The Third Task of the Teacher involves helping people understand the origin of life, the supernatural aspects of the Universe and Human nature. Here are some brief introductions that I hope the Church in your area will be able to answer questions about.
I. Christian Beliefs Concerning the Universe
We believe the Universe has not always existed. The reason for this belief is found in Genesis, chapter one verse one (ESV) which says this: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
We believe the spirit responsible for the existence of the Bible is also responsible for the existence of everything else in the universe. Our reason for this belief is based on comments like this one:
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation, chapter 4:11, ESV)
2. Beliefs Concerning the Origin of Human Life
We believe the God who created the universe is also responsible for the existence of human life. The reason we believe this is because the Bible contains comments like this one:
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27 ESV)
3. Concerning Science
If you want to know more about the relationship between Christianity and Science, here are some recommended resources for you.
The Judeo-Christian Origins of Modern Science
We also set up a page containing a list of scientific disciplines that were started by Christians as a result of their faith. You can find the page with the red letter link below:
We have also set up a special page containing YouTube videos made by scientists who discuss different aspects of the Creation story (and Noah’s Flood) with research done in their own fields. You can visit the page with the red letter link below:
II. Christian Beliefs Concerning God’s Providence
We believe that God is personally involved in making sure the Universe does not fall apart. How exactly He does this is something the Church has not always been able to agree on (mainly because we are not allowed to watch it happen).
The discussion about God’s providence has three basic parts to it. The three parts are 1) Preservation, 2) Concurrence, and 3) Government. Here is a brief definition of each one taken from a theology book written by Wayne Grudem.
- Preservation means “God created all things existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them.” In other words God is the reason rocks are always hard, and why it hurts when (and if) you get hit with one.
2. Concurrence means “God cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do.” What this means is that if someone picks up a rock and throws it at you, it will not become soft to avoid hurting you.
3. Government means “God has a purpose in all that he does and he providentially governs or directs all things in order that they accomplish his purposes. What this means is that rocks are always going to be hard, which means we have to teach children not to throw rocks in order to avoid hurting people who might get hit.
Let me give you another example of this. We are able to live on this planet because of gravity. Gravity is the force that makes things fall down and hit the ground. Preservation, Concurrence and Government mean that there will never be a time when I can drop a rock and watch it “fall up into the sky” and leave the earth’s orbit.
There is a supernatural act we are not allowed to see that prevents that from happening.
III. Christian Beliefs Concerning The Supernatural
There are four supernatural aspects of the Universe the Church believes in. The four aspects are as follows: 1) miracles, 2) prayer, 3) angels and 4) Satan and demons.
- Beliefs Concerning Miracles
We believe in miracles.
“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11 ESV)
The Bible is full of stories encouraging us to believe that God is willing to move heaven and earth to support those who are loyal to Him. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most well known miracle in the Bible.
Resurrection: Myth or Miracle?
2) Beliefs Concerning Prayer
We believe in prayer.
The Bible tells us what to think about prayer. We are told that “…you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:2 ESV)
The Bible is full of stories showing us how prayer changed the world. God does listen to what his people are willing to ask for while he decides how the story of our lives will unfold.
3) Beliefs Concerning Angels
We believe in the existence of angels.
Angels are spirits that are loyal to God. The kind of work they do is described in the Bible this way: “Are they not ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those that are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14 ESV)
4) Beliefs Concerning Satan and Demons
The Bible tells us that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19 ESV)
Comments like this one lead us to belief in the existence of evil spirits that are unfaithful to God. The kind of work they do involves destroying anything they can. A part of the work in making disciples requires us to help new believers become able to recognize the influence of evil spirits and reject them when they show up.
IV. Christian Beliefs Concerning Human Nature
The Christian faith has four basic beliefs about human nature. The four basic beliefs are: 1) gender roles, 2) having a body, soul and spirit, 3) the corruption of human nature (sin), 4) the only solution to the corruption in human nature (the covenant).
- Beliefs Concerning Gender Roles
Our beliefs on gender roles are presented in the Bible. The Bible presents the basis for these beliefs in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Genesis 1 and 2 contain principles that are repeated in many different places all over the rest of the Bible. Here is an example for you:
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. n the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Ephesians 5:22-28 ESV)
We believe that men and women are different. The differences between men and women are designed by God to fulfill different responsibilities within the home and the culture in general. We believe being faithful to the different responsibilities makes a woman’s contribution to the marriage relationship very valuable to the man she marries.
We also believe that a man’s contribution to the marriage relationship as a husband is valuable to the woman he marries. We believe that a man was designed to be an authority figure whose responsibility includes providing for his wife and children within the context of marriage. We also believe a woman was designed to have the responsibility of having a subordinate and supporting role within the context of marriage to help her husband maintain healthy relationships in the home.
Was Women’s Submission Just A Curse To Be Overturned?
2) Beliefs Concerning Having A Body, Soul and Spirit
We believe that men and women have bodies, souls and spirits. Our belief in the existence of the soul and spirit are based on comments made in the Bible. Here is an example taken from the Bible:
““My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” (Luke 1:46-47 ESV)
3) Beliefs Concerning the Corruption of Human Nature (sin)
The Bible says “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23 ESV)
This statement from Romans 3 is one reason we believe that people are guilty of living in rebellion against God. We believe that some men mistreat women, and some women mistreat men. The reason this happens is because human nature is broken, and as a result we are not always able to live in peace with people who are different than us.
We also believe God is watching all of this happening, and He is not happy about any of it. Here is one example of a comment made in the Bible to let us know how dissatisfied God is:
“God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt, there is none who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 53: 2-3 ESV)
4) Beliefs Concerning the Only Solution to the Corruption in Human Nature (the Covenants)
We believe that God’s interactions with people are based on His covenants. Wayne Grudem says “The covenant is an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship.”
There are two main covenants in the Bible. The first covenant was a legal agreement between God and a man named Abraham. The Bible says “On that day the LORD made a covenant with (Abraham) saying, “To your offspring I give this land…” (Genesis 15:18 ESV)
The second covenant was a legal agreement between God and the future generations of Abraham’s family. With Moses acting as God’s representative, the children of Israel formed a covenant with God at Mount Sinai by saying “all the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (Exodus 24:3 ESV)
Unfortunately, the people of Israel did not keep their end of the covenant: “But like Adam they transgressed the covenant.” (Hosea 6:7 ESV)
We believe God has a plan to overcome our inability to live up to His standards. The Bible says this: “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:6-12 ESV)
So we believe that understanding the covenants is the key to understanding how God interacts with people living in this world.