None of us asked to be here, did we? We didn’t choose to come into existence any more than we chose where and when we were born and who our parents were.

It was the same with Adam and Eve. They no more chose to be created by God than did a leaf, a rock, a mountain. As human beings, we have been given not just existence (a rock has existence), and not just life (an amoeba has life), but life as rational free beings made in the image of God.

Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com

But we didn’t choose to come into existence as rational free beings made in the image of God, either. What God does offer us, however, is the choice to remain in existence; that is, to choose to have life, eternal life, in Him, which is what we can have because of Jesus and His death on the cross.

Read  Genesis 2.8-9, Genesis 2:15-17 and  Genesis 3.22-23. What two options did God present to Adam in regard to his existence?

“In the midst of Eden grew the tree of life, whose fruit had the power of perpetuating life. Had Adam remained obedient to God, he would have continued to enjoy free access to this tree and would have lived forever. But when he sinned he was cut off from partaking of the tree of life, and he became subject to death. The divine sentence, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,’ points to the utter extinction of life.” — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pages 532, 533.

Thus, right from the start, the Bible presents us with just one of two options: eternal life, which is what we were originally supposed to have, and eternal death, which in a sense is merely going back to the nothingness out of which we first came.

It’s interesting, too, how the “tree of life,” which Scripture says gives immortality, and that first appears in the first book of the Bible, reappears in the last book. Read Revelation 2:7 and Revelation 22:2, Revelation 22:14. Perhaps the message is that though we were supposed to have access to the tree of life, due to sin we lost that access; then, at the end, once the sin problem had been ultimately and completely finished, thanks to Jesus and the plan of salvation, the redeemed, those who chose life, will have access to the tree of life as we were supposed to from the start.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Sunday: The Tree of Life appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-tree-of-life/

Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study:  Genesis 2.8-9; Romans 6:23; 1 John 5:12; Deuteronomy 30:1-20; Romans 10:6-10; Deuteronomy 4:19; Revelation 14:6-12.

Memory Text: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Always, it’s a sad story: a young person, in this case a 22-year-old woman, diagnosed with a deadly disease. Brain tumor. Even with all the marvels of modern medicine, nothing could be done until the inevitable. But this young woman, “Sandy,” didn’t want to die.

So, she had a plan. After she died, her head would be put in a deep freeze, into a vat of liquid nitrogen, in hopes of preserving her brain cells. And there it would wait, fifty years, one hundred years, a thousand years, until sometime in the future, when technology had advanced enough, her brain, composed of neural connections, could then be uploaded into a computer. And, yes, Sandy could “live” on, maybe even forever.

Sad story, not just because a young person was going to die, but because of where she put her hope of life. Like most people, Sandy wanted life, wanted to live. But she chose a path that, in the end, surely won’t work.

This week, as we continue in Deuteronomy, we will look at the choice of life, and the opportunity given us to choose life, but to choose it on the terms that God, the Giver and Sustainer of life, has graciously offered.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 20.

Sunday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Sabbath: Choose Life appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-choose-life/

Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc3AZI84Beo]

Amen!(0)

The post Mission Spotlight for Nov 13 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-nov-13/

You can view an in-depth discussion of Law and Grace in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

Amen!(0)

The post 7: Law and Grace – HopeSS Video Discussion appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/7-law-and-grace-hopess-video-discussion/

Angels Protected My Boy

By Joelle Akiki Barkanian

Aug. 4, 2020, was a day like none other in Beirut, Lebanon.

Image © Pacific Press

I had just finished cleaning our home in preparation to welcome friends whom we haven’t seen for some time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

My eldest son, 7-year-old James, was so excited that he prepared a welcome picture and hung it on the door for the arrival of the guests on the campus of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Middle East University, where I work as a business teacher. “Welcome,” read the picture, which included three hand-drawn faces and three hearts.

I saw that the trash needed to be collected and went around the rooms. As I reached the front door to throw out the trash bag, the house suddenly shook. I turned my eyes toward the window to see what was happening and saw James staring out the sliding glass door to the balcony, also wondering what was going on. “Move away from the glass!” I shouted.

I barely finished speaking when a second explosion caused the double-glassed door to shatter and crash down on James. My other two children, 4-year-old Peter and 2-year-old Katelyn, started shrieking. Reaching under the broken glass, my husband lifted James up by the shoulder and ran with him outside the house. From what I saw in that split moment, I knew that James could not have survived. I raced outside and held James tightly in my arms, assuming that he was gone. I was in shock, crying, and hearing nothing but a high-pitched ring in my ears. Then my husband’s voice broke through. “James is fine,” he repeated over and over.

On Aug. 4 at 6:08 p.m., God sent angels to protect my son from the glass. James was barefoot and wearing shorts and a T-shirt, yet he did not suffer a single scratch. Angels shielded him. “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:11; NIV).

That night, before going to bed, James prayed, “Dear Jesus, please bless this day and every day. And please don’t let this thing that happened with the glass ever happen again. And help us to be safe. Stay with us. Amen.”

My son’s prayer makes my heart ache for the soon return of Jesus.

The next day, I removed the welcome picture from the door. I will treasure it always. Sometimes, we focus on the big things and forget how our plans could change in seconds, our dreams could shatter, and our loved ones could be lost. We always need to be ready for Jesus’ return.

This mission story illustrates Spiritual Growth Objective No. 5 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan: “To disciple individuals and families into spirit-filled lives.” Learn more at IwillGo2020.org.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Amen!(0)

The post Inside Story: Lebanon ~ Angels Protected My Boy appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-lebanon-angels-protected-my-boy/