The Kingdom of God, Student Workbook, SW02

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T H E K I N G D O M O F G O D

Now is the time for you to address your own questions in discussion with your colleagues in class. In thinking about this material and the concepts you just reviewed, what particular questions come to mind about it? Maybe the following might spur your own specific and critical questions. * How should you come to understand the meaning of God’s sovereignty in a world so unjust and ungodly? * Is it fair to you that the Bible teaches that our current condition is the direct result of satanic and human rebellion committed centuries ago? * What doesn’t make sense yet to you concerning the results of the Fall? Are there any gaps in your understanding of kosmos , sarx , and kakos ? * Do you struggle at all with the concept of God’s rule being challenged in the first place? In other words, if God was almighty, why did he allow anyone, even Satan, to challenge his reign? * Can God hold others responsible, since it appears that their sin and disobedience is the result of what Satan and Adam did, not what they did? How does this work itself out? * To what degree do we who believe now differ from others who do not know Christ? Are we still subject to the devil’s control, to sin’s power, and to the world’s temptations? What tools, promises, blessings, and provisions has God given us to live under his reign today? Today, tens of thousands of young people participate in gangs which wreak havoc on hundreds of inner city neighborhoods around the country. Many innocent men, women, boys, and girls live in fear of their lives because of the activity and efforts of these gangs, most of whom identify themselves with violence, cruelty, and crime. Yet, for many of those who participate in them, these groups are the only family that they have ever known. Much love, respect, and commitment flow between its members and their families, even though they experience together much pain. In looking at the gang situation in the inner city, how does the theology you studied this week make sense of it. Even further, are there ways that this gang reality is not explained by the themes covered in “God’s Reign Challenged.” What insights help us to understand this city reality better? Gangs in the Inner City

Student Application and Implications

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