Summary: Biblical Worldview

Biblical Worldview When God started creating everything, after He finished creating it He would say “It was good.” (Genesis 1) God has always had a hand in His creation whether He was creating something or He was leading a group of people, God was involved. God is the Maker of all things, God did not build on anything that was already there, He made it from nothing with the Father, Son and, Spirit being involved. (Akin, 2014) God has always been involved with his creation; He would find kings like Saul and David for Israel by using Samuel. He would move groups of people into power to further his purpose of bring Jesus to this world. This is famously known through the Romans, who became so powerful and then ultimately were the ones who had
the power to crucify Jesus.
An example of God being involved in his creation’s life is when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were thrown into the furnace by Nebuchadnezzar’s guards. Nebuchadnezzar thought they would be burned only to see God protect these men and bring them out of the furnace. (Daniel 3) Another example would be when Peter and John were arrested. While preaching the gospel Peter and John were arrested because of the miracles and teachings they were doing, but the whole time the Bible states “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit.” It shows that God was empowering Peter and John helping lead to their later release from jail. (Acts 4) It is evident throughout the Bible that God is actively involved with His creation, but how does this belief affect the way we interact with people within our vocations? By the time I graduate from college I would love to have a job working with some sort youth ministry, i.e. teens or kids. In the meantime I would also continue my part-time job as
a logistics broker. God being actively involved with his creation is something that falls in the category of providence. E. Y. Mullins said “By the providence of God we mean his control or direction of the universe towards the end which he has chosen.” (Akin, 2014) Letting God control our life and leading us is allowing God’s providence in our lives. With myself working in ministry it’s important to let God lead in my life that way I do not make the ministry about myself. Allowing God’s providence in my life will help how I interact with people. God says that we are constantly becoming more like him, that we should be striving for him. (Romans 8:29) Christians should be imitators of Christ, be willing to sacrifice for the sake of others. (Ephesians 4) This can be applied to my personal spiritual life or it can be applied to my relationships with other people. If someone plans on going into ministry they must be willing to work with people, the same way God worked with his creation. All of the examples that were listed do show how God was involved in his creation in the Bible. The issues is does God still work the same way that he did in the Bible with us today? The characteristics of God always stay true. God loves, cares, provides, and knows everything that is going to happen. Understanding that the perfection and absolute attributes of God helps with knowing his character on how he interacts with His people. (Ryrie, 1999) The biggest difference is that God does not work in our lives today like He did in the Bible. God left us with his Holy Spirit, the comforter who leads and guides us in our life. (John 14) This is not the same thing as God parting the Red Sea and God protecting people during a battle like we read in the Bible. So the way He interacts with us is different than what was done in the Bible. He does not forcefully interfere with our lives, he gives us choices to either follow him or don’t follow him. The person choosing to follow Christ must be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to lead them if they want God to be involved in their vocation. Saul who later became Paul was prime examples of letting the Holy Spirit lead him. Paul is known for writing a vast majority of the New Testament, but with the great knowing came at a great cost. Paul spent most of his ministry in prison because of his teaching of Jesus Christ. When he was not in prison he was receiving death threats from people who wanted him dead. Paul in the face of all of this adversity still remained faithful to God till the very end. Paul knew that it was only through relying on the Holy Spirit that he could get through any trial that he was put through. My future vocation is youth or children’s ministry. I believe that God has entrusted in me with the ability to naturally care for and nurture children. In the world that we live in today, taking care of someone else’s child is a huge responsibility, so knowing this a person who is going to fulfill that role must be prepared for any scenario. With these expectations, it starts to look like the bar is set pretty high, even to the point where it seems like you are set up to fail. This is where God works with us and through us. A person who trusts in God and let’s God lead them will lead to success in their ministry. Take Gideon for example, someone who at first was a part of a poor household, nothing to show for. God took Gideon and helped him free his people from captivity. (Judges 6) Gideon is the perfect example of someone who may not have much to show but through God great things can happen. Being in ministry means you are constantly dealing with people.
When you have to deal with other people, you can guarantee that issues will arise. This is something that every ministry sees and tries to avoid as it can cause issues. God will work in a ministry if they are working for God. James 4:8 says “if we draw a nigh to God, and he will draw a nigh to you (us).” If the connection with God is strong enough it will encourage others to jump on board with the vision of that ministry. A.W. Tozer said “There are rare Christians whose very presence incites others to be better Christians. I want to be that rare Christian.” The gathering and betterment of other Christians are evident as Peter and John lived this out in during The Day of Pentecost, when they preached and thousands were saved. (Acts 2) I believe that if someone is seeking to serve God and is pursuing God’s heart, God will use that person in ways they may never imagine and attract others to His
purpose. Working in full time ministry is a privilege that I want to live out as I grow older, but I do understand that people cannot always make a living on working a full time ministry job. I am currently working as a Logistics Broker at Amstan Logistics. We all experience conflict at work. Sometimes workplace conflict makes us think that work is a hostile place for Christian faith and values. But in all actuality our faith in Christ is capable of bringing us good results in our workplace. We have to imagine if Jesus walked through our workplace and did the things I do every day, how would it look? All the misunderstanding, anger, and disappointment; how would Jesus handle it? Matthew 5 says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Jesus was constantly seeking God all throughout his life. If we are to represent the very image of Jesus in our life we have to willing to seek God in our lives. At work every morning I pick up my friend Brandon. Brandon is a person who does not know Jesus as his Savior, grew up in a rough home never really knowing his Dad. This gives me an opportunity to talk to Brandon, I invite him to my church’s small groups every week, he has yet to take me up on the offer to attend but because I am willing to give up a little sleep each morning I get a chance to witness to my friend. It’s replace our lives with Jesus’ life that will make a difference in others. God since the beginning of time has been working in his creations life, seeing this through his provision and guidance of people in the Bible. Like stated earlier we may not see God doing the miracles we read about, but we still see life change. Though Christ we see people come from dark to light, choosing an eternity in Heaven over an eternity in Hell. God even works through our vocations using us to reach others, and correcting our sometimes bad attitudes. God has chosen to involve himself with humans, John Calvin said “… wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consist of two parts: the knowledge of god and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other, is not easy to discern.” (Akin, 2014) It’s hard to tell who is making our decisions; sometimes the leading of God is so strong in someone’s life that it feels like God is actually making the decision.