2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”
Have you ever thought about taking a class in college or if your in a large church that offers lots of different options for teaching? If you were to grab a prospectus from a local community college you would see a list of options and topics that can vary greatly, from ideas of how to learn and grow in the knowledge of science to the arts, the list can be quite broad.
When we pick up God’s prospectus, also known as the Bible, we can see a myriad of ways that we can grow in knowledge and truth. Just like grabbing a college prospectus, the Bible reminds us of the majesty of the Creator and how we fit into this order. Through careful consideration and a mind toward the goal, we can enlist in these classes that God offers without the cost of tuition, it’s free, Jesus already paid it for us.
So come along with me, let’s peruse God’s prospectus and see what classes might be of interest…maybe we can take a class together.
The Sciences
Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”
The manifestation of God’s attributes are demonstrated within His Creation. The closer we look at all that He has made, the more clear He delineates aspects of who He is.
Do you want to have a greater appreciation for who God is?
Consider the care and complexity by which He formed the Universe, the order by which it flows, and the way that He incorporated resiliency within it’s composition. Take no aspect for granted, His image has been imprinted everywhere.
Colossians 1:17 “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Do you ever wonder why we can observe the Universe or why planets and moons don’t just collide or drift apart? —The Lord maintains order.
Biology
1 Corinthians 15:39 “All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.”
For those who think mankind is on the same level of animals, they haven’t read the Bible. People were created in God’s image, we have a body, spirit, and a soul. The Lord is also 3 in 1, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each stroke of the master’s hand created a masterpiece, each act revealed an aspect of His glory.
Astronomy
1 Corinthians 15:40-41 “There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.”
Each of these differences in our Universe reveal a spiritual equivalent. Paul went on to describe these parallels that give us a greater depth of understanding.
Vs. 42-45 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
We, like the myriad of stars and planets in the heavens are unique and have a purpose within the spectrum of God’s plan.
The Lord(the last Adam) is our source of light and life, like the moon we are called to reflect His glory to others. By the way we live our lives we are to reveal Jesus in us. As He places His Spirit within us, we shine with the light of the glory of His countenance, like stars in the sky burning with a power that was formed in them.
The Arts
Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.”
As the world turns on this ever rotating planet hung in space, the Lord turns His people on a sculptures wheel, forming us into His image. We come to him as a hideous lump of clay, misshapen by the world, a form that became repulsive in His sight because of sin. Then Jesus comes along and finds beauty within the mess, He begins to mold us and make us into an image that is acceptable, beautiful, and worthy to be presented before the Father.
We have nothing to offer Him on our own, the clay cannot form itself. In the hands of the master, we see once again a revelation of His glory within a people that He forms for His own.
Romans 9:19-21 “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?”
You see, whether the clay accepts the master or not is irrespective of His touch. The Lord intervenes in everyone’s life, for those who embrace His touch, they become vessels of honor. For those who reject His counsel and blaspheme His name, they become vessels of dishonor, having never taken the form that God originally intended for them.
The Humanities
Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
The study of human thought and culture begins with the breath of life and then progresses into a replication of of life that forms societies and people groups.
Do you want a better understanding of who we are as a people?
Study the purposes by which our Creator formed us collectively and the structure He formed by which we can bring Him glory.
Why did God form mankind?
Out of these questions are the purposes of life. People often look within the Creation to gain knowledge and insight and yet the Creation points to the Creator.
Go to the source if it is Truth that you seek.
Psalm 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.”
Individually, we have purpose and collectively we have purpose as well.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Do you want to know the purpose of life? I’ll give the summation of all that the Word of God reveals—-Jesus.
If you want to know true Life, know Jesus personally. Give your life to Him and allow His blessed Spirit to fill you and transform you into the person He intended for you to be. You were not made in error, the very substance of your being has value in the Creator’s eyes and it is only in Him can you discover that purpose.
Mathematics
Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Don’t you suppose that if the Creator made creation with an order and purpose that it would have a measurability to it?
We can see patterns of measurable properties because there is intelligence behind them. Formulas work consistently throughout the Universe and laws rule over these things that were formed thus showing order.
Matthew 10:30 “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”
There is no aspect of creation that God overlooks, there is not one thing that exists that He is not aware of—including you!
Luke 14:28,33 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—-So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
Purpose
As the Lord takes careful measure of all He does, we should take the same care in how we respond to Him.
Within pattern is purpose. That purpose is found in the hands and heart of the Creator. A Creator who loves you and gave His life for you that you might be redeemed from sin. Sin corrupts and every person that has ever lived has experienced the magnitude of it destructive force. God not only creates, He heals. He is in the process of restoring that which He originally intended—you are in His plans for that restoration.
–Allow the Lord to work in your life, to change you and make you new again.
—-It is by His salvation we are made new.
—–Only Jesus make that change.
Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.“
U.T. 