manifested in personal, cultural and societal distortions
7 - The effects of sin range more widely than the arena of human affairs, it touches even the nonhuman world.
(Gen. 3:17). “Curse is the ground because of you.”
25
The Relation of Sin and Creation
Sin neither abolishes nor becomes identified
with creation
SIN = Disobedience = Distortion
Theses and Talking Points
1- The Bibles makes clear that sin neither abolishes nor becomes identified with creation. Creation and sin remain
distinct, however closely they may be intertwined in our experience. Prostitution does not eliminate the goodness of
human sexuality; political tyranny cannot wipe out the divinely ordained character of the state.
2 - Though fundamentally distinct from the good creation, sin attaches itself to creation like a parasite. Hatred, for
example, has no place within God's good creation. Nevertheless, hatred cannot exist without the creational
substratum of human emotion, and healthy assertiveness.
3 - John Calvin: “we must distinguish between “the order of creation” and “the order of sin and redemption,” which
relate to each other as health relates to sickness-and-healing.”
C.S. Lewis: Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is spoiled goodness … Evil is a parasite, not the original
thing.
4 - The perversion of creation must never be understood as a subdistinction within the order of creation, nor must
creation ever be explained as a function of perversion and redemption.
5 - We may say that sin and evil always have a character of a caricature - that is, of a distorted image that
nevertheless embodies recognizable features. A human being after the fall is still a human being. A Humanistic
school is still a school. A broken relationship is still a relationship, Muddled thinking is still thinking. In each case,
that something in fallen creation “still is” points to the enduring goodness of creation - that is to say, to
the faithfulness of God in upholding the created order despite the ravages of sin... Creation will not be suppressed in
any final sense.
Original Wave
Distorted Wave
0
0
10
20
30
0
0
10
20
30
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Summary Questions and Conclusion
1 - Describe how gnosticism and humanism deny the goodness of creation (from chapter 2). 1 Tim. 4:4
2 - What is the nature of the fall and its effect on societal, cultural, personal lives and on the nonhuman world?Rom. 8:19-22
3 - Explain the importance of the following statements concerning the relation between sin and creation:
a- Sin neither abolishes nor becomes identified with creation
b- The perversion of creation must never be understood as a sub-distinction within the order of creation, nor must creation ever be
explained as a function of perversion and redemption.
4 - Sin is alien in creation. Explain.
Conclusion
Although God still calls us to obediently execute our cultural and creational tasks, the Devil bids us to
pledge allegiance to his renegade kingdom and so to deny our true calling.
The insightful words of CS Lewis cut to the heart of our post-Fall situation: “There is no neutral ground in
the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
Schedule
July 4
July 11
July 18July 25
August 1
August 8
August 15
August 22
August 29
Fall
Fall
Redemption
Redemption
Discerning Structure and Direction
Discerning Structure and Direction
Discerning Structure and Direction
General Discussion - Recap
General Discussion - Recap
The Scope of the Fall, The Relation of Sin and Creation,
Structure and Direction, World as Perverted Creation
Salvation as Restoration, The Kingdom of God
Jesus’ Ministry, Comparison with Other Views of the Kingdom, Illustration
Reformation
Societal Renewal
Personal Renewal
Action
Action
27
Lesson # 6, July 11, 1999
Rivermont Presbyterian Church
College and Career Sunday School Class
Biblical Reformational Worldview: Fall (2)
Creation
Fall
Redemption
Every area of creation cries out for redemption and the coming of the kingdom of God.
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to
frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be
liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the
whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (Rom. 8:19-22)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive
every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5)
An Outline For Discussion
Introduction
Like exiles in a strange land, we live in constant tension of being redeemed from sin, yet still being sinful and still living in a world
of sin. We must accept and affirm the cultural mandate by thinking of ourselves as citizens of a heavenly kingdom, by not loving
the world, by not looking for an enduring city here on earth, but “looking for the city that is to come” (Heb 13:14). We are not
builders of the prevailing culture, but neither we are slaves. We live and exist in a state of tension with the prevailing culture. We
live in it but we are also separate from it. Love for God demands this status of exile, but the same love demands involvement: the
act of turning toward and addressing that culture in love. The proper response is neither one of avoidance and negation nor one
of accommodation. It means living by the inspiration of another cultural dynamic and following the biblical normative principles
rather than those of the prevailing in modern secular culture. Our motivation - namely, the desire to live and work by the power
of the love and grace of God - is diametrically opposed to the will-to-power motive of the secular culture.
As exiles we should realize that it is unlikely that we will completely remake the society in which we live. We must be faithful
and obedient. But we need to realize that our faithfulness and obedience will meet with strong resistance from the dominant
secular culture. The kingdom of God is not the culmination of our cultural efforts. Nevertheless, He call us to proclaim His
Lordship in He has created.
28
Structure and Direction
Theses and Talking Points
With respect to the relationship of structure and direction, explain
the following statements:
a- creation is like a leash which keeps the vicious dog in
check.
b. structure is never entirely obliterated by (mis)direction
c. evil is not inherent in the human condition
d. the law is like a spring.
1 - Structure: refers to the “order of creation” and is anchored in the law of creation.
Direction: designates the order of sin(distortion and perversion) and redemption (restoration of the creation in
Christ)
2 - Anything in creation can be directed either toward or away from God –obedience or disobedience.
3 - To the degree that these realities fail to live up to God’s creational design for them thy are misdirected,
abnormal and distorted.
4 - Creation is like a leash that keeps a vicious dog in check. Redemption in this image is the uncanny power by
which the dog’s master persuades it to become friendly and cooperative, so that the dog no longer
strains at the leash but seeks guidance from it.
5 - The structure of all creational givens persists despite their directional perversion. The structure anchored in
God’s faithfulness sets a limit on the corruption and bondage wrought by evil.
6 - Direction given through God’s goodness to believers and unbelievers alike: common grace or conserving
grace.
7 - God never lets go of His creatures. Careful: 1 Tim 4 Gnosticism people blame part of God’s handiwork for
the ills of the world we live in.
8 - The Bible is unique in its uncompromising rejection of all attempts to compromise structure and direction
(there is no corruption before the fall). All other religions and worldviews in one way or another
fall into this trap.
9 - Evil is not inherent in the human condition: there once was a completely good creation and there will be
again; hence, the restoration of creation is not impossible.
10 - Finally, creational law impinges upon its created subjects. The law is like a spring that can be pressed down or
pushed out of sight only with great effort and that continues to make its presence felt even when repressed for a long
time. The “structure” of a thing is the law that is in force for it, and no amount of repression or pervasion will ever
succeed in nullifying its presence and effect. For example, the call for justice is present in the midst of tyranny
29
“World” as Perverted Creation
What are the three meanings of the word “world”
in the Bible?
Theses and Talking Points
1. The word “world” is used in a number of different ways in the Bible - meaning: creation (Ps. 50:12), the inhabited
earth (Rom. 1:8); or perverted creation (Jo.18:36; Rom. 12:2; Col.2:8; James 1:27; 2 Pe.2:20).
2. World: the totality of unredeemed life dominated by sin outside Christ.: the opposite of created goodness.
3. Dualistic definition of world: secular and sacred. This compartmentalization is a very great error: it implies for
example that there is no worldliness in the church, and no holiness in, for example, politics.
5. Consider Christ words: My kingdom is not of this world. Not an argument against Christian involvement in, for
example, arts. Instead, Jesus was saying that His kingdom does not arise out of the perverted earth but
derives from heaven.
6. Christians have themselves to blame for the rapid secularization of the west. If political industry arts journalism are
essentially branded as worldly or profane, is it surprising that Christians have not more effectively stemmed
the tide of humanism in our culture?
7. Outside the service of God there is only bondage, witting or unwitting slavery to Satan. Where the creature does not
find its freedom in responding obediently to the creator's norms, there it enters bondage.
8. Satan stands at the head of a whole hierarchy of evil spirits who seek to twist and spoil the good gifts of the creator,
and is rooted in human sinfulness. (Sin is bondage to Satan yet the excuse Satan made me do it is never
valid!). To the degree that these spirits are successful, creation loses its luster, becoming ugly rather than
beautiful. ( John 12:31)
9. The sum total of human evil and rottenness in creation (i.e. world) is therefore the result of both human sin and the
creature's enslavement to the evil.
10. When Paul tell us to put to death the “members which are upon the earth (Col3:5) and that “their mind is not on
earthly things” (Phil. 3;19), he is referring to to the fallen and corrupted earth, not to the earth that was declared “very
good” in Genesis. And when Paul says: “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Col.3:2) he does not
mean that such things as sexuality and sports and carpentry are evil in themselves - he means they are corrupted and
polluted compared to the perfection of Gods dwelling place. To them to we must apply the petition: Thy will be done on
earth as in heaven"
30
Summary Questions and Conclusion
1 - Explain the meaning of structure and direction.
2 - With respect to the relationship of structure and direction, explain the following statements:
a- creation is like a leash which keeps the vicious dog in check.
b. structure is never entirely obliterated by (mis)direction
c. evil is not inherent in the human condition
d. the law is like a spring.
3 - What are the three meanings of the word “world” in the Bible?
Conclusion
The fall affects the whole range of earthly creation: sin is a parasite on and not part of creation: sin profanes all
things, making them worldly and secular, earthly. Every area of creation cries out for redemption and the coming of
the kingdom of God.
Christians in these “last days” are therefore called to engage in the imaging task as ministers of reconciliation. Tat is
our redemptive task: it is the vocation of the body of Christ to work together in a fallen world, seeking to bring the
forgiveness, healing and renewal of God’s rule to bear on every area of life. Individuals need to repent, and cultural
patterns need to be redirected. Obedience to Christ requires no less. That is the full radical depth of the gospel.
Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him.
Schedule
July 11
July 18July 25
August 1
August 8
August 15
August 22
August 29
Fall
Redemption
Redemption
Discerning Structure and Direction
Discerning Structure and Direction
Discerning Structure and Direction
General Discussion - Recap
General Discussion - Recap
Structure and Direction, World as Perverted Creation
Salvation as Restoration, The Kingdom of God
Jesus’ Ministry, Comparison with Other Views of the Kingdom, Illustration
Reformation
Societal Renewal
Personal Renewal
Action
Action
31