God’s Mission to Us: Part 1
Lesson 1, 4th Quarter September 30 - October 6, 2023.
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Sabbath Afternoon, September 30
Memory Text:
“And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” KJV — Genesis 3:9
“To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and to keep it.” Their occupation was not wearisome, but pleasant and invigorating. God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence. And when, as a result of his disobedience, he was driven from his beautiful home, and forced to struggle with a stubborn soil to gain his daily bread, that very labor, although widely different from his pleasant occupation in the garden, was a safeguard against temptation and a source of happiness...” PP 50.1
“While they remained true to God, Adam and his companion were to bear rule over the earth. Unlimited control was given them over every living thing...” PP 50.2
“The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between. They were full of the vigor imparted by the tree of life, and their intellectual power was but little less than that of the angels...” PP 50.3
“After their sin Adam and Eve were no longer to dwell in Eden... PP 61.4
“In humility and unutterable sadness they bade farewell to their beautiful home and went forth to dwell upon the earth, where rested the curse of sin. The atmosphere, once so mild and uniform in temperature, was now subject to marked changes, and the Lord mercifully provided them with a garment of skins as a protection from the extremes of heat and cold.” PP 61.5
Sunday, October 1
The God Who reaches out to us.
Zechariah 12:8 – “In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.”
Besides giving us the assurance that the Lord shall defend His people, Inspiration likens them unto David and unto God. Even the feeble ones “shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God,” “as the angel of the Lord before them.” What a great and wonderful statement! What a privilege to be likened unto God Himself!
Now, that we might know what it means to be “as God,” we must study what God is like. At the outset He did not only create and abundantly fill the earth with every good thing for His creatures, but He also planted a garden (home) for the man. Thus He made a model home for all human beings who were to live thereafter. He taught Adam how to keep the home and how to dress the garden. He taught him to speak and to discern the nature between one beast and another, to name them accordingly. God endowed man with knowledge and life in order to make him happy, and useful in making the world what it ought to be. Even after the holy pair fell in sin God was still interestedin them as He was before – so much so, in fact, that He immediately began to teach them how to redeem themselves, and to return to their eternal home. From that day to this He thus continued to teach the human family.
To do this saving work God sent down the Spirit of Truth, He sent prophets and angels, also His only Son – all teachers of redemption. He Himself descended to Sinai and even though they slew nearly all His servants including His son, yet His unfailing interest in the human race has continued on to this very day. Not withstanding our faults, His promise to take us back into Eden there to live with Him if we repent, still stands as sure as does the sun.
Now you see what God is like, and if we are to be “as God,” then that is what we, too, must be like. That means that we must be as interested in one another and in the upbuilding of His Kingdom as He is interested. We are to be as unselfish as He is. We must gladly teach others all that He has taught us. We are to do all we can to improve the living conditions of others. We are to make the world better than it could be if we were not in it. In creation week God did His part. Now we are to do our part of creation if we are to be as God.
Whatever good thing we may have, be it a trade or some other gift that is worth having we are to be as faithful in it and as anxious to teach it to others as He is faithful and anxious to teach us. If we neglect this duty, we shall not only fail to be as God, but shall even be required to give account of our neglect.
The Lord taught the birds how to live and how to build nests, and how to raise their young. Then should we not help others to build and to better their homes and living? You recall Jesus saying, “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” Matt. 10:42.
Were God not what He is, He would not be God; and if we continue as we ever were we shall never be “as God.”
Monday, October 2
The God who longs to be with us.
Read Genesis 17:7, Genesis 26:3, and Genesis 28:15. What was the main focus of God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants in these verses?
"Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee." Acts 7:2, 3. "So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him" (Gen. 12:4), and went at His lead into Canaan, wherein he dwelt, though the Lord "gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." Acts 7:5.
Then in time, the Lord purposed to lead Jacob and his household out of the land of Canaan, down into Egypt. Knowing, though, that the sons of Jacob would not go as did Abraham, by His simply telling them to, He therefore in His providence put into the heart of Jacob a greater love for Joseph than for his other children. This begot in them envy and jealousy, which in turn begot hatred and greed, manifesting itself in their cruel treatment and sale of Joseph, which resulted in his being carried away a slave into Egypt.
Years later when Joseph's brothers went into Egypt to obtain food during the seven-year famine, Joseph, recognizing Providential design in the strange drama of his life from enslavement to enthronement, said unto his brothers as he "made himself known" unto them: "Be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life...and...to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." Gen. 45:1, 5, 7.
Thus the Lord providentially exalted Joseph to share the throne of Egypt in order to predispose Pharaoh to grant Israel permission to enter into the land.
Next, to draw them there, He brought thereabouts the seven years of plenty, followed by the seven years of famine. Whereupon He sent word to Jacob that Joseph was yet alive. At the overjoying news, there sprang up in the father an irresistible desire to see his son. This and the life-taking hunger upon Joseph's brethren, compelled them to remove into Pharaoh's land of plenty, where they lived like kings.
Not purposing, however, to leave them there forever, the Lord did not let their living continue as pleasant as at the first, lest they refuse to take heed to Moses when he should come with the word that the time had arrived for them to go back home. But He brought about another saving providence, this time permitting unbearable hardship to befall them, so that when called they would respond gladly. So slaves they had to become: and still worse, they had to be bereaved of their male children, then mercilessly driven with cruel lashes upon their backs to produce ever more bricks.
Thus the power of the Spirit combined with horrible suffering from their hard Egyptian servitude, was an over-powering force compelling them to forsake the heathen land and to return to their own.
Then, on their way back they met with another providence--their long wilderness sojourn, forty years in all--which God permitted for the express purpose of separating from them the unbelieving, unfaithful multitude who accompanied the Movement out of Egypt. These being destroyed, the survivors miraculously crossed the Jordan, just as they had forty years before crossed the Red Sea. There removing from their midst the one sinner, Achan, who then sprang up among them, they entered into the Promised Land and became the most glorious kingdom in their day. Slaves become kings--what a miracle indeed
Tuesday, October 3
The God Who became One with us.
Read the narrative of Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1:18-23. What essential things does this account tell us about God? Read John 1:14-18. What can you learn from Christ’s incarnation about God’s mission to us?
Because the work of Jesus was of tremendous importance and of great consequence, God was exceedingly particular about the parentage of Jesus. For this reason he chose the lineage of Abraham (a good tree), of Isaac, Jacob, Judas, Jesse, David, and down through the line of lineage to Joseph, who became the husband of Mary. Even though Joseph was to be but a foster father to Jesus, God was particular in choosing him.
And as careful as God was about who the foster father of Jesus should be, He was even more particular in the selection of a mother for Jesus. Thus God chose the Saviour’s mother from the line of Joseph, the son of Jacob.
How do [we] know what was the parental lineage of Jesus? – Well, His foster father’s lineage I know from the chronology which Saint Matthew gives. And His mother’s lineage [we] know from Moses’ prophecy of which [we] shall now read: “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel).” Gen. 49:22-24.
Not only was Jesus’ parental lineage carefully selected, but so also has been selected the lineage of every one of God’s men who were entrusted with weighty responsibilities. Why, I ask you, would such precautions be taken if the parents do not bear the most important part in the life of the children?
Rev. 20:1 – “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in His hand.”
Here we are told that this mighty angel, Satan’s enemy, has the “key of the bottomless pit.” If He has it, then to Him the key must have been “given.” The Star that received the key, therefore, is symbolical of this angel.
Moreover, let us notice that as the key opened the bottomless pit, the locusts were released. Finally, the fact that the locusts are enemies to those who have not the seal of God in their foreheads, then the “Star” (angel) that came from heaven and opened the pit to release the locusts is a friend to them and a mighty enemy to Satan. There is therefore no escaping this conclusion: The heavenly Star represents a heaven-sent Being, the same “angel,” of Whom we again read in chapter 20:1, and the locusts are Heaven’s rescued multitude. Who else, then, can the “Star” and the locusts represent but Christ and the Christians? Satan had shut up into the bottomless pit the entire Jewish nation, – the only nation that had previously been out of the pit. Christ therefore came to open the pit and to let the captives go free. To such a world was the Lord of Heaven sent, and when He came He immediately declared:
Luke 4:18, 19 – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Here you have it in Inspiration’s own code of mysticism, freshly unveiled that Jesus Christ is indeed a heaven-sent Being, the Saviour of the world.
Wednesday, October 4
The God Who continues to be with us.
How does God’s love and mission interact in John 3:16? What is the promise we can find in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20?
The mission to save the world cannot be more important than the mission to save the church. Enlarging the church membership under the now prevailing lukewarm Laodicean conditions, could no more advance the Kingdom of Christ than could have been done under the conditions in the Jewish church in the days of His first advent. Understanding the true situation in that church, John the Baptist and Christ Himself and even the apostles at first, engaged them selves to work, not for the world in general, but only in the interest of their brethren in the church.
As the same departure from Christ exists within the church now as it did then (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217), it will take much greater effort to rescue the people from the Laodicean "sad deception" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 253), than if they were in heathenism. For in Laodicea they are made to believe that they have all the truth there is to be had, that they are rich increased with goods, and in need of nothing--their salvation forever secured as long as they hold membership in the church! Hence there is greater risk of their losing their souls in the church while she is "lukewarm" and about to be spued out, than if they remain in the world until the church awakes from her slumber, and anoints herself with the eyesalve (Truth)--sees right, does right, and leads and feeds the flock aright.
Let every honest member ask the question, If the church herself is not saved (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 253), not following Christ her Leader (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217) and "has become an harlot" (Testimonies, Vol. 8, p. 250), how can she save others? The greatest need therefore is first to save those in the church, then those in the world. The "special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people" (The Great Controversy, p. 425), "the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266), must come first, then is to follow the sealing of those in the world.
Still further, as it is not we, but Christ Who "is taking the reins in His own hands" (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300), it is not our duty to tell Him which work should be done, and which should be left undone, but let every follower of His realize that He will "work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300.
Be not like the class who "question and criticize everything that arises in the unfolding of truth" (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 690), but be like those who "let Heaven guide."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 475.
The command to us is: "Cry aloud, spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." Isa. 58:1.
"Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him; and His work before Him." Isa. 62:10, 11.
Thursday, October 5
The God who will come back for us
In what ways is John 14:1-3 connected with the end-time message found in the Scriptures?
The millennial age of peace is hence, plainly, to be spent, not on the earth, but in the “mansions” above, for the Lord’s promise is: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3.
Thus, at Christ’s second appearing, both all the righteous and all the wicked receive their rewards: the righteous dead are raised to life everlasting, and the righteous living are changed to immortality in the twinkling of an eye, and are then with the resurrected taken to heaven (1 Cor. 15:52, 53; 1 Thess. 4:15-17) while the wicked living go into their graves (2 Thess. 2:8; Isa. 11:4; Heb. 10:27; Luke 19:27). And since from the resurrection of all the righteous to the resurrection of all the wicked (Rev. 20:5), there stretch a thousand years (the millennium), this period, obviously, then, cannot be a time of receiving rewards, but rather must be a time in which the righteous enjoy in heaven the rewards already received, and in which the wicked rest in their graves.
“I go” said Jesus, “to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3. Plainly, they that live during the millennium, live with Christ in the mansions above. Then, after the thousand years, reveals John, “the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were [had been] judged every man according to their works.”
Still further, as both the living and the resurrected saints are taken to “live and reign with Christ,” and as all those who are judged at the Great White Throne, are judged while dead, the truth stands out more and more clearly that there are no wicked living during the thousand years. Indeed not, for the earth and heaven have by then fled away, moved out of their original sphere, become empty of life and void (Isa. 24:1-6; Jer. 4:23-26), a “bottomless pit” (Rev. 20:1) on which no one can stand. Necessarily, the saints, those who are left, live and reign a thousand years with Christ in the Heaven of heavens, where the “many mansions” are. At the termination of the thousand years, descends the Holy City, the mansions, the New Jerusalem, and the saints with it (Rev. 21:2). From then on the saints do not live with Christ but He lives with them (Rev. 21 :3).
Friday, October 6
Further Thought
“When the message of truth is presented in our day, there are many who, like the Jews, cry, Show us a sign. Work us a miracle. Christ wrought no miracle at the demand of the Pharisees. He wrought no miracle in the wilderness in answer to Satan's insinuations. He does not impart to us power to vindicate ourselves or to satisfy the demands of unbelief and pride. But the gospel is not without a sign of its divine origin. Is it not a miracle that we can break from the bondage of Satan? Enmity against Satan is not natural to the human heart; it is implanted by the grace of God. When one who has been controlled by a stubborn, wayward will is set free, and yields himself wholeheartedly to the drawing of God's heavenly agencies, a miracle is wrought; so also when a man who has been under strong delusion comes to understand moral truth. Every time a soul is converted, and learns to love God and keep His commandments, the promise of God is fulfilled, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” Ezekiel 36:26. The change in human hearts, the transformation of human characters, is a miracle that reveals an ever-living Saviour, working to rescue souls. A consistent life in Christ is a great miracle. In the preaching of the word of God, the sign that should be manifest now and always is the presence of the Holy Spirit, to make the word a regenerating power to those that hear. This is God's witness before the world to the divine mission of His Son.” DA 407.1