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Winter 2015

Christ Community Church. “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3. Winter 2015. FOUNDATIONAL PROBLEMS. BEING Problem o f Existence Foundation God – I AM THAT I AM. KNOWING Problem o f Truth Foundation Jesus – I AM WAY/TRUTH. DOING Problem of

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Winter 2015

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  1. Christ Community Church “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3 Winter 2015

  2. FOUNDATIONAL PROBLEMS BEING Problem of Existence Foundation God – I AM THAT I AM KNOWING Problem of Truth Foundation Jesus – I AM WAY/TRUTH DOING Problem of Living Foundation Jesus – I AM LIFE

  3. Session One WORLDVIEW BUILDING “The Wise Builder”

  4. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25

  5. “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.” I Corinthians 3:10-13

  6. What is Biblical Wisdom?

  7. What is Biblical Wisdom? • Wisdom material is scattered through the Bible but concentrated in Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes . • Hokma (wisdom) – generally means skill, ability, craftsmanship, cunning; in wisdom literature it means “skilled at living;” RELATIONSHIPS • Wisdom is based on observation and experience of how the world is ordered, close observation of actions and their consequences: What leads to a successful life, what leads to ruin? • The Basis of Biblical Wisdom is not only special revelation but importantly observation.

  8. What is Biblical Wisdom? • Wisdom is a quality of the whole of things; it applies to everything in creation, both living and inanimate. • Wisdom then begins with the fear of the Lord; and finds its meaning only in relation to the one true God and Creator. • Wisdom is found in community with God’s people. • Wisdom is not always readily apparent; often the opposite of human reason and intuition.

  9. WISDOM AND THE LOSS OF WONDER • The Wisdom Literature of the Bible teaches us “the creature” to orient our experiences and our lives to “the Creator and the creation” and not to mere intellectual objective knowledge, but to our relational interaction with each. • C. S. Lewis says that to understand the biblical world view, books will not help us; we need to “go out on a starry night and walk for about half and hour trying to see the sky in terms of the old cosmology.”

  10. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night, Shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22)

  11. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

  12. Understanding the Seasons:The Linear View Spring Summer Fall Winter

  13. Understanding the Seasons:The Linear View • Spring—Preparation …Birth • Summer—Production …Marriage • Fall—Provision … Maturity • Winter—Protection … Death *This is the traditional understanding of a persons lifespan—going through the seasons of life.

  14. Understanding the Seasons:The Cyclical View

  15. Understanding the Seasons:The Cyclical View • Winter— Death … Planning • Spring—Birth … Planting • Summer— Growth … Production • Fall— Harvest … Provision • * This is a view of repeated cycles of seasons; some complete, some partial, some overlapping

  16. Truth:The Linear View and the Cyclical View are not discontinous but continous. The cyclical rolling along like a wheel on the linear time line of history.

  17. Wisdom a “Totalizing Concept”? • Wisdom then refers to a very wide range of desires, behaviors, skills, and beliefs-all of which, like spokes of a wheel, find their hub in the order God has created into our world. • Wisdom is not just about activities like sowing, farming, building or reasoning on their own. It is about how all such activities find their meaning in the whole of God’s created order and especially in how that creation relates to the Creator. In this way wisdom is a “totalizing” concept.

  18. 4 Totalizing Characteristics of Wisdom • 1) Wisdom begins with the “fear of Yahweh”. • 2) Wisdom is concerned with the general order and patterns of living in God’s creation. • 3) Wisdom provides discernment for the particular order and circumstances of our lives. • 4) Wisdom is grounded in tradition.

  19. 1) Wisdom begins with the “fear of Yahweh” • The phrase, “fear of Yahweh” is a radial declaration of “ethical monotheism” distinct among the many polytheistic and pantheistic worldviews. Nothing else existed like this in the world; it is foundational to Western Civilization. • The “fear of Yahweh” shapes our theory of knowledge (epistemology). How do we know what we know? Knowledge? • This belief in a single Creator and author of order, focuses on the one source of all reality and is the first foundation of a biblical world view.

  20. 2) Wisdom is concerned with the general order and patterns of living in God’s creation. • The patterns of the planets, animals and seasons are all used as teaching examples for the grooves God has built into the world order. Life has places for us to walk and ways to live; [and to NOT] • The created order has a personal quality tied to God. Biblical wisdom thus leads us into true religion; into the love of God and neighbor; and into the proper care for animals, land and our ecological surroundings.

  21. 3) Wisdom provides discernment for the particular order and circumstances of our lives. • Because of wisdom’s being rooted in the patterns of creation it can give guidance in making good decisions in unique circumstances. Whatever the randomness of life, wisdom assures us of order. • Wisdom is God’s gift to help us navigate our lives within the general morality and order expected of all of us and with regard to the specific decisions we have to make based on our unique gifts and calling.

  22. 4) Wisdom is grounded in tradition. • Not just any TRADITION but the Biblical Wisdom tradition…from Genesis to Revelation; The Bible begins and ends with two striking accounts; one of life, beauty, and harmony and the other of rebellion, suspicion, shame, and judgment. • Those who dare to venture out on their own, apart from the counsel of the family, church, and community, stray away from wisdom into folly and away from God’s orderly design for humanity and into selfish desires and interest.

  23. “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:13-17

  24. REVELATION

  25. The Problem: Wrong Thinking Revealed truth is not like some theory of science; and faith is not purely intellectual insight into some result of scientific investigation. The Bible presupposes the darkness and error of the natural man, and would therefore contradict itself, if it submitted itself to the judgment of that man.

  26. The Foundation of Biblical WV The God Who IS THERE- I AM • The God, who is there! • Without the living God who self-discloses (reveals) Himself, we would have no unique vantage point from which to reflect about God, self, and the other problems and questions of our life. • In other words, thought itself requires nothing less than a revelation of God. • We are tied to the context of revelation . Otherwise all attempts at thought , at knowing , would lose integrity and be adrift in an utterly chaotic existence.

  27. The Foundation of Theology: The God Who Speaks • The God Who Speaks. • Because God is infinite and we are finite, we can never fully understand God. He is incomprehensible. This does not mean that God is unintelligible. Rather it means that he is unfathomable. • His thoughts and ways are too deep to plumb. Even if we were sinless (and of course sin also demonstrates our need for God’s self-revelation), we could never fully plumb the depths of God’s knowledge and being (cf. Ps 145:3,7; 139:6; Isa 55:8-9; Rom 11:33-36). • There is, then, not only a quantitative difference between God’s thoughts and our thoughts but also a qualitative difference.

  28. The Fact of God’s Self-Revelation, Divine Speech Scripture is clear: Not only is God there, but he has also spoken. He has not only talked the creation into being (Gen 1) which reveals something of God to us (=general revelation [see Ps 19:1f; Rom 1:18f]), but he has talked to us in words so that his mighty deeds may be understood by us (=special revelation). God’s revelation is always in deed (=action) + word (=verbal). And in Scripture, God has committed his special revelation to writing. Furthermore, there is a progressive nature to God’s self-revelation with a Christological focus.

  29. “Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:5-7

  30. Seven Pillars of WisdomProverbs 8 and 9 • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7

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