Benchmark - Gospel Essentials PDF

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Benchmark - Gospel Essentials

Joanna Amber Urmeneta Grand Canyon University CWV 301: Christian Worldview .Koontz, M November 15 ,2020

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Throughout our lives, we witness many miracles that are unexplainable like hearing true stories of people coming back to life or seeing God himself. It made us question ourselves on why we are put on earth and our purpose, but learning from the word of God it put us into perspective. Knowing the word of God can make us feel closer to him and understand what we should accomplish on earth. When understanding and knowing God, it can help us be aware of why certain events happen in our lifetime like why people are suffering from death to poverty. From one to understand they would need to know the four aspects that are essential which is the nature of God, nature of humanity, nature of Jesus, and restoration. These four Gospel essentials can help gain an insight on God and his purpose for us. Furthermore, it will give an insight on the several worldviews like Christianity and Atheist. It shows that not everyone has the same . belief, but they are aware and understanding of one's belief In the Christian worldview, they believe that God created everything on earth and in the universe. Through God’s creation, it shows that God is all-wise, all-powerful, all-knowing, and that he is good.. Besides these characteristics, God has many others such as holy, eternal, and all-present. Understanding the Trinity will help in knowing who God is because he is three persons, which is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created humanity based on his image by starting off with Adam and Eve. Believing in God is when a person can truly understand the fear of the Lord and love the Lord. When it comes to God’s creation, he created everything from . humanity, the environment, animals, space, and time His creations are where people can see God’s glory and God is able to reveal himself through them. Looking at God’s creation, people are able to free themselves from their sin and understand death and decay. Also, they are able to receive a proper relationship, proper function,

3 and ordered pattern from God. According to Chapter 3: Wisdom in the Beginning (Hiles & Smith, 2015), it stated that “[..] where God dwells in the right relationship with his people and he is king over them,” (para 54). Also, God loves us for who we are and the flaws that we see in ourselves. God created humans and if didn't love humans, then humans wouldn't exist in this lifetime. God loves us with all his heart and no matter what humans do on Earth he can forgive them. God's love is patient and kind, which is why he is able to wait for humans to come back to him. God is kind to help humans in need by sending his angels to create miracles. God has fulfilled his promises to humans in many ways that humans don't know about. In the Timeline powerpoint (2020c, slide 1-34), it discusses several ways that God helped humanity despite . many sinful acts that were committed from his covenants and his creation Humans were created by God based on his image. God created humans with his own characteristics in places like love, loyalty, kindness, and selfless. Creating humans will help spread the word of God and make the world a better place. God is good, so when creating humans to do good as well just like him. However, Adam & Eve who were created by God, both committed a sin causing humans to have other characteristics. Which can cause a person to commit a sin in their lives. According to The Mystery of Original Sin (2013), it stated “Adam’s sin not only brings the judgment of death upon all who come after him, but also makes them sinners (para 7, p 40). As a result, God tried to create a perfect human but in the end it failed. God is perfect in every way and humans are not perfect. When committing a sin, there are some humans who will find ways to serve good in the world, so the sin they committed is forgiven. . Whether it is giving back to the community, going to church, or helping people in need To understand the nature of humanity a person would need to start by believing a worldview that can give them a reason. Each worldview has different perspectives when it

4 comes to humanity whether it is evolution or God molded humanity himself. God implicated his characters into humans such as the ability to sacrifice for others, capability to love, and explore the universe. Everyone grew up differently and some or most people already discover which worldview they believe in. People are able to understand the nature of humanity from what they have learned when growing up. While others are still searching for answers or trying their best to lead their life. Humans may question God on why humanity is suffering, but God has a plan to stop the suffering by having servants who can help prevent the cycle. God gave hope to . humanity by revealing his plans and his promises to them Throughout human history, people have committed a lot of wrongdoings in life. As a result, those wrongdoings not only affect themselves, but others around them. For example, drunk drivers. They made the decision to drink and drive without knowing the consequences afterwards. Some of the consequences would be having their licenses revoked, go to jail, or kill an innocent person. However, whatever decision that a person chooses, especially if it leads them to a bad path, God accepts them despite the sin and leads them to the right path. Humans . will turn to God for answers in their lifetime Jesus is humanity’s hope and savior when he comes down to Earth. Hope on Earth and hope in the afterlife. Followers would be able to tell the story of Jesus Christ because they witness his hardship and the day he rose. If Jesus Christ didn't fulfill his promise to his followers, then he broke their trust and gave them false hope. Jesus Christ went through a lot of hardship for the sake of his people from being wiped to dying on the cross. Jesus Christ died for his people so their sins can be forgiven. Jesus Christ rose again and proved to his followers that what he said is true. It is important that Jesus rose from the dead because his followers believed in him when Jesus said he is the Messiah. Son of God who was born on Earth to save humanity.

5 In the ‘We Believe GCU’ powerpoint by Mrs. Koontz (2020b, slide7), it talks about Jesus Christ . on several aspects like the Son of God, the crucifixion, and the resurrection When Jesus came down from heaven he taught disciples the of act of forgiveness rather than revenge or murder. Jesus wants everyone to follow this teaching because it will not only break the sin cycle, but the start of peace. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching .( them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:16-20, para 19, 20 Some of the actions that Jesus created on Earth were actions out of selflessness and it shows that Jesus has no evil in his heart. Jesus is showing kindness in his heart by helping his people from any suffering they are going through. Also, he can see that everyone deserves a second chance and he is showing to his disciplines that God is forgiving for any sins they have committed in their lifetime. Jesus wanted to show others that forgiving someone can be easy when they come forward for the wrongdoings that they did. One day Jesus Christ will come down to earth to judge the living and dead. When that day comes, everyone will need to prepare . their heart and minds for it is to come God wanted to restore humanity from the beginning due to the sinful acts that Adam and Eve committed. In order to restore humanity, God had several covenants to help in the process of purifying the earth and establish goodness. Some of these covenants were Abraham, David, Noah, Issac, Jacob, and Joseph. Each covenant was able to talk to God in order to follow his command and God would discuss to them about their future along with the present. Through his covenants, God was able to set free slaves from Egypt, create kingdoms, and give lands. For Noah, God told him that he will destroy the earth in order to purify, but that will be the last. However, some of these broke the covenant to God by disobeying his order, so they would need

6 . to repent unless they would be subject to judgement God was gracious to his creations despite the many sins that were committed, but it shows that God is forgiving and kindness in heart. The biggest gift that God gave to his creations was Jesus Christ because Jesus is able to walk amongst his creations fully man and fully God as well. Also, it gives his creation the gift of life through Jesus Christ because he lived, died, and resurrected, which showed that life is more powerful than death (BibleProject: Grace, 2020). Not only Jesus Christ, but Moses asked God for a gift that his followers didn't deserve due to their betrayal of worshipping another God. As a result, God presented them the Ten . Commandments that his followers must obey Humans would need to ask forgiveness from others who they betrayed or had any disagreement to reconcile with one another. Besides forgiveness, humans would need to show kindness to one another rather than showing rudeness. An act of kindness will show that the person has a caring heart and selflessness. Having a caring heart will result in being openedminded to others no matter what ethnicity, gender, appearance, or religion. It will prevent any judgment because judging one another can cause fighting. This can establish peace and love around the world rather than violence and chaos. Volunteering in charities can help spread kindness around the world because it is helping others who are in need. Also, it will spread the word of God to others. These acts are showing that a person is gracious despite that some don’t deserve it. ‘“[Grace] is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against him,”Jerry Bridges,’ (Koontz, M, 2020d, slide 6). It is saying even showing graciousness to our . enemy and putting our differences aside in order to reconcile Since in the Christian belief, they view people as how God created them meaning God created each individual differently from their personality, appearance, and characteristics. In

7 other words, God created humans based on his likeness. These characteristics of God are important to Christian worldview because they are able to see the value of life and the purpose of living. In the Christian worldview, they believe that God created humans to do his work on Earth, spread the word of God, and teach others about his way. Not only that, but Christians understand that God is greater than them due to witnessing his creations on Earth. It is important in the Christian worldview to understand the Trinity because it is responsible for . everything that is created on earth and the universe Christians believe that Jesus is one person with two natures because he was born as a human but created by God himself. This made Christians aware of the greatness that Jesus Christ accomplished during his time on earth by teaching the way of God and spreading the word of God. Christian would treat every human being the same and give them love, respect, and kindness. In the Christianity and Roman Catholic Creed it talks about Jesus Christ, which is why some of us are familiar with what Jesus has done for us. Every worldview is different, but from the Christian belief they might not understand or feel that other worldview is missing out on something greater. That is why Christian worldview believes that humans are God’s image . and they have a purpose on Earth Christian worldview is seen as having faith and trust in the Lord by putting their lives in God's hands, so he can show them the way. Understand that the obstacles that a person is facing are only stepping stones to achieving the greater good. In Topic 2 slides, it discuss on ‘The Wisdom of God’ and there is a specific slide that has a quote that says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight,” (Koontz, M, 2020a, slide 3). Worshiping the Lord by reading the Bible, attending services, and saying prays will help gain insight on God. Through themselves, they are able to deliver the word of God by

8 teaching others in small groups. In the Christian worldview, humanity is able to connect with God by doing good within their community or the world. For example, giving back to their community through donations or traveling to other countries to build homes. These actions can . help in making humans flourish because they are following God’s plan In the Three Worldviews Chart (Koontz, 2020), it displays information on Atheism, Christian, and Pantheism to compare and contrast one another on what they perceive on several aspects. For the Atheism, they believed that there is no spiritual or supernatural, but rather that there is a natural or physical realm. Compared to Christianity where it believes there is the one and only God, who created both spiritual & physical realm. The both view that there is a beginning to the universe, but both have different beliefs how it became. Atheism believed about the Big Bang while Christianity believed that God created the universe out of nothing. However, both worldview use faith and reason to understand their beliefs. Christianity believes that they are placed on Earth for a purpose and to serve that purpose. Atheism believes that they are in control of their own lives and what to do with it. Both worldviews have different perspectives on God and the creation of how the earth was created, but each worldview respects .one’s belief The Christian worldview can influence a person’s thinking and behavior because it will see the world differently. They have an explanation on how earth came to be and the reason why they are on earth. It will help change their life at the same time because they see the goodness in everything rather than the evilness that is happening around them. It would make a person want to do goodness in the world whether it is in their community or abroad by starting small charities or donations. Also, a person will understand why people are committing acts and why they are suffering. At the same time, it will make the person be cautious around people because

9 . they know that others have different beliefs and that everyone is a creation of God Overall, in the Christian worldview, it is important to understand the word of God and learn his teachings in order to fulfill their purpose in life. Knowing the nature of God, nature of humanity, and the nature of Jesus will help gain insight on who God is and why he is almighty. The Christian worldview can change a person’s thinking and behavior because of the information that they gain from the Bible. Besides the Christian worldview, there are other worldviews that see the earth and the universe differently. However, each worldview respects and understands one another because everyone has different beliefs. Despite having different beliefs, it is important to spread kindness and love around the world. It will prevent evil to continue and will create more goodness in the world, which God wanted in the beginning. God . gave a lot of gifts to his creation to show that he is forgiving and he is powerful

10 References Hiles, J. S. & Smith, A. F. (2015). Chapter 3: Wisdom in the Beginning . In A. DiVincenzo (Ed.), The beginning of wisdom: An introduction to Christian thought and life (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://lc.gcumedia.com/cwv101/the-beginning-of-wisdom-anintroduction-to-christian-thought-and-life/v2.1 King James Bible. (2020). King James Bible Online. Retrieved from ( https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769 Koontz, M. (2020a). The Wisdom of God [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://lms trad.gcu.edu/learningPlatform Koontz, M. (2020b). We Believe GCU [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://lms trad.gcu.edu/learningPlatform Koontz, M. (2020c). Timeline [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://lms trad.gcu.edu/learningPlatform Koontz, M. (2020d). Grace [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://lms trad.gcu.edu/learningPlatform Koontz, M. (2020). Three Worldview Chart. https://lms trad.gcu.edu/learningPlatform The Bible Project. (2020, Sep 22). Grace [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABPVVw_aw44...