Daily Lesson for Monday 24th of February 2025

Parallel to the question in the parable—about why there is bad seed in the field if the owner planted only good seed—is another question: if God created the world entirely good, how did evil arise here?

Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com

According to Genesis 1:31, when God finished creating the world, it was “very good.” In Genesis 1:1-31, there is no hint of evil in God’s creation of this planet. How, then, did evil come into the human experience?

In this narrative, we see lies about God’s character raised by the serpent, identified as the devil himself (that “serpent of old” [NKJV]) in Revelation 12:7-9. The serpent first uses a question to cast doubt on God’s command, nearly reversing what God had commanded in his question. Then, the serpent directly challenges what God had said, saying to Eve, “ ‘You will not surely die’ ” (Genesis 3:4, NKJV).

Someone, either the serpent or God, lied to Eve, who now has a choice to make about whether she will believe what God told her or what the serpent did.

Here and elsewhere in Scripture, the nature of this conflict is primarily over what and whom to believe, which is itself integrally related to love. And that is because your beliefs about someone, the kind of person that he or she is, and whether he or she can be trusted, deeply impact whether you will love and trust that person and, in this case, listen to what that person tells you.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-09-the-origin-of-the-controversy-on-earth/

Daily Lesson for Sunday 23rd of February 2025

Jesus tells the story of a landowner who sows only good seeds in his field. However, tares spring up among the wheat. Upon seeing this, the servants of the owner ask him, “ ‘ “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” ’ ” (Matthew 13:27, NKJV). This is similar to the question often asked today concerning the problem of evil: If God created the world entirely good, why is there evil in it?

Image © Standard Publishing from GoodSalt.com

The master replies to his servant’s question: “ ‘ “An enemy has done this” ’ ” (Matthew 13:28, NKJV). Jesus later identifies the one “ ‘who sows the good seed’ ” as “ ‘the Son of Man,’ ” who is Jesus Himself (Matthew 13:37, NKJV), and explains that “the field is the world” (Matthew 13:38), and the “ ‘enemy who sowed’ ” the tares is “ ‘the devil’ ” (Matthew 13:39, NKJV), explicitly depicting a cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan. Why is there evil in the world? Evil is the result of the enemy (the devil) who opposes the master. “ ‘An enemy has done this’ ” (Matthew 13:28, NKJV).

This answer, however, provokes the follow-up question, “ ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ” In other words, why not uproot the evil immediately? “ ‘ “No, ” ’ ” the master replies, “ ‘ “lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest” ’ ” (Matthew 13:29-30, NKJV; compare with Mark 4:29). According to the parable, God will finally put an end to evil, but uprooting it prematurely would result in irreversible collateral damage that harms the good.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-09-an-enemy-has-done-this/

Our Sabbath School program has always been linked to the support of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission program. This video provides a little insight into this important work.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-february-22/

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 22nd of February 2025

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: Matthew 13:24-27; Genesis 1:31; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Isaiah 14:12-15; Matthew 4:1-11; John 8:44-45.

Memory Text:

“ ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel’ ” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV).

Central to biblical theology is the great controversy between Christ and Satan. Although the idea of a cosmic conflict between God and celestial creatures who have fallen and rebelled against God is a prominent motif of Scripture (Matthew 13:24-30,37-39; Revelation 12:7-10) and also is prevalent in much of Christian tradition, many Christians have rejected or neglected the whole idea.

From a biblical perspective, however, the theme of a cosmic conflict, in which the kingdom of God is opposed by the devil and his angels, is not one that we can neglect without missing a great deal of what the biblical narratives are about. The Gospels alone are filled with references to the devil and demons who oppose God.

To begin with this week, we will address how the two following questions might be answered according to some crucial biblical passages:

1. Where does Scripture teach that there is a cosmic conflict between God and Satan?

2. According to Scripture, what is the nature of the conflict?

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 1.

Sunday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-09-the-cosmic-conflict/

Inside Story for Friday 21st of February 2025

By Andrew McChesney

As a boy, Nelson was too young to go to rumba in Colombia. But he sensed something was wrong when his parents took him to church on December 31 and then left him at home so they could celebrate New Year’s Eve at rumba, a traditional party with music, dancing, and drinking.

Image © Pacific Press

In Nelson’s culture, Christians went to church to consecrate themselves to God before New Year’s Eve and then went to rumba to ring in the New Year. Although he was young, Nelson sensed that church was a holy place and that rumba, which was usually held in bars and nightclubs, was not holy. He wondered, “Why does my family go to church to get sanctified and then go to rumba to get unsanctified?”

Nelson asked his mother, “Why do you go to church and then to rumba?”

She didn’t answer.

As a young man, Nelson stopped going to church and began to play vallenato folk music at rumba. He was an excellent accordion player, and he made strides toward fulfilling a dream to become rich and famous.

Then he met his future wife, Laura, a former Seventh-day Adventist.

“Did you know that the dead are not in heaven?” she asked.

Nelson didn’t like Laura’s ideas, but he liked her. So, they stayed together.

After some time, Laura returned to the Adventist Church, and she invited Nelson to meet her parents. At their first meeting, her father surprised Nelson when they sat down to eat. “Let’s pray for the food,” he said. Nelson had never prayed before meals.

Nelson and Laura’s father became friends. Before long, Nelson started to pray at meals. He also began to go to church with Laura. He didn’t enjoy it at first because it seemed strange to go to church on Saturdays. But then he read the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-10 and realized that God commanded people to keep the seventh day holy. He wanted to be holy.

Today, Nelson Silva, 30, is an Adventist musician who no longer plays the accordion at rumba. Instead, he plays in restaurants and at birthday parties. He tells listeners about God’s mercy and prays for them. He and a group of church musicians also play on public buses.

“Music made me shine in the world, but now I want to shine for Christ,” he said.

Pray for the gospel to be proclaimed to all cultures and people groups around the world. Thank you for your mission offerings that help share the gospel with unreached and underreached people groups. Watch a YouTube video of Nelson playing the accordion at bit.ly/Nelson-Silva.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-08-inside-story-from-rumba-to-church/