Beyond Guilt

In the first two chapters of the Bible, we learn that at each stage of Creation, six times God evaluates His work as “good” and at the end of the Creation week during His seventh assessment, God evaluates His work as “very good”. However, things drasticaly change in Chapter 3 and the structure of the chapter highlights two main themes: the theme of temptation and the theme of salvation.

This section takes us to the climax of Abraham’s religious journey: the sacrifice of Isaac. This sacrifice is the “test” of Abraham’s faith. . A number of questions will be explored: What is the meaning of this test? Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice his son in contradiction to His promise? How will God provide? Why did the sacrifice change from Isaac to the expectation of a lamb and finally to the ram? What is the theological and prophetic significance of the failed sacrifice?

Apparently,  the people  were  in real  danger  of going down  the slippery slope of self-pity and faithlessness.  The apostle Paul is concerned that his readers and hearers may have had their spiritual senses dulled because of the difficult situations they were facing, and thus they had stopped growing in their understanding and experience of the gospel. Is not this a potential danger for us all, getting discouraged because of trials, and thus falling away? This study will focus on the strong words of encouragement that Jesus provides for us.

Imagine a cat scratching at a tablecloth trying to get to the juicy salmon. The knife is falling off the table and there are distractions everywhere. Yet nothing stops this lady from saying grace over her meal. Why is thanking God important to her everyday life?