Week 1 – Our Authoritative Creator
The thrust of this week’s lesson is that God has the right to authority over us. What arguments/reasoning is the most compelling for you in support of God’s authority?
Also, how can we practically apply the authority of God in our lives?
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I think for me, the biggest argument for God having authority over us is that He not only made us (reason enough), but He also bought us. He didn’t even have to because we were already His. I may be the only one, but that was something I didn’t think about much That we’re literally His. so once I did it became a really big motivation for me personally to be a more obedient follower
This is an excellent point! He bought us twice, when he didn’t have to. We will talk more about this later in the study., but John 1:1-18 discusses this, specifically when it says: “He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him.” We still reject Him, even though He already owns us.
I think Paul said it best in Acts 17… God, who made the world and everything into… He gives to all life, breath, and all things… in Him we live and move and have our being…
Perfect, that’s our theme verse! We can’t exist without Him. In Him we have all things, even our very existence.
Well I can’t see what I am typing but I am going to try this anyway.
Since God is our Creator, that would mean to me that His authority is understood…much to the parent/child relationship. Our parents have authority over us.
Great point! It is simply understood…children cannot function without their parents. We cannot function independently of God . What are some ways in which God provides for us, even when we don’t realize that He is? Consider Matthew 5:45.
He gives us the very air we breathe, food to eat, the light we see by…
Even as infants we don’t know what we need but our parents know exactly what to provide. Considering Matthew 5:45 God does this for all mankind
Isn’t that a good point? Babies don’t know how much they need their parents. As they grow though, they realize how much they need their parents. As we mature as Christians, shouldn’t we realize our dependency on God more and more?
Absolutely! I realized that I need to lean on Him more and rely on Him to help me make big decisions. He provides his protection and care for me .
Ways we can apply the authority of God in our lives:
1)Submiting to Him, and following the Bible
2)Being humbled in His presence
Great! The Bible is God’s revealed word. It gives us everything we need to submit to Him, and be humbled in His presence. 2 Timothy 3:16. Can anyone think of any other verses that teach this?
there’s 2 Peter 1:3 He’s given us all we need for life and Godliness.
2 Peter 1:3-We have everything pertaining to life and godliness.
Psalm 119:160 The Sum of God’s word is Truth.
How about Luke 4:4 where Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from hte mouth of God?
Psalm 33:4 “the word of the Lord is upright…”
One Bible verses about submitting to God is:
James 4:7- “-Sumbmit yourselves therefore to God, resist the Devil and He will flee from you.”
Verse about needing the Bible to live by:
Luke 4:4 “And Jesus answers Him, saying, it is written, that man shall not live by break alone, but by every word from the mouth of God”
Ya’ll are coming up with some great verses! I didn’t think about Psalm 119:160. If we want to live lives that “make sense” we have to live by the truth. Who is called the father of lies in the scripture? Can we live functioning lives if we follow the father of lies?
Satan is the father of lies John 8:44
Satan John 8:44
Satan for sure. He was the first being to lie, after all.gen3:1-5.
Satan is the “Father of Lies”, and if we follow Him rather than God, our lives will not be functional.
Satan, of course! He was the first liar, after all! Gen 3:1-5
I seem to have repeated myself…
God has authority because he created everything.
I believe that is the foundational reason why we submit to God , thank you for bringing it up!
By submitting to it and obeying what He says in his word
Submitting. To *Him
How could we ever submit without the revealed word of God? Great point. 2 Timothy 3:16 teaches this! Can anyone think of any other verses to go along with it?
Romans 15:4
Yes! Though we are not under the Old Law, ALL scripture benefits us greatly.
We agree! He made us! We can apply it by treating what He says like it has meaning. Because it does!
Definitely! It does have meaning. What are some things He tells us to do that are more difficult for us to submit to? Does anyone have any ideas on how to work through the more difficult commands?
It can be hard to devote your whole heart, soul, and, mind to God’s will and we need to have a lot of self-dicipline to work through that. Specifically, putting God first.
God wants us to bring our whole bodies into subjection so that we can be wholly devoted to Him. It does take self-discipline. Consider Hebrews 12:1-4…what is the key to running with endurance (having self-discipline?)
How about trying to focus less on self and more on God and others?
Loving our enemies is a hard one.
This one is so contrary to what we WANT to do. It takes real submission…realizing that God knows best in those difficult situatiosn Why do you think God wants us to love our enemies?
Because that will help us to love everyone, just as He loves everyone, if we can love those who don’t love us
I think part of it is because He wants all to be saved. and if we hate our enemies then we obviously won’t try to reach them, but if we love them, as we are commanded to do, then we will want to teach them so that they can have what we, as Christians have.
When the woman was caught in adultry Jesus asked everyone present without sin to cast the first stone. We are all sinners. Romans 3:23. We all need forgiveness and mercy
II agree Alyssa. That’s a very hard one. Thankfully we have a perfect example of how to do that from Jesus! His enemies did terrible things to Him, and He never sinned.
1 Peter 2:21-25 is the perfect passage for this point!
As far as submitting when it is difficult, it helps to remember that we are as babies to God and just like babies don’t understand the restrictions placed on them by their parents we don’t always understand but we can trust that it is for our good
I think you’re all hitting it just right! God wants us to reflect His love to our enemies…because we all need grace. Romans 12:20 talks about “heaping burning coals” on our enemies heads. We want them to feel what they’ve done wrong, not because we want to retaliate, but because we want them to feel the love of God. What is a good verse to support this?
Luke 6:27-36
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” I know this is referring to a member of the church, but it still shows that the point is to bring others to Christ
For some reason I don’t understand this question.
I did not really understand the second part either.
Basically, why do we need to submit to God’s authority? How can we do that in our lives?
wait never mind i got it….
thank you! mine is taking a bit to refresh. that makes much more sense!
Genesis 1 explains Gods authority as Creator to us plainly
*God created everything that exists
*God is both Creator and ruler over creation
*HE has authority to use it however He sees fit
* Everthing He has made is good
* We would not be here if God had chose not to make us
WE can read the Bible and show God the respect He deserves by submitting to him as our authoritative Creator
GREAT breakdown Isabella! How can we challenge God, when we realize that we wouldn’t be here without him? We would not have the ability to challenge Him, if He hadn’t given it to us.
“When you argue against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.” -C.S. Lewis
Dear Mrs Colley,
Thank you so much for this study I am really enjoying it! thank you also for the nice reply on my comment!
With the Love of the Lord
Isabella
Thank you for your encouragement Isabella! Keep up your good work, I can’t wait to hear more from you!
hat we just need to follow the Bible.
That is such a great point Abigail, but what are some practical ways in which we need to submit to God on a daily basis? For example, submission to parents? What about giving as we have been prospered? We must be faithful in the little things to be able to be faithful in much! Do you have some more practical ideas?
Well… um…?
oops. That, not hat.
Testing. Grace cannot make it tonight but will hopefully next week. So I am testing the system. -MMom 🙂
You’re in!
I still don’t really get how the chatroom works.
yikes. Typing in white is scary. But I think that when we do the hard stuff that’s right…that’s when we submit. When we do what makes sense for us–what we want to do–that’s just doing our own thing, not submission. When we do what we really don’t want to do just because he asks us to do it, that is obeying His authority.
Excellent point. Good habits are good, but when we only do what is easy for us, and avoid the difficult things, we cannot submit to God. We have to step outside of our comfort zones to obey His authority
1Peter 2:20
Perfect verse, Ellie!
I’m having trouble.
I’m sorry sweetheart! you’re in, and your posts are coming up. Feel free to answer the questions, or start a better discussion question than I did 🙂
An okay discussion question might be why we need to let Him have authority over us.
Why do I have to post to see other peoples’ comments?
Dear Abigail,
One thing that i have learned is that if you click the chatroom title at the top of the page then click the link again you will recieve the comments that have not popped up yet 🙂
Thanks!
Thank you so much Rebekah, you’re doing a wonderful job, and I’m really enjoying the study! <3
Thank you for your encouragement Lindsey! I hope tonight was profitable. Looking forward to more of your input!
Thanks for the study Rebekah. I really liked reading the first chapter of it, and look forward to all the rest!
Thank you Elizabeth! I’m glad you could join us tonight. I hope it is a beneficial study for you.
Thank you Rebekah for this study it will help me grow closer to Him 😀
That is the goal, I know that writing it helped me grow closer to Him! Thank you for your great participation and encouragement!
Thank you for all of your input tonight! You all did a great job, and worked through the crazy text issue. Hopefully next week you’ll be able to read what you’re writing. 🙂 Love you all, keep up your hard work! Send me a message if you have any ideas on how to improve it.
Feel free to make more comments in the designated area, or ask questions, and I will get to them as the week continues.
Its 8:07…Is the time up for tonight?
Feel free to keep going, I will approve comments as time allows! There’s a closing post on the main chatroom page, if you leave posts there I’ll be sure to see them. They may get lost on this post <3 You all did a great job!
I didn’t see what you had posted, Mrs. Colley! Sorry! Good night!
Hi Rebekah, I had trouble completing Q3 for chapter 1 that asks us to make a chart comparing God’s attributes with ours from Isaiah 40.
I am hosting a young ladies bible study group using your book as a supplement to studying God’s word. This month we got together for a kick off and went over book foreward/intro. Next month we are meeting to discuss chapter 1. I want to make sure I understand where you were going with your questions so that I do not misinterpret scripture. Thank you for putting this “meaty” study.
Hi Athena! Here is a sample of what i had in mind from Isaiah 40:
God understands everything about the earth, we must strive to discover our world (vs 12)
God has never been taught, we have been taught everything we know (vs 13-14)
Just find the things said of the Lord, and think about how we are the opposite! Does this help?
Hi Rebekah! When I read Isaiah 40, I did not get that kind of info from the text. My chart answers were 40:22- God sits above the circle of earth, we are as grasshoppers; 40:26 God creates us, we lift up our eyes to see him; 40:29- God gives power to faith, we receive power when we’re faint. Thanks for sharing a sample of your chart. It has given me a different perspective and clarified the question.
Great! I love what you have, those are great points. What I was hoping for (I probably did not make this clear), was for the readers to find the attributes of God discussed in Isaiah 40, and then think about what we are in comparison. Not every answer needs to be a direct quote from the text, but every answer should be sparked from the facts in the text. I hope this helps, I’m so glad to hear about your study. Love and prayers <3