Sabbath Afternoon - September 30, 2023

Scripture Reading for the Week:
Genesis 3:9-15; Genesis 28:15; Exodus 29:43,45; Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:14-18; John 3:16; John 14:1-3. 


Meditation Thought:
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1:10. {CTr 216.1} 

All that the world could endure of their Redeemer was the few years He was with them upon the earth, and they wanted to get rid of Him almost as soon as His mission commenced. . . . The question that every one of us has to settle is: Am I prepared for the coming of the Son of man? If you have accepted your Saviour by living faith if you have repented of your sins, then you are in a position of acceptance with God so that if Christ should come you would meet Him in peace. . . . {CTr 216.2} 


Memory Text:

“Then the Lord God called Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ ” (Genesis 3:9). 


This week's SSLesson will enlighten us on the extent of God's love, and His initiative to draw us closer to Him. This includes the processes where His will is progressively disclosed to view and its eternal value for every believer.


Study Outline:

The Announced Mission of God

Sunday - October 1, 2023

The God Who Reaches Out to Us - God Reacts to Sin

Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:5, 9-15;  Ephesians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:19.    

The Active Mission of God

Monday - October 2, 2023

The God Who Longs to Be With Us - God Was With Us in the Past

Genesis 17:7; 26:3; 28:15; 11:1-9; 12:1-3; 17:7-8; 26:3; 28:15; 39:2,21,23;  Exodus 3:12; 29:43,45.  

Tuesday - October 3, 2023

The God Who Became One With Us - God Dwelt with Us

Isaiah 46:9-10;  Genesis 3:15; Matthew 1:18-23; John 14:6; 1:14-18.

Wednesday - October 4, 2023

The God Who Continues to be With Us - God is with Us Today

Colossians 1:15,19-20; Luke 19:10;  John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21;  Matthew 28:18-20.  

The Fulfilled Mission of God

Thursday - October 5, 2023

The God Who WIll Come Back for Us - God will Eradicate Sin

John 14:1-3;  Revelation 21:3;  

Friday - October 6, 2023

Insights and Further Study

From the Pen of Inspiration


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The Announced Mission of God

Sunday - October 1, 2023

The God Who Reaches Out to Us - God Reacts to Sin

Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:5, 9-15;  Ephesians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:19.   

"But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?'" (Genesis 3:9)


God Calls Men whose Hearts are nerved with Holy Fervor and of Strong Purpose

The work of God calls for men of high moral powers to engage in its promulgation. Men are wanted whose hearts are nerved with holy fervor, men of strong purpose, that are not easily moved, who can lay down every selfish interest and give all for cross and crown. The cause of present truth is suffering for men who are loyal to a sense of right and duty, whose moral integrity in firm, and their energy equal to the opening providence of God. Such qualifications as these are of more value than if men had untold wealth to invest in the work and cause of God. Moral integrity, energy, and strong purpose for the right, are qualities that cannot be supplied with any amount of gold. Men possessing these qualifications will have influence everywhere. Their lives will be more powerful than lofty eloquence. God calls for men of heart, men of mind, men of moral integrity, whom he can make the repositories of his truth, who will correctly represent and exemplify its sacred principles in their daily life.  {PH159 25.2}  


A Choice to Sin Reacts Upon the Sinner and Separate from God

We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death.  {FLB 84.7}  


Consider the Following

From the beginning, God's relationship with humanity is based on love, a divine attribute that He shared with us (1 John 4:16).

This love must be offered willingly and is manifested in obedience to divine laws (John 14:15).

Therefore, Adam and Eve's disobedience disrupted our relationship with God (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:12).

But God refused to distance Himself from us. Approaching with questions that would make Adam and Eve reflect on their mistake, He encouraged them to acknowledge their error (Genesis 3:9-13). Immediately, He presented His redemptive mission to them (Genesis 3:14-15).


The Active Mission of God

Monday - October 2, 2023

The God Who Longs to Be With Us - God Was With Us in the Past

Genesis 17:7; 26:3; 28:15; 11:1-9; 12:1-3; 17:7-8; 26:3; 28:15; 39:2,21,23;  Exodus 3:12; 29:43,45. 

"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Genesis 28:15)


By Creation and By Redemption Bought with a Price

The greatest praise that men can bring to God is to become consecrated channels through whom He can work. Time is rapidly passing into eternity. Let us not keep back from God that which is His own. Let us not refuse Him that which, though it cannot be given with merit, cannot be denied without ruin. He asks for a whole heart; give it to Him; it is His, both by creation and by redemption. He asks for your intellect; give it to Him; it is His. He asks for your money; give it to Him; it is His. "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. God requires the homage of a sanctified soul, which has prepared itself, by the exercise of the faith that works by love, to serve Him. He holds up before us the highest ideal, even perfection. He asks us to be absolutely and completely for Him in this world as He is for us in the presence of God.  {AA 566.1} 


In His Own Image and Likeness, We're Created

In the beginning God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” But sin has almost obliterated the moral image of God in human beings. Jesus came down to our world that He might give us a living example, that we might know how to live and how to keep the way of the Lord. He was the image of the Father. His beautiful and spotless character is before us as an example for us to imitate. We must study and copy and follow Jesus Christ, then we shall bring His loveliness and beauty into our character. In doing this we are standing before God through faith, winning back by conflict with the powers of darkness the power of self-control, the love of God that Adam lost.—Manuscript 6a, 1886 (Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, pp. 31-34). {CTr 43.6} 


Consider the Following

The Bible records several occasions when God Himself came down to see humankind (Genesis 11:5; 18:20-21; Exodus 3:7-8). But apart from these specific events, we see that God desired to be personally with us:

(1) With Abraham (Genesis 17:7)

(2) With Isaac (Genesis 26:3)

(3) With Jacob (Genesis 28:15)

(4) With Joseph (Genesis 39:2)

(5) With the people of Israel (Exodus 29:43-45)

God dwelt in the Sanctuary, but through symbols (1 Kings 8:27-30). This was only part of the mission, anticipating its ultimate fulfillment.


Tuesday - October 3, 2023

The God Who Became One With Us - God Dwelt with Us

Isaiah 46:9-10;  Genesis 3:15; Matthew 1:18-23; John 14:6; 1:14-18.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (Juan 1:14)


The Son of God Represents the Character of God

The Son of God stooped to uplift the fallen. For this He left the sinless worlds on high, the ninety and nine that loved Him, and came to this earth to be "wounded for our transgressions" and "bruised for our iniquities." Isaiah 53:5. He was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He knew what it meant to be hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He was a stranger and a sojourner on the earth--in the world, but not of the world; tempted and tried as men and women of today are tempted and tried, yet living a life free from sin. Tender, compassionate, sympathetic, ever considerate of others, He represented the character of God. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth." John 1:14. {AA 472.1}  


God Dwells in Us Through the Sanctuary

God commanded Moses for Israel, "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8), and He abode in the sanctuary, in the midst of His people. Through all their weary wandering in the desert, the symbol of His presence was with them. So Christ set up His tabernacle in the midst of our human encampment. He pitched His tent by the side of the tents of men, that He might dwell among us, and make us familiar with His divine character and life. "The Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth." John 1:14, R. V., margin.  {DA 23.3}  


Consider the Following

God's missionary strategy progressed. It was time to become human and fulfill the promise given in Eden (Galatians 4:4-5).

By incarnating Himself, God presented Himself as "Emmanuel" ["God with us"] (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-23). His love and desire to be with us materialized in Jesus, fully human and fully divine (1 John 5:20).

On the cross, God's mission reached its climax. Now, the reunion of God with humanity is possible once again. But the mission was not yet complete.


Wednesday - October 4, 2023

The God Who Continues to be With Us - God is with Us Today

Colossians 1:15,19-20; Luke 19:10;  John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21;  Matthew 28:18-20. 

"and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen." (Matthew 28:20)


The Sanctifying Influence Through Faith

In the church of God today brotherly love is greatly lacking. Many of those who profess to love the Saviour neglect to love those who are united with them in Christian fellowship. We are of the same faith, members of one family, all children of the same heavenly Father, with the same blessed hope of immortality. How close and tender should be the tie that binds us together. The people of the world are watching us to see if our faith is exerting a sanctifying influence upon our hearts. They are quick to discern every defect in our lives, every inconsistency in our actions. Let us give them no occasion to reproach our faith. {CCh 44.4} 


God is at Work in Us

Satan takes advantage of every unconsecrated element for the accomplishment of his purposes. Among those who profess to be the supporters of God's cause there are those who unite with His enemies and thus lay His cause open to the attacks of His bitterest foes. Even some who desire the work of God to prosper will yet weaken the hands of His servants by hearing, reporting, and half believing the slanders, boasts, and menaces of His adversaries. . . . The response of faith today will be the response made by Nehemiah, "Our God shall fight for us;" for God is in the work, and no man can prevent its ultimate success.  {CC 266.5}  


Live Courageously Today Through His Grace

The truth of God received into the heart is able to make you wise unto salvation. In believing and obeying it you will receive grace sufficient for the duties and trials of today. Grace for tomorrow you do not need. You should feel that you have only to do with today. Overcome for today; deny self for today; watch and pray for today; obtain victories in God for today. Our circumstances and surroundings, the changes daily transpiring around us, and the written word of God which discerns and proves all things—these are sufficient to teach us our duty and just what we ought to do, day by day. Instead of suffering your mind to run in a channel of thought from which you will derive no benefit, you should be searching the Scriptures daily and doing those duties in daily life which may now be irksome to you, but which must be done by someone. {CCh 79.2} 


Witness for Him in Different Places Abroad

God's purpose for the children growing up beside our hearths is wider, deeper, higher, than our restricted vision has comprehended. From the humblest lot those whom He has seen faithful have in time past been called to witness for Him in the world's highest places. And many a lad of today, growing up as did Daniel in his Judean home, studying God's word and His works, and learning the lessons of faithful service, will yet stand in legislative assemblies, in halls of justice, or in royal courts, as a witness for the King of kings. Multitudes will be called to a wider ministry. The whole world is opening to the gospel. Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God. From Japan and China and India, from the still-darkened lands of our own continent, from every quarter of this world of ours, comes the cry of sin-stricken hearts for a knowledge of the God of love. Millions upon millions have never so much as heard of God or of His love revealed in Christ. It is their right to receive this knowledge. They have an equal claim with us in the Saviour's mercy. And it rests with us who have received the knowledge, with our children to whom we may impart it, to answer their cry. To every household and every school, to every parent, teacher, and child upon whom has shone the light of the gospel, comes at this crisis the question put to Esther the queen at that momentous crisis in Israel's history, "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14.  {Ed 262.2} 


Consider the Following

During His ministry, Jesus showed us God's missionary nature: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

— When the time came for Him to return to Heaven, He resisted leaving us alone. He assured us that God would continue to be with us in the Person of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). Thus, He Himself is with us "always, even to the end" (Matthew 28:20).

— Along with the promise of His presence, Jesus entrusted us to continue His mission: to seek the sinner and teach them the path of salvation (Matthew 28:18-20).

 

The Fulfilled Mission of God

Thursday - October 5, 2023

The God Who Will Come Back for Us - God will Eradicate Sin

John 14:1-3;  Revelation 21:3.

"so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." (Hebrews 9:28)


Future Kingdom of Glory - the Miniature (Christ the King, Moses a Representative of the Risen Saints, and Elijah of the Translated Ones

Moses upon the mount of transfiguration was a witness to Christ's victory over sin and death. He represented those who shall come forth from the grave at the resurrection of the just. Elijah, who had been translated to heaven without seeing death, represented those who will be living upon the earth at Christ's second coming, and who will be "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;" when "this mortal must put on immortality," and "this corruptible must put on incorruption." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. Jesus was clothed with the light of heaven, as He will appear when He shall come "the second time without sin unto salvation." For He will come "in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Hebrews 9:28; Mark 8:38. The Saviour's promise to the disciples was now fulfilled. Upon the mount the future kingdom of glory was represented in miniature,--Christ the King, Moses a representative of the risen saints, and Elijah of the translated ones.  {DA 421.4}  

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Children and Citizens of the Kingdom Above

The cross of Calvary is to be a constant reminder of the future, nobler world, the mansions that Jesus has gone to prepare for all who love him. We are to be enthusiasts. And as we by faith view the glories within the temple of God, we shall seek to awaken enthusiasm in others, a desire to behold things unseen. Our work is to attract minds away from earth to heaven; to take others with us as companions, to walk the path that is cast up for the ransomed of the Lord. The children of the Heavenly King are to move among men, not as citizens of the world, but as citizens of the kingdom above. We are pilgrims and strangers in this world, seeking a better country, even a heavenly. "And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming."  {ST, August 17, 1891 par. 1}  


Consider the Following

Jesus promised that He would come for us (John 14:1-3). This is known as the "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). When this happens, God's mission will have been completed.

At that moment, "the tabernacle of God" (the real one, not in images or symbols) will be with us, and God will dwell with us for eternity (Revelation 21:3).

We will be able to see Him face to face again (Revelation 22:4). We will talk with Him and worship Him in person.

The God of mission will finally fulfill His desire to be with His children eternally. What a tremendous privilege to be part of this reality!


Friday - October 6, 2023

Insights and Further Study

The church of Christ is God's appointed agency for the salvation of men. Its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. And the obligation rests upon all Christians. Everyone, to the extent of his talent and opportunity, is to fulfill the Saviour's commission. The love of Christ, revealed to us, makes us debtors to all who know Him not. God has given us light, not for ourselves alone, but to shed upon them.  {SC 81.1}  

If the followers of Christ were awake to duty, there would be thousands where there is one today proclaiming the gospel in heathen lands. And all who could not personally engage in the work, would yet sustain it with their means, their sympathy, and their prayers. And there would be far more earnest labor for souls in Christian countries.  {SC 81.2}  

We need not go to heathen lands, or even leave the narrow circle of the home, if it is there that our duty lies, in order to work for Christ. We can do this in the home circle, in the church, among those with whom we associate, and with whom we do business.  {SC 81.3}  


Questions to Ponder


From the Pen of Inspiration

"Since Jesus came to dwell with us, we know that God is acquainted with our trials, and sympathizes with our griefs. Every son and daughter of Adam may understand that our Creator is the friend of sinners. For in every doctrine of grace, every promise of joy, every deed of love, every divine attraction presented in the Saviour's life on earth, we see 'God with us.'" E. G. W. (The Desire of Ages, Cp. 1, p. 24)