Sunday Recap 9-19-10

Morning:  The sermon, "Wisdom Is Better, But," focused on Ecclesiastes 2:12-16.  After failed attempts at finding meaning through examining wisdom, madness and folly, and pleasure, Solomon find's himself at back at square one.  After a thorough examination, he concludes that wisdom is better than folly because it allows you to see where your going.  Wisdom give you vision and focus, whereas folly keeps you stumbling in the dark.

However, the wise and fool both face the same fate.  In the end, Solomon fears that all his earthly endeavors will be forgotten.  The only hope for escaping this it to turn to the Lord. Our lives need a heavenly perspective to deliver us from death.

Evening:  We looked at the Fall (Genesis 3) in our Foundations class tonight.  We focused on these principles:

• God has an enemy.  The serpent in Genesis 3 is identified by John in Revelation 12:9 as the devil or Satan.  Traditionally, Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 have been understood to be addressing Satan.

• The chief tactic of the enemy is create doubt.

• Mankind chose their own wisdom over God's wisdom.

• Sin entered into the world through Adam, and death with sin. Paul explores this concept in Romans 5:12-21.

• It appears that dominion passed from Adam to Satan.  In Luke 4:5-7, Satan states that he has the authority to give away all the kingdoms of the world.  Jesus doesn't deny the truthfulness of the statement.  It also explains why he is called the "ruler of the kingdom of air" (Eph. 2:2, NIV); "the god of this age" (2 Cor. 4:4, NIV); and "prince of this world" (John 12:31; 16:11, NIV).

• Normal human leadership (government) reflects (dimly) God's character.

• Corrupt human leadership (government) reflects Satan's character.

• God condescends to man.  God speaks to us in ways that we can understand.  Although he is all-knowing, he asks questions.

• God is interested in real relationships.  Although God already knows the future and has numbered our days, he walks with us in time.  He interacts with his people in a very real way.  His presence is an inescapable reality.

• Disobedience is costly.

• The gospel was promised early in the human experience (see Genesis 3:15).  Jesus is the offspring of woman who crushed the serpent's head (authority), by stripping of his power through the cross.  The cross on which the serpent struck Jesus' heal.

• In distinctions, designed into mankind, will now cause conflict.  Humanity was made male and female.  They are distinct in their roles, and equal in value.  Man and woman complement each other, but now the structure is strained by the presence of sin.

• The Lord provides.

• The Lord is merciful.

• God willed to redeem mankind.  God was not willing to let all of humanity exist in an eternal state of death.