Author Archives: Drew Haninger

Why did God Create Man?

Why did God Create Man

In the beginning there was the earth, plants, animals and there was man. What is all this for and why are we here?  These are some universal questions. In the beginning God had a purpose in mind for all things, but what is this purpose and what does this have to do with us? When we look at the beginning of the Bible, the first book of the Bible and the first chapter of the Bible the reason why God created man is laid out for us. It says, there, that God created man in His image and in His likeness, and He wanted man to have dominion over the fish, the cattle, the birds, over the whole earth and over the creeping things. In that passage the two key words are “image” and “dominion”. These two words describe the reason why God created you and created me—imagine and dominion.

Now what do these two words mean? An image is like a photograph. If I have a photograph of a tree, you see an image of the tree; you see the attributes of the tree. For instance, most trees are green, so you see green. You see the form of the branches, the shape of the leaves and so on. Well, in the same way, you and I were created in the image of God that we might express the attributes of God.  For instance, a tree is green, so a photograph of a tree expresses that attribute, the color green. You and I were created in the image of God. Now one attribute of God is love. Others include joy, peace, patience, honesty, telling the truth and so on.  These are all attributes of God.  When we express these attributes we express God’s nature, and this is why you and I were created.

Now let’s break this down a little bit.  You and I were made in the image of God to express God, to express what God is. One of God’s attributes is love. When you read the whole Bible, from beginning to end, you discover how God’s love is unconditional.  But yet, a lot of times our human love that we try to live with is conditional. It is fickle. One day we like people, and the next day we are grumpy. Some people we like; some people we don’t like. Yet God’s love is not this way. For instance, even we Christians (I am a born-again Christian) have a problem. Sometimes we only like people who are Christians but we don’t like people who are not Christians.  We think they need to join our club, so to speak, or be like exactly like us. But yet when you read the Bible you find out that God loves every single human being, even the ones who are not Christian. How do you like that?  Then, even among Christians there is a failure to love.  Brand X Christians don’t like Brand Y Christians?  Why?  Because they do not believe exactly like I do, or they don’t practice things exactly the way I do.  Of course the Brand X Christian have their Bible verses to prove that what they are doing is the best.  But you see that is not the expression of God.  We were created to express God, and we were created to represent God on this earth. When we express what God I s, which is love, unconditional love, which means we accept anybody, under any condition. When we do that, we express God Himself.

So let’s go back to why God created man. God created us in His image to express Him.  Secondly God created man to have dominion because God wanted man to represent Him on this earth. I hope you can remember those two words:  image and dominion, because these two words describe the reason why God created man.

Glory of God’s Inheritance in the Saints

Ephesian 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,   18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling,  and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints

What does all these words mean,  seems a little too heavenly for it to relate to me a sinner.  Don’t you know I’m just a sinner.  But think you and I a sinner, right, a dirty rotten sinner, no hope, only deserving of the fires of Hell, no eternal future, just NO HOPE.  God is holy, but I am a dirty sinner, so no contact no connection, and no hope.

BUT BUT God did something to make you rich, you and I sinners.  A Holy God whom we could not approach did something to make us rich, He sent his son,  The Son of God as a man, who lived on the  earth, Jesus who died on the cross for me a sinner so I could approach the Holy God.

The saints (all God’s redeemed regenerated believers who enjoy all that Christ did at the cross) are full of the riches of Christ. They have all had some experience of Christ they could share about what Christ did for them, even if just “He did it for me (a sinner) at the cross and removed all my sin. I (a sinner) can now approach the Holy God because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross almost 2000 years ago”  What Christ did made us sinners rich with Christ.

Some people title this section:  Our Resources in Christ.  “Paul in this section sets forth the amazing and unlimited blessings believers have in Jesus Christ, blessings that amount to our personal inheritance of all that belongs to Him.”

Notice the verse says “His Inheritance”  So after we inherit all that Christ is and all He did on the cross, He inherits us.  After we have received Christ  we become his special possession.  This also secures our eternal inheritance.

… Paul prays for God to give believers true comprehension and appreciation of who they are in Jesus Christ, in order that they might begin to have some idea of how magnificent and unlimited are the blessings that already belonged to them in their Lord and Savior….

In essence Paul prayed that the Ephesians would be spared from frantically searching for what was already theirs, but rather would see that the great God who is their God is the source of all they need and has it ready for them if they are open to receive it. Such a receptive attitude requires that God Himself give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him 

 It is tragic that many believers send their agents out looking for some priceless item and become entangled in a quest for something more in the Christian life, for something special, something extra that the “ordinary” Christian life does not possess. They talk of getting more of Jesus Christ, more of the Holy Spirit, more power, more blessings, a higher life, a deeper life—as if the resources of God were divinely doled out one at a time like so many prescriptions or were unlocked by some spiritual or software combination that only an initiated few can know.

Have you ever been away from home and lost your cell phone.  For me it always causes a panic, once I thought I lost it but turns out it was in my hand.  The point is something valuable is precious and when we don’t have it we eaisly panic.

Many christian panic, I have no power no feeling towards the Lord or the Bible, or Home group or Sunday Am and go weeks wondering what to do…

But Christ did it all on the cross and you possess him.  You are rich in Him.

Paul’s Prayer for the Church

Paul’s Prayer for the Church that the saints may see the hope of His calling

Ephesian 1:17  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,   18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, 

The big word here is “See the Hope”.  There is a lot of hope in His calling, we just need a spirit of wisdom and revelation to see it.    Revelation is something that has been covered up and now is revealed.

Even in Revelation 1:1  it says “The revelation of Jesus Christ..”  so revelation is needed to see Christ.  And here the Holy Spirit helps us to understand the Word of God.

1 Cor 2:9-10  9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”   10 But God has revealed [them] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.     

The Holy Spirit illuminates us so we can get supernatural information.  Paul wants us to receive divine information and understanding by searching through the word of God and understanding the character of God.

Another powerful verse is Romans 8:16  The Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are the children of God.

Faith, Love, Thanks and Prayer

Paul’s Thanks for the Church – faith, love, thanks and prayer

Ephesians 1:15  Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,   16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:   

Let’s get a little into the context of the book of Ephesians.  Paul wrote this letter to impart a high vision of what Christ has done and yet wants to do through the church.  The first 3 chapters are the vision with Christ in the heavens after accomplishing redemption for us on the cross.  Then the last 3 chapters are a lot of application about Marriage, family life and how we get along with other and ourselves.

Paul particularly was thankful for his readers’ faith and love. Faith finds its focus in Christ and expresses itself in love to others. Such love is the evidence of genuine faith.

In verse 15 Paul mentions 4 items:  faith, love, thanks and prayer.  Paul is thanking God for the Church composed of those in Ephesians who have faith in the Lord Jesus, and those who love the saints.

Its very interesting that Paul focuses on God and thanks God, rather than focusing on the problems that might have plagued the Ephesians.  Was Paul blind to the believers issues, or did he see something higher in what Christ accomplished that drove him to just thank the Lord for the saints who just loved each other in this city.  Sometimes a prayer meeting with just praises can do more than itemizing all the problems, but of course both are real prayer.

Notice also that Paul mentions first their faith, then their love and then thanks.  Why does he not mention sin, that the believers are just sinners saved by grace.  It seems in chapter 1 of Ephesians Paul does not even give a hint of sin, but he sure does in chapter 2 where he says “dead in trespasses and sins”.  So Paul in chapter 1 mentions faith, then love, but chapter 2 death and sin.

Passages of Scripture that Point to Jesus Christ

Passages of Scripture that Point to Jesus Christ

We are going to comment on some passages of Scripture that point to Jesus Christ.  If we read and study the Bible without coming to know Christ in a real way then we have missed the whole point of the Bible. The entire Bible talks about Jesus Christ.  I don’t know if you remember the story recorded in Luke 24.  After Christ died on the cross, there were rumors that He had risen from the dead. Two of His disciples were so sad because the One who had been with them for three years and had ministered in so many amazing ways was gone.  As they were walking and discussing these things, Jesus joined them, but they didn’t even recognize Him!  They poured out their hearts to Him, telling Him about this awful thing that happened.  And Jesus asked them, “What happened?” They told Him how this Jesus had died and how some said He had risen from the dead.   Jesus replied to them, “Don’t you realize that all the Scriptures talk about Christ?” He was rebuking them in a way.  He began with Moses (the first 5 books of the Old Testament, and then went to the prophets and the Psalms, teaching them about all the things written in the Bible concerning Himself.  I don’t know if you remember the story of when He went to the temple and read from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. The passage He read from said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.” (Isaiah 61:1). Jesus was reading a passage from Isaiah that pointed people to Christ Himself!

Let’s talk about another place in the Bible where Jesus gave a clear indication that the Scriptures should point people to Christ.  In John 5 Jesus was talking to the religious people and He rebuked them saying, basically, “You guys search, study, and research the Bible that talks about Me, but you won’t come to Me!”  He indicated that those people knew the Bible, knew about the Bible, and could even quote Bible passages that clearly presented Jesus Christ as the Son of God, but they wouldn’t come to Him for eternal life.  A lot of times that happens with us as well.  We may have heard Bible stories or even read them ourselves.  The Bible should lead people to Christ, to know and to experience Him.  If your reading, Bible study and Scripture memorization doesn’t lead you to Jesus Christ then the whole purpose of those activities has been defeated.  When we read the Bible, when we read the Scriptures, it should lead us to know Christ in a real and living way.

There is another place in the Bible that points to Christ.  It is a story I think you’ve probably heard about, especially around Christmas time, and it is the story about the birth of the Lord Jesus.   Perhaps you remember the story of the Magi, or the Wise Men from the East.  They followed a star as far as Jerusalem and inquired about this King who had been born of the Jews because they wanted to go and worship Him.  Herod learned of their inquiries and summoned them to himself.  Herod, of course, was threatened by the thought of another king who might compete with Him.  He called together all his religious experts and demanded of them where this King was to be born because he secretly wanted to kill Him. These religious experts knew from Micah, a book in the Old Testament, that this King was to be born in Bethlehem and informed Herod of that fact.  You would expect these people of Israel to go and see the King, but they didn’t go. The Magi or Wise Men, on the other hand, had hearts that were seeking after Christ, seeking after the Messiah, or the King. They went to see Him and gave Him gifts, but the people who knew the Bible, understood the Bible, and could even quote from the Bible didn’t go to see Him. Their understanding of the Bible should have brought them closer to Christ, but it did not.

The Book of Revelation is about Jesus Christ

The Book of Revelation is about Jesus Christ 

In the Bible, the Book of Revelation starts out with the phrase, “The revelation of Jesus Christ”.  The central point of this book is a about a person, and that person is Jesus Christ.  Now as I was preparing this lesson and the outlines I really wanted to find out about John.  John wrote the book of Revelation, but he also wrote the gospel of John the epistles of I, II, and III John as well.  What kind of person was John? What type of relationship did John have with Jesus Christ? Did John just know Him in an objective way?

“Oh my, this is quite a book!”  So many things are mentioned in the twenty-two chapters of Revelation.  Christ is portrayed in a rather mysterious way and there is also a discussion of the Antichrist. You’ve got the Tribulation and God’s judgment on the world.  Babylon is discussed in detail and then you have this city at the end of the book referred to as the New Jerusalem. There are a lot of mysterious things in this book.  I began to prayerfully read through it just to get an idea of what it all boils down to.  I noted that the first three words in the Greek text of Revelation are:  revelation, Jesus, and Christ.  What is this book really about? Is it about prophecy? Yes, there is prophecy in it.  Is it about the Antichrist? Yes, it talks about the Antichrist and the mark of the beast and all these things.  I came to realize that this book talks about one person and that one person is Jesus Christ.  In order to understand the book of Revelation properly we need to see Jesus Christ.

The book of Genesis is a very proper beginning to the Bible and Revelation is a proper conclusion to the Bible.

Who is Jesus?

How do we talk about this Jesus who lived on the earth about 2000 years ago in the land of Israel?

Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man in one person.  Jesus,  the Son of God,  was sent by God to deal with the problem of sinful man. Without Jesus, sinful man has no way to approach the holy God.  To the Christian,  Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, Savior, Healer, Comforter, Teacher, and the example of a perfect human life.  He is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  (John 1:29)   The important highlights are: His birth, human living, 3 year public ministry, death on the cross for sinners, resurrection from the dead, ascension and His still anticipated Second Coming.

The Bible has two great sections that talk about Jesus Christ.
1. the Old Testament – which foretold or prophesied about the coming of Jesus Christ.
2. the New Testament – which talks about His birth, life, teaching, disciples, death, resurrection and the growth of the Christian church.
Both Old and New Testament sections talk about His anticipated Second Coming.

It is a difficult concept to understand that He is both fully perfect God and perfect man, and all in one person.  There are many verses in the Bible to show this.

Jesus Christ is God – Colossians 2:9 For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,    Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Jesus Christ is man –  Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary…    Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Tell Me About God

Let’s talk a little about God.

God has a plan for your life and has made a way through Jesus to make sinners like you and me right with God.

Let us consider several facts about God. First, God is love. Not everyone sees God as the God of love.  This at first may seem a little different than what people think about God.  Some think that God is out to “get” people, but the Bible says God is love. God is also righteous and must judge sin.  To deal with the sin problem, God sent His son Jesus Christ.   Romans 8:3-4. … God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Consider these brief eleven points about God:

1. God exists – Romans 1:20 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.

2. God loves and is love – He loves people. John 3:16  “For God loved the world in that: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

3. God Created everything from nothing  – He created the universe, Genesis 1 – In the beginning God created the  heavens and the earth.

4. God can be known – John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

5. God is eternal – Jude 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.

6. God is Spirit – John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

7. God is perfect and beautiful – Jesus tells us in Matthew 5: 48, “Your heavenly Father is perfect.”    Psalm 27:4  …to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

8. God knows and understands all things. 1 John 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

9.  God is good — Luke 18:19   And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

10. God is Holy (and man is sinful)  Psalm 99:9 Exalt the Lord our God,  and worship at his holy mountain;  for the Lord our God is holy!

11. God is righteous — Romand 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

There are many, many other aspects of God that could be talked about.  The word “God” is mentioned over 3000 times in the Bible.

So when someone says “Tell me about God“, now you have something to describe this wonderful God.  God is love, He is the creator and He exists.