Lesson 6: History - Whose Story?
We covered lesson 6 on October 23, 2008. The word "remember" is key to the message of this tour. We discussed the various feasts that the Israelites observed to remind them of God, their history with God, and what God had done for them. The idea was to never forget what the Lord had done for them and to remain grateful to their Deliverer. We discussed how people tend to remember what God tells them to forget, and we forget what God tells us to remember.
We also discussed the sovreignty of God...how He is in control and nothing happens apart from his foreknowledge. History is God's story. Things happen according to His plan...including the death of Jesus Christ....including the salvation of those God has called to Himself. If you're a christian, it is not by accident, by chance, or by our own will but according to God's plan and will. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your call. Thank you for mercy. Thank you for love. Thank you for the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the hope (which is a certain hope...not wishful thinking) of heaven - which is where you are.
Some of the key terms from this lesson (definitions taken from Truth Project website) include.
- Historical revisionism: a process where history is altered or the past is reinterpreted in order to accomplish a particular agenda or objective. If you rewrite the past, you can make people believe whatever you want in the present. There is a large liberal agenda to rewrite history in order to leave Christian themes and God out of public academia.
- Incredulity/Incredulous: Unable or unwilling to believe; skeptical.
- Metanarrative: An over-arching story, philosophy or worldview that seeks to explain reailty. Postmodernism denies the credibility of any metanarrative.
- Passover Feast: Instituted so that the Israelites would remember God's deliverance from the Egyptians. Most feasts were instituted by God to help His people remember a particular event when God worked in a powerful way. Exodus 12:24-27, Deuteronomy 4:9, 6:4-12
- Providence/Providential: wisdom, guidance, and control provided by God; involving divine insight or intervention.
- Sovereign: Having supreme authority or power. In the context of God's role in history, He is in ultimate control, fulfilling His purpose, and carrying out His plan.
- The Larger Story of God: Del uses this phrase to describe God's grand story in which He is sovereignly in control. God's people shouldbe focused on living as part of God's story instead of their own little story.
