5.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• God’s creation is very good.
• We can make two mistakes when we think about God’s creation:
  1. We can make too much of creation.
  2. We can make too little of creation.
• To stay away from these two mistakes, we should build a lifestyle of thanksgiving.
• Here are five ways to build a lifestyle of thanksgiving:
  1. Begin with the gospel.
  2. Be a learner of God’s Word.
  3. Pray.
  4. Obey.
  5. Trust God in times of suffering.

5.2 – 1 Timothy 4:1–5←⤒🔗

^1. Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings,

^2. influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.

^3. They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 

4. For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 

^5. For it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.

© NET Bible

5.3 God’s good creation←⤒🔗

In Lesson 4 we saw that everything was created by Christ and for Christ. Let us stop and think about this.

Think of a beautiful sunrise. Where does its beauty come from? It comes from Christ. He made the sun in that way. He also gave us eyes to see its beauty.

Think about a powerful rainstorm. Christ is the Maker of it. When we see and hear the storm, we see and hear something of his power.

Think about the games and the laughter of children. Christ made them to play and laugh, and to bring happiness to our hearts.

Of course, Christ was not alone when he created all these things. He was “at the Father’s side” (John 1:18, ESV). God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit worked together in creation. They rejoiced when they made the world (Psalm 104:31; Proverbs 8:30–31).

We can talk about God’s creation forever. There are so many wonderful things in it! But for now, let us end with the words of Genesis 1:31:

God saw all that he had made–and it was very good!

God has made everything “very good.” He says so himself!  

5.4 Two mistakes←⤒🔗

Even as Christians, we struggle to see and enjoy God’s creation in the right way. There are two mistakes that we make:

1. We make too much of creation.

Let us take the example of food. God made food to be enjoyed. But sometimes we love food too much. We eat and drink too much, and we only think about the food that is before us. We do not ask how we can glorify God with our eating and drinking.

2. We make too little of creation.

Let us use the example of food again. There are some people who think that it is not “spiritual” to enjoy food. They think that the best Christians are the Christians who fast the most!

In our Bible passage (1 Timothy 4:1–5), we read about this second kind of mistake. This passage comes from a letter that Paul wrote to Timothy (a young pastor). In this passage Paul tells Timothy that false teachers are going to come into the church. These false teachers will tell people to stay away from some kinds of food (just as in the time of the Old Testament). They will also tell people to stay away from marriage (1 Timothy 4:3).

Paul calls these teachings “demonic” (1 Timothy 4:1). God has given his children every kind of food to eat (Mark 7:19). He has also given us the gift of marriage. If we hate God’s good gifts, then we are rebelling against God!

5.5 From idolatry to thanksgiving←⤒🔗

When we make too much of creation, we are busy with idolatry. We are loving creation more than we love God.

When we make too little of creation, we are also busy with idolatry. We are trusting in our own rules, such as, “Do not taste!” and “Do not touch!” (Colossians 2:21). We are making our own religion.

How can we stay away from these two great mistakes? How can we enjoy God’s creation in the right way? Let us look again at 1 Timothy 4:4–5:

For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.

To enjoy God’s creation in the right way, we should have a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Such a lifestyle does not come by itself. It is something that we must learn. Day by day, we must build a lifestyle of thanksgiving.

How can we build such a lifestyle? Let us look at five ways.

5.6 Five ways to build a lifestyle of thanksgiving←⤒🔗

1. Begin with the gospel←↰⤒🔗

1 Timothy 4:3 says that God created everything “to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” What is the truth? It is the good news that Jesus Christ gave his life, to save sinners like you and me.

We did not deserve any good gift from God. We deserved death and hell. But God saved us and made us his own children. Remind yourself of these things every day. This is where a lifestyle of thanksgiving begins.

2. Be a learner of God’s Word←↰⤒🔗

Before Agnes became a Christian, she lived for her job. She worked day and night to please her boss. But then she heard and believed the gospel. She learned that Christ is now her Master.

Agnes still worked hard, but now she worked to glorify Christ. She tried to serve the other people who worked with her. She also rested and went to church on a Sunday.

This is an example of what God’s Word does in our lives. God’s Word makes every part of our lives holy (1 Timothy 4:5). Do you want to enjoy food, marriage, work, sleep, and everything else in the right way? Then be a learner of God’s Word. God’s Word will show you how you can enjoy all these things with true joy and thanksgiving.

3. Pray←↰⤒🔗

A lifestyle of thanksgiving is a lifestyle of prayer. 1 Timothy 4:5 says that everything is “sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says that God’s children must constantly pray. Pray when you get up in the morning. Pray before you eat. Pray about your work. Pray when you spend time with friends and when you go shopping. Use every opportunity to pray and to thank the Lord.

4. Obey←↰⤒🔗

Thanksgiving is not only something that we do with our words. It is also something that we do with our actions. If you are thankful for God’s gifts, you will use his gifts in an obedient way.

For example, wine is a good gift from God (Psalm 104:15). But God tells us that we must not get drunk with wine (Ephesians 5:18). Sex is another good gift from God (Proverbs 5:18–19). But God says that sex is only meant for a husband and wife (Exodus 20:14).

If there is something in your life that is causing you to sin all the time, then it may be better to leave this thing completely (Matthew 5:29–30).

5. Trust God in times of suffering←↰⤒🔗

Sometimes God takes good things away from us. Sometimes he does not give us the good thing that we want. In those times God wants us to trust him (see Job 1:21–22). He wants us to remember his promises: he is good, and he is preparing an eternal kingdom for us.

By trusting God in these situations, we will show that we love God more than we love his gifts. We will be winning the fight against idolatry!