Lesson 6 Active Living as a Student in a Fallen World—A Biblical Perspective
A. Overall Lesson Objective
•To understand that the student, who calls upon the Lord and walks with Him, has a definite place in this world that begins with study, observation, and self-discovery that can lead to a life of learning with His affirmation.
B. Learning Competencies
•The very real desires of God for us are made known from His Record, and the origin of those desires is recorded first in Genesis.
•Many parts of the Word amplify the same theme: we have a place to live in this world regardless of circumstances, which include the conditions in our fallen world.
•A student’s place begins with study, observation, and self-discovery that can be impassioned by a biblical world view.
C. Lesson
Overview
Do we have a future in view of the condition of the fallen world that God describes in Genesis (after the Fall)? Can this life be exciting and full of discovery, or is the student relegated to a mundane existence in whatever circumstance he was born, knowing that the world is broken by the consequences of sin, which stem from events in Genesis? These are not idle questions. This lesson considers these things with respect to students. If you are a student, how do you define who you are? Where are you headed? What does the future hold for you? When you observe those doing well around you, is that enough? For those in hardship, they want to know if life is more than what they have experienced. What if you have hardship in front of you? How will you make sense of it? If you just live in the present with pleasures you think are important, is that enough?
God spends a lot of time in the Bible speaking to people who believe in Him and call upon Him. He spends as much time recording how people do not believe in Him or what he has said. They come from all walks of life and circumstances. His perseverance with mankind since the beginning, which you have studied, is notable. His perseverance says that He sees our circumstances and will work through them—if we permit Him to do so. Many in this world seem to have little choice about the circumstances in which they live, but they still have a choice to trust in Him or not, to believe what the Creator says. It applies to students as well, but students are especially positioned to learn from what is around them. God expects students to begin to evaluate these issues. In some way, however, this evaluation must be translated into the choices a student makes. So, let’s treat the subject and begin with a little review of the attributes of the One who made the stage upon which we live and learn:
a. He knows each one before he or she was born (Psalm 139:15, Acts 17:26)
b. He is not slack concerning His promises (2 Peter 3:9)
c. His ways are far above ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). What He does in our individual circumstances may be quite different from what we expect. His timing might be a surprise. He, however, is the Great Overseer, the Master Chef, and Eternal God. He has no difficulty seeing the steps of a person. Remember His oversight in the first chapters of Genesis?
d. He is fully able to know our circumstances and keep our souls (Psalm 121:3, James 5:10-11 and Jude 24-25), even if we cannot see very well. If you understand this, then you will hold on tight to His guidance, whether things look right or not.
The Desire of God: Discover and Study the Created Universe
The lessons in Unit 3 included many encouragements to observe and study God’s universe. Unit 4, Part I looks at the major world views with respect to subject areas most typically taught to students. The side-by side look at a biblical view and a naturalistic view invites the student to decide: How do you see? With what eyes do you evaluate things? The process does not require specific education or vocational training to go to the next step, but it does take thought. Eventually, it takes some conviction: Do I want (or not want) to walk with an understanding that a biblical view of things can change how I observe the world around me? Further, as I observe my own behavior, is my walk consistent with a biblical view?
Walking through life believing God made the heavens and the earth can impassion disciplined observing by the student. The details of life, the earth, and the heavens are waiting for student observers to discover and evaluate. It does not matter whether the observer is a worker in a rice paddy, a person selling things from a cart, or a person doing advanced research in a laboratory. Many of the same opportunities to see, observe carefully, and learn are present. This approach can embolden a student interested in science, social studies, or history.
Children are naturally curious, and the curiosity can be molded and shaped so that disciplined observing is a natural skill. However, it still takes effort to think and evaluate what is seen, and the biblical world view makes the process personal for each student. More evaluation becomes important as the student grows older, especially when coupled with decisions that relate to how one lives.
Consider this: The whole book of Proverbs takes this approach. A young man is being exhorted how to live, but most of the exhortations involve evaluating things that are seen with the expectation that the son will make a choice how to walk. The young man is a student. The book of Job takes the same approach: God demands that Job consider creation by observation, because it points to the One who made it. Job had a choice, in the end, to receive what was said and act upon it or to take another course. In truth, Job became a student again, learning in circumstances, and having to stand before his Teacher to give an account of his point of view.
As people grow older, however, concerns and priorities of earthly things easily begin to dominate. Relationships can be full of drama, but for what purpose? Burdens, worries, and pleasures that are disconnected from God lead to all sorts and types of sins that play an increasing part in life. If this happens, it gets harder to ‘see’ and appreciate the creation of God around us. This can happen to young students just like it can happen to old adults. You can see these trends in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. Matthew 13:22-23 summarizes the effects of a heart that is crippled so a person’s fruitfulness slowly dies. It need not be this way. The heart of a person can change when God is encountered. His creation is always beckoning to us to consider Him. If this happens, the eyes see things they had not seen before or had forgotten. Some people describe it this way: colors get brighter; sensitivity to features of the universe increase.
What is the end of the matter for the student? If you choose to observe and evaluate with a biblical world view, it can, if you ask the Creator, give you a stronger sense of identity with Him. It can provide a means in which to evaluate issues around you that you observe. It can give you the ability to make wiser choices. It can impassion your study—giving the study and learning process a context. With evaluation and decisions, you can walk with a better view of things around you and you have a method to evaluate your own walk.
If our walk leads to a real relationship with the Creator, then the learning process goes to another dimension—widening our understanding and deepening our learning experience because we begin to walk with the One who made it all. With Him, we never stop being a student, but we get close and personal with the Teacher.
D. Assignment
Define what it means to ‘rule the earth’ from a biblical point of view. Answer using Genesis 1:28 and Matthew 20:25-28.
E. Learning Activity
🦕 CT? Divide into teams. Each team will make and present a quick skit to show two students in a classroom. One group wants to learn with a biblical view in mind; the second does not care at all about his view of the world, except that he is the center of it. Show the differences you believe they will exhibit in their approach to learning. Use Genesis 4:1-7 and Proverbs 8:32-36 as the primary references. 15 minutes.
F. Concluding Assessment
Students who take learning seriously from a biblical creation point of view will greatly benefit from the experience.