November 7, 2010
Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. – Psalm 25:4-5
PART 1
Identify the Current Issue
God speaks to us in many ways. We learned that His language is Christ and that all things were created through Christ and hold together in Him. Last week we look at how God speaks to us through out circumstances. Today we are going to look at how God speaks through object lessons. Object lessons happen when we see something in the natural world, and then God shows us how this illustrates a spiritual principle. Jesus used a lot of object lessons, called parables, when He taught. For instance, He said that faith is like a mustard seed. The tiniest of seeds grows into a huge tree, where the birds of the air can rest in its shade (Mark 4:32). The mustard seed is a truth from everyday life. The corresponding spiritual truth is quickened to us through the Holy Spirit. In this case it was: Even the smallest faith, when exercised, will grow into something spectacular and solid as we see God's faithfulness come through for us. Mark 4:33 goes on to say that "with many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand."
An object lesson is when the Holy Spirit takes something in the natural world and then quickens us "to understand." Sometimes these truths are simple and at other times they are profound.
PART 2
Discover the Eternal Principles
Teaching point one: God uses natural things to reveal divine plans. All of nature (natural law) is derived from God (spiritual truth).
Psalm 19: 1-6
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
We learn from this passage that God speaks, or reveals Himself, through His creation. Interestingly, in verse 3, we read about "no speech ... no words ... no sound." This further supports the idea that God speaks to us in ways other than audible words.
What are some of the ways that you "hear" God through creation?
Have you recognized His magnitude and sovereignty in a way that would be hard to put into words?
Have you understood His love of beauty, especially a beauty that we can see and appreciate?
Just look at the turning leaves. What possible reason is there for them to be so beautiful other than that it pleases God, AND that it pleases God that it pleases us.
Teaching point two: Jesus taught in parables to make difficult things easier to understand.
Mark 4:33-34
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Here we see the Jesus taught everything using parables, or object lessons. However, we also read that he later explained the parables to His disciples. So where are we to turn for an explanation of object lessons?
Teaching point three: God uses all things for our good and helps us when we do not have words.
Romans 8:26-28
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
When Jesus was lifted up into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to continue to teach us. It is through the Holy Spirit (who works in many ways) that we will understand the deeper, spiritual significance of object lessons.
PART 3
Apply Your Findings
Break up into small groups for discussion. Read through each object lesson, and listen for a deeper, spiritual teaching. Pray before you start, and ask the Holy Spirit to open your mind and heart to "hear" the Word of God for you today.
[Q] Object Lesson 1:
When weeding the your flower garden, you notice large clumps of weeds. You are discouraged because it seems like it will take forever to get rid of them all. You almost give up, thinking it’s not worth the effort. Before you give up, you decide to pull one clump of weeds up. When you grab what look like several weeds, you find out that they are all connected to one root. Even better, that roots are shallow and the clump is easy to pull up.
[Q] Object Lesson 2:
When cleaning out the overgrowth in your back yard, you see several shoots of small trees. When you bend down to get rid of them, you find that they are growing from a stump that you didn’t dig up last year. You think about it and realize that you did the exact same thing last year and will be doing it again next year unless you dig up the stump. Clipping the small shoots will only get rid of them for this season.
[Q] Object Lesson 3:
When pruning a large shrub in your backyard, you notice several dead branches, many of them tangled together. You begin to clip them off the shrub trying to find where each dead branch connects to the main trunk. As you clip, you realize that you’ve clipped off a live branch by mistake. Fortunately, your friend who works at the Botanical Gardens is supervising. She tells you not to worry – the live ones will grow back.
[Q] Object Lesson 4:
Law of Conservation of Energy: Matter is neither created nor destroyed. It just changes form.
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