Dr. Sue Makin

*Christian Worldview – Lesson 2

*Review of last lesson

*What is a worldview?

*A worldview is a way of understanding the world and your place in it.

*What does Christian worldview mean?

*The Christian worldview would put Jesus Christ at the center and would consider all of life in relation to Him.

*What is the Bible?

*The Bible is God’s written revelation of His will to man.

*There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the New Testament.

*There are 40 authors represented in the Bible.

*It was written over a span of 1600 years.

*2 Timothy 3: 16-17

*“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

*What is theology?

*Theology is the study of the existence, nature, and attributes of God.

*Existence – whether God exists or not

*Nature – If God does exist, what is he like?

*Attributes – If a person were to describe the characteristics of God, what would they be?

*How does the Bible begin?

*The first book of the Bible, which is also the first book of the Old Testament is Genesis.

*The first verse of Genesis is:

*“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…….”

*The first question of theology is:

*Does God exist?

*Is God real?

*Is God real?

*Six reasons to consider or think about……..

*Why does the Earth support life?

*The universe had a start – what caused it?

*Why is the universe so orderly, so reliable?

*Is God real?

*Who thought up DNA?

*We know God exists because he is seeking us.

*Jesus Christ is the clearest picture of God.

Who designed the earth?

*Earth is the only known planet with an atmosphere that supports plants, animals, and human life.

*If Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze.

*If Earth were any closer to the sun, we would burn up.

*The universe had a start – what caused

it?

*Universe – all matter and energy, everything that exists

*Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, the Big Bang

*The universe had a start…..what caused the start?

*Why do the laws of nature never

change?

*The earth rotates every 24 hours.

*The speed of light doesn’t change.

*Gravity is always the same.

*A hot cup of coffee left on a counter always gets cold.

*This is DNA which carries the code of

life

*Who thought of DNA?

We know God exists because he is always seeking

us.

*An atheist is someone who believes that God does not exist.

*Many atheists spend a lot of time saying that God does not exist.

*C. S. Lewis was a famous and brilliant atheist.

*We know God exists because he is always seeking

us.

*C. S. Lewis wrote:

*“…..night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed………”

*Why Jesus?

*Of all the major religions of the world, Jesus Christ is the only religious leader who claimed to be equal to God.

*Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in Him, believed in the Father.

*Psalm 19: 1 - 2

*1 “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

*2 “Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.”

*While thinking about these verses from the Bible, we can ask ourselves this question.

*What role does the universe we live in play?

*What is the message in nature for us?

*God can communicate with human beings through nature, through the natural universe we all can see.

*There is a term for this type of communication from God – general revelation.

*Revelation here means something that is disclosed or shown by God to man.

*General revelation

*General revelation is God’s communication of Himself to all persons, at all times, and in all places.

*General revelation can take place through observation of the universe.

*General revelation can take place for people who cannot read or write.

*Three characteristics of

God

*God is

*Ruler

*Righteous

*Relational

*God is ruler over all

*Revelation 4: 11

*“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

*God is righteous

*Righteousness refers to the moral character of God

*Moral: concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of action or character

*The moral character of God is always good.

*God is righteous

*The righteousness of God is reflected in the way he deals with mankind (human beings).

*Psalm 11:7

*“For the LORD (God) is righteous; He loves righteous deeds. The upright will see His face.

*God is relational.

*What characteristics of God can be learned from the world we see around us, the created order?

*We can see that there are laws of nature that never change, like an apple always falls downwards from a tree, or a hot cup of coffee always gets cold when left on the counter.

*God is relational.

*From nature, we can see that God is real, intelligent, and holy.

*This general revelation of God, this general idea of God, does not tell us everything about God’s character.

*Special Revelation

*Special revelation means that God takes the initiative to communicate to mankind through specific and particular ways.

*Specific: special, distinctive, unique

*Particular: associated with a specific person, group, or thing

*Special Revelation

*In the past, God revealed Himself to man through dreams, direct thoughts, direct encounters, even through a burning bush.

*The human authors of the Bible wrote down what God communicated to them so that we can read about it today.

*Special Revelation

*The Bible emphasizes that God is aware of Himself.

*Isaiah 44:6 God says, “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me.”

*God is relational

*It is possible to know God.

*God has a personality.

*God relates to and communicates with human beings.

*God desires to have a personal relationship with human beings.