Who can look at those photos
from the Hubble Space Telescope
and not marvel at the beauty of
the cosmos? Astonished at the
famous photo of the “Sombrero
Galaxy,” one writer said: “How
can we begin to fathom the
knowledge, the power, the
reasoning, the truths, and the
purposes that went into the
Sombrero Galaxy (which is just
one among billions of others)?
Here we are, so small and so
isolated, a speck of the
creation with so much in our
view but so infinitely beyond
our grasp.”
More astonishing than the
universe itself, however, has to
be its Maker, because only
something greater than the
universe could have made it.
Of course, as Seventh-day
Adventists, the God whom we
worship and serve is the One
who, indeed, has made the
universe—everything from the
Sombrero Galaxy to the quarks
that compose all matter in it
and everywhere else, as well.
It is in this context, that of
the Lord whom we worship and
serve, that our quarter’s lesson
is going to do some “theology,”
a technical term for “the study
of God.” After all, is it not
important to know about the God
whom we worship, trust, and
serve—the One we are called to
love with “all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all
thy strength, and with all thy
mind” (Luke
10:27)?
The picture of God in the Bible
is very expansive. Yes, God’s
love is underscored, over and
over again, but there is so much
more about Him that He wants us
to know. For example, there are
hundreds of different names for
God in Scripture. Each one of
them could give a deeper and
more informed understanding of
the great God of heaven and
earth. He is so much more than a
benign Santa Claus in the sky
who doles out assistance at our
request. (A professional poker
player recently won millions of
dollars in a tournament, and
then publicly thanked Jesus for
it!)
This quarter we’re going to look
at God, at various aspects of
Him as they have been revealed
to us and at what these things
mean for us on a practical
level. We’re going to start with
some of the “basics,” such as
the Trinity—the amazing teaching
that God is One God and yet
composed of three Persons. From
there, we’re going to focus on
God as Creator, the doctrine
that forms the foundation of all
that we believe. Next, we’ll
look at His work of redemption,
because in a fallen world being
created isn’t enough. We need to
be redeemed, as well. We’ll also
look at God as both a God of
grace and a God of judgment.
We’ll then look at His holiness,
His law, and the Sabbath, all of
which stem from the essence of
His character and help us
understand more about what He is
like.
And we also are going to look at
some other aspects of God not
commonly thought of, such as God
as a God of beauty, of history,
and even of romance. Among other
things, such as prayer and
ecology (that is, we want to
look at some of the practical
aspects of what it means to
serve our Lord), we’re going to
look, too, at God’s great
promise of the Second Coming,
which leads to the climax of
history and the end of
humanity’s horrible experience
with sin.
God is big (after all, He
created—along with everything
else—the Sombrero Galaxy!). We
are so small in contrast. How
grateful we should be, then, for
every bit of light He casts our
way. This quarter we’ll look at
some of that light. It’s up to
each of us, individually, as to
how faithfully we walk in it.
Lesson author Jo
Ann Davidson i
s
a professor of Theologyat
Andrews University Seminary in
Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Quarterly Lesson Index:
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Sabbath School Study Helps
These include all related
scripture and most EGW
quotations. Jerry has chosen the
“New King James Version” of the
scriptures this quarter. It is
used with permission. The study
helps are linked from each
lesson and links to the whole
quarter’s Helps are provided here.
