Faith Baptist Church
12/07/25 Dwell Richly Bible Study
- The heart of Paul’s gospel proclamation are the answers to four crucial questions.1. Who made us, and to whom are we accountable?We can summarize these four major points like this:God, Man, Christ, ResponseGod the Righteous CreatorGod the CreatorWhy should we begin with the message that God is the creator of the universe? - Genesis 1:1 “1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”It is how our Bible starts. If we get this wrong- then everything else that follows will be off.Genesis opens by explaining that an eternal God created everything. He made the mountains and valleys, animals and fish, bids and reptiles, everything! God created all of the universe- the stars, moon, sun, and galaxies.And how did God create all things? He spoke it into existence from nothing. It’s not as if God took the primordial clay that somehow already existed and molded the world.God spoke, “Let there be light!” and there was light.There are many passages that tells us how creation testifies to God’s glory and power.
Psalm 19:1 ESV 1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.Romans 1:20 ESV 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.“Whatever else you think about the story of creation, the implications of this claim—that God created the world, and especially that God created YOU—are enormous.” —Greg GilbertIf God created the world and everything in it, then everything in the universe has a purpose—including human beings.Genesis 1:26–27 ESV 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.How does Genesis 1:27 give meaning and purpose to human beings?If we are created, then we are the result of an idea, a plan, and an action of God himself. And that brings both meaning and responsibility to human life.“None of us is autonomous, and understanding that fact is key to understanding the gospel.” —Greg Gilbert (42)Explain?“Despite our constant talk of rights and liberty, we are not really as free as we would like to think. We are created. We are made. And therefore we are owned.” (42)God made us. He created us for a purpose. God has the right to tell us how to live. Did God tell Adam and Eve, in the Garden, how to live?Genesis 2:16–17 ESV 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”God the Creator, who knew what was best for his people, gave them laws that would preserve and increase their happiness and well-being.People must understand the idea of God their creator. He made us for a purpose. The gospel is God’s response to the bad news of sin. What is sin? Sin is a person’s rejection of God’s Creator-rights over him. This is a fundamental truth. God created us, and therefore God owns us.God the Holy and Righteous OneIf you had to describe God is just a few words what would you say?Loving, good, kind, compassionate, forgiving?Listen to how God describes himself in just a few words.Exodus 34:6–7 ESV The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,How amazing is God? When God wants to tell his name and show us his glory he uses words like merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving sin.But God doesn’t stop there. Most people don’t know the end of v. 7.Look at v. 7 with me all the way to the end.Exodus 34:7 ESV keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”Exodus 34:7 destroys about 90% of what people today think they know about God. They want to imagine only a god who is loving and compassionate.like a very loving grandfather who has wishes but no demands,someone who can be safely ignored if you don’t have time for him,someone who is very, very, VERY understanding of the fact that human beings make mistakesYet the loving and compassionate God does not leave the guilty unpunished.Many people want to think about God like an unscrupulous janitor. How?Instead of dealing with the world’s dirt—that is its sin, evil, and wickedness— he simply sweeps it under a rug- like a bad janitor.Most people cannot fathom a God who would judge sin. How could a loving God punish me for wickedness? God wouldn’t do that if he were loving!Later on we will get to how God can forgive wickedness, rebellion, and sin and yet “does not leave the guilty unpunished”—that tension is resolved by the death of Jesus on the cross.But before we get to the cross we must understand that even though most people cringe away from a just judge, God’s love does not cancel out his justice and righteousness.Psalm 11:7 ESV 7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.Psalm 33:5 ESV 5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.Psalm 89:14 ESV 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.Psalm 97:2 ESV 2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.What does it mean that righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne?“God’s rule over the universe, his soverign lordship over creation, is founded upon his remaining forever perfectly righteous and just.” (44)“Is anyone satisfied with the idea of God being a bad janitor? Why not? It makes God out to be unjust and unrighteous. It makes him into a god who simply hides sin—or even hides from sin—rather than confronting it and destroying it. It makes him a moral coward.” (44)Do you want a God like that?What happens when people who deny that God is a god who judges sin, come face to face with undeniable evil?Illustration: Charlie Kirk? Shot in the neck. What if it was their dad? What kind of judge would they want overseeing the trial? One who attempts to sweep that murder under a rug? NO WAY! They want justice and they want it now.“They want God to overlook their own sin, but not the terrorist’s. ‘Forgive me,’ they say, ‘but don’t you dare forgive him!’ You see, nobody wants a God who declines to deal with evil. They just want a God who declines to deal with their evil.” (44)God is perfectly just and righteous. God will deal with all evil. And he will do so perfectly and powerfully.Habakkuk 1:13 NIV 13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.If God tolerated wrongdoing- he would have to renounce the very foundation of his throne. Even more serious, He would have to denounce his very name, his very self. And God will not, God cannot do that.Most people have no problem thinking about a “god” who loves them and shows them compassion. And we as Christians have worked very hard to make sure the world knows that God loves them.But people will never understand just how glorious and essential and life-giving the gospel is, if they don’t understand that this loving and compassionate God is also holy and righteous, and that he is determined never to overlook, ignore, or tolerate sin. Including our own sin! Psalm 19:1ESV
Romans 1:20ESV
Genesis 1:26–27ESV
Genesis 2:16–17ESV
Exodus 34:6–7ESV
Exodus 34:7ESV
Psalm 11:7ESV
Psalm 33:5ESV
Psalm 89:14ESV
Psalm 97:2ESV
Habakkuk 1:13ESV
