From the Heidelberg Catechism - 1563
Question 6: Did God create man so wicked and perverse?
Answer: By no means, but God created man good[1] and after His own image,[2] that is, in righteousness and true holiness,[3] that he might rightly know God his Creator,[4] heartily love Him, and live with Him in eternal blessedness, to glorify Him and praise Him.[5]
Question 7: From where, then, does this depravity of human nature come?
Answer: From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise,[1] from them our nature became so corrupt[2] that we are all conceived and born in sin.[3]
Question 8: But are we so depraved that we are completely incapable of any good and prone to all evil?
Answer: Yes,[1] unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.[2]
Bible
For as by the one man's (Adam and Eve's) disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's (Jesus') obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, as believers we are to be agents of renewal and restoration, but in so many ways we are agents of disintegration and sin. Please forgive us and help us to be in step with your Spirit, following your lead as you bring your Kingdom, first in our own hearts and then in the world. Amen.
Regards
Kruger
Here are the Scripture references to the above question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism. Feel free to look them up and ask questions about them - some are not that clear!
Question 6:[1] Gen 1:31; [2] Gen 1:26-27 [3] Eph 4:24; 2 Cor 3:18; [4] Col 3:10; [5] Ps 8
Question 7:[1] Gen 3; [2] Rom 5:12, 18-19; [3] Ps 14:2-3, 51:5
Question 8:[1] Gen 6:5, 8:21; Job 14:4; Isa 53:6; Jer 17:9; Jn 3:6; Rom 7:18; [2] Jn 3:3-5
Question 6: Did God create man so wicked and perverse?
Answer: By no means, but God created man good[1] and after His own image,[2] that is, in righteousness and true holiness,[3] that he might rightly know God his Creator,[4] heartily love Him, and live with Him in eternal blessedness, to glorify Him and praise Him.[5]
Question 7: From where, then, does this depravity of human nature come?
Answer: From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise,[1] from them our nature became so corrupt[2] that we are all conceived and born in sin.[3]
Question 8: But are we so depraved that we are completely incapable of any good and prone to all evil?
Answer: Yes,[1] unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.[2]
• "The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom.... (in English we call it 'peace') We may safely describe evil as any spoiling of shalom, whether physically, morally, spiritually, or otherwise. Sin is the disruption or disturbance of what God has designed.... Sin tends to disintegrate both its victims and its perpetrators" — Cornelius Plantinga
• Since the fall (Genesis 3) man and creation has continued it's 'disintegration' into which it would have continued eternally if God did not become man in Christ.
• When Christ died the death he didn't deserve he lost the 'shalom' to give to those that believe in him the 'shalom' they didn't deserve.
• We now live in a world where disintegration and sin are interwoven with renewal and restoration - even in a believer's very own heart.
Bible
For as by the one man's (Adam and Eve's) disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's (Jesus') obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, as believers we are to be agents of renewal and restoration, but in so many ways we are agents of disintegration and sin. Please forgive us and help us to be in step with your Spirit, following your lead as you bring your Kingdom, first in our own hearts and then in the world. Amen.
Regards
Kruger
Here are the Scripture references to the above question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism. Feel free to look them up and ask questions about them - some are not that clear!
Question 6:[1] Gen 1:31; [2] Gen 1:26-27 [3] Eph 4:24; 2 Cor 3:18; [4] Col 3:10; [5] Ps 8
Question 7:[1] Gen 3; [2] Rom 5:12, 18-19; [3] Ps 14:2-3, 51:5
Question 8:[1] Gen 6:5, 8:21; Job 14:4; Isa 53:6; Jer 17:9; Jn 3:6; Rom 7:18; [2] Jn 3:3-5
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