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GOD CENTERED

WORLD VIEW

WINTER 2013-14: Personal Study Guide Ed Stetzer General Editor Trevin Wax Managing Editor

THE GOSPEL PROJECT FOR STUDENTS

PERSONAL STUDY GUIDE, WINTER 2013-14 VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 PRODUCTION AND MINISTRY TEAM VICE PRESIDENT, CHURCH RESOURCES: Eric Geiger GENERAL EDITOR: Ed Stetzer MANAGING EDITOR: Trevin Wax CONTENT EDITOR: Andy McLean DIRECTOR, STUDENT MINISTRY PUBLISHING: Jeff Pratt DIRECTOR, STUDENT MINISTRY: Ben Trueblood Send questions/comments to: Content Editor, The Gospel Project for Students Personal Study Guide, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0174, Or make comments on the Web at www.lifeway.com Printed in the United States of America

The Gospel Project for Students (ISSN 1939-0742; Item 005508013) is published quarterly by LifeWay Christian Resources, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234, Thom S. Rainer, President. 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources. For ordering or inquiries, visit www.lifeway.com or write LifeWay Church Resources Customer Service, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0113. For subscriptions or subscription address changes, e-mail subscribe@lifeway.com, fax (615) 251-5818, or write to the above address. For bulk shipments mailed quarterly to one address, e-mail orderentry@lifeway.com, fax (615) 251-5933, or write to the above address. We believe that the Bible has God for its author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. To review LifeWays doctrinal guideline, please visit www.lifeway.com/doctrinalguideline. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved. Photos: iStockphoto and Getty Images

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SESSION 7

IS GOD GOOD?

o you recall these familiar lyrics from a childhood song: God is good all the time. All the time God is good. If you grew up in church you have probably heard these lines before, but even if you havent, you tend to intuitively believe these statements to be true. Yet the question is posed by many today: Is He really? A brief tour of the atheistic scene will quickly show that critics of Christianity like to point out puzzling passages that seem to show God as angry or bigoted. If they can prove the Bible portrays a racist, vengeful God, then they can strike at the heart of Christianitys central claimthat God is good and loving. This week we will look at the goodness of God through the lens of His dealings with the Canaanites. By exploring Gods command to wipe out the Canaanites in the Old Testament, we will address the question, Is God angry? By exploring Jesus interactions with a Canaanite woman in the New Testament, we will address the question Is God racist? The goal of this lesson is to provide a defense against those who claim that God is by nature violent and bigoted by examining how Gods holiness and patience reveal His goodness in the blessing of His people and all people.

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READY YOUR HEART

THE RIGHTEOUS ANGER OF A HOLY GOD

Deuteronomy 7:1-5 When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with re. DO YOU REMEMBER the last time you were angry with someone? Most often we become angry with those we love, such as our family and friends. Perhaps they have abused our trust or acted in a way that we didnt like. I remember a time when I became angry with a friend for saying hurtful things behind my back to others. I was upset by her words and felt betrayed by her actions. My anger resulted from the offense I felt towards her lack of respect for our friendship and my personal emotions. When we become angry, we most often believe that it is justied. However, our anger is always tainted with sin. Despite what another person may have done or said, our anger always comes from a place of selshness. And we often react in a way that displays our selshness. We feel the need to be vindicated so we retaliate with our words or actions. Many who do not have an accurate understanding of God believe Him to be angry. They read passages such as Deuteronomy 7:1-2; 20:16-18 and see a God who is angry with people and reacts to them in anger. Yet, what they fail to see is the entire character of the Lord. They do not understand that God is holy and, because of His holiness, sin cannot be tolerated. Gods anger is never sinful like ours. Instead, His anger is always righteous. Because of our sin we deserve Gods wrath (Rom. 6:23). It would be unholy and wrong for God to turn a blind eye toward sin. When God does decide to act on His anger He does so because that is what is good, right, and deserved. Though we may not always act righteously with our anger, rest assured that God always does.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

When was a time you reacted with sinful anger? Explain the difference between your anger from Gods righteous anger. How might you explain Gods righteous anger to an unbeliever?

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READY YOUR HEART

THE MERCIFUL FORBEARANCE OF A HOLY GOD

Deuteronomy 7:1-5 When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with re. IF YOURE A STUDENT who has a habit of turning in assignments late, you may appreciate a gracious teacher. He or she may be willing to give you a second chance to turn in the assignment with little or no penalty to your grade. Perhaps you are in jeopardy of passing the class and the teacher offers you multiple opportunities to turn in late assignments in the hope that you will make the effort. Instead of becoming angry at your lack of responsibility or work ethic, your teacher pleads with you and offers encouragement to complete the task. This teacher is looking out for your best interests and desires that you succeed. In a similar way, God is a lot like the above teacher. His forbearance over our continued sin is comparable to the teachers patience. Because of Gods merciful patience, He has overshadowed His anger towards our sin. He has offered even the most wicked of people second, third, and fourth chances. God says in Ezekiel 18:23 that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and desires for all to turn from their evil ways and live. Through Jesus, God has provided a way for everyone to avoid the wrath of His judgment against his or her sin. Though we all deserve Gods anger, we have been given the opportunity to be covered by the righteousness of Jesus. Ultimately, judgment will come and those who have not given their lives to Christ will face Gods righteous anger. But God is merciful and gracious, and He offers Jesus Christ to us as our only hope for forgiveness and grace.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

Can you give an example of a time when someone withheld anger from you? How did that make you feel? How is God both patient and righteous with His anger? Why is Jesus our only hope of avoiding the wrath of God?

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GODS LOVE FOR ALL PEOPLE

Matthew 15:21-28 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me. And he answered, It is not right to take the childrens bread and throw it to the dogs. She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table. Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly. WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE I had the opportunity to visit a refugee camp. Hundreds of people from various countries were living in tents with very little belongings and less than ideal conditions. While the camps do provide shelter, food, and medical care they do not offer the comforts and familiarity of ones own home. Unfortunately, many of the people living in the refugee camps have ed their homes due to extreme violence resulting from racial discrimination or ethnic hatred. People groups such as the Roma of Czech Republic, Kurds in Turkey, and Tamils in Sri Lanka have faced the ugly outcome of being detested for their race or ethnic origin. The world around us witnesses the horrors of racism on a daily basis. And some would even mistakenly argue that God contributes to this racism, an example being evidenced in Jesus interaction with the woman in the passage above. However, on closer examination, what we really see is not an act of racial discrimination, but an act of grace. From the beginning, God set out a plan to redeem the entire human race. Though He used the Jewish nation as the means by which He would bring the Savior into the world, His plan always included taking the message to the nations. In fact, God told Abraham in Genesis 22:18 that all nations would be blessed through his offspring. We also read in Revelation. 7:9 that heaven will be lled with people from every tribe, nation, and language. If God loves all people and desires they come to know Christ, how much more should we seek to love those of every nation? We may not be able to rid racism in its entirety, but we can show the world Gods love for all peoples. As believers we should be adamantly opposed to any racists or ethnic prejudice because we serve a God who loves all peoples and desires for them to know Christ.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

Why might some people believe that God is racist? How can we help those people to understand that God is not racist? Provide an example of how you can share Gods love with someone of a different race or ethnicity.

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Gods Goodness is Revealed Through...

In answering the question, Is God Good? we will explore the goodness of God through the lens of His holiness and patience and see how they provide a defense against those who claim God is violent and/or racist.

Is God angry? To answer this question properly, we must recognize there are two types of angersinful anger and righteous anger. The sinful anger that you and I often feel comes from a place of selshness, entitlement, jealousy, and stubbornness. It comes from a place of I deserve to be treated better! and who are you to say that about me? As self-centered creatures, we elevate ourselves so highly that when someone cuts us down, whether through words or actions, it creates within us a hostile and violent reaction.

His Holiness.

Righteous anger is different. Righteous anger comes from a different placea godly place. Its that emotion you experience when you witness injustice in the world. When holocausts occur. When the weak, the helpless, the vulnerable, the voiceless are abused. Anger over injustice is an emotion that is more than just okay; its commanded in Scripture. Only in our anger, we must avoid sinning. Paul puts it simply: Be angry and do not sin (Eph. 4:26).
While we may stumble or be troubled when reading certain Old Testament texts, we can put them in proper perspective by looking in the right places. The ultimate resolution is found in Gods clarifying Word to us and the One who became esh and lived among us, who died and rose again on our behalf. Paul Copan

What does it mean to be holy? Why was God so concerned about preserving the holiness of His people? In what ways did God attempt to keep His people holy? Read 2 Chronicles 34:1-8. Why is it important to be aggressively violent in tearing down idols? What is the price of passivity?

His Patience.

In Matthew 15:21-28, what we have is a story about grace, not race. We dont know much about this woman. Only that she was a Canaanitea descendent of the cannibalistic, child-sacricing nations that God once commanded His people to destroy. We also know her daughter was possessed by a demon, which is why she was desperate to see her child healed.  hough some passages in the Bible seem to smack of T racism when taken out of context, the accusation that God is racist just doesnt hold water. Jesus never rejected anyone for his or her nationality. In fact, the opposite is true. Christ sent His disciples to all places to proclaim the goodness of his gospel. As Peter confessed, Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him (Acts 10:34-35).  Take a moment to read 2 Corinthians 12:1213 and Colossians 3:10-11. How do these passages challenge the accusation that God is racist?  Read Deuteronomy 10: 17-19, 24:17. How does Gods treatment of the foreigner and the pilgrim show His love for those outside the Jewish people? What does I Peter 2:11 suggest about the identity of every believer?

Like her ancestor of long before, the Canaanite women in our passage exposed a fundamental truth about the love and goodness of God: whoever believes in Christ can be saved. Regardless of race. Regardless of nationality. It doesnt matter who you are, or where youre from, or where youve been, or what youve done. W  hy do you think Jesus focused His earthly ministry on the Jewish people? How does taking into considering the Bibles grand storyline inform your answer to this difficult question?
At the Great Banquet Feast of heaven (Luke 14:15-24), people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will sit down for a meal. They will not eat as dogs, but instead as children of the most High, as heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, they will dine in perfect fellowship with the God who loves.

W  hat kinds of racism have you experienced or witnessed? What sin lies at the heart of racism?

The ultimate answer to the question Is God good? must necessarily resolve in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, God is good. And not just goodHes great! Death defeated, sin crucied, God is in the process of reversing the effects of the fall.

Conclusion

 How does the loving and patient heart of God for all people motivate our mission efforts?  What are the implications of not possessing a biblical worldview that recognizes mans sin and Gods holiness?

ENCORE

IS GOD GOOD? Gods goodness is revealed through...

1. HIS HOLINESS (DEUT. 7:1-5).

by Christian George

Its not just Christians who experience anger; God gets angry too. What provokes God to righteous anger? Lets take a look at one of the passages often cited as problematic for those of us who believe God is good. In Deuteronomy 7:1-5, Moses lays out the strict guidelines for purging the Promised Land of its inhabitants. Lets set this passage in context. The Israelites were on the move. They had crossed the Red Sea, wandered in the wilderness, and now, after forty years of going in circles, were nally entering the Promised Land. But there was a problem. The land was full of pagans: the Amorites, Girgashites, Canaanites, and a number of other ites. In order to obey God and enjoy the blessing of His promise to Abraham, the Israelites needed to conquer these people. So God gave them a take no prisoners set of instructions on how to do it. But how could a loving God give this kind of instruction? Doesnt God care about them? First, we need to recognize that the people of Canaan were anything but innocent. In fact, they were exceedingly evil (see Gen. 15:16, Lev. 18:25, Deut. 9:5). The gods they worshipped demanded human sacrices, and the Canaanites oered them in droves. You want grain? You want rain? Then you must sacrice your sons and daughters. To appease the god Molech, for instance, the Ammonites took their newly born screaming infants and threw them into large boiling bowls of re. This was a land of Hitlers and Stalins. A land in which the inhabitants lleted the skins o the backs of their enemies and hung them on the gates for everyone to see. Bestiality, rape, molestation, and other sexual sins abounded in full force. Sorcery, incantations, fortune tellingall these were commonplace in Canaan (Deut. 18:9-14). And as if the Canaanites could not degenerate further, they participated in one of the most unnatural, repulsive acts any human could do to another they feasted on the esh of their enemies. So when we talk about Gods command to utterly wipe these peoples o the map, we must rst recognize that the Canaanites were exceedingly and unapologetically wickedsocially and spiritually. Second, God gave the Canaanites opportunities to repent. As cruel and devious as they wereas horrendous and loathsome as the Canaanites proved themselves to bethe forgiveness of God was not beyond their grasp. God was patient when He told Jonah, Do you do well to be angry? And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle (Jonah 4:4, 11a)? God never took pleasure in ordering the death of the Canaanites. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live (Ezek. 18:23)? As displayed with Israel time after time, His initial instinct is to forgive. Instead of wiping out His rebellious people, God forgave them. Patient, longsuering, instinctively compassionatethats the God of the Hebrews. Isaiah got it right. I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me (Isa. 12:1). Eventually, however, the patience of God ran out. If the Canaanites had repented, God would have lovingly spared them. But now, punishment was on its way. This is because Gods holiness always demands justice. It demanded justice in the Canaanites, and it also demanded justice in the
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Israelites. The love of God does not negate the justice of God. As the prophet acknowledges, Your eyes are too pure to look on evil (Hab. 1:13). Is God a moral monster? No. Without God, we are the moral monsters! We are the creatures that contaminated creation. We are the ones who provoke a holy and just God to righteous anger. I was a beast toward you, the psalmist correctly confesses (Ps. 73:22). The anger of God is His right reaction to evil. But the love of God and the compassion of God will exist long after evil is annihilated. Long after sin and anger are abolished, love will remain. 2. HIS PATIENCE (MATT. 15:21-28). What we discover is that this is a story about grace, not race. Whereas Jesus came rst for the Jews, His patience is revealed in how He uses the Jews to bless all nations and races. Jesus said His ministry was to the Jewish people, not the Canaanites. It isnt right to take the childrens bread and throw it to their dogs. In essence, He was saying it is wrong to take what rightfully belongs to the Jews and throw it to the Canaanites. It is here that the story takes an unexpected turn. Instead of contradicting Christ, the woman agreed with Him. Yes Lord, if you say Im a dog, Im a dog. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table! What boldness! Talk about sassing the Savior! This was a daring, dogged kind of faith that Jesus rarely saw even in His own disciples. Woman, He said to her, your faith is great, let it be done for you as you want (v. 28). Its important to recognize that Jesus came rst and foremost for the Jews (Matthew 10:5-6, John 4:22, Rom. 1:16). In the Old Testament, God selected the Jews to be His particular people, a nation through which He would accomplish his saving purposes. While He lavished His love on anyone who believedthe Canaanites, Ninevites, and any other ites who turned from their wicked ways His plan had always been (1) to choose the Jews and (2) to use the Jews for the blessing of all nations. In the New Testament, Jesus modeled the same principle. Born a Jew, raised a Jew, Jesus preached in Jewish synagogues (Matt. 4:23) and observed Jewish festivals (John 5:1). All of Christs disciples were Jews. He would later send apostles and disciples to evangelize the Gentiles. But while He walked the earth, Christs message was intended rst for one people, the Jews. Jerusalem rst, then the very ends of the earth. That was the evangelistic strategy of Jesus Christ. Consistently in His ministry, Jesus showed that grace triumphs over race. The very fact that Jesus was traveling through Tyre and Sidon (v. 21) reveals His interest in the salvation of other nations. Thats why at the end of His earthly ministry He commanded His disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19). Paul would later write: There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave or free, there is no male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28). CONCLUSION The ultimate answer to the question Is God good? must necessarily resolve in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, God is good. And not just goodHes great! Death defeated, sin crucied, God is in the process of reversing the eects of the fall. Through the ministry of the church, Hes setting right all the wrongs in the world. Where there is murder, He gives life. Where there is despair, hope. Thats the Yahweh way! And God will not tolerate sin in this world much longer.

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