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Commentary on "From Exalted to Cast Down"
Day 2: Sunday, April 3, 2011 - The Creator of All That's Been Made
Overview
This lesson makes the point that God is the creator of all things. It even refers to the Big Bang theory and states that many see it as evidence for a Creator because so much science, math, and physics were needed for a big bang to have occurred. Moreover, dark matter suggests we do not see all of reality.
The lesson directs the reader to Colossians 1:16-17 which states Jesus made everything in heaven and on earth, "visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
The lesson ends with the questions, how can we understand what it means that things—including us—were created "for him"?
Observations
The lesson instructs the reader to read Colossians 1:16-17:
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
The lesson then asks what and who else God created and what lessons we should draw about our limited knowledge of reality.
There are a couple of implied assumptions in this lesson that skew the conclusions to which it leads. First, while it is undeniably true that humans have a very limited knowledge of reality, the fact is that when a person places his trust in the Lord Jesus and is born again, his grasp of reality grows as he immerses himself in God's word. This growth in reality is not confined to mere facts but involves an increasing awareness of and participation in spiritual reality.
The Holy Spirit in us gives us the knowledge of God and His will as revealed in His word, and the unseen reality of the spiritual realm becomes more and more real. The often brief statements in the Bible about angels, heaven, eternity, and the future become more and more understandable and part of our experience.
While we absolutely cannot know the fulness of reality, we can know truths about it, and we can know that we participate in that unseen reality as born-again children of God.
The second implied assumption in the lesson is that God the creator also created Lucifer as well as humans and good angels. This lesson is establishing that God made Lucifer, but the emphasis of this week's lesson on Satan is "wrong-headed". We do not learn truth by studying the evil one.
Ultimately, all of creation is for the Lord Jesus. Individually, we must see that fact as informing us that our existence is not about our being fulfilled but about being a means of God glorifying Himself. Our lives are to be living sacrifices which we offer to God for His service, and He will glorify Himself through us as we submit to Him.
Summary
- We can know more and more of reality when we are born of the Spirit and immersed in God's word.
- We participate increasingly in spiritual reality when we have the Holy Spirit bringing us to life. He teaches us and gives us the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
- There is nothing for us to learn by studying Lucifer. We can only know what little we learn from Scripture, but we do not learn how to live or how to behave by studying what Lucifer did wrong.
- All creation is made for God's glory. We are to present ourselves to Him as living sacrifices and take our marching orders from Him. As we learn to live submitted to Him, He glorifies Himself through us.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised March 30, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 2
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 2
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 2
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