1. powerpoint presentation designed by claro ruiz vicente http://clarovicente.weebly.com Adult Bible Study Guide Jan Feb Mar 2012 Adult Bible Study Guide Jan Feb Mar 2012

2. Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide An Appeal Dear User…. This PowerPoint Show is freely shared to all who may find it beneficial. While intended primarily for personal use, some find it useful for teaching the lesson in church. There are those, however, who add illustrations, change background, adjust font size, etc. While their intention may be good, this is not right. Slide #1 says “designed by claro ruiz vicente.” For honest Christians, it is not necessary for another’s creation to be copyrighted in order to be respected. P LEASE U SE A S I S.

3. Contributor Jo Ann Davidson Principal Contributor

4. Glimpses of Our God Contents 1 The Triune God 2 In the Beginning 3 God as Redeemer 4 The God of Grace and Judgment 5 The Holiness of God 6 God the Lawgiver 7 Lord of the Sabbath 8 Creation Care 9 The Bible and History 10 The Promise of Prayer 11 God as Artist 12 Love Stories 13 The Promise of His Return

5. Glimpses of Our God Our Goal {5} How grateful we should be for every bit of light He casts our way. We’ll look at some of that light. How faithfully we walk in it, is up to each of us individually.

6. Glimpses of Our God Lesson 11, March 17 Glimpses of Our God Lesson 11, March 17 God as Artist

7. Key Text Psalm 27:4 NKJV “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.”

8. God as Artist Initial Words {127} There is one picture of God in Scripture that is rarely given attention—God as artist. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” wrote poet John Keats. God is indeed Truth, and the Truth is beautiful. Creation itself testifies to the fact that God is an artist and a lover of what’s beautiful.

9. God as Artist Quick Look 1. God as Architect (Hebrews 8:1-5) 2. God as Musician and Author (1 Samuel 23:1, 2) 3. God as Potter and Sculptor (Acts 1:6)

10. God as Artist 1. God as Architect Hebrews 8:1-5 NKJV “We have such a High Priest...a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. … Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle …according to the pattern shown….”

11. 1. God as Architect The Earthly Sanctuary {129} The first half of the book of Exodus details the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The second half deals with God’s “blueprints” for the tent sanctuary, its furnishings, and the priestly vestments; detailed descriptions, along with the precise accomplishment of them. This record includes extensive details of artistry.

12. 1. God as Architect The Earthly Sanctuary {129} God was architect of it all, even inspiring the artisans to craft the minute details of decoration. Nothing was left to human devising. If it was only a “shadow” of the heavenly, we can hardly begin to imagine the kind of beauty that must exist in the real sanctuary, the one made by God Himself.

13. God as Artist 2. God as Musician and Author 2 Samuel 23:1, 2 NKJV “Thus says David…the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel: ‘The Spirit of the L ORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.’”

14. 2. God as Musician and Author In Israel’s Liturgy {130} God’s artistic expression is not restricted to the representational arts. In Scripture we find that, along with sacred architecture, Israel’s liturgy was inspired by the Lord. God is a lover of beautiful music, as well.

15. 2. God as Musician and Author In Israel’s Liturgy {130} David was clear that he was inspired by the Lord to write the songs that he did. Although this doesn’t mean that the Lord wrote the words and music for him, it does mean that the Lord cared about the kind of music that was played. Otherwise, why bother to inspire it?

16. 2. God as Musician and Author The Bible’s Literary Quality {131} Paul exhibits this subtle literary rhythm several times in his epistles and letters: intricate theological reasoning interlaced with praise to God before concluding with practical counsel.

17. 2. God as Musician and Author The Bible’s Literary Quality {131} The book of Revelation also is filled with an imposing mosaic of literary devices through which God portrays salvation history. The reader is presented with an exceedingly complex tapestry of words, phrases, and themes borrowed from other biblical writers but now woven together into an entirely new fabric.

18. Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” God as Artist 3. God as Potter and Sculptor

19. Forming Adam {128} Scripture opens with God creating the first humans out of the “dust of the ground.” In fact, the Hebrew word for “man,” adam, is closely tied to the Hebrew word for “ground,” which is adamah—a linguistic link that enforces the amazing truth about God’s skill as a “potter.”

20. 3. God as Potter and Sculptor Forming Adam {128} Among the concepts revealed in these verses is the idea of just how helpless we are before the power of God. We are, in a sense, like clay in the hands of a potter; the potter, not the clay, is in charge.

21. 3. God as Potter and Sculptor Forming Adam {128} At the same time, God is working to re-create in us His image. However much God cares about His physical creation, how much more would He care about the beauty of what He can do in us?

22. 3. God as Potter and Sculptor Forming Character {132} God is also a sculptor, but not one limited to granite or marble. Instead, He sculpts our characters. He can take a sinful human being and mold and chisel and hammer away until that person reflects something of heaven’s glory.

23. 3. God as Potter and Sculptor Forming Character {132} Characters in the Bible who needed spiritual sculpting: Jacob (Gen. 32); David (Psalm 51); Peter (Luke 22); Paul (Acts 9). Another example is Mary Magdalene: “who had fallen, and whose mind had been a habitation of demons, was brought very near to the Saviour in fellowship and ministry….” —DA 568.

24. God as Artist Final Words {164} God’s skills as an artist have been underrated. His created world is often appreciated, but the expression of His artistic skills extends His great abilities much further. God designs that Christians especially should be a source of “beauty” in a dark and dying planet.