http://www.tinkerscreek.com Blog en-us Copyright 2011 The Chapel at Tinkers Creek | Church in Streetsboro, Aurora Ohio http://www.tinkerscreek.com/rss/blog1263.xml Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:49:40 -0500 EST <p>Most of us are pretty familiar with Genesis 1&mdash;2, but if you are a little iffy on the details you may want to take a few minutes and re-read the creation account. In fact, on Sunday night we spent about 20 minutes in small groups studying the passage before we came together as a large group to work through its significance. I believe that the main point or emphasis in Genesis 1&mdash;2 is theological, in other words it tells us something about God. I say this because, as many wise people have said before me, &ldquo;the plain things are the main things, and the main things are the plain things.&rdquo; <br /> &nbsp;</p> <p>God created by his word, out of nothing, and in an orderly way. This means that any and all chaos that we see or experience in life is not a part of the original design. Furthermore, God declares his work to be good, so what does that mean? Let&rsquo;s round the word out with a few synonyms; pure, moral, conscientious, meritorious, worthy, and exemplary. In its original state, creation could be described as all these things including the highest of all created things, humanity. Interestingly, Genesis 1&mdash;2 paints the picture of God as both the source of good and the one who defines what is good. According to Genesis 1&mdash;2, humanity was created with a special dignity because we bear the image of God which means that when defining humanity we must always include this vital piece of information. Importantly, as we progress through the Story we will see how God deals with all of creation through humanity in the fall, the rescue of creation by Jesus, and how creation is waiting on humanity (Romans 8:19&mdash;23).<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p>Okay, that was a lot of information in a short amount of time. But here is the kicker, do you realize that all of this stuff about creation being spoken into existence, being good, and how humanity bears the image of God was all recorded, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, AFTER the fall? In other words, God felt that it was important for his people to know that he created them, us, to live in a good, orderly, perfect place with him. Is God rubbing our faces in what could have been? Of course not! He is lovingly showing us what we were created for and that he is the source of only good things. So, as he works out his plan to rescue and restore creation, he gives us a picture of what he created and where this Story is headed. Hang on cuz it&rsquo;s gonna be a wild ride!<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://www.tinkerscreek.com/base.cfm?page_id=1263&post_id=1002&action=view http://www.tinkerscreek.com/base.cfm?page_id=1263&post_id=1002&action=view bross@tinkerscreek.com (Ben Ross) Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:49:29 -0500 EST" <p>This Spring we are studying God’s Story in an effort to better understand the way all the little stories that we already know fit into the Grand Story of Scripture. We are using a book called According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible, as a guide while we journey through all this material.</p> <p>We began on January 9th by discussing the Gospel, as it is the culmination of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. The reason we start with the Gospel is because Jesus is not plan ‘B’. In order to see how God was working through the Old Testament to rescue his people it helps us keep perspective when we know that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.<br /> <br /> So, all of that to say that this journey through God’s Story begins, for us, in Romans 1:1—4 where Paul gives us a clear definition of the Gospel. In a nutshell, these four verses tell us that:</p> <p>Verse 1: God the Father is the source of the Gospel.<br /> Verse 2: The Gospel was promised in the ‘holy Scriptures’ or in other words the Old Testament.<br /> Verse 3: Jesus, the Son, is the content of the Gospel and a descendent of David, this makes the Gospel very specific.<br /> Verse 4: This verse shows the importance of the resurrection of Christ in any definition of the Gospel.</p> <p>Put it all together and it looks something like this:</p> <p>God the Father sent Jesus the Son, whom he had promised to send through the prophets, to live a sinless life in the flesh and because he was the perfect son of God, when crucified, he was resurrected from the dead.</p> <p>Now that we understand the Good News, we will go back to the beginning…<br />  </p> http://www.tinkerscreek.com/base.cfm?page_id=1263&post_id=1001&action=view http://www.tinkerscreek.com/base.cfm?page_id=1263&post_id=1001&action=view bross@tinkerscreek.com (Ben Ross) Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:30:47 -0500 EST"