Elective #2: Session 1
February 14, 2022      |     By: Brock McKay      |      Category: Equip S of D      |      Location: Wichita
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To the beginning we go.

Genesis 1:26---made in the likeness and image of God and Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit

NOTE: He made aspects of us visible and invisible

     --breathed into Adam and made him/us living souls (it is of note that God reports Himself as having a soul—which speaks to the core of who He is. Leviticus 26:11, 30. This one should cause us to wonder. God has a soul?

“Lord God, we can only marvel at You. You are too wonderful and far, far beyond us. And yet, You sent your Son, the Lord Jesus, to come to us, to be amongst us, to know human flesh, to identify with us, so that we could identify ourselves with You, O King of the whole universe. Such kindness and love for us, Your creation, Your humans, made in Your image. Thank You for being Who You are. Too marvelous for words.”

Part of the wooing of Eve by the way was that learning of good and evil would make her wise LIKE GOD. It worked on her and she caved. Right desire—to be like God, wrong manner—via the knowledge of good and evil. If she had continued to eat from the Tree of Life, she would have progressively been more and more like Him.

So, we know from the start of Genesis and from Genesis 1:26, specifically that:

1. God exists
2. He creates (Genesis 1: ff)
3. He/They intentionally created man in Their image, in Their likeness (Genesis 1:26, 2:7)

And from Genesis 2:7, He formed man (body) out of the dust, breathes into him, the as-yet lifeless body of Adam, breathes spirit into Adam and Adam becomes (created to be) a living Soul, a living being, a human being, a living person, a man. Here, we have the body, the soul and the spirit, all present, all completely intertwined and all three representing the Trinity of God the Father, breathing God the Spirit into Adam, and Adam becomes a living person, just like Jesus would become.

The first mention of “heart” in the scriptures is in Genesis 6:5:
“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Note here the intents of the thoughts of his heart---meaning that the heart generated the evil thoughts and intentions. Hmmmm. From the heart, you say?

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This means it is critical that we understand the heart in its role of influence in our lives.

Genesis 6:6 states, remarkably:  And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was     grieved to His heart.

Genesis 6:5 is the first mention of “heart” in the scriptures.

Genesis 6:6 is the really important second mention of “heart” in the scriptures.
6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved to His heart.

Recall that we are made in His image, in His likeness and for His purposes. In light of what we see in Genesis 6:6, it is clear that God FEELS multiple different things—other translations indicate a variety of descriptions, all getting at the same point:

Regretted, was deeply troubled, sorry, it broke His heart, it grieved Him to His heart, repented, grieved Him at his heart, deeply grieved in His heart, God laid it to heart, and He pondered it deeply, being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart, so filled with regret, was heartbroken, deeply grieved about that, He grieves Himself—to His heart, was highly offended

What these passages indicate is really important. That both man and God have a heart—meaning the core or center, the feelings, and the seat of his will and intellect and emotions, critically his emotions.

What Genesis 6:6 also presents is that God is capable of a host of emotions, regret, sorry, offense, grief, and is able to grieve, repent, regret—all emotionally based responses that cannot be understood if we separate them from their emotional significance.

Importantly, God is able to experience heart-felt emotions (remember, we are made in His image and His likeness for a reason—for His purposes and His intentions) all felt particularly deeply. These emotions of grief, regret, deep sorrow, heartbreak—all of these are at a very strong, intense level.

So not only are we able to experience a variety of emotions in our hearts, we are able to experience a wide variety of intensities of emotions in our hearts. This is why there are 1,400 human emotions; how many?

1,400 emotions, like our Father in Heaven, who also experiences a variety of emotions. (There are human emotions He understands and does NOT experience—fear, insecurity, sense of inadequacy, bitterness, etc.)  And I assert that the emotions are what underlay our heart. If the heart of man is at our core, then this might explain why the oft repeated phrase in Evangelical circles “The heart is deceitfully wicked. Who can know it?” asked Jeremiah, probably rhetorically. The problem here is that we in North America have not been taught to go beyond that, so that our emotions are suspect, the heart of man is only evil and we had best run the other way rather than get entangled with the heart and its emotions.

Then we must put that aspect of scripture together with the proverb that says:
Proverbs 4:23
Watch over (guard) your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

Said a little differently, guard your heart for from it come the wellsprings of your life—what comes out of you, what you produce, how you act, what is important, what motivates and drives you, what goals you set, what you pursue, what matters to you, the nature and breadth and character of your relationship with God the Father and His Son, Jesus, and Holy Spirit--these will all be borne out of what is in your heart, what comes from the heart. (Look up different translations for expanding the descriptions and vocabulary of Proverbs 4:23)

In fact, if we are to truly disciple another brother or sister, it is to disciple them into the heart of the Lord Jesus. If they have His heart, the rest will come in time. If discipleship emphasizes the rest, it may be at the expense of them truly knowing the fullness of the heart of our King.

More to come.