Knowing God Study - Lesson 27 Ý
Copyright 2004-8 by William Meisheid 

Chapter 22: The Adequacy of God

Today’s theme: When God is for us, nothing can succeed against us.

Scriptural background: "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God…” 2 Corinthians 3:5

Quotes for the week
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.” John Adams (1735 - 1826)

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." Hans Margolius (Be still and know that I am God)

"Likewise, I find myself relying upon my own strength and will before lifting up life’s issues to God. This type of attitude not only forsakes the adequacy of God but also exposes my “halfway Christian” unbelief." Justin Sung Ho Kim (http://justinsunghokim.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/esther-41-17/)

Concern: That we would forget the omnipotence, sovereignty, and power of God to will and to do his own good pleasure.

The book Why Bad Things Happen to Good People basically by Harold S. Kushner postulated a limited God who could not intervene in or control everything that happened to his children. Often, the author argued, we were on our own. Packer will have none of that and neither should you.

1  If Kushner were right, what would that mean in the end for how we had to live? How would we know when God was not able to intervene?

 

 

 

 

2  Isn’t our faith and trust directly related to God’s trustworthiness in every situation? How does this view strike at the heart of that faith and trust?

 

 

 


 

Interacting with the text

Goal: You could argue that the Christian life is a life of becoming and our goal is to become. 1 Corinthians 13:11. However, accomplishing that is another matter, especially when we fall prey to depending on our own efforts. There is an old Christian aphorism: “Let go and let God.” It is easier said than done.

1 What overall problem does this chapter deal with? Have you experienced this problem yourself? If so give an example.

 

 

 

2  Packer says, “false hopes are a greater evil than false fears.” Do you believe this is true? Why or why not?

 

 

 

3  Have you ever thought, “It isn’t working any more!” and went looking for someone to help you make it “work” again? Explain. How is this problem related to church hopping?

 

 

 

4  Packer says, “Backsliding Christians are always miserable.” How is backsliding different from the problem this chapter is attempting to address.

 

 

 

5  What, according to Packer, does God, our heavenly Father, want from us?

 

 

 

6  Why is an adequate understanding of grace so important to living the Christian life, especially with the issues raised in this chapter?

 

 

 

7  How is learning to lean on God dependent on grace? Why is this important to grasp?

 

 

 

8  What can we learn from God’s chosen people such as Abraham and David? Why is it important that the Bible did not gloss over their failures?

 

 

 

9 What can we learn from John Newton’s Hymn I asked the Lord? Remember, it was written in the late 1700’s.

 

 

 

10 We can know many things about God. In the end, what ultimate understanding sustains our relationship with him? How is that so?

 

 

 

What To Do Next

Goal: To put our complete trust in the sufficiency of the Lord our God. It is one thing to say we will move from milk to meat, to progress from childhood to adulthood in our Christian faith, but it is altogether another thing to accomplish the fact.

To me, the chief deterrent to our progress is the need for accountability. We are not talking about a moment of accountability or a single decision, such as in the turn toward salvation, but a daily, hourly, even moment by moment accountability in which all decisions, even every idle word, is brought into account.

That takes a real man with a real spine who understands to the very core of his being that all lasting gain comes with real pain. So, share around the analgesics and let’s have at it.

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