FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS |
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church has outlined 28 fundamental beliefs of faith. In the writing below, the formal expression of these beliefs as voted in a business session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is referenced with links.
Imagine a world where you wake up to the sound of a parrot speaking to you from a tree nearby. A huge tiger is curled up at your feet, but you are not afraid because he is your pet and he doesn't eat animals. Rather, he eats grass like a gazelle. You are not bothered that his tail flicks around your bare feet because he isn’t dirty. When you look up, you notice that there is a vine above your head covered with plump, juicy grapes. Moreover, there is no need for a trestle because the vine carries its own weight. The sun is filtering down through its waving leaves so that shadows and light trade places in your eyes. It is well after sunrise, the time that most people would be leaving for work, but you aren’t in a hurry because you don't have a job to rush off to. You leisurely gather fruit from the trees in your own garden, while pondering which neighbor you will have breakfast with. In the adjacent gardens, you can hear your neighbors engaged in the same type of activities. No one is hot and tired from the work because the temperature is perfect and the breeze is just right. There is no hurry to go somewhere because time is endless here and no one ever dies.
Would that be your idea of a paradise? Well that was how the earth was in the beginning after God created it. God did not create evil and death so that there would be an opposite of goodness. There was no evil in the beginning, there was no sickness, no extremes in cold and hot and there was no death. Animals did not eat animals and people did not eat animals. It was a perfect world. The Old Testament says that God saw all that He made and that it was "very good." (See Genesis 1:31.) If God did not create evil, where did it come from? Will He allow it to continue forever? Will He put an end to sickness, death, and evil or will the misery of this world continue indefinitely? The good news is that God created everything perfect in the beginning and one day God will put an end to evil. One day, we will live in the world described above according to God's original plan.
Where can we go to find the truth about the origin of our world, sin, and God's final eradication of evil? If, as some say, God is merciful, compassionate, and loving wouldn’t He provide answers to these basic questions? He most certainly is loving, merciful, and compassionate and He has provided answers! Those answers can be found in the Bible.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The scriptures tell us that God created them in six literal days, not six long periods of evolution. The scriptures also tell us that God was very pleased with His creation and that it was “very good”. Evolution, on the other hand, is a game of chance that requires creatures to battle it out for survival. Animals eat each other and only the strong survive. When we look at the world today, it may seem that the theory of evolution is true, but the scriptures reveal that a loving God made everything perfect in the beginning and there was no death.
Imagine the amazement of the angels when they heard God speak matter into existence right before their eyes! There was an emptiness where our earth was but God said, "Let there be light." Immediately light appeared. God said, "Let the waters be gathered together." In an instant, it happened. God said, "Let the dry ground appear" and it was so. Then God began to make the plants and then the sun, moon, and the stars. Just think about how big our sun is. Did you know that it is more than 1.3 million times bigger than our earth in terms of volume? Yet, God uttered a simple command and it appeared out of nothing. Then God began to make animals, living creatures that can think and move according to their own will. Amazing! Everything happened at God's command.
The angels don't believe in evolution. They were witnesses to creation and saw the mighty power of God. They know that God does not need long ages and a vicious cycle of predation to create the world. He did it in just a few days. He didn't even need to take that long. There is no doubt that God slowly and methodically created life so that the angels could savor each new thing, just like sipping our way through a good cup of tea.
But then God did something different. Like a potter, He took the dust of the ground and formed the body of a man. In form, the body was similar to what God looks like. But of course, it was much simpler. Then God breathed into man (Adam) the breath of life and man became a living being. It was a very personal and intimate event. Could you think of a more loving and special way for God to create humankind? You can be sure that God loves and cares for you with that same attention!
It was on the sixth day of creation that God made Adam in His own likeness (i.e., similar in many respects to Himself.) Adam had the ability to think far above the rest of the animals. He also had moral capabilities that the animals did not have. Adam could discern between right and wrong.
He could love God and others, not by instinct, but with understanding. The Bible says that God is love. His nature, His character, His entire being is love. Every action, every desire, and His will is rooted in love. Some people think that God’s laws and standards are too restrictive. But the law of God is an expression of His character. He wants to protect us from the things that will hurt us. Therefore God's law is love and is as holy as Himself. God’s desire is that we serve Him out of love and appreciation for who He is and what He has done for us. He does not want a forced obedience. Thus to love unselfishly is to fulfill the law of God.
God also gave freedom of choice to Adam. He could love God or reject Him. If God had not given moral freedom to Adam, humans would have been no different than animals or even robots. They would have been incapable of disobedience. Here is where it gets really interesting and we must pay close attention. When God gave to humans the opportunity to accept or reject His principles, it involved risk. It just so happens that love is risky! What if man chose to rebel against God? How would He respond? On the other hand, if God never gave intelligent creatures the ability to choose, love based obedience and an appreciation of God's character would never have existed.
According to the Bible, God gave to Adam dominion over the earth and every other creature. He also created mankind in plurality. God gave Adam a helpmate (i.e., a wife named Eve). God made Eve from one of Adam's ribs and then He declared, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Genesis 2:24. Now that is an interesting statement! Adam and Eve both had bodies, but God said they were one body! How can that be? According to God, when we get married we are joined to our spouse in such a way that we are no longer two bodies but one body.
Some might say, "I could understand if God had said we have one spirit or one purpose, but I can't understand how two separate people can be one body!" This is indeed a mystery and can’t be easily explained. But, just because we can’t understand it doesn’t make it wrong. It just means that we must trust that God knows what He is talking about. Who are we to tell God that a husband and wife have two separate bodies therefore they can’t be one body? God knows what He is doing and He declared through the prophet Moses that they are one body. Therefore, we must be silent before the declarations of God even if we don't understand them.
The scriptures reveal that on the seventh day of creation God ceased from all labor. He rested. Not because He was tired, but because He was finished. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy for mankind. No one was to work on that day as God himself gave the example. Before there was any religion in the world, God created and blessed the seventh day of the week, what we now call Saturday. He made it a holy day. We also call this day the Sabbath. (See Fundamental Belief #6: Creation)
God placed Adam and Eve, the first humans in a garden called Eden. In the middle of the garden was the tree of life. As long as Adam and Eve ate fruit from the tree of life they would never die. Have you ever wondered what the fruit of that tree looked or tasted like? Well, those who receive eternal life from God will once again eat of it in the new earth. The scriptures tell us that the tree of life gives twelve different kinds of fruit, a different kind each month!
Also in the Garden of Eden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commanded Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or they would die. It was quite simple. If Adam and Eve trusted and obeyed God, they would live forever. There was no special potion or material in the fruit of that tree that would impart the knowledge of evil. Knowing evil is the natural result of disobeying God's commands. Thus, Adam and Eve could only experience sin and guilt if they ignored God. But as long as the young couple obeyed, they would have no knowledge of evil because it would not exist among them.
Then one day Eve was walking in the garden and she saw a serpent in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It began to speak to her! What would you think if a snake began to talk? Eve must have been fascinated with this because she began to talk back!
The snake said, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5.
Did you notice the subtle accusations that the serpent made against God? The serpent said that God was lying to Adam and Eve. He said that they wouldn't die. Rather, they would be transformed to a higher state of being! He insinuated that God was withholding something good from them. These are subtle, but big accusations. They cast a shadow on the loving character of God and His inherent goodness. What did Eve do?
Eve believed the serpent and she ate the fruit! This was not a simple mistake or a weakness on her part. She doubted God and trusted someone else. She rebelled against God. Then she gave the forbidden fruit to her husband Adam and he also ate. What would God do about this situation? He had said that they would die if they ate the fruit. It wasn't an arbitrary decree. To reject God is to reject the life-giver. Would God immediately annihilate the couple without further discussion?
God came to Adam and Eve and called out to them. In spite of never having been afraid of God, Adam and Eve were ashamed, felt guilty, noticed they were naked, and then hid from God. That is what guilty people do. They try to hide their deeds to avoid being shamed. In a calm voice, God asked Adam why he was afraid and why he was hiding. God knew what had happened, but He was giving Adam an opportunity to confess his sin and repent. Adam did confess but he quickly blamed Eve. Eve in turn blamed the serpent. Guilt does that to people. It makes them blame others for their own faults.
Adam and Eve had been created in God's physical and moral image. They had had no inclination to sin or selfishness. God's Spirit is the only thing that can make a person unselfish. But now they had rejected God and chosen another master, the serpent. When they chose the serpent to be their master, their nature became just like his and they began to blame each other. (We will explain who the serpent was below.)
Modern science has unlocked the genetic code and clearly explained the role of heredity in passing on characteristics. Therefore it is easy to understand that Adam and Eve’s children inherited their sinful, selfish, and shamed nature. Even today when people are born, they can only receive the nature that was passed down from Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God. From our first moments in this world our actions and behavior are mixed with selfishness and selfishness eventually leads to sin. Thus, we have by nature a propensity to sin, which makes us unclean and unworthy to enter God's presence and have eternal life. The Bible says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (See Fundamental Belief #7: The Nature of Man.)
Instead of destroying Adam and Eve immediately, God gave them a promise. He promised to put enmity between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of Eve. He promised that someone would be born from the offspring of the woman who would defeat the serpent. The serpent would bring harm to the offspring of the woman but would ultimately be defeated. There was hope! Adam and Eve would die, but not immediately. They also had the hope to live again by being resurrected from the dead through a savior who would defeat the serpent. This was incredible news! God was extending mercy to the fallen couple! Lastly, as a symbol of the savior to come God instituted a system of sacrifice that Adam and Eve had to perform in faith. It seems that God Himself provided the first sacrifice because Adam and Eve received animal skins from God to cover their nakedness. Symbolically, the animal suffered the immediate death that they deserved. Now let’s discover who the serpent was and where he came from.
The sacred scriptures tell us that the serpent was none other than Satan. But where did Satan come from? Has Satan always existed? If not, was he always evil? These are important questions and there are many theories that people put forward to answer them. But the only reliable source of truth on these matters is the Bible. Let’s see what the prophets reveal to us in those scriptures.
In ages past God created an angel named Lucifer[1] that was of the highest order. He was perfect and more beautiful and talented than all of the other angels. There was no evil in him. But just like God gave humans the ability to choose, He gave angels the ability to choose to rebel or serve God out of love. In time, and for a reason that we can’t understand, Lucifer desired to be equal with God. He wanted to be the commander of heaven and to be worshiped. It sounds absurd, but that is what selfishness does. It makes people think and do absurd things.
Lucifer told the other angels that God was an unjust ruler. He said that God claimed to be unselfish but demanded obedience and worship from everyone, thus contradicting Himself. Lucifer proposed that no one needed to obey God. He said that God's law was a restriction of the liberties of the angels. He said that if everyone were free from God's law, they would always do the right thing because all creatures are holy without the help of God. He said that God was withholding goodness from the rest of creation.
God and the loyal angels tried to convince Lucifer and the rebelling angels of their error but they wouldn’t listen. What would God do? Angels had never heard accusations like this. There had never been a rebellion. Everything had been peaceful and harmonious. If God immediately destroyed Lucifer the spirit of rebellion would live on in the minds of some angels. The seed of accusation against God would continue to exist as doubts about God’s true character. Love based obedience would be dead. God was on trial!
The only way to win the confidence of all intelligent creatures was to let Lucifer work out the principles of his rebellion against God so that all of creation could witness the results of setting aside God's law. Thus Lucifer became Satan (which means adversary). Unfortunately, Satan convinced many angels to follow him in rebellion against God. Thus God permitted evil to exist for a season so that all could choose between God's principle of unselfish love and Satan's principle of self-love.
Satan and the rebellious angels fought against Michael the arch-angel and His angels and the rebellious angels lost their place in heaven. After they were banished to the earth, Satan, disguised as a serpent, focused his attention on deceiving Adam and Eve. When they chose to believe Satan over God, they brought this world into the great controversy between God and Satan. (See Fundamental Belief #8 The Great Controversy).
Remember that Adam and Eve had been given dominion over the earth. It just so happens that when they gave their allegiance to Satan by taking his advice, they surrendered their dominion over this earth to him. Thus, Satan claimed this world as his own. In addition to the selfish nature that Adam and Eve passed on, Satan’s principles also became evident in the offspring of Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve had many children but two of the most famous were Cain and Abel. One day, Cain and Abel made sacrifices to the Lord. Contrary to God’s command, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the earth to the Lord. Whereas Abel, who obeyed the instructions God had given to Adam and Eve, sacrificed an animal. Of course, God was displeased with Cain's offering. By the fruit of the earth, Cain was showing God that his faith was in his own works. His offering was not made as an act of true devotion and trust in the coming savior but in himself. Out of concern for his salvation, God confronted Cain and warned him about his wrong attitude. However, instead of repenting Cain became angry and killed his brother Abel. It only took one generation for the world's first murderer to appear! Mankind was beginning to see the results of what happens when God's law is rejected.
Sin very quickly became so widespread among mankind, and the world became so sinful, that God decided to destroy it with a flood. But God did not destroy everything. Among all the people of the earth, God found one man who was faithful. His name was Noah and God commanded him to make an ark so that a few faithful people and the animals could be saved.
The story of the flood is famous and exists in many cultures of the world. We eat aşure and tell our children of the flood story. Lots of cartoons use the flood story as a motif. We even believe that the ark came to rest right here in Turkey near Mount Ararat. But the story of the ark is a serious one. We shouldn't think of it as just a local event that was exaggerated through the ages. If God can create water, He can surely send a flood to drown the whole world. But why would God do such a thing? He was putting a limit on sin.
The story of the flood is fascinating to listen to but it is more than just a story. As we will see, God uses the events of the past as examples for what He will do in the future. God says through the prophets that one day He will destroy the world by fire just as He destroyed it by flood. Thus the flood becomes a model or example of God's judgment. There is a big difference though. When God destroys the world by fire, sin will not rise again. The final judgment will be with fire!
There is another important aspect to the story of the flood. A few (i.e., a remnant) were saved. These were the ones that believed in God's message. However, all of the unbelievers perished. So it will be at the end of time when God destroys the world by fire. Only those who believe God's message will be saved.
After the flood, as the people multiplied, do you think they believed and trusted in God? According to the prophets, a majority of the people did not believe. God had commanded man to spread out and fill the earth. But once again they rebelled by building cities to make a name for themselves and a tall tower as a refuge from another flood! God must have been really sad to see how rebellious the people were. Perhaps Satan was taunting God and the angels because he was so successful at deceiving man and inciting them to rebellion. To avoid more destruction and to limit humanity’s capacity to work more wickedness, God confused the language of the people so that they were unable to communicate. As a result, they fulfilled God’s original command; they separated into clans and spread out to the ends of the earth. Often, God scatters people when sin reaches a critical level. Then He sends a messenger and calls them to repentance. God doesn’t want to destroy people. He wants to save them! So he sent someone to gather people to the true faith. A man named Abraham who we all know.
In spite of living in Mesopotamia among an idolatrous people, Abraham kept himself pure and rejected the idolatry of his neighbors. One day, God called Abraham to step out in faith and go to another land. At that time, Abraham didn’t know the name of the place. But we know it as Canaan or Palestine. So Abraham packed up his family, left Mesopotamia, and headed to Palestine. At first, they travelled north and lived in Haran which is where Abraham's father died. After his father died, Abraham left most of his family behind and went to Palestine. In a vision, God promised Abraham that in his seed all the world would be blessed. God scattered the people over the face over the earth by confusing the languages, but God was going to bless the whole earth through faithful Abraham. But who would the offspring of Abraham be? Would this be the same offspring of Eve that would crush Satan's head?
Abraham was getting very old and his wife Sarah didn't have any children. So Sarah gave her maid to Abraham as a concubine to make God's promise of a child come true. But this turned out to be a huge mistake. Up until this moment, Abraham had obeyed God's laws about marriage. Sarah was Abraham's only wife and multiple wives was not a part of God's plan. But, Abraham and Sarah didn't trust that God would do what He promised. God again spoke to Abraham and said that he would be the father of nations and that Sarah would give birth. But Abraham and Sarah were now too old to have a child. Sarah laughed at the thought that she would give birth. But God said it would happen.
God then worked a miracle. Sarah became pregnant! Can you imagine how astonished everyone was that Sarah would have a child when she was past the bearing years? It must have been the talk of the whole region. But why would God allow events to happen as they did? Why did God allow Abraham and Sarah to make a mistake by allowing Abraham to have a child with a slave? Do you remember that we said the flood story was an example of events that would happen later? This story also serves as an example or model. In this case, it teaches us about salvation.
God promised that He would send a savior to the world to defeat Satan and overcome death. God promised that it would come through the seed of Abraham. But Abraham and Sarah thought that God needed help in fulfilling His promise. They decided that they would provide the promised Savior themselves. God was teaching humanity an important lesson. People can’t save themselves. We are born sinful and we mix our shame and selfishness into all we do, which makes us unclean before God. Our nature is crooked and no matter how hard we try we cannot change it or clean it up.
The price of breaking God's law is eternal death. Who can pay the price of eternal death and live again? God's law is as holy as He is. Only someone who is equal with the law, who is equal in value to God's own character, could be the sacrifice for sin. That was the point of the animal sacrifice system. It pointed to a savior. We cannot earn eternal life because we already owe perfect obedience and we have already sinned. There is nothing a finite human being can do to earn eternal life, which is of infinite value. So we cannot save ourselves by trying to do good deeds. Our “good” deeds are all mixed with selfishness. They are not good enough. We cannot earn eternal life by making prayers because our prayers cannot pay the price of eternal death. We cannot earn salvation by going on a pilgrimage. These things do not change our nature. We need a savior, and that savior was promised by God. To demonstrate that salvation comes to the world by promise, God worked a miracle to give Abraham a son by his wife Sarah. The savior, promised to Adam and Eve, would come from the seed of their son Isaac. Just like Isaac, the savior would also be a miraculous birth. This is yet another example or model to show us that salvation will not come through human effort but through God's miraculous grace.
Isaac had a son named Jacob and God renewed the promise of a coming savior through his seed. Isn't it hard to wait for something? We want everything quickly. We have computers and smart phones that give us instant information. But if we have to wait a few seconds for a program to load, how many times do we catch ourselves complaining? How difficult it must have been for the faithful of yesteryear to wait for generations for the fulfillment of God's promises! Abraham and Isaac and Jacob all offered sacrifices in faith, waiting for the promised savior. But the savior did not come in their lifetimes. Eventually, the children of Jacob went to Egypt because of drought. You may have even seen in a movie the story of how Joseph and his brothers got to Egypt. In time however, Jacob’s descendants (called Israelites) became the Egyptians’ slaves. Over time, many adopted the heathen practice of idolatry.
After many years, God raised up a deliverer named Moses. Through Moses, God told Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery. God didn't need to command Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free. If He wanted to, He could have destroyed the Egyptians with one word. But God wanted Pharaoh to decide on his own. Why would God do that? God is love and He wanted the heathen Pharaoh to be humble and repent before God. He wanted Pharaoh to be saved. Isn’t God merciful! But Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the Israelites go.
God worked miracles through Moses and brought plagues upon the Egyptians. The last and most powerful plague was the death of the Egyptians’ firstborn children. To protect the Israelites, God told them to make an animal sacrifice and spread the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. God's destroying angel would pass by the homes where the blood was found. In this way, those who believed God's word would have their firstborn sons saved from the plague. The terrible night came and the destroying angel visited Pharaoh's son. The son died and Pharaoh could no longer stand against God; he freed the Israelites. Even then, Pharaoh's anger was so fierce that he chased the Israelites to the Red Sea to destroy them. But God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites and drowned Pharaoh and the whole Egyptian army when they tried to follow them.
Soon all the nations heard how the God of Abraham destroyed the world's largest army! What a miraculous salvation!
Why would God do things this way? Why would God permit events to unfold this way? In short, just like the flood is an analogy to illustrate judgment and salvation, so too the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery is an analogy or symbol. Because we are born selfish, by nature we sin against God. But we are not alone in this. Satan is always ready to incite humans to rebel and sin against God. We need to be saved from the "slavery" of sin and Satan, the “slave master” who provokes us to sin. The deliverance of Israel from physical slavery in Egypt is a symbol of our deliverance from the slavery of sin. The Israelite deliverance from Pharaoh is a symbol of our deliverance from Satan. The deliverance of the firstborn from the destroying angel is a symbol of the deliverance from eternal death.
It was not the Israelites that defeated Pharaoh. The Israelites did not set themselves free. God did it. The Israelites also could not free themselves from eternal death. The sacrificial animal they killed and the blood they put on the doorposts and lintels was only a model or symbol of salvation. In the Garden of Eden God promised to Adam and Eve that He would provide a savior. This promise was reiterated to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The savior would be a sacrifice and provide deliverance from eternal death.
After crossing the Red Sea, God led the Israelites to the base of Mt. Sinai. This is where He gave them the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were the basis of God's moral law for everyone, not just for the Jews. The Ten Commandments are binding upon all peoples in all ages. The scriptures say that Abraham lived according to God's commandments and laws, so these commandments did not appear for the first time with the Israelites[J1] .The Ten Commandments will be the standard of righteousness when all human beings stand before God in judgment.
Even though the Ten Commandments point out sin, keeping them cannot save us from the penalty of sin. The Ten Commandments cannot heal the selfishness in our hearts and change our hate to love. That is the work of God through the savior. However, once God provides salvation through the savior He puts His love and the desire and power to keep His Commandments in our hearts. (See Fundamental Belief #19: God's Law.)
The Sabbath day is one of the Ten Commandments. God created it in the beginning when He rested on the seventh day of the creation week. God made that day holy and has never removed the sacredness He placed on that day. Adam and Eve rested on that day, as did Abraham who kept God's commandments and laws. It is a sign between God and those who are faithful to Him. It is a day of rest and worship and fellowship with other believers. It reminds us of the reality that God provided both creation and salvation to humans without effort or help on their part. These come as a free gift from God to be received and obeyed. The Sabbath is observed from sundown on Friday evening until sundown on Saturday evening. (See Fundamental Belief #20: The Sabbath.)
Before giving them to Moses, God wrote the Ten Commandments on two slabs of stone. God Himself wrote the words. This was God's direct revelation. When God dictates word for word a revelation we call that "verbal inspiration." Except for the Ten Commandments, the rest of the sacred writings are not a word for word transcript of what God said. Rather they are the writings of prophets who were given dreams, visions, or verbal instruction by God. The prophets communicated God's message to the people in words of their own choosing according to their own writing ability. This is called "thought-inspiration." It is worth repeating. Except for the Ten Commandments, all the scriptures are the result of thought inspiration. Because the holy scriptures were given by thought inspiration and not verbal inspiration, slight variances in spelling or grammar when being copied by scribes does not invalidate the message.
For approximately the first 2500 years of human history, there was no sacred written record. Truth was verbally passed down from person to person. The scriptures began with the writings of the prophet Moses. Today, there are 39 books that make up the collection of the writings of Hebrew prophets before Jesus. Christians call this collection of Hebrew prophetic writings the Old Testament. It is believed that Moses wrote the first five of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Those five books are also known as the Torah and include: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
In addition to the Torah, the other 34 books of the Old Testament contain the Psalms and the writings of many other prophets including Daniel, Jeremiah, and King Solomon. In Turkish some people refer to the entire Old Testament as the Tevrat and attribute all these prophetic writings to Moses. But Moses did not write them all. Some people refer to only the first five books (Torah) as the Tevrat. So when conversing on these subjects in Turkey one needs to be careful about how someone is using the terms.
There is likewise confusion in Turkey regarding what writings constitute the New Testament (İncil). Many people in Turkey, when they refer to the İncil, are thinking about the four stories about Jesus’ life that were written by four of his followers. These four books were named after the authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each one describes the life and ministry of Jesus from their perspective and include the actual words that Jesus spoke. If you read through an İncil you will notice that it also contains letters written by other followers of Jesus who received revelations from God. These include Paul, James, Peter, and Jude. In total, there are 27 books in the İncil, also called the New Testament.
In a modern translation of the Old and New Testaments called the Kutsal Kitap, it sometimes says on the cover: Tevrat, Zebur and İncil. The reader should understand that the Kutsal Kitap contains all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. They are not restricted to the books of Moses (Torah) and the four gospels. The reader should be aware of these differences in terminology. In this writing when we say, "Tevrat, Zebur and İncil" we are refering to the complete collection of Old and New Testament prophetic writings. We also call these the Kutsal Kitap or the holy scriptures. In Turkish there is an older translation of the Old and New Testaments called Kitabı Mukaddes.
For Seventh-day Adventists, the 66 books that make up the Old and New Testament are the holy scriptures. These prophetic writings constitute the basis of our faith and all of our doctrines. If a teacher or prophet claims to receive a new revelation from God, it must be tested against what was originally written in the Bible, not the other way around. If there is disagreement, the new "revelation" must be rejected and considered invalid. We believe that God has revealed how humans can be guaranteed a place in heaven and a knowledge of His will in these sacred writings. (See Fundamental Belief #1: The Holy Scriptures.)
When reading through the Bible, it is clear that God chose the Israelites to make known to the world His commandments and laws. By settling them on the trade routes of the world, He desired that they would be a holy nation showing the way of salvation to those who passed through their land. God planned to prosper them and draw people's attention to the promise of a coming savior through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The constant sacrifice of animals was a symbol of the truth that the consequence for sin is death and that a sinless savior would appear who would be the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world. Only a perfect man, on behalf of all humanity, could defeat Satan and overcome the penalty of eternal death. Israel was God's chosen people for this work.
Unfortunately the Israelites lost sight of their high calling. They disbelieved God's instructions and committed grievous sin, even idolatry. Then, God, desiring that they would wake up to their sin of idolatry, allowed the Israelites to be taken to Babylon as captives. How could a people whose ancestors were miraculously delivered by God from slavery and given a new home bow down to an idol?! They heard God's own voice telling them the Ten Commandments! It seems unimaginable doesn't it? Well there is a very important principle here that we must never forget. If people reject God's instructions, God's Holy Spirit will not live in them and they will have no strength against sin. After their captivity in Babylon ended, God orchestrated the Israelites return to Israel and for the most part they remained loyal to God. But they began to struggle with something else, spiritual pride.
The people thought that they were righteous enough to keep God's law without His help. They forgot how deep the roots of selfishness and pride were embedded in their hearts. They could not see how weak they were against sin. They thought they were holy enough to meet God's requirements. They believed that their sacrifices, prayers, and pilgrimages made them holy enough to enter God's presence. But they deceived themselves.
All their sacrificial animals and prayers were valueless without faith in God's promise of a savior. Animal sacrifice could not pay the penalty of eternal death that the law required. Pilgrimages could not change the pride and lust in their heart. They needed a savior that the sacrifices pointed to. But they did not remain faithful or thankful to God. The system of religion God gave to the Israelites became a way for the people to think that they were justifying themselves and providing their own atonement for their sins. They separated themselves from other people and looked down upon others. The Israelites could no longer be a holy nation and carry to the world the message of salvation in a coming savior. What would God do with this situation?
God had promised the Israelites through the prophets that a remnant would be saved out of Israel and that the remnant would do God's will, the work that God called them to do. How would this be accomplished?
Many years before, God had promised a savior through the line of Abraham and Sarah. However, Sarah was barren and couldn’t have children. Then God worked a miracle and Sarah became pregnant and eventually gave birth to Isaac. This was a symbol showing that the promise of salvation made by God will be provided through His own miracle working power and not the efforts of mankind. The savior of the world would also be born through a miraculous birth.
Hundreds of years later, the angel Gabriel came to Mary one night and told her that she too would have a baby. But Mary was a virgin and had never been with a man before. How could that be? It must have been shocking to hear for a young girl, perhaps 16 years old! Yet she believed the angel's words and accepted the prophecy. Through a miracle of God's Holy Spirit Mary would become pregnant. The Bible does not say that God had a relationship with Mary! That is an accusation of others. But what did happen?
God does not explain to mankind how He works His miracles. He says through the prophets that He did something and we can either accept it or reject it. Is anything too hard for the Lord? If He wants to make a virgin pregnant can He do it? Of course He can! So we should not doubt this.
So why was a virgin birth necessary? Although we cannot know all the ways of God, we can learn a lot from what God has revealed through scripture. One thing that the Bible makes very clear is that the child in Mary's womb existed before He was put in Mary's womb. But now, He would be born as a child and live as a human! How did God do that? Can you explain God's power? Neither can we!
Gabriel told Mary that the child would be called Jesus, which in the Hebrew language means, "God is salvation." The Bible also said in the prophecy of Isaiah that the child would be called Immanuel, which means "God with us." So the child would provide salvation and would also be God with us! The Savior of the world was about to appear! The promise of the seed of Eve who would crush Satan's head had been fulfilled! The Savior promised through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was about to be born! Humanity didn’t have to wait anymore! But let us not forget the other side of the promise. God told Eve that Satan would bruise the Savior's heal. The millions of sacrifices that symbolically suffered the penalty of sin, pointed to the One who would literally suffer the punishment that we deserve for our sin. Yes, the sinless, Word of God, Jesus the Messiah would be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Satan would wound Jesus but he could never destroy him. What could all this mean?
Jesus made some astonishing claims about Himself. He grew up as a carpenter's son and yet He said that He was the only way to heaven. What?! If someone you knew said that, what would you think of them? You would say they were boasting to the point that they were no longer sane! Jesus said that he fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah. If you heard someone on the street say that, what would you think of them? Jesus said that He existed before Abraham existed. What kind of a person says such a thing? Jesus claimed that He had the authority to forgive people's sins. What?! Only God can do that! Who did He think He was?! Jesus said He came from heaven and that no human but Himself had ever seen God. Moreover, to show that Jesus’ words were not blasphemy (and shirk) God worked miracle after miracle in front of the people. He even raised people from the dead! God was confirming the words that Jesus was preaching.
Jesus said that He was the only way of salvation for mankind. He is the promised Savior. Jesus was sinless, yet He took the sins of the world on Himself. He then carried those sins onto the cross and died the death penalty that we deserve. He was the atonement for every sin ever committed. The consequence of sin is death and every sin must meet its punishment or God's law has no meaning. To maintain the righteousness of the law in all its bearing, the sin penalty must be paid. Just as the prophecy revealed, Satan wounded Jesus' heel. It was Satan who tempted Jesus to sin but Satan was unsuccessful. It was Satan who inspired people to kill Jesus. Satan's character and the principles of selfishness were exposed in the battle between Christ and Satan. The watching universe saw the results of sin and rebellion against God's law. Jesus' death showed that God is just. The penalty of sin was paid. But it also showed God's mercy because the story doesn't end with Jesus' death.
Because Jesus was sinless, the grave could not hold Him. God raised Him from the dead. Jesus gained victory over death and the grave for all humanity! The Savior won the battle against Satan! Satan was exposed in the great controversy as a liar and murderer. All who believe in Jesus, as their sin offering and Savior, will inherit eternal life. Eternal life! We can live in a beautiful garden once again where there is no pain, suffering, hard work, and death! (See Fundamental Belief #9: The Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ.)
But how can one person die for another's sins? Isn't that unjust? Maybe for a human, but not for God! According to the Bible, if we believe in Jesus we are united to Christ so that we are a part of Him and He is a part of us. What? How can that be? God is spirit. Those who receive Jesus as Savior receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is also the Spirit of Christ. So we become spiritually united with the Savior. His life counts for our life, His death counts for our death, and His resurrection counts for our resurrection. In Jesus we have eternal life. How can that be? It is a miracle of God and is just as mysterious as both Sarah and Mary’s pregnancies. With God all things are possible!
The Holy Spirit transforms our lives. Before conversion, we are powerless to do good works without mixing in some our selfish motives. But with the Spirit of the sinless Jesus living in us, we now have power over our sinful natures. Now, by the Spirit of Christ, we can keep the Ten Commandments out of love and appreciation for what Jesus has done for us, not as an attempt to win eternal life. So we see that true religion is not a list of doctrines. It is an experience whereby the Spirit of the resurrected Christ living in us transforms us. (See Fundamental Belief #10: The Experience of Salvation.)
When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives it is called the new birth. Jesus said that unless we are born again, we can’t enter into the kingdom of heaven. After we learn about salvation in Christ and what it means to live according to the principles of God's kingdom, we show our allegiance to God and Christ by being baptized. Our baptism shows that we accept the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for ourselves, and that we pledge to live a new life in Christ. In baptism we are lowered down into the water, which symbolically represents the grave. We show our unity with Christ's death. Then we are brought out of the water as a symbol of being resurrected from the dead in Jesus. Baptism is a symbol of our spiritual union with Jesus our Savior. (See Fundamental Belief #15: Baptism.)
The new birth experience is not a static but organic experience. Those who are born again grow in capabilities just like a newborn baby. We read the scriptures, pray, and sing spiritual songs. Don't you like to spend time talking with others who think like you? In the church there is endless fellowship with other believers. Through these experiences we learn how Christ lived and imitate it in our lives. We learn how to spiritually face Satan's attacks and also the difficulties of life. We share our faith with others and participate in the work of the church. As we grow we have joy in our lives, even when facing difficulties. This is because we are no longer in bondage to our sinful natures and habits of the past. We are free. We enjoy confidence of our salvation and future resurrection from the dead. We do not live in fear of demonic spirits. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and enjoy the protection of God. (See Fundamental Belief #11: Growing in Christ.)
When we are united to Christ we are part of the kingdom of God and we adopt its principles and reject the principles of the world that are contrary to the kingdom. We are a holy people and we participate only in amusements and entertainments that can glorify God's principles. We do not wear jewelry and flashy and expensive clothes which foster pride. We are careful to be modest in our appearance. Our bodies are the temple of God and we do not abuse it with alcohol and drugs. The Lord has shown us in the Bible that some foods are of poor quality and cannot be used as food without affecting our health and in turn our religious experience. Pork is just one of many meats we are told not to eat. (See Fundamental Belief #22: Christian Behavior.)
If we had to identify one of the most important aspects about being Turkish, what would it be? Perhaps family would be at the center of our thoughts. We love our family. We build our houses so that our children and their spouses can live upstairs. We love little children and being with family at the summerhouse is just about as close as we can get to heaven on earth. The core of the family is the mother and father in a marriage relation. From the beginning, God designed that a husband and wife would be in a loving relationship their whole lives and that the covenant of marriage would never be broken. Marriage is such a holy union that God used it in the scriptures to illustrate the relation between God and His people. For this reason the marriage should be between people of the same faith. When two people show mutual love and respect there will be a happy home. Jesus taught that except in the case of fornication, the bond of marriage can’t be broken. The one who divorces and marries another commits adultery. Parents are to raise their children to know Christ and accept His salvation and become members of the kingdom of God. (See Fundamental Belief #23: Marriage and the Family.)
We want to take care of our families. We work to earn money so that they can have nice things in this life. If you give some money to your child you want them to use the money wisely in a way that will not bring harm to themselves and others. In a similar way, God has given us this earth and has given us the power to accumulate wealth. He wants us to use it wisely. In addition to wealth, God has given us talents, abilities, and time. We are to use them for God's glory. Good stewardship is believing that everything belongs to God and that we are to use it wisely and according to godly principles. To foster a spirit of giving and liberality, God has made certain requirements on the goods that He has given us. We return one tenth of our income to God. This is called tithe. This money is not ours but His. He claims it. This tithe is to be used to supply the salaries of full time gospel workers. In addition to tithes, we are to give offerings. The amount of the offering is not specified. We give according to how God has blessed us. We use offerings for the upkeep of the house of prayer, to help the poor, and to the spread the gospel. (See Fundamental Belief #21: Stewardship.)
When more people hear the word of God and receive Christ as Savior, they congregate together in a faith group. Their center is Christ. Jesus was the remnant promised in the Old Testament. He kept the law fully and also received the punishment for transgressions of the law. When we become united to Christ we become the spiritual remnant of the faithful people of God of old times. The community of believers meets for fellowship and worship, to read God's word, to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and to serve to mankind. The faith group is the family of God. We live according to the New Covenant. What is the New Covenant? It is the covenant whereby Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins and the Spirit of Christ writes God's law of love on our hearts. (See Fundamental Belief #12: The Church.)
The Lord's Supper was mentioned above. What is that? It is a ceremony in which we express faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Remember when the destroying angel passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt because the blood of sacrifice was spread on the lintel and doorposts of their homes? That was a symbol of salvation. The real sacrifice was Jesus. When we eat the bread and drink the grape juice at the Lord's Supper, we are reminded that Jesus (symbolized by the bread) died for our sins and we are protected from eternal death by His blood sacrifice (symbolized by the juice). The symbols of bread and grape juice have no special power. They are just symbols. Seventh-day Adventists perform the foot-washing service before the Lord's Supper. It is a ceremony of humility where we wash each other's feet. It also symbolizes renewed cleansing. Those who have been baptized in the Lord Jesus in any denomination may participate in the Lord's Supper. (See Fundamental Belief #16: The Lord's Supper.)
All people are baptized into the spiritual body of Christ, which is the group of faithful believers. We are all connected to each other by unity with Christ. Therefore there is no class distinction between nationalities and no castes based on our gender, education, race, wealth, or language. We can still rejoice in being Turkish! No problem! We can celebrate our ethnic origins and our cultures, but we cannot make one culture or language superior to another. We are one in Christ. (See Fundamental Belief #14: Unity in the Body of Christ.)
The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers to woo others to Christ and for the common good of the faith group and humanity in general. According to the Bible, these gifts include the gifts of faith, healing, prophecy, proclamation, teaching, administration, reconciliation, compassion, self-sacrificing service, and charity for the help and encouragement of people. Some people are called by God and equipped by the Spirit for functions in the faith group. These include pastoring, teaching, and public proclamation of the gospel of salvation in Jesus. These things help build up the group of believers and keep them safe from false doctrines. (See Fundamental Belief #17: Spiritual Gifts and Ministries.)
The gift of prophecy is of particular importance because prophecy is the way that God gives explicit instruction to His people. God promised in His word that the gift of prophecy would be active until the end of time. It was not restricted to ancient times.
God predicted through the prophets that there would be spiritual apostasy among the followers of Christ. During the Middle Ages many turned to superstition, false doctrine, and even pagan practices of idolatry. Remember the apostasy in ancient Israel? They did all these things and God allowed Israel to be taken captive by the Babylonians. Among the Hebrew captives in Babylon, some were faithful to God and others were not. The Babylonians captured both the righteous and the unrighteous. God later set the Israelites free and brought them back into the Promised Land.
The Babylonian captivity became a symbol of what would happen during the Middle Ages. Everyone, but especially the true followers of God, was persecuted by the apostate church. Those who returned to Israel from Babylon, serve as a symbol of those who were set free from the oppressing church of the Middle Ages. The group of believers who would be set free from error and oppression would become known as the remnant of God's people. This remnant group of God's people would have the identifying marks of keeping the commandments of God and having the gift of prophecy. This remarkable spiritual gift was manifested in the Seventh-day Adventist church in the ministry of Ellen G. White. The gift of prophecy does not replace the Bible. It points people back to the Bible and provides comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction in times of need. The Bible remains the standard of all teaching and experience. (See Fundamental Belief #18: The Gift of Prophecy.)
The remnant are not the only believers, but they do have a special task. First, they call people to prepare for Jesus' soon coming. There is a spiritual preparation that is necessary and part of that preparation is to call attention to the true Sabbath of the Lord, which was hidden and obscured by Satan during the time of spiritual apostasy. Second, the remnant announces the beginning of the judgment of God and calls people to repentance. This proclamation is symbolized by the proclamation of the three angels in Revelation 14. Everyone is called to participate in this great work of reform. Since the Seventh-day Adventist church is the only church in the world that both teaches all ten of God's Ten Commandments and has had the gift of prophecy, we can identify this faith group as the remnant. (See Fundamental Belief #13 The Remnant and Its Mission.)
In the three angel's message of Revelation 14, there is an announcement of judgment. Judgment takes place, not after Jesus comes, but before He comes. When Jesus comes He brings the rewards of life or death. So the judgment has already taken place when He comes. When did it begin? It began in 1844 when Jesus as our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary entered the Most Holy Place. He is judging every person right now, both those who have died and those who are still living. Jesus judges in favor of those who have accepted Him. But those who claim to be followers and are not, are exposed in the judgment. (See Fundamental Belief #24: Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary.)
God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the forbidden fruit they would die. But Satan contradicted God by saying that she would not die. Satan has been promoting this lie ever since. According to the Bible, when people die they are in an unconscious state similar to sleep. But Satan tries to convince people that the dead do not really die, that their spirits live on, watch our movements, and talk to us. Impersonating the dead, Satan and the other fallen angels trick humans and tell them lies. It is for this reason that God forbids communication with the "dead,” who are really fallen, rebel angels.
Will the dead ever live again? Absolutely. Both the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected, but not at the same time and not for the same reasons. The righteous will be resurrected at Christ's second coming. The unrighteous will be resurrected 1000 years later. The righteous will receive eternal life. The unrighteous will receive eternal death. There is no such thing as an eternally burning hell in which the wicked suffer for eternity. That is another lie of the devil. Beware because Satan will use the trick of supposed "communication with the dead" to keep people from keeping all of God's commandments in preparation for the second coming of Christ. This is especially true of the fourth commandment, the Sabbath. (See Fundamental Belief 26: Death and Resurrection.)
Jesus is coming again! If mankind could solve its problems, Christ's second coming would not be necessary. But Jesus will come surrounded by angels and everyone will see Him. It will not be hidden. When He comes the righteous dead will be resurrected, taken to heaven, and live there with Christ for 1000 years. At Jesus’ coming, the wicked will be destroyed and remain dead during the same 1000 years. After which they will be resurrected to receive the punishment of eternal destruction. We do not know the exact time of Christ's coming, but we can understand from the Bible that the time is short and we must warn everyone. Get ready! Christ is coming again! (See Fundamental Belief 25: The Second Coming of Christ.)
After Christ comes, the righteous live in heaven for 1000 years. But this is not their permanent home. Jesus said that the meek would inherit the earth. For 1000 years the righteous will be able to view the books of judgment and see why people are not allowed into heaven. During this time the world will be barren because all the wicked are dead and the righteous are in heaven. Only Satan and his rebel angels will be alive on earth. When the 1000 years is over, the Holy City will come down from heaven and the wicked will be resurrected to receive their punishment. Satan and his angels and the unrighteous will be destroyed. Sin and sinners will never exist again. (See Fundamental Belief #27: The Millennium and the End of Sin.)
Then God will make the earth like it was in the beginning. There will be everlasting life, time for socializing with others and time to relax. There will be days by the river of life and we will eat from the tree of life. The animals will not be afraid to approach us and we will not be afraid to touch them. There will be no crying, long separations, nor death. There will be no sin to make us sorry. Everything will be as God designed it in the beginning. There will be one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How can that be? One God cannot be three persons! God made Adam and Eve as two persons and yet He declared that they were one body. We will have eternity to try to understand the mysteries of God. But for now we must simply accept what God says. He is one, yet He is three persons. Sin entered our world because Eve distrusted what God said. God has ordained that by faith, that is by believing God's word, we will inherit eternal life. Believe God's word! Trust it by faith even if you don't understand everything. This is eternal life, to know God and Jesus Christ whom God sent. (See Fundamental Belief #28: The New Earth; Fundamental Belief #3: The Father; Fundamental Belief #4: The Son; Fundamental Belief #5: The Holy Spirit; Fundamental Belief #2: The Trinity.)
[1] Lucifer is the Latin name appearing in the King James Version of the Bible. The Hebrew word means "shining one." In Isaiah 14:12, the expression "son of the morning" or "son of the dawn" follows the word for "shining one." This has led some translators to translate "shining one" as "morning star" as the the two expressions together might imply.
[J1]Most had probably forgotten them while living in slavery.
Would that be your idea of a paradise? Well that was how the earth was in the beginning after God created it. God did not create evil and death so that there would be an opposite of goodness. There was no evil in the beginning, there was no sickness, no extremes in cold and hot and there was no death. Animals did not eat animals and people did not eat animals. It was a perfect world. The Old Testament says that God saw all that He made and that it was "very good." (See Genesis 1:31.) If God did not create evil, where did it come from? Will He allow it to continue forever? Will He put an end to sickness, death, and evil or will the misery of this world continue indefinitely? The good news is that God created everything perfect in the beginning and one day God will put an end to evil. One day, we will live in the world described above according to God's original plan.
Where can we go to find the truth about the origin of our world, sin, and God's final eradication of evil? If, as some say, God is merciful, compassionate, and loving wouldn’t He provide answers to these basic questions? He most certainly is loving, merciful, and compassionate and He has provided answers! Those answers can be found in the Bible.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The scriptures tell us that God created them in six literal days, not six long periods of evolution. The scriptures also tell us that God was very pleased with His creation and that it was “very good”. Evolution, on the other hand, is a game of chance that requires creatures to battle it out for survival. Animals eat each other and only the strong survive. When we look at the world today, it may seem that the theory of evolution is true, but the scriptures reveal that a loving God made everything perfect in the beginning and there was no death.
Imagine the amazement of the angels when they heard God speak matter into existence right before their eyes! There was an emptiness where our earth was but God said, "Let there be light." Immediately light appeared. God said, "Let the waters be gathered together." In an instant, it happened. God said, "Let the dry ground appear" and it was so. Then God began to make the plants and then the sun, moon, and the stars. Just think about how big our sun is. Did you know that it is more than 1.3 million times bigger than our earth in terms of volume? Yet, God uttered a simple command and it appeared out of nothing. Then God began to make animals, living creatures that can think and move according to their own will. Amazing! Everything happened at God's command.
The angels don't believe in evolution. They were witnesses to creation and saw the mighty power of God. They know that God does not need long ages and a vicious cycle of predation to create the world. He did it in just a few days. He didn't even need to take that long. There is no doubt that God slowly and methodically created life so that the angels could savor each new thing, just like sipping our way through a good cup of tea.
But then God did something different. Like a potter, He took the dust of the ground and formed the body of a man. In form, the body was similar to what God looks like. But of course, it was much simpler. Then God breathed into man (Adam) the breath of life and man became a living being. It was a very personal and intimate event. Could you think of a more loving and special way for God to create humankind? You can be sure that God loves and cares for you with that same attention!
It was on the sixth day of creation that God made Adam in His own likeness (i.e., similar in many respects to Himself.) Adam had the ability to think far above the rest of the animals. He also had moral capabilities that the animals did not have. Adam could discern between right and wrong.
He could love God and others, not by instinct, but with understanding. The Bible says that God is love. His nature, His character, His entire being is love. Every action, every desire, and His will is rooted in love. Some people think that God’s laws and standards are too restrictive. But the law of God is an expression of His character. He wants to protect us from the things that will hurt us. Therefore God's law is love and is as holy as Himself. God’s desire is that we serve Him out of love and appreciation for who He is and what He has done for us. He does not want a forced obedience. Thus to love unselfishly is to fulfill the law of God.
God also gave freedom of choice to Adam. He could love God or reject Him. If God had not given moral freedom to Adam, humans would have been no different than animals or even robots. They would have been incapable of disobedience. Here is where it gets really interesting and we must pay close attention. When God gave to humans the opportunity to accept or reject His principles, it involved risk. It just so happens that love is risky! What if man chose to rebel against God? How would He respond? On the other hand, if God never gave intelligent creatures the ability to choose, love based obedience and an appreciation of God's character would never have existed.
According to the Bible, God gave to Adam dominion over the earth and every other creature. He also created mankind in plurality. God gave Adam a helpmate (i.e., a wife named Eve). God made Eve from one of Adam's ribs and then He declared, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Genesis 2:24. Now that is an interesting statement! Adam and Eve both had bodies, but God said they were one body! How can that be? According to God, when we get married we are joined to our spouse in such a way that we are no longer two bodies but one body.
Some might say, "I could understand if God had said we have one spirit or one purpose, but I can't understand how two separate people can be one body!" This is indeed a mystery and can’t be easily explained. But, just because we can’t understand it doesn’t make it wrong. It just means that we must trust that God knows what He is talking about. Who are we to tell God that a husband and wife have two separate bodies therefore they can’t be one body? God knows what He is doing and He declared through the prophet Moses that they are one body. Therefore, we must be silent before the declarations of God even if we don't understand them.
The scriptures reveal that on the seventh day of creation God ceased from all labor. He rested. Not because He was tired, but because He was finished. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy for mankind. No one was to work on that day as God himself gave the example. Before there was any religion in the world, God created and blessed the seventh day of the week, what we now call Saturday. He made it a holy day. We also call this day the Sabbath. (See Fundamental Belief #6: Creation)
God placed Adam and Eve, the first humans in a garden called Eden. In the middle of the garden was the tree of life. As long as Adam and Eve ate fruit from the tree of life they would never die. Have you ever wondered what the fruit of that tree looked or tasted like? Well, those who receive eternal life from God will once again eat of it in the new earth. The scriptures tell us that the tree of life gives twelve different kinds of fruit, a different kind each month!
Also in the Garden of Eden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commanded Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or they would die. It was quite simple. If Adam and Eve trusted and obeyed God, they would live forever. There was no special potion or material in the fruit of that tree that would impart the knowledge of evil. Knowing evil is the natural result of disobeying God's commands. Thus, Adam and Eve could only experience sin and guilt if they ignored God. But as long as the young couple obeyed, they would have no knowledge of evil because it would not exist among them.
Then one day Eve was walking in the garden and she saw a serpent in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It began to speak to her! What would you think if a snake began to talk? Eve must have been fascinated with this because she began to talk back!
The snake said, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5.
Did you notice the subtle accusations that the serpent made against God? The serpent said that God was lying to Adam and Eve. He said that they wouldn't die. Rather, they would be transformed to a higher state of being! He insinuated that God was withholding something good from them. These are subtle, but big accusations. They cast a shadow on the loving character of God and His inherent goodness. What did Eve do?
Eve believed the serpent and she ate the fruit! This was not a simple mistake or a weakness on her part. She doubted God and trusted someone else. She rebelled against God. Then she gave the forbidden fruit to her husband Adam and he also ate. What would God do about this situation? He had said that they would die if they ate the fruit. It wasn't an arbitrary decree. To reject God is to reject the life-giver. Would God immediately annihilate the couple without further discussion?
God came to Adam and Eve and called out to them. In spite of never having been afraid of God, Adam and Eve were ashamed, felt guilty, noticed they were naked, and then hid from God. That is what guilty people do. They try to hide their deeds to avoid being shamed. In a calm voice, God asked Adam why he was afraid and why he was hiding. God knew what had happened, but He was giving Adam an opportunity to confess his sin and repent. Adam did confess but he quickly blamed Eve. Eve in turn blamed the serpent. Guilt does that to people. It makes them blame others for their own faults.
Adam and Eve had been created in God's physical and moral image. They had had no inclination to sin or selfishness. God's Spirit is the only thing that can make a person unselfish. But now they had rejected God and chosen another master, the serpent. When they chose the serpent to be their master, their nature became just like his and they began to blame each other. (We will explain who the serpent was below.)
Modern science has unlocked the genetic code and clearly explained the role of heredity in passing on characteristics. Therefore it is easy to understand that Adam and Eve’s children inherited their sinful, selfish, and shamed nature. Even today when people are born, they can only receive the nature that was passed down from Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God. From our first moments in this world our actions and behavior are mixed with selfishness and selfishness eventually leads to sin. Thus, we have by nature a propensity to sin, which makes us unclean and unworthy to enter God's presence and have eternal life. The Bible says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (See Fundamental Belief #7: The Nature of Man.)
Instead of destroying Adam and Eve immediately, God gave them a promise. He promised to put enmity between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of Eve. He promised that someone would be born from the offspring of the woman who would defeat the serpent. The serpent would bring harm to the offspring of the woman but would ultimately be defeated. There was hope! Adam and Eve would die, but not immediately. They also had the hope to live again by being resurrected from the dead through a savior who would defeat the serpent. This was incredible news! God was extending mercy to the fallen couple! Lastly, as a symbol of the savior to come God instituted a system of sacrifice that Adam and Eve had to perform in faith. It seems that God Himself provided the first sacrifice because Adam and Eve received animal skins from God to cover their nakedness. Symbolically, the animal suffered the immediate death that they deserved. Now let’s discover who the serpent was and where he came from.
The sacred scriptures tell us that the serpent was none other than Satan. But where did Satan come from? Has Satan always existed? If not, was he always evil? These are important questions and there are many theories that people put forward to answer them. But the only reliable source of truth on these matters is the Bible. Let’s see what the prophets reveal to us in those scriptures.
In ages past God created an angel named Lucifer[1] that was of the highest order. He was perfect and more beautiful and talented than all of the other angels. There was no evil in him. But just like God gave humans the ability to choose, He gave angels the ability to choose to rebel or serve God out of love. In time, and for a reason that we can’t understand, Lucifer desired to be equal with God. He wanted to be the commander of heaven and to be worshiped. It sounds absurd, but that is what selfishness does. It makes people think and do absurd things.
Lucifer told the other angels that God was an unjust ruler. He said that God claimed to be unselfish but demanded obedience and worship from everyone, thus contradicting Himself. Lucifer proposed that no one needed to obey God. He said that God's law was a restriction of the liberties of the angels. He said that if everyone were free from God's law, they would always do the right thing because all creatures are holy without the help of God. He said that God was withholding goodness from the rest of creation.
God and the loyal angels tried to convince Lucifer and the rebelling angels of their error but they wouldn’t listen. What would God do? Angels had never heard accusations like this. There had never been a rebellion. Everything had been peaceful and harmonious. If God immediately destroyed Lucifer the spirit of rebellion would live on in the minds of some angels. The seed of accusation against God would continue to exist as doubts about God’s true character. Love based obedience would be dead. God was on trial!
The only way to win the confidence of all intelligent creatures was to let Lucifer work out the principles of his rebellion against God so that all of creation could witness the results of setting aside God's law. Thus Lucifer became Satan (which means adversary). Unfortunately, Satan convinced many angels to follow him in rebellion against God. Thus God permitted evil to exist for a season so that all could choose between God's principle of unselfish love and Satan's principle of self-love.
Satan and the rebellious angels fought against Michael the arch-angel and His angels and the rebellious angels lost their place in heaven. After they were banished to the earth, Satan, disguised as a serpent, focused his attention on deceiving Adam and Eve. When they chose to believe Satan over God, they brought this world into the great controversy between God and Satan. (See Fundamental Belief #8 The Great Controversy).
Remember that Adam and Eve had been given dominion over the earth. It just so happens that when they gave their allegiance to Satan by taking his advice, they surrendered their dominion over this earth to him. Thus, Satan claimed this world as his own. In addition to the selfish nature that Adam and Eve passed on, Satan’s principles also became evident in the offspring of Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve had many children but two of the most famous were Cain and Abel. One day, Cain and Abel made sacrifices to the Lord. Contrary to God’s command, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the earth to the Lord. Whereas Abel, who obeyed the instructions God had given to Adam and Eve, sacrificed an animal. Of course, God was displeased with Cain's offering. By the fruit of the earth, Cain was showing God that his faith was in his own works. His offering was not made as an act of true devotion and trust in the coming savior but in himself. Out of concern for his salvation, God confronted Cain and warned him about his wrong attitude. However, instead of repenting Cain became angry and killed his brother Abel. It only took one generation for the world's first murderer to appear! Mankind was beginning to see the results of what happens when God's law is rejected.
Sin very quickly became so widespread among mankind, and the world became so sinful, that God decided to destroy it with a flood. But God did not destroy everything. Among all the people of the earth, God found one man who was faithful. His name was Noah and God commanded him to make an ark so that a few faithful people and the animals could be saved.
The story of the flood is famous and exists in many cultures of the world. We eat aşure and tell our children of the flood story. Lots of cartoons use the flood story as a motif. We even believe that the ark came to rest right here in Turkey near Mount Ararat. But the story of the ark is a serious one. We shouldn't think of it as just a local event that was exaggerated through the ages. If God can create water, He can surely send a flood to drown the whole world. But why would God do such a thing? He was putting a limit on sin.
The story of the flood is fascinating to listen to but it is more than just a story. As we will see, God uses the events of the past as examples for what He will do in the future. God says through the prophets that one day He will destroy the world by fire just as He destroyed it by flood. Thus the flood becomes a model or example of God's judgment. There is a big difference though. When God destroys the world by fire, sin will not rise again. The final judgment will be with fire!
There is another important aspect to the story of the flood. A few (i.e., a remnant) were saved. These were the ones that believed in God's message. However, all of the unbelievers perished. So it will be at the end of time when God destroys the world by fire. Only those who believe God's message will be saved.
After the flood, as the people multiplied, do you think they believed and trusted in God? According to the prophets, a majority of the people did not believe. God had commanded man to spread out and fill the earth. But once again they rebelled by building cities to make a name for themselves and a tall tower as a refuge from another flood! God must have been really sad to see how rebellious the people were. Perhaps Satan was taunting God and the angels because he was so successful at deceiving man and inciting them to rebellion. To avoid more destruction and to limit humanity’s capacity to work more wickedness, God confused the language of the people so that they were unable to communicate. As a result, they fulfilled God’s original command; they separated into clans and spread out to the ends of the earth. Often, God scatters people when sin reaches a critical level. Then He sends a messenger and calls them to repentance. God doesn’t want to destroy people. He wants to save them! So he sent someone to gather people to the true faith. A man named Abraham who we all know.
In spite of living in Mesopotamia among an idolatrous people, Abraham kept himself pure and rejected the idolatry of his neighbors. One day, God called Abraham to step out in faith and go to another land. At that time, Abraham didn’t know the name of the place. But we know it as Canaan or Palestine. So Abraham packed up his family, left Mesopotamia, and headed to Palestine. At first, they travelled north and lived in Haran which is where Abraham's father died. After his father died, Abraham left most of his family behind and went to Palestine. In a vision, God promised Abraham that in his seed all the world would be blessed. God scattered the people over the face over the earth by confusing the languages, but God was going to bless the whole earth through faithful Abraham. But who would the offspring of Abraham be? Would this be the same offspring of Eve that would crush Satan's head?
Abraham was getting very old and his wife Sarah didn't have any children. So Sarah gave her maid to Abraham as a concubine to make God's promise of a child come true. But this turned out to be a huge mistake. Up until this moment, Abraham had obeyed God's laws about marriage. Sarah was Abraham's only wife and multiple wives was not a part of God's plan. But, Abraham and Sarah didn't trust that God would do what He promised. God again spoke to Abraham and said that he would be the father of nations and that Sarah would give birth. But Abraham and Sarah were now too old to have a child. Sarah laughed at the thought that she would give birth. But God said it would happen.
God then worked a miracle. Sarah became pregnant! Can you imagine how astonished everyone was that Sarah would have a child when she was past the bearing years? It must have been the talk of the whole region. But why would God allow events to happen as they did? Why did God allow Abraham and Sarah to make a mistake by allowing Abraham to have a child with a slave? Do you remember that we said the flood story was an example of events that would happen later? This story also serves as an example or model. In this case, it teaches us about salvation.
God promised that He would send a savior to the world to defeat Satan and overcome death. God promised that it would come through the seed of Abraham. But Abraham and Sarah thought that God needed help in fulfilling His promise. They decided that they would provide the promised Savior themselves. God was teaching humanity an important lesson. People can’t save themselves. We are born sinful and we mix our shame and selfishness into all we do, which makes us unclean before God. Our nature is crooked and no matter how hard we try we cannot change it or clean it up.
The price of breaking God's law is eternal death. Who can pay the price of eternal death and live again? God's law is as holy as He is. Only someone who is equal with the law, who is equal in value to God's own character, could be the sacrifice for sin. That was the point of the animal sacrifice system. It pointed to a savior. We cannot earn eternal life because we already owe perfect obedience and we have already sinned. There is nothing a finite human being can do to earn eternal life, which is of infinite value. So we cannot save ourselves by trying to do good deeds. Our “good” deeds are all mixed with selfishness. They are not good enough. We cannot earn eternal life by making prayers because our prayers cannot pay the price of eternal death. We cannot earn salvation by going on a pilgrimage. These things do not change our nature. We need a savior, and that savior was promised by God. To demonstrate that salvation comes to the world by promise, God worked a miracle to give Abraham a son by his wife Sarah. The savior, promised to Adam and Eve, would come from the seed of their son Isaac. Just like Isaac, the savior would also be a miraculous birth. This is yet another example or model to show us that salvation will not come through human effort but through God's miraculous grace.
Isaac had a son named Jacob and God renewed the promise of a coming savior through his seed. Isn't it hard to wait for something? We want everything quickly. We have computers and smart phones that give us instant information. But if we have to wait a few seconds for a program to load, how many times do we catch ourselves complaining? How difficult it must have been for the faithful of yesteryear to wait for generations for the fulfillment of God's promises! Abraham and Isaac and Jacob all offered sacrifices in faith, waiting for the promised savior. But the savior did not come in their lifetimes. Eventually, the children of Jacob went to Egypt because of drought. You may have even seen in a movie the story of how Joseph and his brothers got to Egypt. In time however, Jacob’s descendants (called Israelites) became the Egyptians’ slaves. Over time, many adopted the heathen practice of idolatry.
After many years, God raised up a deliverer named Moses. Through Moses, God told Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery. God didn't need to command Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free. If He wanted to, He could have destroyed the Egyptians with one word. But God wanted Pharaoh to decide on his own. Why would God do that? God is love and He wanted the heathen Pharaoh to be humble and repent before God. He wanted Pharaoh to be saved. Isn’t God merciful! But Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the Israelites go.
God worked miracles through Moses and brought plagues upon the Egyptians. The last and most powerful plague was the death of the Egyptians’ firstborn children. To protect the Israelites, God told them to make an animal sacrifice and spread the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. God's destroying angel would pass by the homes where the blood was found. In this way, those who believed God's word would have their firstborn sons saved from the plague. The terrible night came and the destroying angel visited Pharaoh's son. The son died and Pharaoh could no longer stand against God; he freed the Israelites. Even then, Pharaoh's anger was so fierce that he chased the Israelites to the Red Sea to destroy them. But God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites and drowned Pharaoh and the whole Egyptian army when they tried to follow them.
Soon all the nations heard how the God of Abraham destroyed the world's largest army! What a miraculous salvation!
Why would God do things this way? Why would God permit events to unfold this way? In short, just like the flood is an analogy to illustrate judgment and salvation, so too the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery is an analogy or symbol. Because we are born selfish, by nature we sin against God. But we are not alone in this. Satan is always ready to incite humans to rebel and sin against God. We need to be saved from the "slavery" of sin and Satan, the “slave master” who provokes us to sin. The deliverance of Israel from physical slavery in Egypt is a symbol of our deliverance from the slavery of sin. The Israelite deliverance from Pharaoh is a symbol of our deliverance from Satan. The deliverance of the firstborn from the destroying angel is a symbol of the deliverance from eternal death.
It was not the Israelites that defeated Pharaoh. The Israelites did not set themselves free. God did it. The Israelites also could not free themselves from eternal death. The sacrificial animal they killed and the blood they put on the doorposts and lintels was only a model or symbol of salvation. In the Garden of Eden God promised to Adam and Eve that He would provide a savior. This promise was reiterated to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The savior would be a sacrifice and provide deliverance from eternal death.
After crossing the Red Sea, God led the Israelites to the base of Mt. Sinai. This is where He gave them the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were the basis of God's moral law for everyone, not just for the Jews. The Ten Commandments are binding upon all peoples in all ages. The scriptures say that Abraham lived according to God's commandments and laws, so these commandments did not appear for the first time with the Israelites[J1] .The Ten Commandments will be the standard of righteousness when all human beings stand before God in judgment.
Even though the Ten Commandments point out sin, keeping them cannot save us from the penalty of sin. The Ten Commandments cannot heal the selfishness in our hearts and change our hate to love. That is the work of God through the savior. However, once God provides salvation through the savior He puts His love and the desire and power to keep His Commandments in our hearts. (See Fundamental Belief #19: God's Law.)
The Sabbath day is one of the Ten Commandments. God created it in the beginning when He rested on the seventh day of the creation week. God made that day holy and has never removed the sacredness He placed on that day. Adam and Eve rested on that day, as did Abraham who kept God's commandments and laws. It is a sign between God and those who are faithful to Him. It is a day of rest and worship and fellowship with other believers. It reminds us of the reality that God provided both creation and salvation to humans without effort or help on their part. These come as a free gift from God to be received and obeyed. The Sabbath is observed from sundown on Friday evening until sundown on Saturday evening. (See Fundamental Belief #20: The Sabbath.)
Before giving them to Moses, God wrote the Ten Commandments on two slabs of stone. God Himself wrote the words. This was God's direct revelation. When God dictates word for word a revelation we call that "verbal inspiration." Except for the Ten Commandments, the rest of the sacred writings are not a word for word transcript of what God said. Rather they are the writings of prophets who were given dreams, visions, or verbal instruction by God. The prophets communicated God's message to the people in words of their own choosing according to their own writing ability. This is called "thought-inspiration." It is worth repeating. Except for the Ten Commandments, all the scriptures are the result of thought inspiration. Because the holy scriptures were given by thought inspiration and not verbal inspiration, slight variances in spelling or grammar when being copied by scribes does not invalidate the message.
For approximately the first 2500 years of human history, there was no sacred written record. Truth was verbally passed down from person to person. The scriptures began with the writings of the prophet Moses. Today, there are 39 books that make up the collection of the writings of Hebrew prophets before Jesus. Christians call this collection of Hebrew prophetic writings the Old Testament. It is believed that Moses wrote the first five of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Those five books are also known as the Torah and include: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
In addition to the Torah, the other 34 books of the Old Testament contain the Psalms and the writings of many other prophets including Daniel, Jeremiah, and King Solomon. In Turkish some people refer to the entire Old Testament as the Tevrat and attribute all these prophetic writings to Moses. But Moses did not write them all. Some people refer to only the first five books (Torah) as the Tevrat. So when conversing on these subjects in Turkey one needs to be careful about how someone is using the terms.
There is likewise confusion in Turkey regarding what writings constitute the New Testament (İncil). Many people in Turkey, when they refer to the İncil, are thinking about the four stories about Jesus’ life that were written by four of his followers. These four books were named after the authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each one describes the life and ministry of Jesus from their perspective and include the actual words that Jesus spoke. If you read through an İncil you will notice that it also contains letters written by other followers of Jesus who received revelations from God. These include Paul, James, Peter, and Jude. In total, there are 27 books in the İncil, also called the New Testament.
In a modern translation of the Old and New Testaments called the Kutsal Kitap, it sometimes says on the cover: Tevrat, Zebur and İncil. The reader should understand that the Kutsal Kitap contains all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. They are not restricted to the books of Moses (Torah) and the four gospels. The reader should be aware of these differences in terminology. In this writing when we say, "Tevrat, Zebur and İncil" we are refering to the complete collection of Old and New Testament prophetic writings. We also call these the Kutsal Kitap or the holy scriptures. In Turkish there is an older translation of the Old and New Testaments called Kitabı Mukaddes.
For Seventh-day Adventists, the 66 books that make up the Old and New Testament are the holy scriptures. These prophetic writings constitute the basis of our faith and all of our doctrines. If a teacher or prophet claims to receive a new revelation from God, it must be tested against what was originally written in the Bible, not the other way around. If there is disagreement, the new "revelation" must be rejected and considered invalid. We believe that God has revealed how humans can be guaranteed a place in heaven and a knowledge of His will in these sacred writings. (See Fundamental Belief #1: The Holy Scriptures.)
When reading through the Bible, it is clear that God chose the Israelites to make known to the world His commandments and laws. By settling them on the trade routes of the world, He desired that they would be a holy nation showing the way of salvation to those who passed through their land. God planned to prosper them and draw people's attention to the promise of a coming savior through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The constant sacrifice of animals was a symbol of the truth that the consequence for sin is death and that a sinless savior would appear who would be the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world. Only a perfect man, on behalf of all humanity, could defeat Satan and overcome the penalty of eternal death. Israel was God's chosen people for this work.
Unfortunately the Israelites lost sight of their high calling. They disbelieved God's instructions and committed grievous sin, even idolatry. Then, God, desiring that they would wake up to their sin of idolatry, allowed the Israelites to be taken to Babylon as captives. How could a people whose ancestors were miraculously delivered by God from slavery and given a new home bow down to an idol?! They heard God's own voice telling them the Ten Commandments! It seems unimaginable doesn't it? Well there is a very important principle here that we must never forget. If people reject God's instructions, God's Holy Spirit will not live in them and they will have no strength against sin. After their captivity in Babylon ended, God orchestrated the Israelites return to Israel and for the most part they remained loyal to God. But they began to struggle with something else, spiritual pride.
The people thought that they were righteous enough to keep God's law without His help. They forgot how deep the roots of selfishness and pride were embedded in their hearts. They could not see how weak they were against sin. They thought they were holy enough to meet God's requirements. They believed that their sacrifices, prayers, and pilgrimages made them holy enough to enter God's presence. But they deceived themselves.
All their sacrificial animals and prayers were valueless without faith in God's promise of a savior. Animal sacrifice could not pay the penalty of eternal death that the law required. Pilgrimages could not change the pride and lust in their heart. They needed a savior that the sacrifices pointed to. But they did not remain faithful or thankful to God. The system of religion God gave to the Israelites became a way for the people to think that they were justifying themselves and providing their own atonement for their sins. They separated themselves from other people and looked down upon others. The Israelites could no longer be a holy nation and carry to the world the message of salvation in a coming savior. What would God do with this situation?
God had promised the Israelites through the prophets that a remnant would be saved out of Israel and that the remnant would do God's will, the work that God called them to do. How would this be accomplished?
Many years before, God had promised a savior through the line of Abraham and Sarah. However, Sarah was barren and couldn’t have children. Then God worked a miracle and Sarah became pregnant and eventually gave birth to Isaac. This was a symbol showing that the promise of salvation made by God will be provided through His own miracle working power and not the efforts of mankind. The savior of the world would also be born through a miraculous birth.
Hundreds of years later, the angel Gabriel came to Mary one night and told her that she too would have a baby. But Mary was a virgin and had never been with a man before. How could that be? It must have been shocking to hear for a young girl, perhaps 16 years old! Yet she believed the angel's words and accepted the prophecy. Through a miracle of God's Holy Spirit Mary would become pregnant. The Bible does not say that God had a relationship with Mary! That is an accusation of others. But what did happen?
God does not explain to mankind how He works His miracles. He says through the prophets that He did something and we can either accept it or reject it. Is anything too hard for the Lord? If He wants to make a virgin pregnant can He do it? Of course He can! So we should not doubt this.
So why was a virgin birth necessary? Although we cannot know all the ways of God, we can learn a lot from what God has revealed through scripture. One thing that the Bible makes very clear is that the child in Mary's womb existed before He was put in Mary's womb. But now, He would be born as a child and live as a human! How did God do that? Can you explain God's power? Neither can we!
Gabriel told Mary that the child would be called Jesus, which in the Hebrew language means, "God is salvation." The Bible also said in the prophecy of Isaiah that the child would be called Immanuel, which means "God with us." So the child would provide salvation and would also be God with us! The Savior of the world was about to appear! The promise of the seed of Eve who would crush Satan's head had been fulfilled! The Savior promised through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was about to be born! Humanity didn’t have to wait anymore! But let us not forget the other side of the promise. God told Eve that Satan would bruise the Savior's heal. The millions of sacrifices that symbolically suffered the penalty of sin, pointed to the One who would literally suffer the punishment that we deserve for our sin. Yes, the sinless, Word of God, Jesus the Messiah would be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Satan would wound Jesus but he could never destroy him. What could all this mean?
Jesus made some astonishing claims about Himself. He grew up as a carpenter's son and yet He said that He was the only way to heaven. What?! If someone you knew said that, what would you think of them? You would say they were boasting to the point that they were no longer sane! Jesus said that he fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah. If you heard someone on the street say that, what would you think of them? Jesus said that He existed before Abraham existed. What kind of a person says such a thing? Jesus claimed that He had the authority to forgive people's sins. What?! Only God can do that! Who did He think He was?! Jesus said He came from heaven and that no human but Himself had ever seen God. Moreover, to show that Jesus’ words were not blasphemy (and shirk) God worked miracle after miracle in front of the people. He even raised people from the dead! God was confirming the words that Jesus was preaching.
Jesus said that He was the only way of salvation for mankind. He is the promised Savior. Jesus was sinless, yet He took the sins of the world on Himself. He then carried those sins onto the cross and died the death penalty that we deserve. He was the atonement for every sin ever committed. The consequence of sin is death and every sin must meet its punishment or God's law has no meaning. To maintain the righteousness of the law in all its bearing, the sin penalty must be paid. Just as the prophecy revealed, Satan wounded Jesus' heel. It was Satan who tempted Jesus to sin but Satan was unsuccessful. It was Satan who inspired people to kill Jesus. Satan's character and the principles of selfishness were exposed in the battle between Christ and Satan. The watching universe saw the results of sin and rebellion against God's law. Jesus' death showed that God is just. The penalty of sin was paid. But it also showed God's mercy because the story doesn't end with Jesus' death.
Because Jesus was sinless, the grave could not hold Him. God raised Him from the dead. Jesus gained victory over death and the grave for all humanity! The Savior won the battle against Satan! Satan was exposed in the great controversy as a liar and murderer. All who believe in Jesus, as their sin offering and Savior, will inherit eternal life. Eternal life! We can live in a beautiful garden once again where there is no pain, suffering, hard work, and death! (See Fundamental Belief #9: The Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ.)
But how can one person die for another's sins? Isn't that unjust? Maybe for a human, but not for God! According to the Bible, if we believe in Jesus we are united to Christ so that we are a part of Him and He is a part of us. What? How can that be? God is spirit. Those who receive Jesus as Savior receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is also the Spirit of Christ. So we become spiritually united with the Savior. His life counts for our life, His death counts for our death, and His resurrection counts for our resurrection. In Jesus we have eternal life. How can that be? It is a miracle of God and is just as mysterious as both Sarah and Mary’s pregnancies. With God all things are possible!
The Holy Spirit transforms our lives. Before conversion, we are powerless to do good works without mixing in some our selfish motives. But with the Spirit of the sinless Jesus living in us, we now have power over our sinful natures. Now, by the Spirit of Christ, we can keep the Ten Commandments out of love and appreciation for what Jesus has done for us, not as an attempt to win eternal life. So we see that true religion is not a list of doctrines. It is an experience whereby the Spirit of the resurrected Christ living in us transforms us. (See Fundamental Belief #10: The Experience of Salvation.)
When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives it is called the new birth. Jesus said that unless we are born again, we can’t enter into the kingdom of heaven. After we learn about salvation in Christ and what it means to live according to the principles of God's kingdom, we show our allegiance to God and Christ by being baptized. Our baptism shows that we accept the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for ourselves, and that we pledge to live a new life in Christ. In baptism we are lowered down into the water, which symbolically represents the grave. We show our unity with Christ's death. Then we are brought out of the water as a symbol of being resurrected from the dead in Jesus. Baptism is a symbol of our spiritual union with Jesus our Savior. (See Fundamental Belief #15: Baptism.)
The new birth experience is not a static but organic experience. Those who are born again grow in capabilities just like a newborn baby. We read the scriptures, pray, and sing spiritual songs. Don't you like to spend time talking with others who think like you? In the church there is endless fellowship with other believers. Through these experiences we learn how Christ lived and imitate it in our lives. We learn how to spiritually face Satan's attacks and also the difficulties of life. We share our faith with others and participate in the work of the church. As we grow we have joy in our lives, even when facing difficulties. This is because we are no longer in bondage to our sinful natures and habits of the past. We are free. We enjoy confidence of our salvation and future resurrection from the dead. We do not live in fear of demonic spirits. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and enjoy the protection of God. (See Fundamental Belief #11: Growing in Christ.)
When we are united to Christ we are part of the kingdom of God and we adopt its principles and reject the principles of the world that are contrary to the kingdom. We are a holy people and we participate only in amusements and entertainments that can glorify God's principles. We do not wear jewelry and flashy and expensive clothes which foster pride. We are careful to be modest in our appearance. Our bodies are the temple of God and we do not abuse it with alcohol and drugs. The Lord has shown us in the Bible that some foods are of poor quality and cannot be used as food without affecting our health and in turn our religious experience. Pork is just one of many meats we are told not to eat. (See Fundamental Belief #22: Christian Behavior.)
If we had to identify one of the most important aspects about being Turkish, what would it be? Perhaps family would be at the center of our thoughts. We love our family. We build our houses so that our children and their spouses can live upstairs. We love little children and being with family at the summerhouse is just about as close as we can get to heaven on earth. The core of the family is the mother and father in a marriage relation. From the beginning, God designed that a husband and wife would be in a loving relationship their whole lives and that the covenant of marriage would never be broken. Marriage is such a holy union that God used it in the scriptures to illustrate the relation between God and His people. For this reason the marriage should be between people of the same faith. When two people show mutual love and respect there will be a happy home. Jesus taught that except in the case of fornication, the bond of marriage can’t be broken. The one who divorces and marries another commits adultery. Parents are to raise their children to know Christ and accept His salvation and become members of the kingdom of God. (See Fundamental Belief #23: Marriage and the Family.)
We want to take care of our families. We work to earn money so that they can have nice things in this life. If you give some money to your child you want them to use the money wisely in a way that will not bring harm to themselves and others. In a similar way, God has given us this earth and has given us the power to accumulate wealth. He wants us to use it wisely. In addition to wealth, God has given us talents, abilities, and time. We are to use them for God's glory. Good stewardship is believing that everything belongs to God and that we are to use it wisely and according to godly principles. To foster a spirit of giving and liberality, God has made certain requirements on the goods that He has given us. We return one tenth of our income to God. This is called tithe. This money is not ours but His. He claims it. This tithe is to be used to supply the salaries of full time gospel workers. In addition to tithes, we are to give offerings. The amount of the offering is not specified. We give according to how God has blessed us. We use offerings for the upkeep of the house of prayer, to help the poor, and to the spread the gospel. (See Fundamental Belief #21: Stewardship.)
When more people hear the word of God and receive Christ as Savior, they congregate together in a faith group. Their center is Christ. Jesus was the remnant promised in the Old Testament. He kept the law fully and also received the punishment for transgressions of the law. When we become united to Christ we become the spiritual remnant of the faithful people of God of old times. The community of believers meets for fellowship and worship, to read God's word, to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and to serve to mankind. The faith group is the family of God. We live according to the New Covenant. What is the New Covenant? It is the covenant whereby Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins and the Spirit of Christ writes God's law of love on our hearts. (See Fundamental Belief #12: The Church.)
The Lord's Supper was mentioned above. What is that? It is a ceremony in which we express faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Remember when the destroying angel passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt because the blood of sacrifice was spread on the lintel and doorposts of their homes? That was a symbol of salvation. The real sacrifice was Jesus. When we eat the bread and drink the grape juice at the Lord's Supper, we are reminded that Jesus (symbolized by the bread) died for our sins and we are protected from eternal death by His blood sacrifice (symbolized by the juice). The symbols of bread and grape juice have no special power. They are just symbols. Seventh-day Adventists perform the foot-washing service before the Lord's Supper. It is a ceremony of humility where we wash each other's feet. It also symbolizes renewed cleansing. Those who have been baptized in the Lord Jesus in any denomination may participate in the Lord's Supper. (See Fundamental Belief #16: The Lord's Supper.)
All people are baptized into the spiritual body of Christ, which is the group of faithful believers. We are all connected to each other by unity with Christ. Therefore there is no class distinction between nationalities and no castes based on our gender, education, race, wealth, or language. We can still rejoice in being Turkish! No problem! We can celebrate our ethnic origins and our cultures, but we cannot make one culture or language superior to another. We are one in Christ. (See Fundamental Belief #14: Unity in the Body of Christ.)
The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers to woo others to Christ and for the common good of the faith group and humanity in general. According to the Bible, these gifts include the gifts of faith, healing, prophecy, proclamation, teaching, administration, reconciliation, compassion, self-sacrificing service, and charity for the help and encouragement of people. Some people are called by God and equipped by the Spirit for functions in the faith group. These include pastoring, teaching, and public proclamation of the gospel of salvation in Jesus. These things help build up the group of believers and keep them safe from false doctrines. (See Fundamental Belief #17: Spiritual Gifts and Ministries.)
The gift of prophecy is of particular importance because prophecy is the way that God gives explicit instruction to His people. God promised in His word that the gift of prophecy would be active until the end of time. It was not restricted to ancient times.
God predicted through the prophets that there would be spiritual apostasy among the followers of Christ. During the Middle Ages many turned to superstition, false doctrine, and even pagan practices of idolatry. Remember the apostasy in ancient Israel? They did all these things and God allowed Israel to be taken captive by the Babylonians. Among the Hebrew captives in Babylon, some were faithful to God and others were not. The Babylonians captured both the righteous and the unrighteous. God later set the Israelites free and brought them back into the Promised Land.
The Babylonian captivity became a symbol of what would happen during the Middle Ages. Everyone, but especially the true followers of God, was persecuted by the apostate church. Those who returned to Israel from Babylon, serve as a symbol of those who were set free from the oppressing church of the Middle Ages. The group of believers who would be set free from error and oppression would become known as the remnant of God's people. This remnant group of God's people would have the identifying marks of keeping the commandments of God and having the gift of prophecy. This remarkable spiritual gift was manifested in the Seventh-day Adventist church in the ministry of Ellen G. White. The gift of prophecy does not replace the Bible. It points people back to the Bible and provides comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction in times of need. The Bible remains the standard of all teaching and experience. (See Fundamental Belief #18: The Gift of Prophecy.)
The remnant are not the only believers, but they do have a special task. First, they call people to prepare for Jesus' soon coming. There is a spiritual preparation that is necessary and part of that preparation is to call attention to the true Sabbath of the Lord, which was hidden and obscured by Satan during the time of spiritual apostasy. Second, the remnant announces the beginning of the judgment of God and calls people to repentance. This proclamation is symbolized by the proclamation of the three angels in Revelation 14. Everyone is called to participate in this great work of reform. Since the Seventh-day Adventist church is the only church in the world that both teaches all ten of God's Ten Commandments and has had the gift of prophecy, we can identify this faith group as the remnant. (See Fundamental Belief #13 The Remnant and Its Mission.)
In the three angel's message of Revelation 14, there is an announcement of judgment. Judgment takes place, not after Jesus comes, but before He comes. When Jesus comes He brings the rewards of life or death. So the judgment has already taken place when He comes. When did it begin? It began in 1844 when Jesus as our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary entered the Most Holy Place. He is judging every person right now, both those who have died and those who are still living. Jesus judges in favor of those who have accepted Him. But those who claim to be followers and are not, are exposed in the judgment. (See Fundamental Belief #24: Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary.)
God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the forbidden fruit they would die. But Satan contradicted God by saying that she would not die. Satan has been promoting this lie ever since. According to the Bible, when people die they are in an unconscious state similar to sleep. But Satan tries to convince people that the dead do not really die, that their spirits live on, watch our movements, and talk to us. Impersonating the dead, Satan and the other fallen angels trick humans and tell them lies. It is for this reason that God forbids communication with the "dead,” who are really fallen, rebel angels.
Will the dead ever live again? Absolutely. Both the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected, but not at the same time and not for the same reasons. The righteous will be resurrected at Christ's second coming. The unrighteous will be resurrected 1000 years later. The righteous will receive eternal life. The unrighteous will receive eternal death. There is no such thing as an eternally burning hell in which the wicked suffer for eternity. That is another lie of the devil. Beware because Satan will use the trick of supposed "communication with the dead" to keep people from keeping all of God's commandments in preparation for the second coming of Christ. This is especially true of the fourth commandment, the Sabbath. (See Fundamental Belief 26: Death and Resurrection.)
Jesus is coming again! If mankind could solve its problems, Christ's second coming would not be necessary. But Jesus will come surrounded by angels and everyone will see Him. It will not be hidden. When He comes the righteous dead will be resurrected, taken to heaven, and live there with Christ for 1000 years. At Jesus’ coming, the wicked will be destroyed and remain dead during the same 1000 years. After which they will be resurrected to receive the punishment of eternal destruction. We do not know the exact time of Christ's coming, but we can understand from the Bible that the time is short and we must warn everyone. Get ready! Christ is coming again! (See Fundamental Belief 25: The Second Coming of Christ.)
After Christ comes, the righteous live in heaven for 1000 years. But this is not their permanent home. Jesus said that the meek would inherit the earth. For 1000 years the righteous will be able to view the books of judgment and see why people are not allowed into heaven. During this time the world will be barren because all the wicked are dead and the righteous are in heaven. Only Satan and his rebel angels will be alive on earth. When the 1000 years is over, the Holy City will come down from heaven and the wicked will be resurrected to receive their punishment. Satan and his angels and the unrighteous will be destroyed. Sin and sinners will never exist again. (See Fundamental Belief #27: The Millennium and the End of Sin.)
Then God will make the earth like it was in the beginning. There will be everlasting life, time for socializing with others and time to relax. There will be days by the river of life and we will eat from the tree of life. The animals will not be afraid to approach us and we will not be afraid to touch them. There will be no crying, long separations, nor death. There will be no sin to make us sorry. Everything will be as God designed it in the beginning. There will be one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How can that be? One God cannot be three persons! God made Adam and Eve as two persons and yet He declared that they were one body. We will have eternity to try to understand the mysteries of God. But for now we must simply accept what God says. He is one, yet He is three persons. Sin entered our world because Eve distrusted what God said. God has ordained that by faith, that is by believing God's word, we will inherit eternal life. Believe God's word! Trust it by faith even if you don't understand everything. This is eternal life, to know God and Jesus Christ whom God sent. (See Fundamental Belief #28: The New Earth; Fundamental Belief #3: The Father; Fundamental Belief #4: The Son; Fundamental Belief #5: The Holy Spirit; Fundamental Belief #2: The Trinity.)
[1] Lucifer is the Latin name appearing in the King James Version of the Bible. The Hebrew word means "shining one." In Isaiah 14:12, the expression "son of the morning" or "son of the dawn" follows the word for "shining one." This has led some translators to translate "shining one" as "morning star" as the the two expressions together might imply.
[J1]Most had probably forgotten them while living in slavery.