Character Studies - ElectronicGospel

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a. it was no more a blessing to dwell on Earth continually, for man had ruined its pristine,sinless conditionb. eternal life on Earth would represent an unending battle with temptation and sin, disease anddisappointment, and so God mercifully began to diminish man’s life expectancy by eliminating thatprecious fruit from his diet, all the while making a plan so that man could regain it elsewhereD. What They Represent1. Adam and Eve become fruitful and multiply, producing children, so that everyone here in thisbuilding and around the world share a common ancestry–red or yellow, black or white, we are allultimately brothers and sisters as descendants of Adam and Eve2. Adam and Eve represent mankind, the function of free will and the need for a solution to theinevitable failure to do what is rightII. Some ApplicationsA. In God’s Image1. we learn from Genesis 1:26 that we are made in God’s image, but Bible students have alwaysstruggled to understand just what that meansa. does God have a body like ours, with organs and appendages and skin and bones?b. or does this mean something less tangible?2. remember that man was formed from the ground–the name Adam actually derives from theHebrew ‘adamah, the word for ground–but God is spirit (cf. John 4:24)a. being made in his image has no reference to things physical, for God only figuratively hashands and feet and a back, for he is a spiritb. being made in his image has reference to things spiritual; his likeness includes an endowmentof reason, moral self-awareness, free will, imagination, immortality and limited creativityc. life in the plant and animal world is mostly lacking all of these qualities, so that man alone ismade in God spiritual likeness3. man’s simulation of God’s likeness has been eroded over time as evil has waxed worse andworse, so that a dramatic renewal is required to restore each sinner to that image (Ephesians 4:17-24 andColossians 3:9-14)a. most notably in God’s image you see is the fact that John emphasizes, namely that “God islove” (First John 4:8)b. when we sink into hate or even just apathy, it is that we are deviating from God’s imageB. Family1. Adam and Eve marry and start a family, the kind of family that grows rarer in this world everyday, but the kind of family that matches God’s ideala. Jesus used this family to illustrate his insistence on the ideal for his kingdom’s law (Matthew19:3-9)b. Paul referred to it in ordering the roles in the home (Ephesians 5:22-31)c. the husband’s headship is rooted in Adam and Eve for two reasons, Adam’s previous creationand Eve’s gullibility (First Timothy 2:8-15)2. it is a sad commentary on how far mankind has drifted that it is so common to see mothers andfathers with little affection for their children, sometimes abandoning them, even aborting them3. it is sad to see sex outside of marriage lose all of its stigma, so that even young women areencouraged to experiment and forfeit their innocence4. understand that the devil has spent centuries polishing the fruit on the tree of sexual pleasure toentice males and females to take and eat, deceiving them into thinking that they will not diea. the fruit on that tree seems to have no bitter aftertaste, until you take a big bite and discoverthe worm hiding inside–unwanted pregnancy, disease, hastily arranged loveless marriages, unwanted andabandoned children, welfare dependency, and if left unrepented, eternal deathb. sex outside of marriage is forbidden fruit (First Thessalonians 4:3-8)C. Trees1. the tree of eternal life bore fruit that would have sustained Adam and Eve’s mortal bodiesperpetually112! Jeff S. Smith
a. God endowed the fruit of this tree with qualities that served as an antidote to the mortality ofthe human body so that Adam and Eve could enjoy paradise in Eden as long as they remained thereb. but that was only a blessing so long as Eden was free from sin and all its direct and indirectconsequences, the most notable of which is death2. the tree of knowledge of good and evil was forbidden, not because God endowed it with certainmagical qualities that turned on a dormant part of their brains, but more simply as the proof of their freewilla. it existed as a prohibition so that they could exercise their free will responsibly and refuse itb. when Satan polished its fruit and pointed out its appeal, they ate and through that experiencegained the knowledge of good vs. evil3. today, the tree of life is part of the Revelation description of Heaven (Revelation 22:1-5)4. trees of knowledge of good and evil are planted wherever the tempter sets his sights on aninnocent, sinless persona. it is not that sin has a magical quality, but that the experience of committing sin–the initialthrill and guilty pleasure–infect the heart and suggest the inevitability of death (First John 2:15-17)b. for this reason, the goal of the Christian is “to be wise in what is good and simple concerningevil” (Romans 16:19)c. forbidden fruit, including drugs like alcohol, marijuana and tobacco, evils like fornication,adultery, stealing and lying, are polished up and made to look harmless and appealing, leading to pleasureand popularity, so that Satan might take advantage of us, but we are not ignorant of his devices (cf.Second Corinthians 2:11)D. Death and Life1. from Ezekiel 18, we learn that guilt is not inherited as a result of sin, but that the physicalconsequences of Adam’s sin and everyone’s sin do pass from generation to generation2. we live in a world marred by sin and no one is insulated from its effects (Romans 5:12, 18-21)3. Christ Jesus is the cure (First Corinthians 15:20-22, 45, 50-58)Conclusion<strong>Character</strong> <strong>Studies</strong>! 113
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CharacterStudiesby Jeff S. Smith
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Character StudiesThe goal of these
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2. she points backward to his defea
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2. Jesus knew he was not an oversiz
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6! Jeff S. Smith
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2. when the local church is involve
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10! Jeff S. Smith
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D. No Luther1. it fell to the apost
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14! Jeff S. Smith
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c. is the antithesis of Diotrephes
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2. and then he rebukes him for his
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20! Jeff S. Smith
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2. before gaining his victory over
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II. Practical ApplicationA. A Lesso
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a. we are all bending over so easil
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ConclusionJoseph was faithful to Go
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a. that, I think, is the great maje
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a. he had to leave his home, where
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34! Jeff S. Smith
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3. when Isaac became old and blind,
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II. Man’s New BeginningA. The Old
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1. every time the gospel is preache
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4. Elijah now has his turn, once th
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44! Jeff S. Smith
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a. we, like they, are strangers and
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D. Deliverer Appointed1. when God s
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50! Jeff S. Smith
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. those with little would be moved
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. in one fell swoop, he takes out a
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56! Jeff S. Smith
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3. it is not that some earn God's f
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60! Jeff S. Smith
Page 68 and 69: C. The Pleasures of Sin Are Passing
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Page 72 and 73: 3. reaching our land of milk and ho
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162! Jeff S. Smith
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esteem, wondering what we will do w
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166! Jeff S. Smith
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its soothing aroma and pain-relievi
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170! Jeff S. Smith
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3. this is the last that we hear of
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174! Jeff S. Smith
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and both began to return once he wa
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178! Jeff S. Smith
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led to the execution of innocent Na
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182! Jeff S. Smith
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government or of an occupying power
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to cooperate with her scheme; how c
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1. literal slavery like the kind th
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3. when Lot chose to live in Sodom,
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Christ3. they have the mission to t
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a. he is frequently described as a
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II. Some ApplicationsA. Prodigies a
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a. the other bureaucrats turned him
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21:20-25)a. it is safe to say that
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Ittai)b. as much as he hated what h
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II. Some ApplicationsA. Decisive Th
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or friendship at all (First John 3:
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c. Antipas was part of the tennis m
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224
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3. Silas begins and ends his Bible
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26Brown, Driver, Briggs and Geseniu
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