Article 2014-10 - God, Creator and Savior: The Story in a Nutshell
Chapter 1: God, Creator and Savior: The Story in a Nutshell
Introduction
In this lesson we learn that God created man, that He created man with a free will, and that this free will involves risks. God, Who knows all things, knew that things would go wrong and He designed a rescue plan for man. His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit play vitally important roles in this plan. The end results of this plan will be magnificent!
Scripture reference
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image … and let them rule … over all the earth” (Gen. 1:26) … God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:16,17)
The Story
Long ago, before God created our planet and all that is on it, a conversation took place in heaven. It was a talk that God the Father had with His Son and His Spirit. God told Them about His intention to create planet earth, divided in seas and dry land, with plants, trees and animals on it. Everything would be of extraordinary beauty. The most important part of that creation is mankind, made in God’s image and destined to rule on earth.
The special trait of man is that he has been created with a free will. He is able to think, make choices and understand what the outcome of his choices will be. That is different from how the angels were created. They see God’s glory all the time. But God longed for creatures that do not see Him in the same way and yet choose to serve Him. He wanted man to choose to serve Him, so that He can teach man in order to eventually share His throne with Him.
But what happens if man chooses not to serve God?
God took a chance by creating man with freedom of choice. It means that man can choose to not serve God. Man can turn against God, altogether missing God’s beautiful plan for him. God intends man to rule with Him over all the works of His hands and give him this planet as a training place. He created man male and female so they can multiply and spread over the whole earth. They were to become very many and very different from each other. Together they were to reflect God’s Being and character in all its countless aspects. Every human being may, like a diamond, reflect some of God’s light. Together they are to become a huge body of people who will become God’s ruling partner on the throne of the universe. Think about how exciting that will be! We will have a love relationship and for all eternity together be a blessing for everything and everyone. In order to see that happen, man needs to have Godly character. And so God created mankind with eternity in their hearts: they will have a beginning, but no end. It is God’s purpose to have man with Him always, for ever and ever. God was excited about His plan, but also knew the risks and dangers of it. The good news is that it cannot fail. It will succeed.
Things can go terribly wrong when man chooses not to serve God. He designed man in a way that enables him to serve His Creator. But if man chooses not to serve God, he works against his nature and that will do him much harm. The sad thing is that things with man did go wrong. Man started to think about his own interests and no longer enjoyed spending time with God. He lost his way in life, became sick and unhappy and eventually missed God’s purpose for his life entirely. It became so bad that whole groups of people strayed so far away from God, that they have no idea anymore Who He is. Some even state that He does not exist.
Now, God does have a solution for that problem, but just one. That one solution is perfect however, and will never fail when it is applied. The downside of it is, that if people reject it, no other remains. God designed just one way for such people to come back to Him. He decided that, as it will be man who spoils the high position God has in mind for him, it must be another Man Who restores that high position. Man missed the goal God has for him and only an innocent Man can free him. Now, what innocent man will remain to save fallen man?
Only the son of God qualified to be sent to planet earth. He left His divine glory behind and was born the way man is born. He was called Jesus and truly became one of them. He kept in touch with God and the Spirit so closely, that He succeeded. He lived like people did, ate and drank what they ate and drank, and dressed like them. He slept like they did and spoke like them. He became like them in every way. He was so much like them, that many did not even recognize Him as God’s Son. They did not treat Him nicely, or with the respect He deserved, being God’s messenger. Some even tried to kill Him and in the end they succeeded. Some people thought He was a deceiver. They were wrong, because they did not understand or believe God’s plan, that true innocence can save the guilty and that through death new life comes forth.
Three days after people killed Jesus, He rose from the dead. He showed Himself to a limited amount of people, but there was no doubt He was alive again. Of course there were people who persisted in their rebellion against God. Jesus’ mission was of great importance. On its success depends all life on earth. After Jesus completed His work He returned to God, His Father. Then He sent the Holy Spirit to make sure that as many people on earth as possible will hear about what Jesus did for them, and to show them the way back to God. The Spirit will work until the end of time and over the whole world. He will not skip one single people group and bring people from every language, culture, and country back to God.
When the good news of Jesus has been told everywhere, that period comes to an end. Jesus will come a second time, not to suffer but to establish God’s Kingdom visibly on earth. He will rule over the whole world and start restoring everything that was destroyed. All people that believed in Jesus, but died before He returns will be raised from the dead at His coming. Those whom He saved will rule together with Him. Together they will bring peace, heal people, establish justice for everybody and fill the earth with God’s knowledge. There will be no more wars or other disasters on our planet. It will be a time of restoring all things, the beginning of God making all things new. People’s joy will be enormous!
Scripture reference
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb (Rev. 7:9) Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. … they … will reign with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 20:6)
Comment
God created man with great purposes in mind. He wants man to love Him from his own free will and wants to share His throne with man. Man’s free will is a great asset, but carries the risk that man chooses against God. Unfortunately that happened and man got lost. Since that time God initiated a mission to bring the lost back to Him. The key-players in this plan are God’s Son, Whom He destined to become His Missionary. After the Son would have completed His part of the mission, the Holy Spirit would continue it, until the last people group on earth has heard the good news of salvation in Christ. The end result is that representatives of all peoples, tongues, tribes and nations are gathered in God’s presence, where they will be blessed for ever and ever. God initiated this rescue mission and He chooses agents to execute it and guides them how to do it.
Discussion & dialogue
God had wonderful plans for mankind from before the creation of the world. Based on what you just learned, how did God include you in His plan from the beginning of the world?
