Series: The Mind of God  
Message: What Was He Thinking?  
Preacher: Mark Johnson

Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 30:6-12.

Read: Hebrews 1:1-3 - As you read in the ESV translation, note 1-3 insights/questions that arise. 

Reflect: I believe we sometimes forget what a huge problem God had on His hands. He could see the initial beginning of sin. He could see where sin in His universe would lead. We can now see and feel the consequences of sin, but early on, before we were created, only God knew what pain and misery lay ahead for Him and His creation.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church puts more emphasis on both ends of the spectrum of eternity than most of the other Christian denominations.  We have rather unique beliefs about what happened before the world was created, and we have unique beliefs about what will happen after the world is destroyed.  We call this concept the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan, and we believe it explains and ties together all of God’s interactions with us.  It is a distinctive Seventh-day Adventist belief.  

Many other Christians, and even most non-Christians, believe there has been a war between good and evil, but we are unique in our belief that the war was not just over what is good and what is evil. We believe it expresses a dispute over who God Himself really is.  To us, the fundamental question in the universe is, “What are the basic attributes of God’s character?”

Another way of stating this would be, “What is in the mind of God?  What is He thinking?”

The only possible way we could have a chance of answering these questions would be if God would tell us about Himself and let us in on His thought process.  And we’re told that He has, in fact, done this:

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV)

Recalibrate: 

1. Has God really told us what He has been thinking?
2. Is it possible for us to understand His thoughts and actions, or are they “inscrutable?”

Respond: Pray for insight and understanding.

Research: Does the Bible support SDA beliefs on the beginning of sin in the universe, or are these ideas only found in the writings of Ellen G. White?