 Okay, so we're going to go ahead and continue on with our 13 week schedule. So each time I start this class, I review what we've covered so that you can kind of remember, you know, know where we are in the spectrum. This week, because of Pastor Mark being sick and not being able to be here, there's kind of a shift. So that's why there's no essentials class today. But normally, I would encourage you that, this is a time where I encourage you to go to the essentials class if you have not been through that. And that would be in Pastor Rick's office normally. So what is biblical theology? Maybe I should begin to ask somebody, because I've defined it for the past, more or less for the past seven weeks. Let's see if Noel, can you help us out or you've not been in this class, have you? You've been in different classes. So let me ask Clyde, Clyde, can you give something of an idea? What's a component or part of the definition of a biblical theology? Yes, it's just taking a topic in the Bible and understanding the storyline of that topic and how that storyline develops. It's concerned about the storyline, not the bottom line. The storyline helps you get to the bottom line. So we went over in our class tools that are needed. In order to get there to the bottom line, you've got to know the exegesis, what does the text say in context, in a closer view, a smaller text, then biblical theology helps you understand the bigger picture of the storyline. And we went over some of the tools. What are some of the tools that are helpful for biblical theology that we covered? Does anyone remember some of those? I'm going to, Jen, yes, Jen is saving someone from being picked out. That's good. Those are needed for systematic theology. Some of the tools that we've covered are typology, is a tool that helps you understand the storyline. Another is promise and fulfillment. Yes, Claudia? Starts with an S. Now you're quizzing me, now I have trouble answering. Starts with an S, systematic theology. That's it. Okay, that's coming in the outline with the tools. So I'm reminding you of some of the biblical theology tools that we went over. Promise, fulfillment, understanding the difference in administration or epoch or the way God runs things at different times. There are different words for that under different covenants. Understanding that difference in how administration is helpful. So they're an understanding of multiple levels of prophecy, how prophecy is fulfilled in multiple different times, not just in one event. Some of these things help us understand the storyline. Looking on your 13-week schedule in the outline, it should be on the back of your little booklet there. We went into systematic theology, how that gives us the bottom line of what the Bible says about a topic, and then now we're getting into some of the topics and the stories to be told. We went over last week creation, and I just realized we have very little time because the sermon went over a little bit. So we're going to have to fly through this class today. I shouldn't have spent so much time with the review. So today, very quickly, we're going to cover the next story in the Bible, which is the fall. So understanding these things helps us understand life's real questions. Under your outline, you'll see there under review, and then there's a heading that says on the first page of friends real life questions. What if your friend asks you, what's wrong with this world? Why does my child have cancer? What's wrong with this world and ISIS? How could a good God allow ISIS? Why is the economy the way it is? Why is my mother dying? If when you get those questions asked, if you understand the storyline of the fall, you'll understand why those things happen. Yes, Claudia? Yeah, we would mention about sovereignty of God, but one right answer is to talk about the fall. So now consider the storyline of the Bible and the fall. Follow along with me, as for the next 10 minutes or so. What we're going to do is we're going to open up your Bible, and we're going to consider the storyline of the fall. We're going to look at the bird's eye picture. OK? In Genesis, we see the fall happen, where Satan tempts Adam and Eve, not to believe in the words of God, that God is a liar. Instead, they rebel. They choose to believe that God is a liar, and they rebel against him. Because of the fall in Genesis 3, consider how we fall into total depravity and how that's manifested. So I'm going to communicate to you the story of the effects of the fall. In Genesis, we see the first people that are born, Cain and Abel, and their brothers, and one murders the other. In chapter 6, we consider that God sees that every intent of all the hearts of men is evil continually, effects of the fall. Let's flip over to Exodus. We see the Ten Commandments given, and how we break every one of those commandments, effects of the fall. Turn the page over to Leviticus. Think about Leviticus and how, when people offer strange fire, false worship, when God consumes Nadab and Abihu, false worship in effect of the fall. The Book of Numbers. There's an argument between two men. One's the son of an Egyptian and his mother's Jewish, his father was Egyptian, and they get in a fight, one of them curses God's name, and that man has to die. Effects of the fall. Turn to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, we consider how the law is given again with the blessings and the cursings. And all of how the cursings are the punishment and the effects of the fall. And how Moses knows that the people are going to rebel. Even after they hear the law, that's the effects of the fall. Turn over to Joshua. In Joshua there's a judgment on the Canaanites where God decides that now is the time that the people must die and the Canaanite nations must be wiped out. Effects of the fall and sin. Look in the Book of Judges. Every man does what's right in his own eyes. Effects of the fall. A horrible time. We look at Ruth. And there's a famine in the land. The fall has not just affected people. The fall has affected the ground. The fall has affected the rain. The fall has affected fruits. Turn to the first Samuel. And the people cry out for a king. They don't want God as their king, but they want an earthly king. Effects of the fall. Sin. Destruction. Here the timeline of first kings and second kings and chronicles as it describes the rise and fall of kings, of the rulers, of the line of Saul, and the line of David. And we see many evil kings rise up. We see the people follow them into idolatry. And at the end of the history, where did the people end up? In exile, in Babylon. The effects of the fall. We go to Nehemiah and Ezra after the captivity. The people come back to the land, but there's a mourning. And why is there a mourning? Because the people have married, Israelite men have gone and married women from other countries who worship other gods against the law of God. And they've done this because of the effects of the fall. We're thinking about the storyline of the Bible and how the Bible as a whole, we're flying by airplane view of the effects of the fall in sin. Turn to the book of Job. And what do you see with the fall? You see Job, a man who is afflicted with sickness. He has friends who counsel him in an ungodly way, effects of the fall. Think about the Psalms. The Psalms communicate the anguish of many who cry out to God while they're being persecuted. The Psalms communicate repentance in Psalm 51. These things are because of the fall. Think of the book of Proverbs and the book of Proverbs outlines the way of a fool and how the fool comes by her door, her house, and he doesn't acknowledge and who's her, but the immoral woman, effects of the fall. Flip to the next book. Ecclesiastes, all is vanity. It's vanity to get lots of money. It's vanity to get lots of women. It's vanity to get lots of fame. Why is it all vanity? Why is it worthless? Effects of the fall. You turn to the song of Solomon and he gives a beautiful picture of romance, but then you remember Solomon had many wives, effects of the fall. Turn to Isaiah. And Isaiah has proclamations against Syria, Israel, Ethiopia, Egypt, Babylon, Jerusalem, Tyre, judgment and judgment and judgment, effects of the fall. Jeremiah, peace, peace, when there is no peace. False teachers exist, effects of the fall. What about lamentations? The judgment of God has come on Jerusalem, effects of the fall. What about Ezekiel? Ezekiel, we see the people in exile that he's preaching to. We see how the people are like a valley of dry bones, the people of Israel, effects of the fall. Think about some of the Daniel and the wickedness in the pride of Nebuchadnezzar. Pride is an effect of the fall. Think about some of the minor prophets, Hosea, where Israel is pictured as a harlot that goes off leaving God. Joel, where the day of the Lord, the judgment comes because of the effects of the fall. Amos, there's a famine in the land of the word of God, effects of the fall. Hosea, the pride of the people of Edom, effects of the fall. Micah, where the religious leaders are described as they're going to tear people apart, they're flesh off their bones is how it describes it in Micah. False teachers, effects of the fall. Nahum describes Nineveh and their violence and God's judgment coming. It goes on and on and on. Can you open a book of the Bible and not see the effects of the fall? You see, I could go on through every book of the Bible, right? Every book of the Bible and consider the effects of the fall. So if I give you, how does the effects of the fall accumulate and climax to the point where the Son of God comes and he's murdered? He's murdered and the people cry out, when Pilate asked, do you want Barabbas or do you want Jesus? And what do the people say? Barabbas, effects of the fall. The fall has come and it has affected you. You are not immune to this, you are in this storyline. The sin has affected you. It has affected why childbirth is painful. It has affected why work is hard. It has affected, as the storyline continues, what's the future yet to come and the effects because of the fall? There is a great tribulation coming where the world will be plunged into seven years of judgment. At the end of the seven years, humanity will rise up in rebellion against God, in the effects of the fall. After the millennium, the people will rise up again at the end of the millennium to challenge God once again, effects of the fall. The storyline of the fall, there are stories of beautiful stories in the Bible, but this is a true story that's not a nice story. Now what are the patterns? What are the patterns, the next point in your outline? What are the patterns? But the causes of this is Satan's malice, deception, and we chose it. We chose it in Adam and Eve. They chose to disbelieve God's word. They chose to try and place themselves as God. When God comes confronting them, what does Adam say when he's confronted by God? Who is he blamed? Yes, the woman that you gave me. So he tries to blame Eve and then he tries to blame God because God gave him Eve. You see what the effects of the fall? Sometimes in the storyline, effects are that we're banished from God's presence. We're not allowed to be near his holiness because of the fall. Effect two, we're corrupted in our nature. We see this pattern over and over and over again in the storyline of the Bible. The fall is not just an event that happens like some sort of event in history, like the fire of Chicago that happens and doesn't affect you to this day. No the fall is an event that happened and affects you. Tomorrow morning you'll have to go to work and work won't be easy. That's going to happen because of the fall. There's a note now at the end of the patterns of the storyline. Notice we're looking at the characters and the plot. We consider some of the characters as we went through some of the Old Testament considering the fall. We thought about how it develops and how this idea continues. The story spans millennia. It's written down by many different authors. I covered through Old Testament many different books communicating the same idea. So what that shows us is there's one author communicating one idea that the fall is because God is the one author and he's communicating that one idea through many different authors that we are sinners and that our lives and hearts and souls are affected by the fall. So then what's the bottom line? Let's systematize it in our outline. What's the bottom line? The bottom line, these doctrines we can develop that we don't live in a spiritually neutral universe. Our world is not a playground. It's a battlefield. People get deceived and they think like a utopian society. Like if we get enough people together, nice people, we can reform society and society will become a much better place. One day we'll change the world. You won't have to have money. You can just get food. Everyone will just be making food and giving food and everyone will equally devote themselves and we can do it. We can do it together. Together we can bring ourselves out of the mire. We can cure AIDS. We can cure cancer. Just give us enough time and enough money and we'll do it together. We will make a better world. That's not true. We need a savior. Point two, God is not morally culpable for our fallen world. God is not the one who is guilty because of how our world is. We are. It's a lie to believe that it's God's fault. Why does my child have cancer? It's God's fault. The effects of the fall are our fault. Point three, people do bad things because they want to be God and he is just to condemn them. Sin is not just breaking God's laws. It's an attempt to dethrone God. We see that continually through. Point four, God is holy and can have nothing to do with sin. How can God have something? How can God support sin when it is opposed to him? Point five, there's no area of your life that's unaffected. That's a right doctrine that comes out of the right understanding of the story of the fall. No area of our lives is unaffected. Our mind, our will, our emotions, there's no area of our lives. Our words are affected by the fall. Point six, we cannot save ourselves. We need a savior. God is the one who will restore all justice to the universe. He will do it one day. He will judge the effects of the fall. He will be a great white throne and he will judge every sin that has ever been committed. So what's secure? I'll read you something because I don't think I can communicate it as well, but if I think I'm going to read it to you, then I hope it can be communicated better. Jesus is the false cure. In Matthew 4 we see something absolutely extraordinary. A son of God has become a man. Like unfallen Adam, Jesus was not born in sin, but he was conceived directly by the Holy Spirit. So the contrast is between Adam and Jesus. Like unfallen Adam, Jesus was called to obey God in the face of incredible satanic assault. But that's where the similarities with Adam end. Adam stood in paradise with a full stomach. Jesus stood in the desert for our exile with fasting for 40 days. Adam had the help of a wife. Jesus stood alone. Adam had a single command to obey, don't eat of the fruit. Jesus has the whole law to keep and fulfill. Beginning in the temptation and continuing on all the way to Calvary. Jesus does what Adam and you could never do. He resisted Satan's temptations even to the, he freely chose to obey God even to the point of death. We have a mighty savior who saves us from the effects of the fall. And his name is Jesus. He is the one who will take this world and he will return. He will set his foot on our dirt once again and the curse will be reversed. The curse will be reversed. Every one of the effects of the fall that I talked about throughout the storyline. Every one of them can be answered by the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Do you remember the false worship of Nadab and Abihu? Jesus saves us for true worship. Do you remember the whoredom of Hosea's wife, Gomer? Jesus makes us into a pure bride. Do you remember the judgment that is thrown down on Nineveh and Edom because of their pride? Jesus will make us humble people, a humble people, dependent upon him. Do you remember in Ezekiel the judgment on the nations? Well those dead bones will live because of Jesus Christ. Ezekiel is known for the declaration in the beginning of the glory of God. The glory of God is revealed in Jesus Christ. The effects of the fall is a horrible, horrible story that affects you down to your soul. And so should the message of the cure to the fall, our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the storyline of the Bible. We have a hero and his name is Jesus Christ. If you understand this storyline, then you can rightly understand the bottom line. You'll rightly understand the pravati and the need for justification, the need to be made righteous with God. You will understand your personal need for a Savior. You understand the Bible in this way? Then we give thanks and worship to Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we battle the effects of the fall even as we go through this short class. You know it. You see in our thoughts, in our minds. Lord, the effects of the fall reaches even though of us who are believers. Lord, we long for the day when you will return. We long for the day when we'll be glorified. We will have no more sin and we'll see you, our Savior, from the effects of the fall. We love you. Please help us to grow. Please help us to communicate this message more clearly to more and more people. Amen.