Foundations of Faith pt 1

This past Sunday, 10/1/07, we began our new series. This first half will be on the identity of Jesus. The second half will be about applications to the life of a Christian as a result. This first lesson was about how Jesus has been around since the beginning. So we touched on the Holy Trinity and looked over creation.

John 1:1-5 tells us this first fact, that Jesus is not someone who was just around for 33 years on earth. But rather, as part of a Holy Trinity that has always existed. And what is this Holy Trinity? It's not found in the Bible at all, but a Christian doctrine used to explain the existence of three parts of God existing as one. It's kind of like saying "me, myself, and I" except God (being God) can split those parts of Himself up.

So where was Jesus Christ when not on earth? Well, with God the Father up in heaven. When Jesus Christ came to earth, he put off the authority, power, and glory that He had in heaven (look at Philippians 2). After his resurrection and appearances to disciples and hundreds of others, He went back to be with God the Father.

So we went back to the beginning. THE beginning, hehe. If you don't know, there are actually two creation stories in the first couple chapters of Genesis. It may be a different version or perhaps just a summary. A way of God saying, "This is important! Pay attention to this!" Either way, it is this second account that mentions the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which leads to the first sin.

So God created the heavens and the earth. He created everything, including you! So He knows everything about you and designed you for a specific purpose. Once again, I used a segment from the book A Faith That Breathes as well as a paragraph from the first chapter of The Purpose Driven Life. Both of these passages make a point that, although, God created the heavens and earth and everyone, He (Jesus) had you specifically in mind for a particular task. I hope that shows everyone the range of how God has made all of this complex creation, yet still has the capacity to have a plan for each person.