SDA Sab Sch Les 4--4th Qtr 2020--The Eyes of the Lord: The Biblical Worldview

[Wally]

Lesson 4 October 17-23

The Eyes of the Lord: The Biblical Worldview

Commentary in Navy                  Inspiration in Maroon

[Richard Myers]

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Prov. 15:3; Job 12:7-10; Eph. 6:12; Rev. 20:5, 6; John 1:1-14; Mark 12:29-31.

Memory Text: “The eyes of the LORD [are] in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”  Proverbs 15:3

Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz wrote a poem, which began with his writing about imaginary animals: talking rabbits, talking squirrels, and the like. They “have as much in common with real animals,” he wrote, “as our notions of the world have with the real world.” Then, to end the poem, he wrote: “Think of this, and tremble.”

“Tremble” might be too harsh a word, but it is true that indeed, so much of what humans think about the world could be completely wrong. For example, for almost 2,000 years many of the world’s smartest and best-educated people thought the earth sat immobile in the center of the universe. Today, many of the smartest and best-educated people think that humans evolved from what was originally a simple life form.

As human beings, we never look at the world from a neutral position. We see it, always and only, through filters that impact how we interpret and understand the world around us. That filter is called a worldview, and it’s so crucial that we teach our young people, and even older church members, the biblical worldview.

When we become Christians, most of us, it is because we believe the Bible is the Word of God. We do not believe we came from monkeys because the Bible tells us that God created Adam, and he is the father of all humanity. No questions, it is what the Word says. So it is with world history. We understand history by what the Bible says, not what erring man says. In our church today we have many who do not base their understanding in such matters from the Bible. They believe in "science" over the Scripture.     They do not hold the Bible to be God's Word. How very sad. Do we trust Jesus more than the doctor or the engineer? True science is in agreement with the Creator. Let us be also.



Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 24.

[Pastor Sean Brizendine]

Sunday October 18

The Eyes of the Lord

An Oxford university professor has theorized that we, the world, and everything around us – none of it is real. Instead, we are the digital creations of a race of aliens with super-powerful computers.

While that’s an interesting theory, it does bring up a crucial question: What is the nature of reality?

There are two very broad possible answers, even if only one is rational. The first is that the universe – and all that is in it, including us – just is. Nothing created it, nothing formed it. It just is here. It is simply a brute fact. There is no god, there are no gods, there is nothing divine. Reality is purely material, purely natural. As someone said 2,500 years ago (this is not a new idea), there is only “atoms and the void.”

The other view is that some divine being (or beings) created the universe. That, indeed, seems more logical, more rational, more sensible, than the idea that the universe just is, with no explanation for it. This position encompasses the natural world, the world of “atoms and the void,” but it is not limited to it. It points to a reality that is much broader, deeper, and more multifaceted than the atheistic-materialist view so often heard today.

What do the following texts have to say about the ideas raised in today’s lesson? Ps. 53:1: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good." Prov. 15:3: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Isa. 45:21: "Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me." Luke 1:26-35: "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

These Bible texts clearly teach that God exists and that He acts in human history. To disbelieve the existence of God is to live as a fool, or one who rejects wisdom, for God is the source of wisdom. Christ is made unto us "wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:30). When we see how God sent His Son into the world by having the virgin Mary receive the miraculous conception in her womb by the Holy Spirit, we begin to realize that God's ability to do what would seem to be impossible should cause us to humbly yield our whole heart to Him that we may be converted and manifest all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing in our lives. To live a life trusting in God's existence and cultivating an intimate union and communion with Him is the privilege of every one who may truly experience eternal life as described in John 17:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." When we have this experience, we go beyond questioning the facts of God's existence to appreciating the reality of salvation's experience which can be known but not fully explained!
 
Central to any Christian education is the reality not just of God, but of the kind of God that He is, a personal God who loves us and who interacts with us. He is a God of miracles who, though using natural laws, is not bound by those laws and who can transcend those laws when He wills (such as in the virgin conception of Jesus). The teaching of this view is especially pertinent in our day because so much of the intellectual world, claiming (erroneously) that science supports it, openly and unapologetically teaches the atheistic and naturalistic worldview.

Think about how narrow and limited the atheistic worldview is in contrast to the biblical worldview, which (as said above) encompasses the natural world but isn’t limited by it. Why, in the end, is the biblical worldview, the theistic worldview, simply so much more logical and rational than its atheistic rival?

All around us are mysteries we cannot explain--like even how the atom holds together. We are to see not only the rationality of the reality of God's existence, but we need to appreciate the actual experience of knowing God such that we love Him with the whole heart and fear to sin against Him. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our lives will be the witness of continual obedience that testifies not only to a theistic worldview, but the reality that the world as we know it is soon to perish and that God is calling all to repentance. Let us appreciate what Christ is offering us in His word as a reality that triumphs over all doubt and confusion from minds that are not surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Only in the word of God do we have an inspired history of our race and existence, and all other attempts to explain away the word of God are simply insidious attacks like the first temptation in the Garden of Eden to doubt the word of God. Let us live lives of holy boldness in implicit faith in God's word by manifesting a character that Christ gives us by continually abiding in Him!

[Richard Myers]

Amen Pastor Sean!  We have no wisdom apart from God. The highly educated who believe not in God are without excuse for not knowing God. Why is that so? What saith the Bible about the matter?

From the Book of Romans, the matter goes much deeper that just being mistaken about creation. All are without excuse, and when they continue to fight against the truth, it leads to much pain and sadness in life:

 1:18   For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 
 1:19   Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed [it] unto them. 
 1:20   For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 
 1:21   Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 
 1:22   Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 
 1:23   And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 
 1:24   Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 
 1:25   Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 
 1:26   For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 
 1:27   And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. 
 1:28   And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 
 1:29   Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 
 1:30   Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
 1:31   Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 
 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. 
 

[Richard Myers]

Monday        October 19

Leibniz’s Question

Many years ago, a German thinker and writer named Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz asked what is probably the most basic and foundational question possible: “Why is there something instead of nothing?”

How do the following texts answer Leibniz’s question? Gen. 1:1

John 1:1-4 
 1:1   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
 1:2   The same was in the beginning with God. 
 1:3   All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 
 1:4   In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 

Exod. 20:8-11
 20:8   Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 
 20:9   Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 
 20:10   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 manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: 
 20:11   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. 

Rev. 14:6, 7
 14:6   And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 
 14:7   Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 

Job 12:7-10
 12:7   But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: 
 12:8   Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 
 12:9   Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? 
 12:10   In whose hand [is] the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. 

It’s fascinating how in the Bible the existence of God is just assumed. Genesis 1:1 doesn’t start out with a bunch of logical arguments (though many exist) for the existence of God. It just assumes His existence (see also Exod. 3:13, 14), and from that starting point, God as Creator, the Bible, and all the truth revealed in its pages unfolds.

The doctrine of creation is also foundational to any Christian education. Everything we believe as Christians, everything, rests on the doctrine of the six-day creation.

The Bible didn’t begin with a statement about atonement, or about the law, or about the cross, or about the resurrection, or about the Second Coming. No, it began with a statement about God as Creator, because none of these other teachings makes any sense apart from the reality of God as our Creator.

Hence, again, a biblical worldview must emphasize the importance of the doctrine of creation. This emphasis, too, becomes very important, because the teaching has faced a full-frontal assault in the name of science. Evolution – billions of years of life slowly evolving by fits and starts, all by chance – has all but destroyed faith in the Bible for untold millions. It’s hard to imagine a teaching more antithetical to the Bible and to the Christian faith in general than evolution. That’s why the idea that evolution can somehow be made to harmonize with the biblical doctrine of creation is even worse that atheistic evolution. It can’t be done, not without making a mockery of the Bible and of the Christian faith as a whole.

Amen! Thank you for making this perfectly clear since for many in the church this has not been clear, since some of our schools have teachers who disagree and teach otherwise.

God asks us to spend one seventh of our lives, every week, to remember the six-day creation, something He asks for no other teaching. What should that tell us about how foundational and important this doctrine is to a Christian worldview?

Yes, it is important, the Sabbath Day was given that we might not only remember God's power to create, but also of His love since He created it for us. And, as we are reading in today's lesson, He not only created the Earth, He created us. Why is it so important to know of His creative power? Because after He created the Earth and human life, Adam sinned. Now, God is attempting to re-create us in His image. This is impossible for us to do without Him. It was easy for God to create Adam, but not so with sinners. He needs our cooperation. His part is immeasurably large, our part is immeasurably small.

Why is it so hard for God to transform us? Because it required Him risking His Son, and it requires our effort to learn of Him and to surrender our evil will to Him. The Sabbath Day of rest was important before sin, but much more important now since we need to take time to spend in nature and in worship that we forget not that God truly loves us and has great power to help us in our effort to be transformed that He might be glorified.

[Richard Myers]

Tuesday       October 20

The Biblical Worldview

As said in the introduction, none of us view the world from a neutral position. For example, an atheist looks at a rainbow in the sky and sees nothing but a natural phenomenon. It has no meaning other than that which humans decide to give it. In contrast, someone eyeing it from a biblical worldview sees not just the natural phenomenon, the water and light interacting, but also a reaffirmation of God’s promise not to destroy the world again by water (Gen. 9:13-16). “How great the condescension of God and His compassion for His erring creatures in thus placing the beautiful rainbow in the clouds as a token of His covenant with men … . It was God’s purpose that as the children of after generations should ask the meaning of the glorious arch which spans the heavens, their parents should repeat the story of the Flood, and tell them that the Most High had bended the bow and placed it in the clouds as an assurance that the waters should never again overflow the earth.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 106.

For Seventh-day Adventists, the Bible remains the foundational text of our faith. It teaches the worldview, the “filter,” by which we are to see and understand the world, which can be a very daunting and complicated place. Scripture creates the template to help us better understand the reality we find ourselves in, which we are part of, and are often confused and befuddled by it.

What truths are found in the following texts that can better help us understand the reality we exist in? Eph. 6:12; Mark 13:7; Rom. 5:8; Rom. 8:28; Eccles. 9:5; Rev. 20:5, 6.

As Seventh-day Adventists, we must firmly adhere to the teachings of the Bible, for this is God’s revealed truth to humans, explaining for us many things about the world that we would otherwise not know or understand. Hence, all Christian education must be rooted and grounded in the Word of God, and any teaching contrary to it must be rejected.

Amen!  Yet in many schools, even religious ones, we hear the cry "academic freedom." Yet, when one stands in class and teaches creation as in the Bible, there is no academic freedom. We have reached the point where most schools are dangerous for our young ones.

What are some teachings of the Bible that contradict other beliefs that people hold? What should this difference teach us about how important it is that we adhere faithfully to the Word of God?

That we study for ourselves and when we are influenced by others, we need to make sure we study the Bible to see if what was taught was truth. There are so many contradictory teaching that we cannot number them. But, the greatest of all is the  perversion of the gospel message. From Adam till today, Satan has worked to make humanity think they are ok when they are not. We come into the world in need of a Savior because we have a fallen evil nature. So very many believe are entitled to heaven because they are made a profession of faith, but they err. God requires the whole heart be surrendered and cleansed from all sin. The Jews were taught otherwise, so too the professing Christians of today. Few understand that one known sin reveals a separation between man and God. It is necessary to repent of a known sin before we are forgiven.

Let those who understand share the gospel message with all who are seeking truth that they may have love, joy, and peace that passes all understanding!

[Richard Myers]

Wednesday         October 21

Worship the Redeemer

As crucial as the doctrine of creation is to our faith, the doctrine does not appear alone, especially in the New Testament. It often comes coupled with, even inextricably tied to, the doctrine of redemption. And that’s because, frankly, in a fallen world of sin and death, creation alone isn’t enough. We live, we struggle, we suffer (as we all do), and then – what? We die, ultimately winding up no different from animal carcasses left on the side of the road.

How great is that?

Hence, we have, as crucial to our worldview, the doctrine of redemption as well – and that means we have Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected at the center of all that we believe.

Amen, thus the Sabbath is more than creation, it is about our connection with God, our understanding of His great love for us and His creative power to re-create us in His image that there will be an end to sin in the whole universe.

Read John 1:1-14.

 1:1   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
 1:2   The same was in the beginning with God. 
 1:3   All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 
 1:4   In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 
 1:5   And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 
 1:6   There was a man sent from God, whose name [was] John. 
 1:7   The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all [men] through him might believe. 
 1:8   He was not that Light, but [was sent] to bear witness of that Light. 
 1:9   [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 
 1:10   He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 
 1:11   He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 
 1:12   But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: 
 1:13   Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 
 1:14   And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 


What are these texts telling us about who Jesus was and what He has done for us?

And what He is doing for us. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word. Why? Because the Word is God. It is a revelation of His character and the plan of salvation. It is by knowing God that we are transformed from sinner to saint. How can you trust God with all you are and all you have unless you know Him? You cannot. How do we get to know Him? By reading about Him.

Look also at the first angel’s message: “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people – saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ ” (Rev. 14:6, 7, NKJV). Notice that the “everlasting gospel” is linked directly to God as the Creator. And when we realize that the God who created us is the same God who, in human flesh, bore the punishment for our sin upon Himself – it is no wonder we are called to worship Him. What other response should there be from us when we realize what our God is really like?

For this reason, Christ and Him crucified must remain front and center to all that we teach – a teaching that, in fact, must include the Second Coming, as well, because Christ’s first coming doesn’t really do us a whole lot of good apart from the second, does it? One could argue, from Scripture, that Christ’s first and second coming are two parts of one event – the plan of salvation.

Dwell more on the idea, expressed in John 1, that the One who made all “that was made” (John 1:3) was the One who died on the cross for us. Why should worship be the overwhelming natural response?

Worship is the natural response when we truly know God. It is a lack of understanding who He is that keeps the church in a Laodicean condition. When we behold Jesus hanging on the cross, if we understand what this means, then how can we not love Him with the whole heart! God took a risk in allowing His innocent Son to come to this dark spot in the universe. Jesus could have sinned and would have been separated from His Father for eternity. Such love!!

[Richard Myers]

Thursday          October 22

The Law of God

Years ago, in France, the nation was debating the question of capital punishment: should it be abolished? Advocates for its abolishment contacted a famous French writer and philosopher named Michel Foucault and asked him to pen an editorial on their behalf. What he did, however, was advocate, not for abolishing just the death penalty, but for abolishing the whole prison system entirely and letting all the prisoners go free.

Why? Because for Michel Foucault all systems of morality were merely human constructs, human ideas put in place by those in power in order to control the masses. Hence, these moral codes had no real legitimacy.

However extreme his position, what we see here is a logical consequence of a problem that is not really so new. Moses dealt with it in ancient Israel thousands of years ago. “Ye shall not do after all [the things] that we do here this day, every man whatsoever [is] right in his own eyes.” Deut. 12:8, see also Judg. 17:6, Prov. 12:15).

However, if we shouldn’t do what is right in merely our own eyes – that is, we ourselves are not righteous, holy, and objective enough to know what is morally correct – then how do we know what to do?

Let's look at that statement a moment. "if we shouldn’t do what is right in merely our own eyes..." Can we do what is right if we know from the Bible what is right? And if we do what is right, are we not righteous, doing right? If not, how are you going to define righteousness? Does the Bible tell us to be "righteous"?

Continuing on:  "that is, we ourselves are not righteous, holy, and objective enough to know what is morally correct..." One does not have to be righteous to know right from wrong. We have a conscience that tells us what is right and what is wrong. Where our problem is, is that we have a fallen evil nature and can do no good thing until converted.  We must be partakers of God's divine nature in order to escape the lust that is in the world and in our flesh. Having fallen flesh is no excuse for sin, for not keep the law of God. When one says we can't be holy or righteous, then they are saying we can't keep the law of God. And if you keep the commandments for the right reason, then what more do you need to do? If you are keeping the commandments from the heart, then it is because self is dead and Christ has your heart. God does not give holy flesh until He comes a second time. But, He will give us new hearts that are pure and holy.

The answer, or course, is that the Lord who created us also gave us a moral code to live by. Maybe our eyes can’t get it right, but the Lord’s always do.

What do these texts teach us about moral conduct? Deut. 6:5, Mark 12:29-31, Rev. 14:12.

If we are going to make redemption central to our Christian worldview, then (as we saw last week) God’s law, the Ten Commandments, must be central, as well. After all, what are we redeemed from if not sin, which is breaking the law (Rom. 3:20)? The gospel really makes no sense apart from the law of God, which is one reason we know that the law is still binding for us, despite its inability to save us. (That’s why we need the gospel.)

Therefore, all Seventh-day Adventist education must emphasize what Ellen White has called “the perpetuity of the law” (The Great Controversy, p. 63), which includes the Sabbath. If education is to help restore the image of God in us as far as possible in this life, then even at the most basic level God’s law must be held up, in light of Christ’s example, as the moral code that shows us what truly is right in God’s eyes.

It is true that the ten commandments are the foundation of morality, but it is not all that God has revealed to us. Where in the ten commandments is the message that we are not to eat that which is harmful to our health? When baptized we agree that we will not eat pork or drink alcohol. The law of God extends past the simple statements found in the ten commandments. One verse sums it up nicely: "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Thus, the Bible reveals statutes and judgments that remain binding in our day. Many reject this truth outright, and others are just seeing what they have been taught all their lives and that is the ten commandments are enough. The health laws are an example that we ought to understand there is more to God's law than the simple statement written with the finger of God.

What month of what day did Jesus move into the Most Holy Place in heaven?  October 22, the Day of Atonement. Jesus began two works. One He is judging all who ever claimed to follow God, and two, He is preparing a people to stand through a time of trouble such as never was without a Mediator.

[Richard Myers]

Friday         October 23

Further Thought: “The true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 595. With this idea in mind, we can see why a solid Christian worldview is essential for Adventist education. After all, as we noted earlier, education in and of itself is not necessarily good. People can be educated, even highly educated, in ideas and attitudes that are contradictory to the principles found in the Bible. That’s why, as Seventh-day Adventists, our educational system must be based on the Christian worldview. This means, then, that all general fields of education, science, history, morality, culture, and so forth will be taught from that perspective, as opposed to one that contradicts or even just ignores it. Also, as said earlier but worth repeating: there’s no such thing as a neutral perspective; all of life, all of reality, is viewed through the filters of one’s worldview, whether or not that worldview is cogently and systematically thought out. Hence, it is essential that the biblical worldview form the foundation of all Seventh-day Adventist education.

Discussion Questions:

    What are examples that you can think of from history in which entire systems of education were (or even are) very destructive? What were some of those places, what were students taught there, and what can we learn from them? How can we protect our own educational systems from these destructive influences?

    This week’s lesson looked at some of the key points of a Christian worldview: the existence of God, the creation, the Bible, the plan of redemption, and the law of God. What other important elements should be included in any complete formulation of a Christian worldview?

    An eighteenth-century thinker once wrote: “O conscience! Conscience! Thou divine instinct, thou certain guide of an ignorant and confined, though intelligent and free being – thou infallible judge of good and evil, who makes man to resemble the Deity.” What’s right, or wrong, with that position?

God does not make man obedient. It is man's will that turns to God, then it is the power of God that gives power to resist temptation.  And man until converted is not a free man. He is free until possessed, to choose whom to follow, but unless converted he can do no good thing. And, the conscience is of man. God speaks to man and the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment. But, knowing right from wrong, Adam did not lose when he fell. What he lost was the ability to follow his conscience. And, we inherit his fallen nature. We have a conscience, we can reason, and we still have intellect. What we need is goodness that only God can give if we will surrender our whole heart to Him.

    Look at this Ellen G. White statement again: “The true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul.” What does that mean?

God promised to transform man, to write His laws upon our hearts, to cleanse our heart as while as snow even though they be as scarlet. In other words, if we will surrender the whole heart to Jesus, then the Holy Spirit will take possession of the heart and bring with Him love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance which is self-control. Not one of them will be missing as long as we remain partakers of God's divine nature. When we are walking in the light we have been given, we will manifest the character of Christ. We may keep the wrong day, eat the wrong food because we don't know any better, but we will pure and holy motives. We will love our enemies.

How does this show us why Adventist education must be so different from much of how the world itself views education?

Education can teach the truth as it is in Jesus or it can be like the education given to Israel that led to the Jews putting to death the Son of God, their Messiah. When the world comes into the church, then the education of our children is like the education in the world. Then, we see our young ones leaving the church because they see the hypocrisy in the church. We are not to do what the world does, but that is what we have been doing. There are just as many divorces in the church as in the world. Why? Because has deceived us just as he deceived Israel. We believe all is well and we are need of nothing, not realizing we are miserable, wretched, poor, blind, and naked. But, we being the chosen ones of God cannot see our lost condition just as the Jews did not understand God had cut them off because they were not a converted people.

Today, while professing to follow Christ, to keep His commandments, many believe and  teach that we cannot be holy and keep His commandments. That is a denial of what we profess, is it not? It is time to awaken out of sleep and study the Bible for ourselves that we might know the character of our Savior so that we will trust Him with all we are and all we have. Amen!!