Video Transcript: Biblical Foundations

Welcome to topic two on domestic tranquility, the biblical and theological foundations.

In the first video, we talked about how domestic tranquility is the is the opposite of domestic violence. Domestic violence, of course, is referring to disorder, chaos. We see it in the news, North Korea, Syria, the Middle East, in general, and also everywhere in the world. It's all around us in your backyard, we have violence, we have disorder, we have chaos,

as well as right here in the human heart,

which is why we want to look at the Bible, and what the Bible has to say about how we need Christ to put things back into order. It's very, very important that there's a story that John Maxwell talks tells us in his book, winning people, or winning with people, and the story goes like this

A man was in a hot air balloon, he realized he was lost.

And in his hot air balloon, he was at a reduced altitude and he spotted this woman below and descend a bit more and shouted, excuse me. "Can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The woman below replied, "you're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground here between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the woman. "How did you know?" "Well" said the balloonist "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to make of your information. And the fact is, I'm still lost. Frankly, you've been not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The woman below responded, "You must be in management."

"I am," replied the balloonist "How did you know?"

"Well" said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. you've risen to where you are due to a large

large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you've no idea how to keep you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is, you're in exactly the same position you were in before we met. But now somehow, you've managed to make it my fault."

And then, of course, John Maxwell goes on to say, how often have you found yourself in conflict with another person, because you see things one way, and he or she sees them another? Same thing with domestic violence, chaos disorder. And some of you watching

may be fresh out of prison or jail. And you're taking this course, as part of the restorative justice track. And you were preparing to help others. Of course, in the divinity track and all the tracks you're we're always there to serve God and help others. And domestic tranquility says, let's help people become all that God has created them to be. But we have to look at the biblical and theological foundations before we can go any further.

And God is the Creator: Genesis chapter one,

In Genesis one,

 introduction

it says "In the beginning, 

and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness God called the light Day, the darkness he called night and there was evening there was evening and morning, the first day." God is creator.

First it was Adam, 

And then, of course, we read how Adam was lonely. Adam needed a helper, Adam, needed to be in community,

And so God made Eve

It says here Genesis 2:18 "the Lord God said, is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him. Now the Lord God meant formed out of the ground, all the wild animals, all the birds in the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name."

And then it goes on to save Adam, no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep.

Of course, we know the rest of the story. Eve was created:

"The man said, this now bone of my bones, flesh, my flesh, she shall be called woman, she was taken out of man. That's why a man leaves his father mother to be united with his wife, and they become one flesh. And Adam was as wife both naked and felt no shame." There was total transparency between Adam and Eve and God, Adam and Eve and God. And so we see here how God who is creator,

with Adam and Eve, mankind.

There was perfect harmony. Mankind, Adam and Eve, they knew exactly what God wanted. They were walking with Him. They were not, so to speak, in a hot air balloon, not knowing where they were, lost,

confused. We know the rest of the story. Because

after Genesis 2, we then get into Genesis 2, and Genesis three.

reading about the fall.

And it begins with the temptation. The serpent was more crafty than the wild animals. Do you remember the story? Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? The serpent said, or the devil said, through the serpent, to Adam and to Eve, actually Eve here first. And then of course, Adam joined her. The woman said the serpent we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But God did say you must not eat fruit from that tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die.

accepted. They thought they had to become God Himself. They weren't like God yet. The truth of the matter was that they were already like God, they already had the characteristics, the traits and and they were reflecting perfectly back to God mirror image in Genesis 1:26. Before this, God said let us make mankind in our image.

the one who originally made mankind in true harmony and true

union with Adam and Eve, with people, and things were in order.

However, with Genesis 3, we then read how Adam and Eve believed the lie. And then something interesting happens.

but now we begin to see the relational dynamics, we begin to see what's all happening here, interpersonally 

in around Adam and Eve. Let's take a look.

Then, he and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God, as he was walking the garden, in the cool of the day, and they  they hid. So here's the big deal. They were hiding from God. Over here, what we just noted, they didn't have to hide. There was no need to hide from God: God and mankind were imperfect relationship, perfect connection.

And then the kids they were having, because we then believe that there were there were kids born to them before the fall, that, in fact,

they were in perfect harmony. They knew God's will. They knew what God wanted. And they were following God perfectly. They were complete. But the Lord God called the man, Where are you?  He answered, I heard you in the garden. and I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid. Now, what we do know is this: God knew where Adam and Eve were. They didn't have to hide from God. God knows where we are. God knew where Adam and Eve were. And he was really saying, Where are you? I miss our connection with you. We are now in disorder disconnected. This is now no longer here. And I want you back. God is saying, however, you disobeyed me. 

Now let's look at the the relational dynamics going on here in Genesis 3:11. God said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree? Of course, God knew, but he was challenging them. He was acknowledging the fact that they did. And man said, the woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. This is our first example. Everyone have what we call blame shifting 

and blame shifting refers to the fact that Adam did not want to own what he did. First, not protecting Eve and eating the fruit and disobeying God. Of course, it goes on to say, verse 13, then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you've done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate it. Another example of shifting the blame. Adam didn't want to own it. Eve did not want to own it. So now we have God dealing with them like a dad. Are you dads out there? Of course, mom's too. Parents, you have kids? I didn't do that, Johnny will say, or Susie would say, I didn't do that. She did. He did. I didn't. I'm innocent. Of course, you could see all the cookie crumbs on the face or the the dirt on the on the hands. God caught Adam and Eve red handed. As we say, blame shifting. We don't want to own our shortcomings. And of course, as we read the story about the man in the hot air balloon, he was shifting the blame on the woman on the ground: you've delayed my trip. She was saying, you're must you must be in management, you must be this type of person. And you just don't know where you are. And it's your fault. We don't know the rest of the context of the story. But it does take two today; it takes two to tango. But God is perfect. He is Creator, He is the one true God. And God is saying, Adam and Eve you have fallen from relationship with me. In verse 14, curses are the above all the livestock are the wild animals, because you have done this, you need to own it, you will own this, you have, in fact, have cursed yourselves. And woman, you will now have pain in childbirth; man, Adam, men, you will now work by the sweat of your brow, life is going to get harder, you are going to have conflict, you're not going to be able to understand each other all the time. Marriage is more of an art now, and it's going to take a lot of work. Relationships in general are going to take a lot of work. Because we are now falling short of God's glory. So mankind has now done this as well. And I have this illustration in the other videos as well. Now you have mankind now over here. And God here. Again, this separation, this gap we call sin. And of course as we know Jesus does bridge the gap. But to look at the biblical foundations here, and the theological implications, the theological results, the fact that because of what happened here in in this story that is true that that did happen. And the theological truth is that we cannot connect with God on our own. We cannot save ourselves.

Only God the Creator can save us. And so that's why we have Christ. God coming down putting skin on, dying for us on the cross.

And then Jesus owns what we did. So  because we could not own and take the price that God required to make it right, to bring this back into order, this relationship. And so God is creator, God is righteous, God is the just judge. And there's a video that I have attached to this topic from Ray Vanderlaan. And the Ray Vanderlaan video talks about how God still calls us into ministry. God still calls us to be co-creators, to be co-laborers, to be partners with him, and bring the good news of Jesus Christ, who made it right. And to bring tranquility, to bring harmony. Yet, even in this world where we're broken, and so God then tells us that yes, there is hope, Christ's made it happen. And of course, he gives us the history, starting with not only what he said here in Genesis three, prophesying that Jesus was coming. But also, of course, we eventually read about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the nation of Israel, bringing Messiah to save us from our sins. So Messiah is coming, please, of course, coming back to that Ray Vanderlaan video on Israel's mission, you will then watch that video and then write a reflection on that in your journal, to help you understand, grasp and also grow with what God was demonstrating in the book of Genesis with Abraham, Genesis 12, 13, 14, right on through, as Ray takes us there, but also too, we need to also acknowledge the scriptures that help us understand what God was doing here. And most of you,  I assume all of you, understand that God saves us. That salvation is unmerited. There's nothing we can do. So we go back to Ephesians 2:8- 10. And it says here for us "By grace, you've been saved through faith, not from yourselves is the gift of God." In Genesis 3:15, God was saying, I'm going to bring a gift, I'm going to bring myself to become, to own the blame. I'm going to own the blame. So that means that the blame that mankind so much deserves, I'm going to take it, I'll take the heat, so that mankind doesn't have to. See, once we realize that by grace we are saved, by God's work, and verse nine, not by works, so no one can boast, where no one can say I did it. For because of this, we are God's workmanship, verse 10, where we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. And so God took the blame. Yes, we have hope down. Hope is now grace, is now bringing heaven on earth is possible. It is possible. God does the impossible. So we need to understand that this is where God took us from Adam and Eve. To then, of course, Paul's day, to our day, from the Israelites, the Old Testament, which you'll see demonstrated right away Vanderlaan and being right on site in Israel, showing you the sights and how Abraham lived. And of course, how that brought us into Messiah, Jesus day, to then, of course, bring us into the New Testament Church, and also into now the modern day church, you and me. So, let's come back to other biblical truths. Romans three here's the evidence, Paul says, "All have sinned." All, not just some All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And all of us, because of Jesus taking the blame, are all justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ did the work. That's grace. We didn't have to do the work. Jesus did the work. Okay, now let's take this, and then we're applying it to domestic tranquility. We're now understanding that we are still called by God as broken people, with our chaos, with our issues, with our stuff, that God has called us to be Redeemers as God used Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and of course, ultimately, Jesus, to bring this world back to God. And of course, only through the power of Christ, as well as Romans 6:23. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus." More evidence to the fact that it is a gift. We can't earn it. It's God's Word, God's initiative, God fulfilling, completing us, God following through how many times that have we had it where people said, Yeah, they'll do this for you, or people promised the world and they don't follow through. God followed through. God is not in that hot air balloon, wondering where he is. God is above that balloon. And he knows, he sees the whole parade, he sees the whole: he's like Google Earth, he sees the whole parade from the beginning to the end. And it's as creator, God says, I will bring the whole earth back into relationship with Me. Jesus Christ did the work to begin that process, so that we are therefore justified, and when we are justified, justified means this justified.

Okay, we have blame. Jesus took the blame. But now we are justified. Which means just as if we did not sin ever. Just as if we'd have not sinned at all. So what God is saying is that he is taking the lenses of Jesus the lens of Christ, and looks at you and me. And he's saying, Ah, my son, my daughter, my children, my family. Jesus took the blame. Therefore, now I can bring order into their lives through Jesus Christ. And now I can declare that, just as if they've never sinned. Although God knows that we have, and Paul acknowledges this in Romans 6, Romans 3. But it says, If and this is where Paul says, you know, we are justified freely. And then brings our whole world back together again. God shows us the purpose that he's given to each of us to be the head, the feet, the hands of the body of Jesus, to redeem and bring this world back into order, before Jesus Christ comes back. And I would, suffice to say, not only spiritually but also physically, emotionally, and also in community, so we can continue to bring the good news everywhere that God leads us to go. So no more blame shifting. We need to be self aware, because as Jesus has taken the blame, now through the Holy Spirit, God breathes into us. He breathes into us restoration. He breathes into us forgiveness. There's a story of a woman, Lorraine Huberry who formed the Stasi Foundation, Mellon looked it up online. And the Stasi Foundation was established because Lorraine had two daughters who were assaulted. One of them was killed in the assault intentionally, and the other daughter, the killer thought that she had died too, in the attack. However, that daughter played dead. And she survived and lived to tell about it. When this young man was on death row, and the night he was about to be executed. But Lorraine tells the story, how she was on a conference call in her lawyer's office with that young man who was in the prison bout ready to be brought to that execution room and injected with that lethal dose. And as they were talking, the daughter who had lived, she was there to she let him have it, said how can you and Oh, and you're such a bad person, and so forth and so on. She just had to get it out. LOrraine, on the other hand as her daughter was unleashing her her venom on on him. And as she recounts the story here, she then has her opportunity. Once her daughter was finished, and said, You know what, I forgive you. I forgive you now because of you or for you, but because of me, and for myself. I forgive you, I release you. Jesus Christ releases us from that bondage, that blame of the disconnect of what we lost. When Adam and Eve, disobeyed, and yes, in fact, they did surely die. But now we have new life in Jesus Christ, and that new life, we look forward to of course, we have it now through the Holy Spirit, how Holy Spirit breathes into us. Maybe you remember the word inspirio. And it means to breathe in, inspiration, that word inspiration from that root word, inspirio: Breathe into us, into our hearts life in this broken world, and what God chooses to do, as what you'll see in the right Vanderlaan film, is that he says, Now be a partner with me to breathe life into others. That's how it works biblically and theologically, and brings us into the effort of bringing tranquillity in this world, which takes a day by day, moment by moment, one day at a time, one moment at a time process. I mentioned my other lectures how I oversee and lead a recovery ministry, weaves the Bible, we use the 12 steps we redeem, and the Alcoholics Anonymous format, and also their Narcotics Anonymous format and many similar formats of facilitating and helping people who are broken, to become whole, to become well. And we do it because we know this truth is true is absolutely true. It's not subjective. It's not relative. We don't to worry that this will go away. No, the truth is, is that God put us in place through Jesus Christ, that he took the blame, so we can be justified. And now the term sanctification comes into mind.

Sanctification is the whole process where day by day we are becoming more like Jesus. Things are chiseled off, taken off from the old life. And now we are forgiven by Christ. Remember again Lorraine's story with that killer, how she forgave him. Jesus forgives you. Jesus forgives all. And there's still a process because God knows our humanity. He designed it. He knows that we need a process; it doesn't happen overnight. It's not a one time event. But with God's help, we have hope. Right now. And the result is the exchanged life. So as the steps are being taken, what we want to do is this: we want to understand that through that Romans 12:2 process, being transformed by the renewing of our minds. Here is how it works. As we are then God's ambassadors again, 2 Corinthians 5:17, we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, the old is gone, the new has come. And therefore we are Christ's ambassadors. It says further on in that chapter, to bring this truth to others. God doesn't need us: we say, But God wants us in this process, and therefore God is saying,  I want you, therefore I do need you. We are needed. So the way God designed the process is to have us involved. We are involved. Here's how it works: once we are saved, God is sanctifying us, and Jesus takes our blame. And as we tell the good news of how Christ bridges us as human beings over to God's side, where there's life, and eternal life and fulfillment and becoming complete, here's how it works.

First, we acknowledge

that we are broken. That's the first thing. Second, we acknowledge through that, admitting & acknowledging that we need God, there's also now a need to desire God's will. We desire God's will. We are slowly coming back into this whole exchange with God through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is good. This is needed. God is saying, Just admit your your sin, admit your shortcomings. Admit your addictions, admit your your compulsive behaviors. It's okay. And we desire to do God's will. And maybe you saw it within yourself when you first became a believer in Jesus Christ. He said, I just want to win the world. I want to tell everybody about Jesus and so on. Now, of course, we know the world around us crashes in, and we still deal with realities around us still. But there's that reality still, too: yes we want to tell people about Jesus Christ. This is good. Can't wait. Yeah, but I got issues, got problems. And I desire to do God's will. The third thing. The third thing is, is that we need to discover our gifts. What are the gifts that God has given, the spiritual gifts of leadership, encouragement, administration, or of discernment, or of intercession, praying for other people, of faith? What are your gifts? Thanks be to God through the people of Network, which started at Willow Creek Community Church and then became its own organization, Bruce Bugbee, as founder and author and his team, they help us to discover, out of the 21 gifts identified in Scripture, what our top five really are. And of course, we have a good 14 Top gifts or 15 gifts that we can then look at and see how they can then shift, but there's that top five or top three of our gifts that we can say yes, that is truly me. Yes. I can fulfill God's will for my life through these these top gifts, and the other gifts that fall with that, that are there, that surface in my in my results as I take the profile and as I come to understand how God has made me to be part of the body of Christ. So acknowledge desire to do God's will, to exercise our gifts. And the fourth thing from here is we can come to know Christ and come alive through him, as therefore we begin to fulfill God's will, as Abraham did. Abraham said, Okay, God, I'll go! Left his home country went to Canaan. Okay, God, whatever you want. Now he wasn't perfect, of course. You know, he kind of he lied to the pharaoh, he doubted God, a little bit here and there. Of course, when God told them, you're gonna have a son, Isaac, even though you're 100 years old, he was faithful. God has called you and me to be faithful, to be partners in ministry. Because he has designed for you to desire to fulfill through you a whole plan of bringing domestic tranquility to this world, even though we see chaos everywhere. That's why the church is so important. And the study of the church, the theology of the church, the biblical foundations of the church, so we can tell others, and continue to build generation to generation, communities of faith, and also to bring restoration, recovery and sustainability to God's people and to the world around us, the best we can and all in God's timing. And from here, we're going to discover what our personal dark sides are. Because if we're going to truly do this, if we are serious about redeeming the world, and it begins with one--it begins with you--God is calling you. And again, the gifts and where God wants you, the strengths he's given you, not to fix weaknesses, but to maximize your strengths. God's calling you; he's called me; he's called all of us to work together to be the hands and the feet of Jesus. But first, we have to be self aware, and continue to work on me. Work on ourselves, so that we can become stronger, wiser, so much better, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So we can be obedient to God more than Adam and Eve. And to be come transformed by the renewing of our mind that keeps going, keeps working. God works in you. Next session, our personal dark sides