THE Question

by

Why Do We Have to Learn This?!

THE question every student asks. Here are my answers.

And here is where you can find the STORY that got me to answer the question!

Stewardship of resources—we are responsible to protect and produce from what we have been given in life—is humanity’s first command (Gen 1:28).  Ultimately, our growth in Christ—our sanctification—is an understanding of all things from His perspective.  To answer the question above I would ask, “Are we interested in our own personal sanctification in Christ?”

  1. If this is God’s world, He made it, and it is important to Him, it should be important to us (Gen 1; 1 Chr 29:11; Neh 9:6; Ps 33:6-11; 50:9-12; 89:11).

 

  1. If the creation praises God for His works, then we should praise God for His creation (Ps 19; 104; 148).

 

  1. We honor, magnify, and glorify God for Who He is—Creator of all (Ecc 12:1; Isa 40:26; 42:5; 44:24; 45:7; 45:18; Amos 4:13; John 1:3; Acts 7:5; Rom 1:25; 1 Cor 8:6; Eph 3:9; 1 Pe 4:19).

 

  1. If all knowledge comes from Jesus, then we are responsible for that knowledge (Col 2:2-3; cf. 1:9; 2:4, 8).

 

  1. We are responsible to grow in the knowledge of Jesus (Eph 1:15-23; Phil 1:9-11; Col 1:9-10).

 

  1. We are responsible to develop biblical, critical thinking skills (Prov 2:1-6; Col 2:8; Heb 5:11-14). Wisdom is how we better understand the world (Proverbs 8).

 

  1. As creatures responsible to The Creator, we have been given responsibilities to rule the creation (Gen 1:28; 2:5, 15, 19-20; Ps 8:5-8).

 

  1. God has created the earth for human benefit (Ps 115:16; Is 45:12).

 

  1. Even unbelievers ponder what God has done in His creation (Ps 64:9; 65:8; 66:4; 67:2, 7) which should be the believers’ response (Ps 111:2).

 

  1. We should thank God for the various gifts given to people, whatever they are, and however they may benefit others (Rom 12; 1 Cor 12; Eph 4:11-12; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

 

  1. We give God glory in every day living about every thing (Ps 115:1; 1 Cor 10:31; Col 3:23).

 

  1. Satisfaction, Appreciation, and Thankfulness is the most important SAT test we will ever take (Deut 8:10-20). To be ungrateful for the gifts given to us, is to reject The One Who has given those gifts to us (Rom 1:21).  We ought to give thanks for all things (Eph 5:20; 1 Th 5:18) since He has given everything for us to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17).

Mark has four decades of Christian education experience. Dr. Eckel began teaching 7-12 grade Bible classes in Christian schools in 1983 at Shiloh Christian School, Bismarck, ND. He has over 20 years in K-12 Christian settings as well as teaching undergraduate through graduate courses over the last 20 years. He has been teaching Christian education philosophy since the 1980’s and has been a CE philosophy provider for ACSI for years. You can find his 100,000 word, 20 discipline faith-learning integration series here: https://www.curriculumtrak.com/features/faith-learning.cfm

 

 

 

Leave a Comment