It Starts With God
To understand what we believe it is necessary to start from the beginning. Not even the beginning of the world, the very beginning: God. God has always existed (Psalm 90:2). He is the only absolute being. Everything and everyone else is contingent on Him for their existence. Not only is He eternal, He is sovereign. He rules over everything and every one, and he makes the laws – both physical (physics, mathematics, biology, etc.) and spiritual – our morality and ethics. But the most important part of his rule is how he does it. He is infinitely powerful, and He is infinitely good. He rules always with love and compassion for his creation. God is love, and his rule for the world is in love.
He Created Mankind
God exists as a Trinity, which while we can’t completely comprehend this, means certain things. It means that He has always existed in relationship within Himself, between the Persons of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Wanting to share this relationship, God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) We were originally created “very good” (Genesis 1:31), with the ability to be in relationship with God, and to obey Him.
We Rebelled
Though we had the ability to obey, Adam, as our representative head, chose to rebel. Ignoring God’s prohibition of eating the fruit of a certain Tree in the Garden of Eden, he let the Serpent convince him that it would be better if they made their own rules. In essence, Adam was saying “You are not good, God. Your rules are not good. I choose to trust myself over You.” Adam and Eve earned an immediate spiritual death for their disobedience, and the promise of eventual physical death – something that was until then foreign to this perfect world God had created. Now everyone descending from Adam was born into this separation from the God with whom they were supposed to have union. But this is only the beginning of the story!
He Redeems
Two of my favorite verses in the Bible are Genesis 3:14 and 15:
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
Do you see what’s happening? Right away, God’s response to what is essentially cosmic treason is to fix it Himself! Even though his creation moved away from Him in disobedience (they sinned), He moves toward them with redemption. He promises to crush the one who brought lies into the world. He promises “offspring” who will “bruise” the head of the serpent.
As the story of this redemption unfolds, here is how the fulfillment of this prophecy fills out: The Offspring is God’s own Son, Jesus the Messiah. He not only defeats Satan, but He destroys sin and death! He comes to earth as 100% God and 100% man, the God-Man, obeys God perfectly as Adam was supposed to do, dies the death we all deserve for disobedience, endures the breaking of relationship with God, and descends even into Hell.
When we said earlier that God rules the world in love, this is the highest fulfillment of that!
His Word
So, how do we navigate this messy world? How do we know what to believe? What to do? God has given us the necessary guidance in the Bible, which is the record of what God has done and is doing in this world. It’s a reliable book that accurately records the history of God’s working on this earth, primarily communicating His plan and execution of redemption for His people. It gives us direction, wisdom, comfort, and joy as we are told of His love and care for us. Because it is a reflection of God’s character it is trustworthy and good. As Christians we rely on it as the foundation of all other knowledge.
Our Duty
So what are we supposed to do? In the 1600’s pastors and elders of the church in Europe put together a document which (somewhat) briefly encapsulates the message of the Bible. The Westminster Confession of Faith, along with the Shorter and Larger Catechisms are tools to understand the message of the Bible. The first question of the Shorter Catechism asks “What is man’s chief end?” And the answer is “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” As you read through the catechism you learn that this enjoying and glorifying comes through obeying God in what He has revealed to us through the Bible. We enjoy Him by becoming like Him more and more as we grow. Like practicing any sport or instrument or hobby, this takes dedication, focus, practice. It doesn’t come over night.
It’s important not to forget that there is immense joy in having a relationship with God. It’s what we were created to do. As we grow in our understanding of who God is and what He has done, we will be growing in our enjoyment of him. We don’t – can’t! – do this alone. When we come into relationship with God it is into a family of other believers. Our job now is to help others grow in this relationship, and let others help us.
Our Destination
The story of the Bible starts and ends in the same place: paradise! Absolutely peaceful, verdant, pure paradise. When God conferred with Himself to make man, he didn’t make some second rate world for them to occupy. He made the Garden of Eden – a paradise the likes of which we haven’t seen since, but will be seen again! This is the culmination of God’s plan. The sin and misery and death that he has already defeated, but not yet eradicated, will one day be eradicated. We will be given a new heaven and new earth that is free from any of the effects of sin!
This is how the Bible ends, with the prediction of this coming paradise:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Have you heard this message before? Have questions? Please contact us! We’d love to discuss this with you.
What do we teach?
The PCA is a confessional church, which means our theology and doctrine are informed by the Westminster Standards: The Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms (links are above).
Our churches are governed by elders and pastors, and served by deacons. The rules by which we govern ourselves are laid out in the Book of Church Order.
The Points below should give a basic understanding of what we teach from week to week:
- God is the Creator and absolute sovereign King over all earth and all people.
- All people are made in God’s image and are accountable to Him in everything they do.
- Everyone sins and is need of redemption.
- The only way to find forgiveness for sin is through the faith that Jesus lived the perfect life (never sinned), and died in your place for your sin. He took on your sin, and gave you His righteousness.
- Obedience to God’s Law, which is our only standard for correct behavior, is only possible through the Holy Spirit, given to everyone who believes.
- The promise to every Christian is that one day we will again walk with God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, but in a remade and perfect earth and heaven where sin is no longer present or possible.