Gospel Essentials Benchmark Essay

Gospel Essentials

A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life. One way to describe to describe worldview is like a set of lenses that portrays the way we see the world. What we believe becomes the force behind every emotion, decision and action. We make decisions about life, ethics, and morals and how we should live based entirely on our worldview. Whether conscious or subconscious every person has a worldview, although not everyone has the same one. A person with a Christian worldview is someone who believes and has committed his/her life to following the teachings of Jesus Christ. The essentials of a Christian worldview include God, Humanity, and Jesus.

God

The fact of God’s existence is so conspicuous, through both creation and through conscience. Accordingly, the Bible never attempts to prove His existence, rather it assumes His existence from the very beginning. What the Bible NKJV does is reveal the nature, character, and work of God. God is the creator of the universe (Genesis 1-27), to which all glory and praise belong to. According to John 4:24 God is spirit, by nature intangible. God is one, but He exists as three persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God holds all power and all authority. God upholds many characteristics that help us understand who he truly is. First and foremost God is word (John 1). God is just, merciful, and truthful (Acts 17:31,Ephesians 2:4, John 14:6). In Romans 1:20, Paul speaks about God’s “invisible attributes- his eternal power and Godhead.” God is omnipresent, existing everywhere and knowing everything (Proverbs 15:3). God created the universe and everything in it. Although at times it is hard to understand how He did it, it is clear He created all life. In the very beginning, Genesis talks about how God spoke everything into existence. On his very first day, God created light and divided it from the darkness. On the second day God made a firmament and divided the waters. On the third day God made land appear and added grass herbs and trees. On the fourth day God made two great light; one to rule the day and one to rule the night. On the fifth day God created the birds and sea creatures and every living thing that moves. On the sixth day God made everything that creeping thing and beast on earth, each according to its kind. Then created man in His own image; male and female (Genesis 1-27). This not only shows God’s authority over humanity, but his everlasting deep love for everyone. God did not have to create the world, but chose to. God created the world and people because of his love for us. God’s characteristics, attributes, and creations are his nature.

Humanity
 Human nature is what make us distinctly human. Our own human nature is what allows us to think and to feel which separates us from the animals and other creatures. According to the Christian worldview, God created humans just like he created everything else (Stenmark,2012). In addition, humans were created in the image of God, and were such created to rule over His creation. “The main aspect of humanity being created in the image of God is that they are entrusted to rule the Earth as both priestly and kingly figures” (Diffey,2014). The bible makes it clear that God created man for his glory. Therefore, the ultimate human purpose, according to the bible, is to simply glorify God. In Psalm 100:2-3, we are told to worship God with gladness and “know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us,