Monday Morning Bible Study… Week 3
I’d like us to look at this question in our Bible Study this week:
Why is God faithful, even when we are not?
Do you ever wonder why God is so faithful? Why is He faithful to keep His promises, when all of humanity keeps messing up, over and over? We looked last week at the covenants we see in the Bible, and God’s faithfulness, even when the people didn’t obey them. So why is God faithful when WE mess up, when WE run to all different sorts of things, or when WE look to ourselves for the answers? Let’s try to look at His WHY today.
The first thing we need to understand is that God is Holy.
“There is none holy like the Lord:
for there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God.” 1 Samuel 2:2
Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2 tells us there is none like our holy God. As women of faith, I think we can all agree on this truth and we don’t need to go in depth on the holiness of God. If we had time to look at the attributes of God, we’d see this amazing truth, that there is NONE like God! (There are many studies and books written about this that I would highly recommend reading) We also know God existed before time and created all things (Genesis 1:1 & John 1:1) So when God established all these covenants with man, He promised to uphold them, because of His holiness and goodness… and we can believe every word in Scripture that He will do just that. Praise God!
”For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” 2 Corinthians 1:20
From the very beginning, God’s covenants (and commands) are good… they are for joy and blessing and relationship. What an amazing truth to know that God desired a relationship with man and wanted to bless man through them. But, the enemy crept in and whispered a big fat lie, and we’re still dealing with those lies to this day. Don’t get me wrong… God is sovereign over all, (and we’re looking at this truth in this years study at our retreats) but man has responsibility for our actions/sins. It’s why we ourselves sometimes question if God’s commands are good… and if God is really good?
You see, we’re still fed the same lies as Adam and Eve. If you look at the questions this world still battles, we find the same temptations. “Did God really say that?” or “You will not surely die…” We battle pride. We battle truth. We struggle with the temptation to deny that ALL of what God did and said is good, and we choose to listen to ourselves. We choose to worship the creature (ourselves, or what was created) instead of our Creator. We deny the truths in Scripture, we decide to follow our own ways or maybe we even have “itching ears” that just want to hear the nice things in the Bible… and we forget that when you rebel against God’s good plans for our lives, it leads to destruction. (Proverbs 14:12)
The truth is: “We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
Adam is the “representative” of all of us and like it or not, sin brought death and separation from God. We’re all born into sin and are “covenant breakers” as well. From the moment of the fall, death entered in and the enemies lies/temptations are played out over and over again, throughout history. It may seem hopeless to some… but it’s actually another beautiful testimony of our faithful God!
God upholds all His covenants, but he also upholds unimaginable grace. And from the very beginning (actually before the foundation of the world) we see how He brings forth redemption for His people again and again… bringing beauty from ashes and joy from pain! (Isaiah 61:3)
“but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 1 Peter 1:19-21
Friends, it’s not about us and what we can do to gain acceptance from God. We can’t work for it, pay for it or be good enough for it.
God obligates HIMSELF, (because of HIS love and faithfulness) and we see several times in scripture that this took place before the world began. Our sin didn’t take God by surprise. Jesus didn’t come to die on the cross as “plan b.” Jesus Christ came to earth to prove God’s faithfulness is for all generations, for all who believe… (John 3:16) and it stands firm to this day… and until the day of His return!
“Lord, Your word is forever; it is firmly fixed in heaven. Your faithfulness is for all generations; You established the earth, and it stands firm.” Psalms 119:89-90
Think about this friends…
The weight of our sins, (i.e our pride, our unfaithfulness, our …. whatever sins you struggle with) fell not on man, but on God! His plan, from the very beginning of time, was to take away the sins of ALL who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You’ll never find this amazing grace and faithfulness in your friends, your job, your spouse, your bank account… not anywhere else but the cross, where Jesus shed His blood for your sins.
Will you trust Him with your whole life today?
Will you seek His will for your life?
He is so faithful and He will remain faithful unto the end! Have a GREAT start to your week everyone!
Hugs to all,
Laura McCollough
If you haven’t heard the gospel explained, I’d encourage you to read this or listen to this video HERE.
Daily Prompt:
Take 10 minutes to journal one of the verses we talked about today. After going through today’s lesson and the Bible verses, how does the sovereignty of God show He is faithful in all ways?
Art Application:
We talked about the Garden today, and from the very beginning of time. For our creative exercise, let’s draw or paint a garden scene that would be a beautiful reminder of God’s faithfulness in our lives. I know we can’t ever imagine what the Garden of Eden looked like, but what would it look like to you to see beauty in such magnitude? You could draw this scene in your Journaling Bible or an art journal. Write your thoughts about God’s faithfulness from beforehand… His sovereignty in all things… and how that is the peace and joy we get to rest in daily!