IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON October 13, 2008 Issue

LIVING THE RESULTS OF A GOD-CONNECTED LIFE

HELEN MATHIS

This Week's Bible Lesson, titled "Doctrine of Atonement," inspired me to live more fully in a way that represents my heritage as a child of God. Instead of atonement being some remote theological concept, this Lesson fleshed out for me a clearer sense of being among the sons and daughters of the joy-filled divine "household," in everlasting kinship with the Father and the Son.

The last citation from Science and Health emphasizes the importance of demonstrating this relationship: "The scientific unity which exists between God and man must be wrought out in life-practice, and God's will must be universally done" (p. 202, citation 25). And the Responsive Reading is a reminder to keep Jesus' commandments, to strive to walk as he walked, and to hold fast to our spiritual understanding.

Half of the Bible citations in this Lesson come from either the Gospel of John or the Epistles of John. These writings are related in that they arose out of the same early Christian community and share common teachings and language. The Lesson's Golden Text perfectly captures the central "doctrine" of Jesus Christ as given in these writings: "He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son" (II John 1:9). To abide is a key term of the Christian community, and the related Greek verb skenoun literally means to make a dwelling or pitch a tent—evoking images of the children of Israel creating a tabernacle in the wilderness for God to dwell in (see Ex. 25:8). In the Gospel of John, Jesus is described as the Word made flesh and dwelling among us (see 1:14, Section II, cit. 4). And the purpose of Jesus abiding with us is to "declare" his Father. No one could know the Father better than the only begotten Son, who remains "in the bosom of the Father" (see John 1:18, cit. 4).

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About the author

Helen Mathis lives in Berkeley, California, teaches Bible courses around the country, and is editor of a Bible study curriculum series with the nonprofit Bible Study Seminars.

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