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13 Transforming Truths:

A Bible Study for Community Flourishing

Darrow L. Miller

Copyright ©2013 by Darrow Miller

Published by the Disciple Nations Alliance

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Table of Contents Preface: The Story Behind the 13 Transforming Truths ................................................................. 4

How to Use This Book ................................................................................................................... 13

Truth 1: God is Personal ................................................................................................................ 17

Truth 2: God is Moral .................................................................................................................... 21

Truth 3: God is Rational ................................................................................................................ 26

Truth 4: God is Beautiful ............................................................................................................... 31

Truth 5: Human Life is Sacred ....................................................................................................... 37

Truth 6: Man is a Rebel ................................................................................................................. 40

Truth 7: All People and Nations have Equal Worth ...................................................................... 43

Truth 8: All People and Nations are Unique ................................................................................. 47

Truth 9: Work is Sacred ................................................................................................................. 51

Truth 10: Creation is an Open System .......................................................................................... 56

Truth 11: Man is to have Dominion over Nature ......................................................................... 60

Truth 12: Bounty can be Created and Stewarded ........................................................................ 65

Truth 13: History is Going Somewhere ......................................................................................... 69

About the Author .......................................................................................................................... 75

Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... 76

About the Disciple Nations Alliance .............................................................................................. 77

Other Books by Darrow L. Miller .................................................................................................. 78

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Preface: The Story Behind the 13 Transforming Truths

This is the story of how we came to write the 13 Transforming Truths Bible study. It’s really a

personal story of my own journey as it relates to the issues of hunger and poverty and their

root causes.

When I was in college I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico City with a group of 11

university students with a pastor and his wife as our sponsors. We took the train from Mexicali

to Mexico City. The trip took three nights and two days, and as we went south the poverty grew

deeper. As the train arrived in Mexico City, we passed through a slum. I saw people living in

homes made from trash. Their doors were flattened cans stitched together at the corners, their

windows old tires. Children climbed over piles of garbage, playing and looking for items to sell. I

was a southern California beach boy. In my 20 years I had never seen poverty. What I was

seeing broke my heart.

These scenes will remain forever in my memory. I looked through the train window and wept

inside. I knew that I could not walk away from this. I needed to do something about it. What I

would do I had no idea, but I resolved that when I died, the world would have less poverty than

it had at that moment.

We spent six weeks living and working in an orphanage. We ate fish head soup for lunch

because the orphanage couldn’t afford the whole fish.

Our work team was responsible for painting the exterior of the three story school building that

served the orphans and other students in the surrounding community. The days of work were

long and arduous. When the work day was over, many of the team spent the late afternoon and

evenings playing with the orphans. I was known, affectionately by the children, as Señor Caballo

– Mr. Horse, as I loved to ride them around on my back and shoulders.

On weekends our team would visit churches, often singing as a choir, and visited the tourist

sites around Mexico City. The six weeks marked a turning point in my life. I can look back on

those weeks and understand why I worked in a poor black high school and planted a church in

urban Denver, Colorado and later spent twenty-seven years working for an international relief

and development organization.

A few years later I was in seminary and became familiar with Ron Sider's book Rich Christians in

an Age of Hunger. Sider challenged and encouraged me. Here was another evangelical Christian

who had seen poverty and was calling the church to positive engagement with the poor. At that

point in my life it was very exciting to have an ally, somebody actually writing a book about the

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subject. As a young Christian, this second milestone, though not as big as my first exposure to

poverty, encouraged me to continue moving forward.

The next key part of my pilgrimage came when Marilyn, my bride, and I had the privilege of

studying in Israel at the Institute for Holy Land Studies. Every other weekend we took a field

trip. One weekend our Old Testament professor, Dr. Anson Rainey, took us to the north of

Israel. We were sitting on a mountain overlooking the vast plains of Megiddo where the Battle

of Armageddon will take place. While Dr. Rainey was relating the history that had unfolded

here, my eyes wandered to a hill nearby where I saw a strange forest, unlike any I had ever

seen. As I stared at the forest, I realized that all the trees were the same size, not of varying

sizes and shapes like other forests. And as I continued to gaze, I saw that the trees weren’t

growing randomly, but were planted in rows. I had never seen a forest like this.

I asked Dr. Rainey to explain this forest. He told us that the Jews had planted it. That was a

brand new concept for me. I thought only God planted forests. And here is somebody telling me

the Jews planted the forest. And then he said something absolutely profound:

Two different people have inhabited this land: Jews and Arabs. The Arabs believe that

God had put a curse on the land and therefore it was a desert; there was nothing that

humans could do to change it, because it was God’s will that it was a desert. The Jews

however believe that God had said this was the land of milk and honey. In a little more

than two generations they transformed the desert into a garden. And today they export

fruit, vegetables, flowers and arid land technologies all over the world.

As Dr. Rainey was explaining this he added that “the difference in results between the two

peoples was two different visions for the land.” It was one land, one climate, one resource

base, but inhabited by two peoples with two sets of metaphysical capital. The difference in

outcome was determined by the difference in moral visions. I found this fascinating and

mentally filed it for further reflection.

Later in the same trip, Marilyn and I hitchhiked through Turkey, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy,

and made our way up to Switzerland to L’Abri Fellowship where another piece of the puzzle fell

into place. Every week Francis Schaeffer, the American philosopher, apologist, evangelist and

co-founder, along with his wife Edith, of L’Abri, would host a question and answer time for the

students. One week as he was answering questions, Schaeffer made a passing statement that

“If you want to understand the difference between what happened in North American and

South America look at the ideas that came from Northern Europe and Southern Europe.” I

thought “Oh, that’s interesting!” Schaeffer did not expand on the comment then or during the

three years Marilyn and I spent at L’Abri. However, like Dr. Rainey’s comments I filed this one

away for the future.

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In August of 1980 I met Dr. Larry Ward, founder of Food for the Hungry [FH]. He shared with me

the story of how God had called him to start FH. My heart raced as I listened. I was so excited to

meet another man, older than me, who not only had a heart for the poor but had started an

organization to feed hungry people. This was a critical turning point in my life and I said that

one day I wanted to work for an organization like this..

A year later my good friend Bob Moffitt invited me to join him and Dr. Ward at FH to help

establish a “Christian Peace Corp” called the International Hunger Corp. So in June 1981, I went

to work at FH and began to see the outworking of God’s call on my life.

Two years later I took my first international trip to the countries of Haiti and the Dominican

Republic. Having been influenced by Ron Sider, I believed that the root of hunger and poverty

was the lack of resources. Thus the solution was to give money to the poor so they could get

out of poverty. When you see the problem as lack of resources, the transfer of resources

becomes the key to solving that problem.

My first trip to Haiti, in 1983, challenged that perspective. I was startled at the profusion of

non-profit organizations. About a thousand missionary and relief and development

organizations, from small “Ma and Pa” outfits to huge organizations like World Vision and

Catholic Social Services, were serving Haiti’s nine million people. I wondered, “With all these

agencies here why is Haiti not developing?” Between 1971 and 1994, $130 million per year in

international aid was pumped into Haiti, a total of $3 billion including $1.4 billion from the U.S.

alone. With all those organizations and all that money, I wondered why Haiti was not

progressing.

Today, the story in Haiti is even more stunning. In 2010, some 10,000 non-profit organizations,

of all shapes and sizes, work in Haiti. This is one organization for every 1,000 Haitians. In recent

years the world has continued to increase its aid to Haiti: $580M in 2006, $702M in 2007,

$912M in 2009. In addition, the Haitian Diaspora invests about $2 billion per year in their native

country. Yet Haiti remains poor! Something was clearly wrong with this picture.

On the same trip I traveled to Constanza, Dominican Republic. FH had sent their first student

work team to the DR and I represented FH. We took a group of high school students from Ohio

to help build a school for refugees who had lost their homes during hurricane David. They were

resettled in a “refugee camp” near the town of Constanza.

Constanza is situated in a beautiful mountain valley; it seemed like the Switzerland of the

Caribbean. The valley had fertile soil, a temperate climate, and abundant water. I thought, “This

is a paradise!” A person need only throw seeds in the ground and they would grow.

But the people living in this paradise were absolutely destitute! Why, I wondered?

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I noticed on the side of the hill some very nice homes overlooking beautiful farms and asked,

“Who lives in those houses?” The answer was, “Oh, that’s the Japanese.”

“Why are Japanese here in the middle of these mountains, in the middle of the Dominican

Republic in the middle of the Caribbean?” I wondered out loud. “How did Japanese people ever

come to be here?”

“At the end of World War II,” I was told, “the Japanese emigrated from Japan to find a new life.

They came without money, with just the clothes on their back, a defeated nation. They settled

here and within two generations they owned very prosperous farms and had built very nice

houses.”

Again I thought, “What’s wrong with this picture?” I began to ask people to explain the

Dominican’s poverty and the Japanese relative prosperity.

“Well, the Dominicans are fatalistic” came the answer. “They think they are poor and there is

nothing they can do about it. They think they will always be poor. And if anything is going to

change, it will be because somebody comes from the outside to change it for them.”

“What about the Japanese?” I asked.

“The Japanese believe in something they call gambare, ‘Never give up’ or ‘Try harder.’”

I began to wonder whether lack of resources had anything to do with hunger and poverty. After

all, the Dominican Republic was a paradise. Maybe the real root of poverty had nothing to do

with material resources.

Between 1980 and 1988, sub-Saharan Africa received $83 billion in foreign aid, yet living

standards declined 1.2 percent annually. Per capita GDP declined about 2 percent annually. In

2002, the GDP of Africa was lower than it was in 1981, when all the aid began coming in.

What is wrong with this picture is a faulty understanding of the cause of poverty.

It was at this time that I began to ask some serious questions. They were uncomfortable

questions to an industry that fundamentally believed that the transfer of resources would solve

poverty.

Around this time I read an article by a Dutch development worker who had spent a dozen years

working in Bangladesh. He wrote, “If you want to change Bangladesh, you have to change their

concept of leadership.” He noted that the Bengalis had a dictatorial, top-down approach to

leadership that crushes initiative. “If you want to see Bangladesh develop,” he said, “you need

to instill a new concept of leadership, what Christians would call servant leadership. Such

leadership creates an environment that encourages people to ask questions, analyze problems,

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and dream up creative solutions to community and national problems. The average person is

empowered to think and create.”

I thought, “Now isn’t that interesting! Here is someone else challenging the notion that poverty

is rooted in the lack of resources!”

At FH we had a new president, Dr. Ted Yamamori, who had launched a long-held dream, the

International Institute for Relief and Development (IIRD). The IIRD was to be a think tank to

promote, through magazine and newspaper articles, what was really going on in the world of

hunger. The goal was to help Americans see poverty, to understand its root causes, and to

support efforts to alleviate it.

At the same time, a good friend of mine from Switzerland, Udo Middelmann (son-in-law to

Francis Schaeffer) spoke in our FH chapel. What he said so challenged Dr. Yamamori and Dr.

Ward that they asked him to come work with the IIRD. Udo joined Food for the Hungry

International (FHI) in Geneva, Switzerland as the IIRD Scholar in Residence. Udo began to travel

around the world with FHI to talk about the role of culture and ideas in poverty. Now FH had

two people, myself and Udo, raising some fundamental questions about the causes and

solutions of poverty.

About this time a young Hunger Corps volunteer gave me a copy of Barbara Ward’s book The

Rich Nations and the Poor Nations. Ward was an economist and university professor. In her

book she began to ask the tough questions about hunger and poverty, articulating that there

had to be more than physical reasons for hunger and poverty. Now an academic and economist

was raising the same questions I had been raising. “Maybe I’m not crazy after all!” I thought.

Then I read The Stone Lectures, a compilation of talks Abraham Kuyper had given at Princeton

Seminary in 1898. Kuyper was a theologian as well as the future Prime Minister of Holland. He

had traveled to Princeton to try to stem the tide of liberalism moving into the American church.

As I read his six Lectures on Calvinism, I realized he was talking about the function of worldview.

It is the Biblical worldview that sets the foundations for a nation’s development. Ideas have

consequences. One’s theology matters! He had three major areas of focus: the spiritual or

transcendent, the nature of man, and the nature of creation. Different worldviews, specifically

the ones he focused on—Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Islam—take different views of

the nature of God, the nature of creation, and the nature of man. These in turn will determine

the kind of societies that each perspective will create.

This was very helpful to me. I put together a lecture summarizing my observations and musings

to present to the Hunger Corps at their next training program. I argued that the root of poverty

and hunger was not lack of resources but culture and ideas. Following the presentation, a young

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Hunger Corps Volunteer came up to me and said, “Oh Darrow, you must have been reading

Michael Novak.”

“Who is Michael Novak?” I asked him.

He said, “He’s a Roman Catholic economist and what you are saying is exactly what he’s saying.

You need to read his book because he has articulated the thesis that you just talked about.”

So I picked up Novak’s book, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. Novak argues that North and

South America are separated by very different understandings of three critical principles, as

expressed in the title: The Spirit (theological principle) of Democratic (political principle)

Capitalism (economic principle).

Novak had spent 12 years studying to be a Roman Catholic priest. His heart was broken for the

poor. He thought he could best help the poor by serving in South and Central America as a

priest. But his studies uncovered a burning question: “Why is North American relatively rich and

South America relatively poor?” Both had roughly the same number of indigenous people and

the same number of European settlers. In natural resources, South America was actually far

richer. Yet North America’s economy was much more robust. Why?

Novak concluded that the answer had nothing to do with the resource base or population

densities. Most people working among the poor function from a materialistic framework. They

ascribe poverty’s cause to too many people and not enough resources. You must either get rid

of people (a la birth control or other population reduction schemes) or redistribute the

resources from the rich to the poor. Novak was saying it’s not about population densities or the

resource base; it’s all about ideas. The ideas coming from southern Europe to South America

created a very different political and economic climate than the ideas that came from northern

Europe to North America. Francis Schaeffer’s passing statement those many years ago was

affirmed!

Here was a scholar who had done much more scholarly work than I had as a social activist, and

his thesis confirmed my observation! That was very encouraging. This was all the more striking

because it was not a Protestant saying these things. Novak is a Roman Catholic with the

courage to say that the ideas emerging from Protestantism—the Protestant ethic, as it were—

shaped nations and led those nations to prosper. In contrast, the ideas coming from Catholicism

into South America did not create the metaphysical capital or moral vision that allowed Central

and South America to prosper.

Novak’s book proved to be the most profound I read in the 1980s; it remains one of the most

important books to shape my thinking regarding issues of poverty and development

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During this time, these ideas were falling on fertile soil within the Hunger Corps (the volunteer

arm of Food for the Hungry), but the professional development workers of FH were utterly

astounded at what I was saying. They were almost hostile, and that surprised me. I felt that

people who had a heart for the poor would be open to examine anything that might help lift

people and communities out of poverty.

Around this time some friends with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), one of the largest mission

organizations in the world, put me in touch with a YWAM leader named Chris Colby. She ran a

Foundation of Community Development school that included a full week on “Worldview and

Development.” Chris and her husband, Herrick, understood the importance of ideas and the

role of ideas in the development process. Chris invited me to come to Tyler, Texas to teach on

that subject. I was happy to say Yes! This gave me a few opportunities a year to teach on the

topic of Worldview and Development. Everywhere I went in YWAM these ideas were falling on

fertile soil. While the development industry was antagonistic, Chris Colby and YWAM were a

great encouragement.

After a few times of teaching at YWAM, I had the unique opportunity to speak to AERDO, the

Association of Evangelical in Relief and Development. I would address a group of my peers –

middle and upper management of major R&D organizations. I’ll never forget that day. I would

be sharing my thesis in a context of people whose belief, as well as practice, was based on the

notion that poverty was solved by transferring western money and technology to the

developing world. It was one of the most miserable days of my life. As I presented, I felt like

Daniel entering the lion’s den! Ten minutes into my talk, I almost stopped. Besides being

nervous, I felt like I was getting nowhere. The expressions in the audience seemed to say,

“Where is this guy coming from?”

The next critical piece of the story was reading Lawrence Harrison’s Underdevelopment as a

State of Mind. Harrison had been a USAID agent in the Caribbean for 25 years. He’d overseen

the spending of billions of dollars in nation after nation and concluded that all that money had

produced very meager results. He left USAID and wrote the book about his observations. I was

impacted to read the testimony of a USAID officer with years of field experience who concluded

that metaphysical capital – the “state of mind,” not money, is critical to a nation’s

development.

Shortly after reading Harrison, I discovered David Landis’ book The Wealth and Poverty of

Nations. Dr. Landis, a professor of economics at Harvard University, concluded that it was the

Judeo-Christian ethic that produced the wealth of nations. Landis listed five critical factors

(which I have paraphrased here) for national development:

1. Labor has dignity.

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2. Man has dominion over nature.

3. History is going somewhere.

4. Man is made in the image of God.

5. Man is a free moral agent and a steward of creation.

As time passed, I found more and more people articulating the things on my heart. Some of the

reason for this renewed emphasis was the collapse of communism and the growing demise of

the materialistic paradigm. Also, the redistribution mentality of Ron Sider, little different from

that of socialism and communism, proved faulty. While Sider is an evangelical Christian

motivated by Christ to help the poor, he borrowed from an atheistic-materialistic paradigm -

“closed system,” “zero sum” economic model to solve the problem. . These realities paved the

way for a new set of ideas. A generation of men and women are beginning to articulate and

practice these concepts.

At the end of the 1980s, expanding on the German Social economist Max Weber’s concept of

the work ethic, I began to write a paper titled “The Development Ethic.” Weber had suggested

that it was the Protestant work ethic that lifted Europe out of poverty. The English reformer,

John Wesley, articulated this ethic as “Work as hard as you can, save as much as you can, and

give as much as you can” (my paraphrase). As I continued to reflect on Weber’s thesis I thought,

“It’s not just work that is involved. There is a larger ethic, a larger mental framework involved in

development.” Thus my paper title, “The Development Ethic.”

From Kuyper’s threefold framework (the nature of God, the nature of man, and the nature of

creation) I wrote 13 very basic propositions. While based on sound biblical theology, they are

better described as worldview statements:

God - The Metaphysical Factor (related to the non-material universe)

1. God is Personal (The Universe is Ultimately Personal)

2. God is Moral (The Universe is Ultimately Moral)

3. God is Rational (The Universe is Intelligible)

4. God is Beautiful (The Universe is Beautiful

Man - The Human Factor (related to mankind)

5. Human Life is Sacred

6. Man is a Rebel

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7. All People and Nations Have Equal Worth

8. All People and Nations Are Unique

Creation - The Creation Factor (related to “nature”)

9. Work Is Sacred

10. Creation is an Open System

11. Man is to have Dominion over Nature

12. Wealth is to be Created and Stewarded

13. History is Going Somewhere

Following the writing of The Development Ethic, I had the privilege of presenting the paper at a

Hillsdale College symposium. It was published in their 1989 book The Politics of Hunger (volume

15 of their Champions of Freedom series). Shortly after that, The Development Ethic was turned

into a discovery Bible study series and then became the conceptual foundation for the book

Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Culture.

That’s the story. The pages that follow capture, in Bible-study format, these 13 Transforming

Truths. It is my prayer that God will use them powerfully in your life and to help, in some small

way, to contribute to the flourishing of communities and nations.

How to Use This Book, page 13

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How to Use This Book

These studies have been written for …

Communities of poor people who long to understand the keys to overcoming their

poverty.

People interested in and working within poor communities, whether field practitioners,

trainers or educators.

People in general who are interested in the relationship between truth and national

transformation.

Further, these studies are for individuals studying alone, or for small groups such as Sunday

School classes, Bible study groups or seminary classrooms.

Objectives of the Bible Study

These studies are designed with three main objectives in view. The first is to shift paradigms.

Poverty is ultimately rooted in worldview and not in the natural resources a community or

nation may possess. It is truth that lays a foundation for a person, community, or nation to

flourish. In contrast, ignorance and lies enslave and impoverish people.

The second objective is to demonstrate the significance of 13 critical Biblical ideas that, when

practiced, lead to the development of individuals, communities, and nations.

The third objective is to engender application! Simply to know the truth is not enough; we must

put the truth into practice. Each session offers a challenge to do something with what you have

learned.

Building toward wisdom

The Bible makes a distinction between:

Knowledge – What are the facts/data? What does the text say?

Understanding – What is the meaning or significance of these facts? What does the text

mean?

Wisdom – How will I apply what I understand? What difference does the text make on

Monday morning?


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In these studies we want students to “climb the hill” from knowledge to wisdom. We want

them to uncover the facts from the Biblical texts and discovery questions. Then through their

personal reflection and group discussion come to understand what this knowledge means. Why

is it important? Then in the application part of the study each student will seek to be wise, to

answer the questions: What am I going to do with this? How am I going to use what I now

understand?

Components of each session

Each group session will be composed of six parts and their corresponding activities.

1. Welcome

2. The Truth – A statement summarizing the content of the session

3. Key Verse - The verse that best captures the main theme of the lesson.

4. Discovery Questions – Questions and verses to allow the students to explore the

theme more deeply.

5. Personal Application – The most important part of the lesson. It helps each reader

explore the implications of the lessons for their lives and the life of their community.

6. Closing Thoughts

Preparing for the study

To use this book for a small group, please see the following guidelines:

Use a room that is comfortable and informal.

Arrange chairs in a circle to encourage greater participation.

Make sure the room is well ventilated.

The facilitator should sit in the circle with the students as a co-discover.

The facilitator is a gatekeeper, not a lecturer. The facilitator guides the discussion, asks

questions, reflects what is he or she is hearing, and encourages all to participate.

Let the participants discover the answers and draw their own conclusions.

Encourage independent thinking and open discussion.


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Be very gentle in handling wrong answers. Find something to affirm in the answer, even

when correction or revision is necessary. This is important to encourage continued

participation.

Encourage participants to tell stories and to give illustrations of their insights.

Facilitating the Session

Beginning

- Welcome the participants.

- Open with Prayer.

- Give opportunity for announcements or group business.

- Ask for any residual questions from the previous sessions.

Review the major points of the previous session. This step has two important functions.

It indicates what students have remembered and bridges to the new study.

Ask one or two people (be sure to ask different people each week) to relate their

application, how people responded, and what they learned from the application

exercise.

Complete each component of the session

- Read through and discuss the theme of the session - The Truth; make sure the

participants have clarity of what the session is about.

- Key Verse(s) Insights

o Read the Key Verse(s)

o Give students time to answer the discovery questions on their own – working

on knowledge.

o Guide a feedback discussion with the entire group on what they have

learned, working on greater knowledge and understanding.

o Make sure all the key insights have come out from the discussion and that

each student understands the concepts

- Discovery Questions


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o Have each student read and reflect, on their own, the Discovery Questions

and the verses associated with them – working on knowledge – what does it

say?

o Guide a feedback discussion with the entire group on what they have

learned, working on greater knowledge and understanding.

o Make sure all the key insights have come out from the discussion and that

each student understands the concepts

o Tease out any lingering questions students may have.

- Personal application

o This is the most important part of the lesson. The students need to think

through and plan their application response to what they have learned in the

lesson.

o The application is to be simple enough to be done within the next week and

in no more than an hour. It should focus on edifying or encouraging someone

outside the group and nurturing someone or something towards flourishing.

The applicant should answer the following questions:

What will you do and when will you do it?

Who will you involve?

Who will be the beneficiary of your action:

o Pair the members to share with each other their planned application and

pray for each other.

Closing

o Give students opportunity to ask further questions or share insights (Ha Ha!)

o Remind them of the application for review next week.

o Ask someone to close in prayer.

Truth 1: God is Personal, page 17

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Truth 1: God is Personal

Christianity is the only world religion with a personal God who desires a personal relationship with His people. Our God is a God of community, communion, and communication. When God created human beings, He made us in His image; we are made for relationship and for community. Since we were created to be in relationship, community is of upmost importance to all forms of development – individual, family, community, and national.

In this first lesson you will study the personal attributes of God, and begin to understand how much God desires to be in relationship with us.

Key Verses to Read

The Three in One

As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘this is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”

Mat 3:16-17 1. What persons of the Godhead are mentioned?

2. What does it mean to be a person?

3. In what ways is God a person? Why is that important?

Key Verses Insights

God’s Personality

The Christian God reveals himself as three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Following Jesus’ baptism, we see the person of the Holy Spirit descending from heaven, and we hear a


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person’s voice (that of the Father) proclaim from heaven, about Jesus, “this is my Son, whom I love.”

To see life reach its full potential, we must recognize that we live in a universe with a personal God. Man’s desires for love, community, communion, creativity, and human significance are affirmed when we see that the God in whose image we are created is personal. This is contrasted with development efforts that see the universe as impersonal, uncaring, unjust, unstable, and unpredictable, and human life as insignificant.

Since He is personal, God clearly states here that He loves His son Jesus, and is pleased with Him. In the same way God loves us and expects us to love others. In order to deeply love people, we need to be in close, personal community with them.

Discovery Questions

Who God Is

1. Read Genesis 1:26. Why does God use the word “us” in this passage?

2. Why is this little word so important?

3. Read Genesis 1:1. What does “in the beginning” mean?

4. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” What do you learn about God

from this verse?

5. This verse reveals that God existed before the universe and our world. Not all cultures start

their stories with a personal God who created the universe. How does your culture begin its

story?


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Before the world and universe existed, the Triune God existed. The inherent community found within our Trinitarian God is made clear when God decides to “make humans in our image.” We must be fashioned after more than one person for God to have use the words “us” and “our.” Since God lives in community, we are made to live in community. Our most basic relationship is with our Creator, but we are also created to live in community with one another and in relationship as stewards of creation.

6. Read Exodus 3:13-15 and 34:4-7. What is the importance of a name in your culture?

7. In ancient Middle East culture, a person’s name reflected his character. What do these

names reveal about God?

God names himself “I AM WHO I AM” and describes himself as slow to anger, loving, forgiving,

and just. Since we are made in God’s image, we share all these characteristics with Him. We

also have the ability to think, feel, and make decisions and moral choices as God shows in His

character.

8. Read Exodus 25:8-9, Numbers 2:17 and John 1:1-4, 14. Where does God want to live?

9. Why do you think God wants to live among us?

God wants to “live among the people:” He wants to be present with us. Part of God desiring a

relationship with us includes His longing to live where we live, whether that is a village, slum,

city, house, or apartment.

Personal Application

Living in True Community

We were made to live in community with God and one another. However, we often hold parts

of ourselves back and separate from others in order to remain in control. This is not what God


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intends for us. This way of living will not lead to sustainable personal, family, community, and

national development.

1. Think of an area in your life where you hold on to your rights and privileges in a way that

keeps you from enjoying a true relationship with God. What one thing will you surrender to

God this week?

2. In the same way, think of an area in your life where your actions hold you back from living in

true community with those around you. What one thing will you change to allow yourself to

move into deeper community with those around you this week?

Closing Thoughts

God is a personal God who desires to live in community with us. In order to enjoy this

community, we must first allow God to live among us and on a personal level to enter into a

relationship with Him.

Thank God for desiring to live with you. Tell Him that you desire His presence in your life, and

commit to living in deeper community with those around you.

The Next Lesson: Truth #2: God is Moral

Truth 2: God is Moral, page 21

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Truth 2: God is Moral

As we learned in the last lesson, God is personal and desires to be in relationship with us. In

order to have a true relationship with Him, we must realize that He is also a moral God. He is

good, righteous, just, perfect, and holy. Since we have been made in His image, we too are

moral beings and thus need to exhibit moral character. Moral character will lead to honesty,

charity, hard work, thrift, and justice, virtues all critical to comprehensive development.

In this lesson you will look at God’s moral character and learn what God expects from you, His

moral creation.

Key Verses to Read

Holy, Holy, Holy

Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Isaiah 6:2-5

1. What two things did the angels (“seraphs") recognize about God?

2. What did Isaiah confess about himself? About the people he lived with?

3. How do you identify with Isaiah in this passage?


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Key Verses Insights

Our Moral Character

The seraphim – supernatural fiery beings – guarding the throne of God recognize that their

Creator is Holy - He is perfect in goodness, righteousness, beauty, and glory.

Note that the cry is a threefold confession: Holy, Holy, Holy. The writer emphasizes the

unmatched nature of God’s Goodness and Beauty. His nature is the standard of glory for the

universe, including the holy, unfallen angels guarding His throne.

God’s glory fills His creation.

Isaiah contrasts his own life with God’s perfection of goodness and radiance. In doing so, he is

not comparing himself with those fallen human beings that surround him, whose sin makes the

prophet’s life look good in contrast. Rather, the standard for goodness resides in God alone.

Each of us may feel good about ourselves when we compare our behavior with others. But this

luxury is not ours to indulge.

There is Holiness in the universe. In the face of this Purity, we cry with Isaiah, “Woe is me! I am

ruined!” Isaiah utters a cry of despair from the depths of his soul. In light of God’s holiness,

Isaiah life is finished, it lies in ruins.

As the reformers said, we are all totally depraved, sinners to the core of our being. We think

sinful thoughts, we say sinful things, and make sinful decisions. The modern world proclaims

man as basically good. But the Bible says that every human being is rotten to the core. This is

what Isaiah realized when confronted by the holiness of God.

Discovery Questions

Our Moral Development

1. Read Psalm 119:9-11. How does moral development occur?

2. What is moral development?


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3. Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Why is moral development important?

Moral development occurs when we live within God’s commands. When we seek God with our

whole hearts and learn to depend upon His Word, we are developing our moral character. We

will be better equipped to face moral decisions if we know what God’s moral character requires

of us.

4. Read Exodus 20:1-21. Before God gave the Ten Commandments how did He identify

himself?

5. Describe your duties toward God, in your own words.

6. What are your duties toward your family and neighbors?

Due to sin, God’s character and moral standard faded in the memory of the nations of the

earth. God’s Ten Commandments came like a “thunder clap” in the quiet of the moral universe.

He spoke clearly about man’s duties toward God and toward his fellow man, as well as toward

creation. The more consistently a person or nation practices God’s laws, the more steadily they

move toward God’s good intentions. The less these laws are practiced, the greater the poverty.

7. Read Micah 6:8. What has God shown to man? What three things does God require of us?

8. Describe in your own words the relationship between morals, character, development, and

physical development.


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God’s law has two dimensions: vertical love towards God and horizontal love towards man. We

see this in both the Ten Commandments and what has become known as the “Micah mandate.”

When we act with justice and mercy towards each other we show horizontal love. Likewise, our

vertical love for God is demonstrated when we walk humbly with Him.


Our Moral Framework

God wants us to live within His moral framework, to live toward each other, our nations, and

our world from the foundation of a moral character. Since God’s character is the only moral

standard for the universe, some examples of His moral law can be found in every culture. For

example, most cultures have duties to honor and respect parents.

1. Identify one of the Ten Commandments which is reflected in a particular moral belief in

your culture. Think about ways to show others how this moral belief fits in with God’s moral

laws. Commit to sharing this insight with one non-Christian you know.

2. Identify which of the Ten Commandments are most often broken in your culture. How has

this contributed to your nation’s physical poverty? Develop a story to help people see why

moral development must precede physical development. Be prepared to share this with

others.

Closing Thoughts

God is a moral God, and He desires for us to be moral creatures also. Since we are made in His

image, we have the ability, through His grace, to do so.


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Thank your Creator for instilling you with a moral character. Confess to Him the ways your

culture has broken His commandments. Commit to changing this and to moving deeper into the

development of your own moral character.

The Next Lesson: Truth #3: God is Rational.

Truth 3: God is Rational, page 26

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Truth 3: God is Rational

God is rational. He created a rational and orderly universe, and gave us the ability to discover

this rational world. God made the universe sensible, orderly, and purposeful, governed by

natural law. We must learn about God from His revelation in nature in order to discover the

laws He used to create the universe. We apply these laws to solve modern problems.

Comprehensive development requires us to discover and apply the laws God used in creation.

This lesson will help you begin to understand the rational laws God used to create our world,

the need to discover these laws, and how to use them to help bring about comprehensive

development.

Key Verses to Read

Rational Revelation

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world… The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned;


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in keeping them there is great reward. --- Psalm 19:1-4, 7-11

1. What does God’s creation reveal to man?

2. Where and when does God’s creation speak?

3. What are the qualities and characteristics of God’s laws?

Key Verses Insights

God’s Laws

The creation reveals that God exists. It also reveals His character and nature. And it reveals the

purpose, nature, and structure of the universe, including the laws through which God governs

the universe.

The universe is not simply some cosmic machine as atheists claim. It is not alive as animists and

pagans believe. Yet creation is filled with living things. In its inanimate and animate dimensions,

creation communicates the existence of God. Watch the night sky with its millions of stars;

watch a beautiful sunrise or sunset; listen to the gurgle of a mountain brook. All these point

with awe to the existence of the Creator.

God’s laws are perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, sure, righteous, and precious. There

are benefits for individuals, families, communities, and nations that keep the laws that govern

life and the universe. In fact, the laws of God are more valuable than the most precious metals

and gems.

Discovery Questions

Rational Thinking


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1. Read Proverbs 3:19-20, 25:2, and Psalm 119:94. What do these verses teach about God’s

character?

2. What do these verses teach about the nature of God’s creation?

3. What do they teach about our ability to discover God’s laws?

4. Read Romans 1:18-20. What two ways does God use to show himself to all peoples?

5. What can you know about God from this revelation?

6. What can you know about yourself?

7. Read Proverbs 1:1-7 and John 8:31-32. What does wisdom provide for us? Where does it

begin?

8. What do fools despise?

9. Read Mark 12:30, Romans 12:1-3, and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. What do these passages teach

us about the importance of our minds?


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10. Besides physical warfare and spiritual warfare, what other types of war are we fighting?

11. What does God want us to do with our minds?

We are image-bearers of God! Since God is rational, we also have the ability to think and

reason, allowing us to discover God’s laws (science) and apply them (technology) to rule over

creation. Creation is not to rule over us as it does in animistic cultures. Rather, human beings

were made to benevolently rule over creation .God instructs us to use our minds to search out

what is pleasing to Him.

Comprehensive development encourages thinking, reasoning, asking questions, discovering,

exploring, searching for truth, creating, inventing, and life-long learning. The ethic of

underdevelopment, on the other hand, sees the universe as non-rational (“mysterious”),

unpredictable, and unknowable. This view suppresses man’s desire to discover, explore, and

invent.


Using Our Minds

As Mark 12:30 tells us, we are to love God with more than our hearts. Made in the image of a

rational God, we are called to use our minds to discover His laws and ordinances.

Identify an area in your life where you need to better “love God with all your mind.” What one

specific thing will you do to grow in this area?

Closing Thoughts

We have the ability to think God’s thoughts after Him, if we take the time to study His creation.

By understanding that the world is rational, that it follows God ordained laws, we can open the

door to sustainable, comprehensive development, based on these laws.

Praise your God for filling creation with His rationality. Commit to studying the world around

you in order to discover His laws. Commit your mind to Him and allow Him to renew it daily.


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The Next Lesson: Truth #4: God is Beautiful.

Truth 5: Human Life is Sacred, page 31

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Truth 4: God is Beautiful

So far in this study we have learned that God is personal, good, and rational. What an amazing

God we serve! In this study we’ll learn that God is also beautiful. You only need to look out your

window to understand this. It doesn’t matter whether you live in the desert, the mountains, or

a city, beauty can be found anywhere. Look at the individual detail of leaves from the same

tree, or the glow of a sunset. God displays His glory, splendor, and goodness through the things

He has made. We are made to enjoy, desire, and create beauty. Thus we need to value every

expression of beauty.

Sustainable development should bring beauty to all things and stimulate creativity. In this

lesson you will learn that, since God is beautiful, we need to infuse our world with beauty.

Key Verses to Read

One Desire

One thing I ask of the LORD,

this is what I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD

and to seek Him in His temple.

Psalm 27:4

1. Most of us could identify several things we want from God. The psalmist says he asked the

Lord for one thing. What was it?

2. Why did he long for this?

3. What does this verse reveal about the nature of God?


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Key Verses Insights

The Creation of Beauty

The Psalmist longed to dwell in the presence of God and to gaze on His beauty. God by His very

nature is beautiful. That beauty has a moral dimension—it is good, and a metaphysical

dimension—it is true. We are created in the image of God. Since God is beautiful, we are

created to desire beauty. The psalmist desires to dwell in the house of the Lord, surrounding

himself with the Lord’s beauty.

In much of the materialistic world, whether communist China and Russia or the opulent West,

we erect functional but drab buildings and homes. Often, forests and green spaces are replaced

with concrete and asphalt with too little attention to the beauty of the final product. In the

suburbs, we replicate acres and acres of subdivisions of houses that all look the same.

This is not how God created us. He hardwired us to appreciate beauty and to create beauty. But

our rebellion against God and His order has led to the destruction of beauty and the production

of the mundane.

Discovery Questions

God’s Glory

1. Read Genesis 1:1, Psalm 8:1-9, and Revelation 4:11. What do these passages reveal about

God?

2. What do they disclose about Creation?

3. What do they reveal about us, humankind?

4. Read Psalm 29:1-2 and Psalm 96. How do holiness and splendor relate?


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5. How does Creation respond to God’s glory?

6. How are people and nations to respond to God’s holiness?

God is shown to be the majestic creator, holding everything together. Since we are made in His

image, we too are called to be majestic creators (see Psalm 21:5). In addition, God’s glory,

holiness, and splendor are made known through His creation. In the same way that the earth

sings a new song to the Lord, we are to respond with jubilation, praise, and offerings; we are to

“ascribe to the Lord.” What are these offerings to be? How do we “ascribe to the Lord the glory

due His name”? One way is by creating beauty and acknowledging the beauty God has created

for us.

7. Read Psalm 19:1-4 and Psalm 97:1, 6. What does creation communicate about God?

8. List six ways that you see God’s beauty revealed by His creation.

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9. Read Romans 1:18-23. What has man failed to do in spite of God’s self-revelation through

creation?

10. What four things have we done instead?

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As we saw above, God’s creation reveals His glory. Here we see that creation makes His glory known to us “day after day.” And how do we respond? Do we praise God for the sun every morning? For the majesty of a starlit night? Or do we become fools, exchanging His glory for man-made images? Do you worship the eternal Creator God, or your money and position in society? Are you so downtrodden that you don’t ever raise your eyes to see His beauty? God is calling you to celebrate the beauty of the earth; to hear the “voice that goes out into all the earth.”

11. Read Exodus 35:30-36:3 and Ephesians 5:18-20. What do these passages say about human

creativity and artistry?

12. What is the purpose of human art?

13. List 5 ways that human beings bring beauty into the world.

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Paul tells us that we have no excuse for not recognizing the glory of God, communicated from His creation. Human creativity and artistry are gifts from God, intended for worshipping and glorifying Him. Good art reflects truth, beauty, and goodness. We are mistaken if we believe that art must be expressly religious or done by Christians to glorify God. The three-fold reflection of God—truth, beauty, and goodness, not the artist’s relationship with Christ, is the measure of good art. A Christ-follower may do poor art, and an unbeliever may do good art. In other words a Christian artist is not only to paint Christ on the cross, but to use her paintbrush to reveal all of God’s glory, from the beauty of a father playing with his son, to the awe of snow-capped mountains. We are called to “sing and make music” in our hearts whether or not the lyrics are expressly Christian. A talented musician can be popular in the secular world with lyrics describing a Christ-filled relationship, or by calling people to think about the deeper things of the world, without expressly mentioning God by name.

14. Read Psalm 47 and Revelation 21:22-25. What will draw the nations to the City of God at

the end of history? What major event will be celebrated?


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15. What will the kings of the earth bring into the City of God? Why will they bring these things?

16. What might your nation bring?

At the end of time, God’s glory will draw the nations to himself; all nations will gather to

worship God and to bask in His glory. The kings of the earth will bring the uniqueness of their

culture into the City of God, as gifts to Christ at the great wedding supper and as adornment for

the city of God. Your culture might bring the beauty of brightly woven cloth or music, or a

natural element such as gold or precious jewels. It might contribute the fragrance of a great

coffee, the flavor of a unique food, or any of a virtually unlimited array of beautiful gifts that a

culture of imago Dei creatures can create.


Human Creativity

Made in the image of God, we are all endowed with the ability to create beauty. For some it

may be with words, for others with paint and brushes. Still others can create beautiful homes,

meals, or landscapes. At the very least, we can all celebrate beauty with our words as we

describe God’s amazing creation.

1. Ask God to bring to your mind one person for whom you can create something beautiful. It

may be a poem, a song, a bouquet of flowers, or a beautiful meal. With it you will be saying

that they are special to God and special to you.

2. Or, identify a public space in need of beauty. It could be an office that needs painting; a

park that needs flowers; a wall covered with graffiti that could use a beautiful mural; a bus

station in need of live music. Bring some expression of beauty to this public space this week.

Closing Thoughts

God is glorious and His creation is beautiful. God’s creation communicates His glory and

holiness. It is very easy for us to ignore the beauty around us as we go through our days and

lives, and so we must begin to see the beauty in our world in order to bring this beauty to

comprehensive development.


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Praise God for creating a beautiful world. Commit to taking a closer look at the beauty

surrounding you every day and to creating more beauty.

The Next Lesson: Truth #5: Human Life is Sacred


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Truth 5: Human Life is Sacred

As we have stated above, humans were created in the image of God. Therefore each individual

life is sacred and significant. Each life must be protected and nurtured. Even though we are

sinners in need of Christ’s finished work, yet are lives are not insignificant. Comprehensive

development - individual, family, community, and national – relies on our commitment to the

sacredness of life.

In this study we will establish that human life is sacred and must be protected.

Key Verses to Read

God’s Image Bearers

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule

over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the

earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

--- Genesis 1:26-27

1. How is man different from the rest of creation? What pattern did God use to make man?

2. What do you think it means for man to be the image of God?

Key Verses Insights

The Pinnacle of Creation

The Bible makes two important ideas about mankind very clear. First, we are the most special part of God’s creation, the "crown jewel" of creation, both female and male made in the image of God. Therefore, even the frailest and most broken person’s life is sacred and significant. At


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the same time, as we will see in the next study, man is a rebel against God. The best of people are still evil in their hearts and minds.

Since human life is sacred, the individual is to be protected. The weakest, most helpless, most broken life is to be cared for. The greatness of a society is measured by how well that society cares for the weakest human life. Each person is to be equal before the law.

Discovery Questions

Your Significance

1. Read Psalm 8:3-5 and Psalm 139:13-16. When did God begin to care for you?

2. How does the Psalmist describe man?

3. Read Isaiah 53:4-6 and John 3:16-17. How much was God willing to pay to save you from

your sin and deliver you from the power of Satan?

4. How much was Christ willing to suffer for your sins?

5. How much does God value you? How do you feel about this?

We are made a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory. God knows each person before he or she is born. We are each so important to Him that God was willing to suffer; He chose to send His son as a sacrifice for our sins. How then can we condone the killing of innocent babies in the womb, or after birth? How can we condone leaving the weak and frail among us to die?



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Take a Stand for Life

We live in a world that does not value all human life as significant and sacred. Comprehensive

development will only occur when we start to value each and every human life. This means no

more tribalism, sexism, casteism, abortion, or sex-selective killing of babies, or ignoring the

needs of the sick and disabled among us.

Identify a fragile or helpless member of your society. Find a way to show them that you value

their life.

Closing Thoughts

Each and every person is significant and important to God. No matter your age, sex, country of

origin, or current economic situation, you are the crown of God’s creation. And so is the person

next to you.

Thank God for making you in His image. Confess the times you have not treated others with the

respect they deserve as fellow image bearers. Pledge to take a stand against the killing of

innocent people in your community and around the world.

The Next Lesson: Truth #6: Man is a Rebel

Truth 6: Man is a Rebel, page 40

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Truth 6: Man is a Rebel

In the previous lesson, we learned that each individual is sacred and significant. However, it is

also true that mankind rebelled against God and broke the primary relationship with our

Creator. This act of rebellion brought brokenness to all our secondary relationships as well and

is the source of all evil in the world: moral, natural, and institution evil, all of which lead to

poverty. Comprehensive development must be based on our need for the reconciling work of

Christ on the cross. Once we accept Christ’s sacrifice for us, we can begin to mend our

relationships with God and with one another, and end the cycle of poverty, hunger, and war.

In this lesson, you will learn that even though we were all made in the image of God, and thus

have significance, our lives and relationships are broken by sin. You will see that Jesus Christ is

the solution to this brokenness.

Key Verses to Read

Man’s Wickedness

The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that

every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD

was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with

pain. --- Genesis 6:5-6

1. According to this text, how wicked is man? How deeply rooted is evil in our lives?

2. What was God’s response to man’s sin in this verse? What is His response today?

Key Verses Insights

God’s Grief

Humankind had become so very wicked that God was sad that He had created us. Can you imagine a mother shaking her head of her son’s behavior? Is her heart filled with pain? Certainly! But is that mother sad that she has a son? Is she grieved that she carried him for nine


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months and gave birth to him? Most likely not. Imagine then the level of wickedness we had reached for God to be grieved that He had created us.

Note the adjectives in these verses: “every” thought, “only” evil, and “all” the time. Our sin is not on the surface, it is not a light thing. It is the nature and depth of our fallen lives. We live at a time in history where nations think that man is basically good. The word sin has been expunged from most vocabulary. But the Bible reveals we are sinners at the very core of our being.

Discovery Questions

Sacrifice For Our Sin

1. Read Job 42:5-6. How does Job feel about himself after he has seen God?

2. Read Isaiah 64:6. How does Isaiah describe human righteousness?

3. Why do Job and Isaiah come to this conclusion?

4. Read Romans 3:10-18 and 3:23. List the various ways Paul describes sin.

5. Is any person righteous?

6. Read John 1:29, Ephesians 2:1-10, and Hebrews 7:23-24. How do these passages describe

the work of Christ? Why is He able to perform this work?

Both Job and Isaiah have a close relationship with God, and realize that all people are unclean

and unrighteous. We need to repent of our sins. Paul reminds us that “there is no one


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righteous, not even one” and lists many ways that we sin. We no longer live in the state of

innocence of our creation. We run away from God and love evil more than goodness.

Thankfully, God loves us enough to send His Son as a sacrifice. “All we like sheep have gone

astray,” Isaiah writes, “we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him

the iniquity of us all.” Jesus’ death on the cross is the solution to our rebellion. He is perfect and

wholly righteous. Only because He was perfect was His offering effective in paying for our sin.


GET REAL

We live in cultures that deny human sin and fallen nature. Each and every one of us has sinned

and fallen short of the glory of God. Sin damages our relationship with God, with each other,

and with creation.

Identify one area where your personal sin has brought alienation with God, a friend, or family

member, or with the created order. What is one thing that you will do to show your repentance

with your actions? How will you change your default behavior?

Closing Thoughts

Dwell on the fact that God sent His son to die for your sins.

The Next Lesson: Truth #7: All People and Nations have Equal Worth

Truth 7: All People and Nations Have Equal Worth, page 43

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Truth 7: All People and Nations have Equal Worth

God created all people of equal worth to Him. Men and women stand equal before Him; the

most prosperous nation is equal to the poorest nation. Although not all individuals (of either

sex) and not all nations function equally in fulfilling their God-given potential, we are called to

treat everyone with respect and equality before the law. Male and female were both created in

the image of God, and are thus equally important in God’s plan for the nations. Comprehensive

development must understand this fundamental equality, and treat women as equal to men.

This lesson will focus on the equality of male and female, however it is important to remember

that these principles relate to nation groups as well.

Key Verses to Read

This is the written account of Adam’s line. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, He called them “man.” Genesis 5:1-2

1. What is the importance of both these statements appearing in this verse?

a. God made man in His own image.

b. They were created male and female.

2. The Bible uses “man” for both male and female. What are the implications of this for sexists

who would say that it is only men who are made in the image of God? What does it mean

for the modern feminist debate over gender-neutral language?

Key Verses Insights

Equal in Dignity,


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Note that God gave one name to the first pair of humans. He called them “man.” The Hebrew

has two words for “man.” The word used here is “adam” and never distinguishes between male

and female, (the other Hebrew word for “mankind” sometimes does distinguish). God uses this

term to note the unity of the male and female: both are His image bearers.

Although Adam was created from the dust of the earth and Eve was fashioned from Adam’s rib,

both were made in God’s image. Humans are the crown of God’s creation, unique as God-image

bearers who were given dominion over the animal kingdom and all the rest of creation.

God created both male and female as His representatives, stewards of His creation and agents

of His reputation and mission in the world. Man was created male and female, indicating a

complete equality in value (Gal. 3:27-28) as well as a difference in function and role (1 Pet. 3:7).

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given without regard to gender (1Cor. 12:4-7; 1 Pet. 4:10).

Discovery Questions

The United “One”

1. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-5. The Hebrew people of the Middle East had two very different

words for our English word “one.” The first meant “a single one”; the second meant “a

combined one” or “a united one.” The word for “one” in this verse is a “united one.” What

does this tell you about God?

2. Read Genesis 2:18, 20b-24. The word for “one” in this passage is again a “united one.” What

does this tell you about becoming “one flesh”?

3. What does the idea that marriage is referred to as a “united one” mean to you?

4. Genesis 1:27 reads “so God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created

him; male and female He created them.” This verse is written in Hebrew poetic form using

parallelism. The third line, “male and female He created them,” is given special emphasis.

When that is coupled with Genesis 2:24, “For this reason a man will leave his father and

mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh,” we have an especially


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powerful statement of the oneness of the man and woman in God’s design. Why would God

want the individuals to leave their parent’s family?

5. Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-6. How does God show himself in these verses?

6. How does the giving of “spiritual gifts” show both unity and diversity (different-ness) among

Christians?

7. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. How is Paul’s picture of the “body of Christ” similar to the

biblical idea of God?

8. Do all members of Christ’s body have the same gifts, talents, abilities or roles? Who decides

which individuals will receive which gifts? Explain your answer.

9. Do all members of the body have equal worth or value to the body?

Moving on from the equal worth of male and female before God, in these passages Paul shows

how the body of Christ is similar to the Triune God. All three parts of the Trinity have different

roles, but they are all equally important. In this same way, members of the body of Christ have

different, but equally valued, roles to play. Paul reiterates this idea with his illustration of the

church being a body: all parts in a body don’t function in the same way but they are all equally

important.


Equal Justice


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An important aspect of comprehensive development is the practice of equal justice and

freedom. Since we are all equally worthy to God, we should all experience equal justice and

freedom.

Examine your community. Is there an outcast or minority group that is not treated justly in your

community? How will you use your gifts to reach out to this person or group?

Closing Thoughts

Can you imagine a world where every person you met had the ability to tell the future but no

one had the skills to live from day to day? What chaos there would be!

Show God your heartfelt gratitude that He created us all equal in worth, but with different

abilities and skills. Commit to using your gifts to show those around you that they have equal

dignity.

The Next Lesson: Truth #8: All People and Nations are Unique

Truth 8: All People and Nations Are Unique, page 47

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Truth 8: All People and Nations are Unique

We saw in the last lesson that all people and the nations they live in are created with equal

worth in God’s eyes. When the people of a nation embrace their equality, they will be free to

express their uniqueness as a nation. God desires that both individuals and nations connect

their stories to HIStory. This concept will be addressed more fully in Truth 13. Only when

connected to God’s transforming story will diverse individuals and nations blossom to their

unique potential. Comprehensive development occurs in the freedom to be unique.

In this lesson you will learn how all nations are blessed, and what the outcome of this blessing

will be.

Key Verses to Read

Abraham’s Legacy

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. --- Genesis18:18

1. What is God’s intention for Abraham?

2. Why does God intend this for Abraham? God is a missionary God! What is His mission?

What does He intend for all nations?

3. What do you think that it means that a nation will be blessed through Abraham?

Key Verses Insights

The Blessing of the Nations


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God had a purpose in the creation. That purpose included a social dimension: Adam and Eve

would have offspring and the world would be populated by families and nations. Man’s

rebellion against God led to corruption and poverty, families and nations enslaved rather than

flourishing as He intended.

Now God wants to reverse this process. Abraham and his children, the Jews, have a significant

role to play in God’s mission. Abraham has been blessed to be a blessing to the nations. God’s

intentions are that nations will flourish and not be impoverished, will be free and not enslaved,

will be just and not corrupt.

God’s intention is to bless the nations through the Seed of Abraham, the Messiah, Jesus the

Christ. And He intends to bless the nations through the Decalogue given to Moses and what has

become known as the Judeo-Christian worldview which comports with reality that God has

made.

As people and nations walk within the framework of the Abrahamic blessing, they are blessed.

They can become all that God intends for them to be.

Discovery Questions

The Glory of the Nations Revealed

1. Read Psalm 47; Isaiah 60:2-3; Psalm 86:9; 87: 1-7. What will happen at the end of history?

2. What will draw the nations to the City of God?

3. Read Isaiah 60:5-7,9,13,17; Revelation 21:23-26. What will the kings of the earth bring into

the city of God?

4. What do these things represent?


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5. How will they be used?

At the end of history there will be the great in gathering of the nations. All nations, even those

that have been at war with God, will be included. As we read elsewhere, every knee will bow

and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

The nations will be drawn to the holy city by the glory of God. As insects are drawn by a light at

night, so the nations of the earth will be drawn to the New Jerusalem by the Lamp, the Lamb of

God.

Each nation will bring those godly gifts that were the fruit of their culture. They will be

presented to Christ on His wedding day. They will become the adornments for the City of God.

Each tribe and nation will bring something of the glory of their nation to adorn the City of God.


Being Unique and Redeeming Culture

1. Each individual and each nation is unique. Identify one thing that you can do to redeem

something from your culture: music, an art form, a musical instrument, dance, or theater

for the glory of God.

2. Reflect on how God has made you unique. How often do you find yourself conforming to

your cultural norms? What unique gifts has God given you that have not been developed.

What is one thing you can do to develop one of those gifts?

Closing Thoughts

God has made each person and culture of infinite value and at the same time, distinctly unique.

Make it a pattern in your life to honor people and cultures different from you and to celebrate

the uniqueness that each contributes to the world.


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Thank God for the incredible gift of individuality that you are; thank Him for the wonder of the

diversity of His created universe. Marvel in this wonderful world.

The Next Lesson: Truth #9: Work is Sacred

Truth 9: Work is Sacred, page 51

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Truth 9: Work is Sacred

What was God doing when He created the world? He was working. Since God is a working God,

we, His image bearers, are to be a working people. Many cultures and individuals view work as

a curse, and yet Jesus worked as a carpenter for many years before beginning His redemptive

ministry. Work is a part of God’s plan for us, and comprehensive development needs to honor

and dignify hard work. Any form of moral work is sacred, and thus people should receive just

reward for their work.

In this lesson you will learn how to view work as part of God’s plan for us.

Key Verses to Read

The Garden

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and

take care of it.

Genesis 2:15

1. Why did God put man in the garden?

2. Did this occur before or after the Fall?

3. What is important about that order? Is work a curse or a blessing?

Key Verses Insights

Work is a Blessing

Immediately after creating mankind, God gave man his assignment: to work and take care of

the Garden of Eden, to bring to flourishing the gift (Eden) that God had given. Human work was

not an afterthought on God’s part. It was built into His original plan. Man was given an


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analytical mind, a creative heart, a body, and social relationships with which to work and create

godly culture. We are able to innovate and solve problems, to build sanctuaries in both space

and time. As we learned in lesson four, we are also to create beauty through our work.

It is very important to note that God placed man in the Garden to work before sin entered the

world. It is easy to think that Adam and Eve led a life of ease before the Fall. It is also easy,

because of mankind’s rebellion and the curse of the ground that followed, to think that work is

a curse. However this verse shows how false these perceptions are.

Discovery Questions

Why Work?

1. Read Genesis 2:2-3. What do these verses tell you about God and work?

2. If we are made in God’s image, what does this tell you about man and work?

3. What is the relationship between work and rest?

4. Read Proverbs 6:6-11. What can be learned by watching an ant?

5. Read Proverbs 14:23. What is the result of hard work? Of laziness?

6. Read Ecclesiastes 5:18-19. Why is work important for a person?

7. What happens when we are denied an opportunity to work?


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God worked for six days to create the world and rested on the seventh. We are to follow God’s

pattern of work and rest. As the ant works to store provisions for winter, we too are to work

hard to provide for our families. God also intends that we see the benefits of our labor.

Unfortunately, many cultures see work as a curse and do little to create wealth. In other

cultures, a person may work very hard in the fields yet reap no benefit from his labor, since the

profit goes to the landowner. In materialistic cultures, people work not to glorify God and

create godly culture but only for purposes of power and conspicuous consumption. Too often

Christians think that only religious work is godly. People in each type of culture must begin to

understand the sacredness of work if they are to experience comprehensive development.

8. Read Acts 20:33-35, Ephesians 4:28, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, and 1 Timothy 5:8. What

purposes of work are mentioned?

9. What other goals for work can you think of?

This set of verses instructs us to work to provide for ourselves and our families, and to share

with others. The Apostle Paul worked with his hands to support himself as he went on his

missionary journeys. He gave the church at Ephesus the following rule: “If a man will not work,

he shall not eat.” While this may sound harsh to modern sensibilities, man was made to work!

His dignity and his provision for his family is found in his work.

10. Read John 9:4, 17:4, Acts 13:2, 22:6-10, and Galatians 1:15-17. In addition to working for

family provision, what else are we to understand about our work?

11. What was Jesus’ calling? What was Paul’s calling?

12. Reflecting on Acts 22:6-10, why was Paul saved?


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13. Why, or why not, should our work be considered a calling? What hinders us from seeing our

work as a calling?

14. Read 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17, and 3:23-24. How are we to live out our lives?

15. What things does Paul say we should do “before the face of God”?

Both Jesus and Paul brought glory to God by working and fulfilling their calling. When we do

everything, including our work, “before the face of God” we bring God glory as well. We are

created to work, so we should work with all our heart, and do it in the name of Jesus.


Your Call

Do you want to bring glory to God? If you do, the Bible reveals that we bring glory to God by

finishing the work He has given us. Jesus and Paul followed God’s call, and so should we. We

may not view our work as a call. We may feel we don’t know what God’s call for us is. If so, we

need to change our thinking or change our work so that our work contributes to our unique

calling. Each one of us is special and unique and called to something that only we can do.

Look again at Jesus’ call (John 17:4) and Paul’s call (Galatians 1:15-17). What is God’s call on

your life?1

Closing Thoughts

We are all called by God to work at something. This may be working as a farmer, electrician,

accountant, lawyer, stay-at-home mom, or pastor. Every vocation is vital to God and to the

community, and equally important for comprehensive development.

1 For more on this subject please see my book LifeWork: A Biblical Theology of What You Do Every Day (Seattle:

YWAM Publishing, 2009) and its related website www.mondaychurch.org.

http://www.mondaychurch.org/


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Thank God for providing you with an example of how to work. Confess the times you have not

faced your work with a godly attitude, and re-commit to your work and to doing it unto the

Lord.

The Next Lesson: Truth #10: Creation is an Open System

Truth 10: Creation is an Open System, page 56

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Truth 10: Creation is an Open System

The world we live in is implanted with potential for growth; a single seed becomes a tree, which

can produce an entire forest. This is because creation in an open system, open to growth. Many

in the development field regard creation as a closed system. They believe only so many

resources exist to be shared among us all. A detailed study of the Scriptures shows this is not

true. God’s creation was designed as a starting place for us to develop. Comprehensive

development requires unlocking the secrets of an open creation, as you will learn in this lesson.

Key Verses to Read

First Things

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1.1

1. Did God exist before the universe?

2. Does He exist outside or inside creation?

3. Does He control creation or is He limited by nature?

Key Verses Insights

An Open System

God existed before the universe. He created a space and time universe that is real (unlike Hinduism and other monistic religions teach) and good (unlike some animistic and even Christian systems teach). God stands outside creation; He existed before creation, and is not dependent upon creation.


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While He stands outside of creation, He works in creation. Creation is an open system. It is open to God’s intervention, to the angelic beings, and to man who is made in the image of God. This is a radically different concept than the atheist–materialist who assumes that the universe is only matter, resources are limited, and man is trapped in the cosmic machine.

Discovery Questions

The Human Effect

1. Read Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, Psalm 33:6-9 and Hebrews 11:3. How did God create?

2. How is His creative activity different from our creative activity?

3. Read Psalm 148, Colossians 1:17, and Hebrews 1:3. How is God involved in creation today?

4. Why is all creation to praise God?

When God created the universe He spoke it into being; He created with words. We are unable

to create out of nothing as God did. However, human beings, made in the image of God, have

the ability to create and innovate from the material God provided and within the framework of

God’s creation. God is still involved in His creation today. Using the laws of creation, He holds

all things together and sustains them by His word. The things of creation continue to praise God

and bring Him glory.

5. Read Ephesians 6:11-12 and Hebrews 1:14. In addition to God, what other spiritual beings

exist?

6. How do they affect things on earth?


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7. Read Jeremiah 5:1, Ecclesiastes 9:14-15, and Exodus 32:11-14. What do these verses show

about man?

8. How can one person affect history?

9. Can your prayers influence God?

10. What is God looking for in us?

11. Read Genesis 2:16-17, 2:19-20, Proverbs 25:2-3, and 2 Peter 3:10-12. How do these verses

show our effect on creation, history and the coming kingdom of God?

12. What answers do these passages give to those who believe man is controlled by the forces

of the universe, helpless in a world where there is no hope?

There are both good and evil spiritual beings in creation, and creation is open to their

intervention. We are called to protect ourselves against the evil beings, and are comforted by

the fact that good angels are sent to serve us. However, we are not totally helpless, waiting for

these angels to serve us. Human beings have the power to affect history both with our prayers

and our actions. We are an integral part of creation with the ability to impact creation for good

or bad. When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, their actions had a negative effect on

all mankind; on the other hand Ecclesiastes tells of a poor but wise, unknown man who saved

his city.



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Creation in Action

Creation is an open system, in which we can create and develop more resources, abundance,

and answers to our problems. Bounty is limited only by our moral creativity and innovation.

There is reason to hope.

Identify something in your culture that shows that creation is an open system and that goods

can be increased. For example, one seed of corn can be planted and give a hundredfold in one

year and a countless number of cereals in the future. Where do you see things being created in

your culture that did not exist before? Share this insight with others who may live as if they are

poor and can do nothing.

Closing Thoughts

When we realize that creation is an open system, we see that there is no need for any culture to live in poverty and hunger. It is not a matter of the West having too much of the “pie;” there is more “pie” to be made!

Praise the Lord your God for creating a universe that is open to human intervention.2 Commit

to using your talents to create more good, abundance, and hope in your community.

The Next Lesson: Truth #11: Man is to have Dominion over Nature

2 For more on this see the book The Forest in the Seed; by Scott Allen and Darrow Miller;

http://crm.disciplenations.org/cart/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=53

Truth 11: Man is to Have Dominion Over Nature, page 60

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Truth 11: Man is to have Dominion over Nature

Many people believe that we are ruled by nature. We have no control over storms,

earthquakes, or hurricanes and can only sit and wait for the next disaster. Other cultures

believe that saving animals and fish is more important than saving human life. Neither of these

extremes is biblical. God commanded Adam and Eve to rule over and protect creation, to build

progress and conserve the earth. We are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve; we are to do the

same thing. Comprehensive development is mandated by God, and is accomplished through

stewardship of all that God has put into our hands.

In this lesson you will learn about your call to control and steward nature.

Key Verses to Read

The Creation Mandate

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” Genesis 1:27-29

1. How are we similar to the rest of creation?

2. How are we different from the rest of creation?

3. What did God command us to do?

4. What do you think “blessed” means in this verse?


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5. State in your own words what God expects you to do about development.

Key Verses Insights

The Middle Road

The Bible tells us that man has a unique place in creation; only man is both imago Dei and

creature. On the one hand, we are made in the image of God. Thus our first identity is with

God, not nature. This stands in contrast to the animistic concept of nature in which the fates

control man. In the Biblical view, man is to have control over nature because he is imago Dei.

Yet on the other hand, it is important to affirm that even as imago Dei, man is creature and not

God. Because we are related to the rest of creation, that is, because we are fellow creatures

and not the Creator, we must treat nature well. That includes being good stewards. This

contrasts with the idea that nature can be consumed to satisfy man’s material greed. We are

part of creation, so we can never regard creation as insignificant and mistreat it. Yet even

though we are creatures we must not lose sight of how we are different from creation. We

have to affirm both sides of the equation: imago Dei on the one hand, and creature on the

other.

God’s creation was perfect, but not finished. We are called to complete creation, in part, by

filling the earth with image bearers of God who will continue to develop and steward it. God’s

creation is pictured in the acorn. It is perfect and complete in itself, and yet it will grow into a

huge, beautiful oak tree when we release its potential. As Christians we need to follow the

middle road – we are called to develop the world, but not to plunder it.

Discovery Questions

God’s Gift to Us

1. Read Genesis 2:15. Why did God put mankind in the Garden?

2. Read Psalm 8:3-8. What is our position in relation to angels?


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3. What is our position in terms of the “works of God’s hands”?

4. Are we to have control over nature, or is nature to have control over us? Why?

5. Read Genesis 12:3-4. What does God promise Abraham?

6. What does God want to do for “all people of the earth” through Abraham?

7. Read Matthew 28:16-20. When Christ appointed His disciples, who were they told to make

disciples of?

8. What are the disciples to teach?

9. Describe the main point of Genesis 1:28, 12:3-4 and Matthew 28:16-20.

It has been said that God used mathematics—systematic, predictable order—as the language of

creation. The universe is controlled by God through the laws of nature. Our curiosity drives us

to discover the design behind nature (science) and then use natural laws to intervene and

harness nature (i.e. develop technology) for our own benefit. God placed the man in the garden

to work and care for it and also made us “ruler” of the works of His hands. This is truly amazing;

that God would give us control over His creation. What will you do with this gift?

God blessed man through Abraham and then said he would be a blessing to all the ethnic

(tribal) groups. Likewise, He has raised up the church to be a blessing by discipling all the ethnic

groups. Development is not only part of God’s original plan for us; it is a central part of His co-


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mission to save the world. We are to fill the earth with the knowledge of God “as the waters

cover the seas.”

10. Read Isaiah 11:6-9, Jeremiah 31:33-34 and Habakkuk 2:14. What does God want to fill the

earth with?

11. Why do you think He wants to do this?

12. What do these verses have to do with comprehensive development?

The creation reveals the existence and nature of God. God wants the things that mankind

makes to reflect His glory, so that human habitations will be places where the earth is filled

with the glory of God. Comprehensive development is directed toward the glory of God.


Engage with Development

We have seen how God created a perfect world and gave us a role to play in its completion. If

we view nature as having control over us, we will behave one way. If we understand that

hunger, disease, and poverty are not normal, but to be fought against and overcome, we will

behave accordingly.

1. Identify a person or group in your community who is stewarding creation by being creative

and looking for new ways to solve old problems. Come alongside them, and encourage

them.

OR,

2. Plant flowers where there are none, where people are without hope. This could be in a

refugee camp, a poor neighborhood, or a prison.


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Closing Thoughts

We have been called to develop creation, to fulfill the potential that God seeded it with.

Thank your Lord that you don’t have to be ruled by creation. Confess the times that you have

allowed creation’s natural disasters to control your thoughts and actions, or confess the times

that you have used creation for your personal gain, without thinking of others. Commit to

stewarding creation better, and to using your God-given talents to develop it.

The Next Lesson: Truth #12: Bounty can be Created and Stewarded

Truth 12: Bounty Can Be Created and Stewarded, page 65

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Truth 12: Bounty can be Created and Stewarded

In the previous two lessons we’ve learned that creation is an open system which we are to

develop and care for. Leading on from these two concepts is the fact that bounty can be

created and cared for. In terms of comprehensive development, it is important to realize that

bounty, or wealth, is more than material goods; it is also social, spiritual, and mental.

In this lesson you will learn the importance of increasing and managing new resources.

Key Verses to Read

True Bounty

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Luke 2:52

1. In what four ways did Jesus grow?

2. What is the significance of this for your growth?

3. What does it tell you about the nature of wealth and prosperity? Is wealth only physical?

4. How is this important for a community?

Key Verses Insights

Jesus’ Wealth

In our modern world we tend to believe that a person’s wealth is defined by the amount of

money and material possessions he owns. Our key verse in this lesson shows us that this is not


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true. Jesus grew in four ways: mentally His knowledge was greater than ever; He was physically

growing; His spiritual relationship with God was deepening; and His social standing was

increasing. Often we tend to focus on one or two of these areas but this verse reminds us of the

importance of all four.

God intends for communities to prosper in all four of these areas, and so comprehensive

development—the development of yourself, your family, your community, and your nation—

needs to be focused on more than increasing material wealth.

Discovery Questions

God the Builder

1. Read Psalm 104:1-5, Ephesians 2:10, and Hebrews 11:10, 16b. How is God described?

2. What different things is God building up?

3. What is the relationship between God’s house building and the well being of the whole

world?

4. According to Ephesians 2:10 why did God save us?

5. Imagine the process of building a house. What do you start with? What do you end with?

6. How is house building like development within a community?


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7. Read Matthew 7:24-26, 16:18, and Romans 15:2. What is the common theme of these

verses?

8. What different things are being built up?

9. How do these verses relate to the idea presented in the verses you looked at in questions 1-

6 above?

God is described throughout the Bible as a builder. However, as we learned in the last lesson,

God is not a solitary builder; He wants and uses our help with His building projects. The Biblical

concept of “building up” indicates the process of building from the bottom to the top, from the

foundation to the roof, as you would build a house. The concept applies to physical buildings,

and also to individuals, Christian groups, and communities.

10. Read Luke 19:11-26. Who is the master?

11. Who are the servants?

12. What do the “minas” or “talents” represent?

13. What did the master want the servants to do with their resources? Why?

14. How did the master define success? How did he define failure?


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God has entrusted us to be stewards of His “house”, to manage and care for what has been

built up in God’s creation. This managing includes material as well as moral and creative

stewardship.3


You as Co-Creator

Since creation is an open system, and because we are told to develop creation, we can create

enough bounty that no one must live in poverty and hunger.

Name one area in your life where you can be a co-creator with God. It may be in the “building

up” of a person, your community, or a group of believers. How will you partner with God in this

area?

Closing Thoughts

The idea that creation is a closed system and thus we can only share the bounty we currently

have is a lie. We are called to create new bounty, and to take care of it.

Take time to list the ways that God has blessed you with bounty. Thank Him for this and commit

to sharing this bounty with others.

The Next Lesson: Truth #13: History is Going Somewhere

3 For a deeper study of this parable, please see my book LifeWork: A Biblical Theology of What you Do Every Day

(Seattle: YWAM Publishing, 2009). The entire book is based on this parable.

Truth 13: History is Going Somewhere, page 69

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Truth 13: History is Going Somewhere

The concept of time has three facets: transcendent, kairos, and chronological (chronos). God

transcends space and time, yet He breaks through into time, in kairos moments. At these

moments He is with us in “clock” time. As human beings we live in “clock” or chronological

time, where there is a past, a present, and a future. We need to celebrate the past, live life to

the fullest in the present, and plan and work for the future. Comprehensive development

requires a future orientation, rather than being stuck in the past. History is going somewhere

and we help shape it.

Key Verses to Read

Dreams for the Future

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.

“In my dreams I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none could explain it to me.”

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘the dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.

“It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be


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forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

“And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”

The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God ?”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way !” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.”

When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe


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throughout Egypt. And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.

Genesis 41:15-57

1. What was the meaning of Pharaoh’s dream?

2. God had “firmly decided” what was going to happen. Does this mean we cannot influence

the outcome of events? What does this passage indicate?

3. At the end of Genesis (50:20), Joseph tells his brothers what God’s purpose was in all that

had happened to him. What was that purpose?

4. Since the future years would bring famine, what did God want the people to do in the

present good years?

5. What principle about saving for the future can be derived from this story?

Key Verses Insights

God is sovereign over space and time. He knows the future. Yet He invites us to participate with Him in shaping that future. God gifted Joseph with excellent skills of administration, and then, through an earthly ruler (even one who did not acknowledge God!) gave Joseph an opportunity to shape the future. Joseph used his God-given insight, and wisdom developed through years of struggle, to direct the affairs of the entire nation of Egypt. He became the instrument of God’s working in Egyptian history. Because he did, “many lives” were saved.

God hard-wired humans, His image bearers, with the potential to change the world, to shape history. Think of all the momentous things, good and bad, that have happened because a person spoke words that inspired others or took action themselves. But we will not even


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attempt to influence history if we do not understand that time is linear, that God has a plan He is working, that history is going somewhere.

Discovery Questions

The Present and Coming Kingdom

1. Read Matthew 25:1-13. What are the traits of the wise virgins? Of the foolish virgins?

2. Read Luke 19:13. What are the servants told to do?

3. How are the ten virgins like the ten minas?

4. What is the lesson of these stories?

All ten virgins took their lamps outside to meet their bridegrooms, and so all ten were

proactive. However only the wise virgins were prepared to wait a long time, they trimmed their

lamps so they would still have oil when the bridegroom eventually arrived. These wise virgins

were preparing for the future, since they did not know what would happen – how long the

bridegroom would be. In the same way, the master instructed his servants to put his money to

work until he returned. We are to be creating wealth and preparing for the future, instead of

waiting for it to arrive. In addition to saving for the future financially, we should be working to

build the kingdom of God today, instead of just waiting for Christ to return.

5. Read Job 19:25-27 and Matthew 16:27-28. What do these passages show us about the

Redeemer, the Messiah?

6. How can the reality of Christ’s return affect your life today?


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7. Read Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus tells us here to pray about “the kingdom of God.” We are

praying for the coming of the kingdom of God in the future and the work of the kingdom in

the present. What work are we praying for in each of these requests?

a. “Your kingdom come”

b. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

8. Read 2 Peter 3:10-12. What influence can our lives have in the timing of the coming of

Christ and His kingdom?

Peter clearly indicates that we can shape history by living our lives in such a way to actually

speed up the return of Christ! How many Christians do you know who consciously strive to live

this way? How are you doing?


Today’s Work

Each day that passes brings us one day closer to the return of Christ. This is wonderful news,

and yet we still have a role to play. We are to work to contribute to the coming of the kingdom

of God now.

Identify the gifts, talents and abilities that God has given you. How are you currently using them

to advance the kingdom of God? Which of your abilities could you use better? How are you

going to do that?

Closing Thoughts

History is going somewhere. It is advancing toward the return of Christ. Instead of being stuck

in the ways of the past, or being completely consumed with the present, we need to live out

our lives in view of the future.


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God’s mighty acts in history are one of the most powerful evidences of His existence. Thank

God for creating chronological time and giving you a place to act on the stage of history. Thank

Him for your past experiences, your present circumstances, and your future hope. Commit to

looking toward the future with hope and purpose.


About the authors

About the Author

For over thirty years, Darrow L. Miller has been a popular speaker on Christianity and

culture, apologetics, worldview, poverty, and the dignity of women. He has traveled and

lectured in over seventy countries, and his books and publications have been translated

into twenty languages.

Darrow has a master’s degree in higher and adult education and has pursued graduate

studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies, and missions. He

and his wife, Marilyn, studied at the Institute for Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem and

studied and worked with Francis and Edith Schaeffer at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland

from 1969 to 1971.

For twenty-seven years, Darrow served as a vice president of Food for the Hungry

International (FHI) in the area of recruiting, staff development, and the creation of

curriculum in worldview and development. While at FHI, he and Dr. Bob Moffitt founded

the Disciple Nations Alliance (DNA). The DNA is a nonprofit organization seeking to

spread a school of thought—a virus, if you will—through training, publishing, and

mentoring. Our Vision: To see the global Church rise to her full potential as God's

instrument for the healing, blessing and transformation of the nations. The global DNA

network comprises likeminded organizations and people in over sixty countries who are

“equipping the church to transform the world.”

Darrow and his wife live in Blue Ridge, Arizona. They have four children and fourteen

grandchildren.


Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The seeds of this Bible Study series were planted by Udo Middelmann and Francis

Schaeffer at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. Their words and questions challenged my

life and this series was born out of that challenge. This is a very small part of their

respective legacies.

I’m grateful to our friends at Hillsdale College. This material was originally delivered in a

lecture there and subsequently published by Hillsdale College Press as a chapter entitled

The Development Ethic: Hope for a Culture of Poverty in volume 15 of their Champions

of Freedom Series, 1989. Thank you, Hillsdale College, for the lecture platform, for

publishing the material, and then granting us permission to use the essay in this book.

Thanks to the late Karla Tesch, Mandie Miller, and Gary Brumbelow for your faithful

work and editorial skills to bring my rough draft to fruition.

Thanks, too, to DNA staff—Scott Allen, Stephanie Shumate, and Dwight Vogt—for their

contribution to the discussion of this project and for Tim Williams for his interview that

produced the story behind the studies.


About the Disciple Nations Alliance

Equipping the Church to Transform the World

The Disciple Nations Alliance is a global network of individuals, churches and

organizations with a common vision: to see the global Church rise to her full potential as

God’s instrument for the healing, blessing and transformation of the nations.

The Disciple Nations Alliance was founded in 1997 through a partnership

between Food for the Hungry (www.fh.org) and Harvest (www.harvestfoundation.org).

Our mission is to influence the paradigm and practice of local churches around the

world, helping them recognize and abandon false beliefs, and embrace a robust biblical

worldview—bringing truth, justice and beauty into every sphere of society, and to

demonstrate Christ’s love in practical ways, addressing the brokenness in their

communities and nations beginning with their own resources.

For more information about the Disciple Nations Alliance and to find a host of

resources, curricula, books, study materials and application tools, please visit our

website:

www.disciplenations.org

E-mail: [email protected]

http://www.fh.org/

http://www.harvestfoundation.org/

http://www.disciplenations.org/


Other Books by Darrow L. Miller

Servanthood: The Vocation of All Christians

Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures, with Stan Guthrie

God’s Remarkable Plan for the Nations, with Scott Allen and Bob Moffitt

God’s Unshakable Kingdom, with Scott Allen and Bob Moffitt

The Worldview of the Kingdom of God, with Scott Allen and Bob Moffitt

Against All Hope: Hope for Africa, with Scott Allen and the African Working Group of Samaritan

Strategy Africa

On Earth As It Is in Heaven: Making It Happen, with Bob Moffitt

The Forest in the Seed, with Scott Allen

Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures, with Stan

Guthrie

LifeWork: A Biblical Theology for What you Do Every Day, with Marit Newton

Emancipating the World: A Christian Response to Radical Islam and Fundamentalist Atheism

Recovering Our Mission: Making the Invisible Kingdom Visible

Rethinking Social Justice: Redeeming Biblical Compassion, with Scott Allen and Gary Brumbelow

13 transforming truths - weebly

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