Creation

The third assertion about God in the Here We Stand series: that He is the God of infinite goodness. After surveying Old and New Testament assertions of God's goodness and offering a working definition (God's disposition to deal well and bountifully with all His creation), Pastor Martin traces the manifestations of divine goodness in creation, providence (preservation, provision, and pity toward creatures), and grace. He applies the doctrine to worship, daily attitude, and Paul's warning in Romans 2:4 that the goodness of God is meant to lead sinners to repentance.

Pastor Martin treats the secondary object of salvation: the earth itself. The fundamental principle is that earth and man are so suited to each other that the condition of the earth is determined by the condition of the man who dwells on it. He traces this from creation (perfect man, perfect earth), through the fall (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:19-22 — creation subjected to vanity and bondage), to the consummation when the earth will be purged by fire (2 Peter 3) and delivered into the liberty of the glory of the children of God (Revelation 21-22). He applies the doctrine against humanistic optimism and pessimism about ecology, calling Christians to searching self-evaluation, vigorous hope, right priorities, humility, and worship.

After a nine-week digression, Pastor Martin resumes the Psalm 1 series by identifying secular education as a second major channel through which ungodly counsel reaches believers. He outlines five philosophical pillars of secular education -- the supremacy of man's mind, man's normalcy, a world of chance, man's good as the goal, and this world as the exclusive sphere of concern -- and contrasts each with the corresponding biblical principle. He urges believers to pray for a purgation of secularism from their minds and to saturate themselves and their children with the biblical worldview.