1 00:00:04,170 --> 00:00:09,009 We need to mention miracles because that fits underneath here, this question on evil. We 2 00:00:09,009 --> 00:00:14,080 talked about providence yesterday, an important idea that God does indeed care for his creation 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:19,986 and it's an ongoing thing. And miracles, it's worth discussing this just a little bit before 4 00:00:19,986 --> 00:00:24,758 we leave this chapter and move on. What makes a miracle a miracle? What is a miracle? 5 00:00:25,325 --> 00:00:26,593 It's out of the ordinary? 6 00:00:27,193 --> 00:00:33,633 Yeah, it would be something God is apparently setting aside the usual working orders or 7 00:00:33,633 --> 00:00:40,774 rules of his creation and intervening in a direct way. And so I guess we use it by miracle 8 00:00:41,307 --> 00:00:45,945 and I would go with that definition. I'm not that impressed with the kind of wide definition 9 00:00:45,945 --> 00:00:51,885 that calls just about everything that happens a miracle. Fair enough, I mean there's a side 10 00:00:51,885 --> 00:00:56,389 to that but a miracle really is when God is intervening and setting aside the usual 11 00:00:56,389 --> 00:01:02,128 operating order of his creation to accomplish his special purpose for some reason. Now having 12 00:01:02,128 --> 00:01:09,769 said that though, it's also true that there are ways that God intervenes that might be 13 00:01:09,769 --> 00:01:13,506 truly miraculous and there are ways that God intervenes. He's just using what's there. 14 00:01:13,673 --> 00:01:18,411 And either way, it's still God who does it and we shouldn't minimize that because that's 15 00:01:18,411 --> 00:01:24,851 why providence and miracles go really closely together because providence means God's caring 16 00:01:24,851 --> 00:01:29,856 for his creation. So a person is diagnosed with some serious illness and the doctor says 17 00:01:29,856 --> 00:01:34,094 we have a treatment we can do for this thing and the chances are very good it will work. 18 00:01:34,194 --> 00:01:41,334 So they start the treatment program and the guy is healed. So who gets the credit? Why? 19 00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:45,205 Because he made the materials available. 20 00:01:45,205 --> 00:01:49,409 Yeah, God has made the materials available. He's given the wisdom. He's directed the doctors. 21 00:01:50,176 --> 00:01:55,482 He still gets the credit. Because he works through means doesn't lessen his hand any. 22 00:01:57,283 --> 00:02:01,855 So God accomplishes his purpose, his purpose of providing and caring for and protecting 23 00:02:01,855 --> 00:02:06,726 his creation even through means which does not diminish in the least the reality that 24 00:02:06,726 --> 00:02:10,964 is still God doing it. So kind of what I'm driving at here is we don't need to maybe 25 00:02:10,964 --> 00:02:17,971 get so hung up on, you know, was it a miracle, does this qualify as a miracle? God's doing 26 00:02:17,971 --> 00:02:22,575 it. And if God wants to intervene directly, fine. If God works through means, fine. Either 27 00:02:22,575 --> 00:02:26,146 way, his purpose is getting accomplished. It really doesn't matter. We're recognizing 28 00:02:26,146 --> 00:02:31,050 God's hand in it and we're giving him the credit for what's happening and for his work 29 00:02:31,050 --> 00:02:34,754 in these things. All right? Good. 30 00:02:37,123 --> 00:02:42,128 Okay. Next chapter picks up the topic of sin. And so that's what we're going to be dealing 31 00:02:42,128 --> 00:02:44,330 with here is dealing with the question of sin. 32 00:02:50,670 --> 00:02:59,078 When Adam and Eve were in the garden before the fall, were they justified before God? 33 00:03:03,016 --> 00:03:05,618 Were they righteous before God? 34 00:03:07,086 --> 00:03:12,225 Okay. So justified and righteous really function as synonyms as far as I'm concerned. They 35 00:03:12,225 --> 00:03:18,031 were pretty much the same thing. So they were indeed righteous before God. Why? 36 00:03:19,666 --> 00:03:20,967 Because they were without sin. 37 00:03:21,334 --> 00:03:26,906 Because they were without sin and they were perfect. So what you're saying then is they 38 00:03:26,906 --> 00:03:33,012 were righteous before God because they were doing the right stuff. Is that right? 39 00:03:33,279 --> 00:03:35,815 No. They were not doing the wrong stuff. 40 00:03:38,051 --> 00:03:39,552 They were created that way. 41 00:03:39,986 --> 00:03:44,424 They were created that way. So because God created them good, that's why they were righteous 42 00:03:44,424 --> 00:03:47,594 because they were doing good stuff, because they were created that way. So God gets the 43 00:03:47,594 --> 00:03:50,163 credit, but they were doing good stuff and that's what made them righteous. 44 00:03:51,397 --> 00:03:52,932 They didn't know the trust being good and the evil. 45 00:03:53,433 --> 00:03:55,668 True enough. What's that? 46 00:03:55,668 --> 00:03:57,637 They didn't know what they were doing good. 47 00:03:58,071 --> 00:04:00,907 Yeah. Okay. All right. So what made them righteous then? 48 00:04:01,541 --> 00:04:01,708 Obedience. 49 00:04:02,575 --> 00:04:05,245 So they were being obedient and in their obedience they were righteous. 50 00:04:06,613 --> 00:04:08,114 They were fulfilling God's purpose. 51 00:04:08,414 --> 00:04:13,353 They were fulfilling God's purpose for them. So they were doing the right stuff, having 52 00:04:13,353 --> 00:04:17,890 dominion over the creation. Because they were doing the right stuff, they were righteous 53 00:04:17,890 --> 00:04:18,524 before God. 54 00:04:18,958 --> 00:04:21,794 But doesn't it also have to do with not doing the wrong stuff? 55 00:04:21,961 --> 00:04:24,931 Okay. So they were avoiding the wrong stuff. They were not eating from the tree that they 56 00:04:24,931 --> 00:04:29,235 were told not to eat from and they were behaving themselves and they weren't sinning. And so 57 00:04:29,235 --> 00:04:35,475 because of their, well, performance, they were righteous before God. 58 00:04:38,845 --> 00:04:41,080 Well, it's God's hand in it. That's why they're righteous. 59 00:04:41,648 --> 00:04:45,118 God's hand in it. So, because yeah, God made them that way, so God gets the credit, but 60 00:04:45,118 --> 00:04:46,853 they're still doing the right stuff and that's what makes them righteous. 61 00:04:48,755 --> 00:04:50,590 Do they do the right stuff out of response? 62 00:04:50,990 --> 00:04:52,191 That's nothing to do with performance. 63 00:04:52,191 --> 00:04:53,593 Yeah, it doesn't have to do with that. 64 00:04:53,593 --> 00:04:56,262 It has nothing to do with performance. Well, you know that. So why are Adam and Eve righteous then? 65 00:04:56,729 --> 00:04:58,698 Because of God, not because of anything they're God. 66 00:04:58,965 --> 00:05:00,266 They're in a right relationship with God. 67 00:05:00,433 --> 00:05:04,604 They're in a right relationship with God. Why are they in a right relationship with God? 68 00:05:04,604 --> 00:05:05,705 They're in the image of God. 69 00:05:06,572 --> 00:05:07,106 What's that? 70 00:05:07,273 --> 00:05:07,874 They're made from God. 71 00:05:07,874 --> 00:05:09,575 Okay, they're made in the image of God. True. 72 00:05:10,276 --> 00:05:11,511 Well, that's God when we get there. 73 00:05:11,744 --> 00:05:15,748 It's not that hard. You don't have to wait. 74 00:05:17,550 --> 00:05:19,085 Here's why I'm trying to try that.