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II.
Sin; Its Origin, Results, and Remedy
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Chapter 9
:
Creation and Redemption
1. WHAT is revealed concerning God
in the first verse of the Bible?
"In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth." Gen. 1:1.
2. What
contrast is repeatedly drawn in the Scriptures
between the true God and false
gods?
"Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods
that have not made the heavens and the earth, even
they shall perish from the earth, and from under these
heavens. . . . The portion of Jacob is not like them:
for He is the former of all things; and Israel is
the rod of His inheritance: The Lord of hosts is His
name." Jer. 10:11-16. See Jer. 14:22; Acts 17:22-29;
Rev. 14:6-10.
3. Through whom did God work in
creating all things?
"In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in
the beginning with God. All things were made by Him;
and without Him was not anything made that was
made." John 1:1-3.
4. Through whom is redemption
wrought?
"But God commendeth His love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through Him." Rom. 5:8,9.
5. In what scripture do we
learn that Christ, the active agent in creation, is also
the head of the church?
"For by Him were all things created, that
are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by
Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. And He is the head
of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the
first-born from the dead; that in all things He might
have the preeminence." Col. 1:16-18.
6. What scripture shows that the
Creator is also the Redeemer?
"But now thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel,
Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called
thee by thy name; thou art Mine." Isa. 43:1.
7. Who is declared to be the
source of power to the weak?
"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,
that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator
of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is
weary? there is no searching of His understanding. He
giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no
might He increaseth strength." Isa. 40:28,29.
8. What prayer of David shows that
he regarded redemption as a creative work?
"Create in me a clean heart, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me." Ps. 51:10.
9. Who keeps the heavenly
bodies in their places?
"To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be
equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on
high, and behold who hath created these things, that
bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them
all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He
is strong in power; not one faileth." Isa. 40:25,26.
10. What can the same Holy One do
for the believer?
"Now unto Him that is able to keep you
from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the
only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude
24,25.
11. What is the measure of the
power which is available for the help of the believer?
"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what
is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power to us ward who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power, which
He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,
and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly
places." Eph. 1:17-20.
12. How great was the deliverance
of Israel from Egyptian bondage?
"Ask now of the days that are past, which
were before thee, since the day that God created man
upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven
unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing
as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? .
. . Hath God assayed to go and take Him a nation from
the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs,
and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by
a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according
to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt
before your eyes?" Deut. 4:32-34.
NOTE.-
The great deliverance of Israel from bondage and
oppression in Egypt is but a type of the power of
God displayed in the deliverance of man from the
bondage and slavery of sin. In both is seen a
manifestation of creative power.
13. What scripture plainly states
that it is creative power which transforms the believer?
"For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10.
14. Of what great work is the
Sabbath both a memorial and a sign?
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor
thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor
thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh
day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and
hallowed it." Ex.20:8-11. "It is a sign between
Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the
seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Ex. 31:17.
15. Inasmuch as creation and
redemption are both wrought by the same creative power,
of what besides the original creation was the Sabbath
given to be a sign?
"Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be
a sign between Me and them, that they might know that
I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. 20:12.
16. Through whose agency is the
material universe sustained?
"And He [Christ] is before all things, and in
Him all things hold together." Col. 1:17, R. V.,
margin.
17. What statement shows that
all things, both material and spiritual, are sustained
by the same personal agency?
"But to us there is. . . . one Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." 1
Cor. 8:6.
18. Why is God worthy to receive
glory and honor?
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honor and power: for Thou hast created all
things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were
created." Rev. 4:11.
NOTE.-
That comparatively modern view of creation known as
evolution, which rests upon human research rather
than upon divine revelation, and which substitutes
an impersonal force for a personal Creator,
overthrows the very foundation of the gospel.
Redemption is simply the new creation, and the
Creator is the Redeemer, The Head of the original
creation is the Head of the new creation. The
original creation was wrought through Christ by the
power of the word; the new creation, or redemption,
is wrought in exactly the same way. The evolutionary
theory of creation inevitably involves an
evolutionary theory of the gospel, and sets aside
the truth concerning sin, the atoning sacrifice of
Christ, and the necessity of becoming new creatures
through faith in the saving power of Christ.
O WORSHIP
the King, all-glorious above,
And gratefully sing His wonderful love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise!
O tell of
His might, and sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light; whose canopy, space;
His chariots of wrath the deep thunder-clouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm!
Thy
bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distils in the dew and the rain,
Frail
children of dust, and feeble as frail;
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
Thy mercies, how tender! how firm to the end!
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!
ROBERT GRANT.
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