GOD

GOD
I. His Being
II. His nature
III. His character
IV. His will
V. His subsistence
VI. His Fatherhood

MAN

WOMAN

FALL OF MAN

MAN
a. Man in nature
b. Man’s destiny
c. Man ‘s structure
d. Man’s sin
e. Man in God’s image

WOMAN

The Bible progressively reveals the 3 part mystery of the Godhead as follows:

ADAM (Noah) TO ABRAHAM: God the Father Predominant
ABRAHAM (Moses, David) TO JESUS: God the Son predominant
JESUS TO JESUS'RETURN: God the Holy Spirit predominant

Words of comfort given to the disciples in the upper room on the night in which Jesus was betrayed. One imagines the disciples having difficulty understanding what Jesus meant, as indeed people still do today.

A symbolic, limited gift of the Holy Spirit to:

a. Signify the Holy Spirit was now to be available to mankind again as it was to Adam, through Jesus' defeat of satan on the Cross. (God breathed life into Adam, Jesus breathed on the disciples.)

b. Give the disciples encouragement and support to wait for the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

The Day of Pentecost marked the beginning of the Spirit phase of God's work amongst His people on the earth.

Q. What made the disciples changed men?
A. The power of the Holy Spirit transformed the disciples from very ordinary men into apostles who changed the course of human history.

Q. How can we live the life demanded of us by Jesus?
A. Only by letting the Holy Spirit take over our life.

'Easy Christianity', as promoted in many churches today, focuses on 'salvation', the making of a decision for Christ, as being the only necessary requirement for being a Christian and receiving eternal life. Subsequent behaviour is not considered to be very important. Taken to the extreme, provided you are 'born again', you can do just about do what you like and still receive eternal life.

Easy Christianity is based on receiving God's free gift of Salvation without requiring any sacrifice from the receiver. It promotes the 'fairy godmother' principle of God giving free gifts without making any demands upon the recipient in return.

EASY CHRISTAINITY IS BASED ON RECEIVING

Biblical (real!) Christianity begins with salvation but culminates in our submission to God's will, freely given as our personal sacrifice to our Almighty Saviour for His great goodness and mercy to us.

True salvation is reflected in a changed life.

This cannot come from our own human resources but only through letting the Holy Spirit permeate and take over our life. God gives us the means of changing our life - the power of the Holy Spirit living within us.

But He requires us to utilise this power to transform our own lives into the image of Jesus!

BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY IS BASED UPON GIVING

We look at 'being filled' with the Holy Spirit- hopefully avoiding theological issues, as much as is possible!

The Holy Spirit! Our teacher, our guide, our friend! How can it be then, that someone so good, so necessary for our Christian walk to mature, is the subject of so much division and heartbreak in the church?

Satan does his bit to twist the knife, but very often, the sad truth is, we don't want to hear what He has to say to us. For none of us really likes change in our lives.

ANCIENT ROMAN TRANSPORTATION (continued)

Expansion of the Roman Empire was both facilitated by and an impetus to the development of an efficient system of roads. They were usually built by a consul or other important magistrate, starting in the early Republic.

The roads were important militarily, as they bound together the steadily growing Roman Empire. A good road would shed water during the rainy season and permit travel at a rapid pace during all kinds of weather.

They were surfaced with stone paving blocks, had a drainage ditch on each side and were crowned to shed water. The major Roman roads were built upon a foundation of carefully laid rock which was constructed from a large ditch dug into the underlying earth. In this way, if the ground became waterlogged, a tight foundation layer helped prevent anyone traveling on the road from sinking out of sight in the mud.

City streets were paved with large fitted stones lain upon a foundation of rock also.

Roman civil engineering made it possible for the Romans to travel almost as efficiently by road as by ship, although the Romans usually preferred to travel by sea to towns on the coast, if they were given a choice. Roads were often frequented by bandits and one who traveled without a good company of slaves and armed retainers risked losing his or her life.