Question 15:
Q. Since no one can keep the law, what is its purpose?
A. That we may know the holy nature of God, and the sinful nature of our hearts; and thus our need of a Savior.
Question 15 will close our church’s reflection time on the New City Catechism. Over the past 15+ weeks, our church family and the world at large have witnessed much brokenness. Sickness, loss, division, and heart-break seem to be surrounding us, but take heart: the light is always stronger than the darkness. We have never been alone in the dark, for the Light of Life, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has been with us through it all. His presence is with us today and goes before us into the future, which is unknown to us, but perfectly ordained by Him for our good and His glory.
The answer to Question 15 sums up all we’ve been pondering these past weeks in our catechism: why study God’s law? That we may know God’s holiness, our sin, and our need of a Savior… and our Savior has come! The story is not over yet. He is our hope!
As we wrap-up our study of the catechism and look into the fall, let’s continue to cling to the truth we’ve learned together and to the hope we have in Jesus.
Meditate on this Truth…
- For all ages: How can your family cling to Jesus together? Brainstorm a few ideas together. (Parents of younger children can brainstorm on their own, but we encourage you to include your children in this brainstorm if they are able to participate…. Little voices often have the clearest grasp on truth!) Choose one idea to pursue this week and mark on your calendar the time(s) and day(s) you’ll put your plan into action together!
Question 14:
Q. Did God create us unable to keep his law?
A. No, but because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve we are all born in sin and guilt, unable to keep God’s law.
When God created humans, we were good. There was a time in the Garden of Eden when God’s image-bearers were not sinners, but as we know, by the time we reach Genesis 3, we see God’s image-bearers choose sin instead of their creator and His design for them. When Adam and Eve sinned, the human race fell into guilt… but, friends, I hope we also know that this is not where the story ends!
Romans 5:18-19 says, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Just as we are all fallen through Adam, we are all saved through Jesus, and in him, we are no longer slaves to sin but free to live forgiven in his law and glorify him forever!
Meditate on this Truth…
- For all ages: Did you know our church has a worship playlist for every sermon series? Check-out the Capital Pres Family Spotify page so your family can listen and worship at home while you go about your days!
Question 13:
Q. Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly?
A. Since the fall, no human has been able to keep the law of God perfectly.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 does a fine job of introducing us to Chapter 2 of what we call the “4-Chapter Gospel”: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Chapter 2, Fall: we all fall short of God’s glory. We cannot keep his law perfectly. We need a Savior.
When we look around at the world and at ourselves, it is easy to see the world’s brokenness and our own imperfections. It should be just as easy to confess our short-comings, especially as they are so universal. Yet, if we’re really being honest with ourselves, don’t we all too often insist that “we’ve got this” as we vow to try harder and do better? Friends, I have good news for you! There is grace! This is not a “two-chapter” story. In Jesus, the story bursts forth into hope. Trust and rest in His perfect fulfillment of the law, given to you in his sacrifice on the cross.
Meditate on this Truth…
- For all ages: Sing “Jesus Loves Me” together as a family as you discuss this week’s question. You can sing the traditional nursery version or the version we used at VBS by Chris Tomlin.
Question 12:
Q. What does God require in the ninth and tenth commandments?
A. Ninth, that we do not lie or deceive. Tenth, that we are content, not envying anyone.
In these final commandments, we are given a call to live in truth and contentment, both as ways to honor our neighbor and to reflect God’s image. When we speak truthfully, instead of lying, and when we celebrate what God has given to us and to others, rather than envying, we build-up the people around us and flourish ourselves, for this is how God designed us to live with one another. As we look forward to eternity in God’s holy city, God has called us to work towards redemption today by loving our neighbors as He has loved us, looking to Jesus and His blameless walk of truth and humility that took him to the cross and defeated our sin.
Mediate on this truth…
- For all ages:
- Cling to truth! Choose a Bible verse for your family to memorize together this week.
- Be thankful! Thank God for all He has given you. Share what you are thankful for each night around the dinner table or at bedtime.
Question 11:
Q. What does God require in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments?
A. Sixth, that we do not hurt or hate our neighbor. Seventh, that we live purely and faithfully. Eighth, that we do not take without permission that which belongs to someone else.
For the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments, The New City Catechism aptly chooses Romans 13:9 for its coinciding scripture, “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Why does God command us to love our neighbors as ourselves? Because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). Philippians tells us that Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross,” (Philippians 2:6-8). When we love our neighbors, we honor who they are as image bearers of Christ, our Savior and Creator, who loved us at all costs to himself.
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: Talk about God’s love for you as a family and then consider how you can share that love with your neighbors. Out of a rejoicing over the love God gave to us first, make a plan for how you will love your neighbor as yourself this week.
Question 10:
Q. What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments?
A. Fourth, that on the Sabbath day we spend time in worship of God. Fifth, that we love and honor our father and our mother.
In the fourth commandment, we see that God values and designed us for worship and that part of worship is resting in Christ. In Genesis 2:2, we see that God set apart the seventh day and called it holy, modeling the Sabbath for us in his design of the world. Traditionally, in our culture, we observe the Sabbath together on Sundays as we set aside the work that God has called us to and come together to worship him corporately. While there are many ways to honor the Sabbath, what is most important is how it mirrors the reality that God alone sustains us. When we trust him to provide for us as we set aside a day to worship and rest in him, it reminds us that every day, Sabbath or not, God is the strength of our hearts and our portion forever (Psalm 73:26).
In the fifth commandment, God charges his children to, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you,” (Exodus 20:12). As we consider earthly relationships between parents and children, let us look to the eternal relationship our Heavenly Father has with us. Our Heavenly Father is a holy and righteous judge who died that he might love us, his wayward children, eternally. Knowing who our Heavenly Father is according to his word, demands us to honor Him — how could we do anything but that after he has so extravagantly loved us? Here on earth, this is the same design of authority that God calls parents to reflect to their children. As God has sacrificially loved each earthly parent, earthly parents are called to give themselves daily for the flourishing of the child(ren) entrusted to them. All of us, as children, first of our creator, and second of our earthly parents, are called to honor our earthly parents for the image of our Heavenly Father that they bear. In all of our imperfections, we can rest in the perfect love of God the Father, for in him alone do we find our honor and belonging. As God our Father gives us commandments that are good for us, earthly parents are given the calling and authority to do the same for their children. As God’s children are called to honor our loving Creator, we as earthly children are called to honor our earthly parents through the immeasurable grace of the gospel.
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: Celebrate the Sabbath! Talk with your kids throughout the week about how you will make your Sabbath special for worship and rest! Make a fun plan together. Some ideas for a Sabbath:
- Worship God together through reading his word and responding with song. (This will look different in every family and with every age! Maybe you form your own worship band during the songs in our worship service. Maybe your little one naps while mom and dad worship and then you read a Bible story and sing a song when it’s time to wake up…Get creative to find a way to worship that works for you!)
- Do something active together outside (Go for a hike! Play in the hose! Kick around a soccer ball!)
- Do something restful inside (Take a nap! Have individual art or writing time! Read a book!)
- For parents: Delight in your children as God has delighted in you. Meditate on the love and endless grace your Heavenly Father has for you then tell your children you love them.
- For children: Read John 3:16. What does this verse say God did for you because he loves you? What do your parents do for you because they love you? Tell your parents you love them, too!
Question 9:
Q. What does God require in the first, second, and third commandments?
A. First, that we know God as the only true God. Second, that we avoid all idolatry. Third, that we treat God’s name with fear and reverence.
God made us to worship him and him alone. In the Garden of Eden, this came natural to us. Our relationship with God was whole. As soon as we choose sin, we break these commandments and our relationship to our Creator. In this sin, we attempt to replace him with idols that have much to tempt us with and nothing to satisfy. Our idolatry separates us from God.
Knowing our choice to cling to our idols instead of our Creator, Jesus died for us. He is not surprised when we continue to turn to idols. He knew all of our sin — past, present, and future, and still went to the depths of hell, that we might be saved from the wrath of God that we deserve. When we live in the reality that only God can satisfy what our hearts desire; when we remember that only God keeps all his promises to love and care for us to the end of time; when we live knowing that only God can forgive and restore us from our idol worship — when we live in this reality, the reality of the gospel, we see that our sinful nature is defeated, and through the Holy Spirit, we can be empowered to worship God and God alone again.
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: Let’s continue hiding God’s law in our hearts by using the New City Catechism app’s featured songs for Questions 8 & 9-12 to help us memorize the Ten Commandments.
- For older children: Talk about idols. How can we tell that we have an idol? Parents: share an example from your own life to help your children understand. Talk about Jesus’s love and sacrifice for us. Because Jesus took our punishment already knowing all of our sin, we no longer have to be afraid of God when we realize we have an idol. We can confess our sin confidently to him, sure of his forgiveness and acceptance. Parents: share an example of a time your experienced God’s forgiveness to help your children understand. Together, pray to, praise, and thank God for his perfect holiness and perfect forgiveness and ask him to help you to worship him alone.
Question 8:
Q. What is the law of God stated in the Ten Commandments?
A. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not covet.
As we begin a short series in our catechism focusing on the Ten Commandments, it is important for us to consider why God gave his people the Ten Commandments. Was it to constrain or enslave us? Was it to show us how to earn his affection? No and no.
Although many in our culture understand the law of God to be restraining or legalistic, we can see by God’s character, revealed to us in his word, that neither of these even remotely resemble his intentions. God gave us his law to show us his holiness and our need for a savior. As we’ve named in previous questions, when we take a look at God’s law, we should be immediately humbled — humbled by our inability to keep it and humbled by our God’s stark contrast with our inability, perfectly embodied in our risen and holy savior, Jesus Christ.
But wait, there’s more! When we take a look at God’s law, we see that in it, God reveals to us his nature — each commandment tells us something about who God is and how he intends for us to mirror his image. As we go through our Ten Commandments series, we’ll consider all of this together, as we seek to abide in our redeemer. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: Let’s hide God’s law in our hearts! Use the New City Catechism app and listen to the featured song for Question 8 to help you memorize the Ten Commandments. As you commit each commandment to memory, consider how each one reflects God’s character. (Parents of elementary-aged children can ask their children to share their own ideas about how each commandment reflects God’s character).
Question 7:
Q. What does the law of God require?
A. That we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love our neighbor as ourselves.
If the answer to this catechism question sounds daunting to you, that’s because it is. What does the law of God require? Much more than we can offer ourselves. In our own human strength, we cannot fulfill this law. Even before we say our first words, we are each born into brokenness, unable to be holy. When we read this catechism answer, we should be struck with its impossibility — this is the starting place for receiving the gospel.
In God’s word, we see that Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of God so that we might have his righteousness. Did this come at a cost? Yes. Jesus gave his life that we would be forgiven for falling short of the law of God — he loves this deeply. In his sacrificial love, Jesus fulfilled the law for us, freeing us from the tyranny of sin so that we might love him back and share his freeing love with our neighbors.
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: Commit 1 John 4:18, “We love because he first loved us,” to memory this week. Ask God to help you better understand his love for you so that you might love him and your neighbor.
- For older children: Read all of 1 John this week — it’s only five chapters! Try reading one chapter each day until you are finished. Notice or take notes on what this book says about love. (Tip: Sometimes after we read a passage of Scripture in the ESV, we like to use The Message summary to help us understand the Scripture in easy-to-read language).
Question 6:
Q. How can we glorify God?
A. By loving him and by obeying his commands and law.
We are sinful. We choose the sin that destroys us instead of our creator who cares for us. The gospel is this: while we are still running away from God, he reaches out to us to bring us back into his love. When we behold his great love for us, “that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), our only response should be to offer our lives back to our caring creator and redeemer.
It is important that we remember the order of these actions: God loves and saves us before we live for him. It is not my fear-induced obedience to God that merits his love in return, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:18-19). It is his love for me that inspires my love for him, giving me a heart of humble gratitude and trust, enabling me to glorify him by living in and for him.
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: In order to live for God, we must abide in his love. Let’s spend time meditating on God’s love for us this week! Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand God’s immeasurable love for you so that you can love God and obey his commands.
- For younger children: Sing the classic “Jesus Loves Me” throughout your day. As you sing the song together, remind your child how much Jesus loves them.
- For older children: Listen to Chris Tomlin’s “Jesus Loves Me.” Draw a picture, journal, sing along, or sit quietly as you reflect on Jesus’ love for you.
Listen on Spotify | Listen on YouTube
Question 5:
Q. What else did God create?
A. God created all things and all his creation was very good.
Light, land, sky, plants, stars, animals — God saw that they were good. Male and female, in his image — God saw that they were very good. (Gen. 1) Isn’t it a comfort to know that things were once perfect? This should confirm our God-given instincts that things today are not as they ought to be. While we grieve the brokenness around and inside of us, we can find hope in knowing the Creator of all things and His utter goodness. When we see that things are not how they once were, that God’s creation is no longer perfect and good, we can cling to our Redeemer, knowing that He is actively redeeming all things.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, […] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. (Rev. 21:1, 3-5)
When we see that God created all things and that all his creation was very good, we see that the story today must not be over yet. Behold, he is making all things new! Hope in him, the creator and redeemer of all!
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: Let’s behold God and worship him together. Listen to “Behold Our God” by Sovereign Grace Music together as a family throughout your day. Sing and dance along during regular parts of your day like eating breakfast or doing school work. As you listen, ask the Spirit to work the words into your and your children’s hearts, bringing you all to worship him.
Listen on Spotify | Listen on YouTube
Question 4:
Q. How and why did God create us?
A. God created us male and female in his own image to glorify him.
Isn’t this the question we’re asking in life? Why am I here? What is my purpose? In Genesis 1:27, our purpose is revealed simply in how we are made, “So God created man in his own image.” As God’s image-bearers, he made each of us to uniquely reflect who he is so that we can magnify and praise him.
As we consider the practical implications of this, let’s start by naming some of God’s qualities and characteristics that we can reflect. God is kind; we can be kind! God is the Creator; we can be creative! God is just; we can carry out justice! God is forgiving; we can forgive! The list goes on…
When we live in light of how we are made (in God’s image) and why we are made (to glorify him), we find our purpose and place in God’s story. God is actively at work making all things new in his kingdom. He has bestowed his image on us as he invites us to join his restorative work. Whether it’s in bringing order from chaos as you wash dishes for the hundredth time this week, or in choosing grace (for yourself and your children) as you parent through the trials of quarantine-life, most times, God calls us to reflect him in the most ordinary ways and rhythms of our days. How has he invited you to glorify him as you bear his image today?
Meditate on this truth…
- For younger children: Look in the mirror together. Point out all the special ways God made each of you: God gave you two hands! God gave daddy brown eyes! God made mommy a girl! As you do this, praise God for creating you: Thank you for being our creator! Thank you for creating my mouth! Thank you for creating me with freckles!
- For older children: As a family, make a list of the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. God displays these qualities perfectly (that’s what makes him God!), and he has made us to reflect him by choosing these in our own lives. During a regular part of your day (meal times, afternoon walks, etc.), talk about how each family member can choose to live out each fruit in one of the ordinary parts of their day. *Tip: Parents, model this type of thinking by sharing your own answers for your own life, then encourage kids to think hard and answer for themselves.Here’s what this could look like:
- Sunday: After lunch, grab some paper and markers, look up Galatians 5:22-23, and make a colorful list of the Fruit of the Spirit. Talk about how God does all of this perfectly.
- Monday: On an afternoon walk, talk about how each family member can choose to reflect God’s love and joy in ordinary ways.
- Tuesday: Do the same with peace and patience.
- Wednesday: …kindness and goodness.
- Thursday: …gentleness.
- Friday: …faithfulness.
- Saturday: …self-control.
Question 3:
Q. How many persons are there in God?
A. There are three persons in one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
There are three persons in one God. We call this part of God’s nature the Trinity. Wow — how can that be possible?! The Trinity is something we cannot fully understand but that we can cling to in faith. It can be hard not to understand everything. There’s a lot going on in the world today that we don’t understand. This is why it is a great comfort to have a God who is bigger than us and bigger than our understanding.
It is a good thing that we cannot fully understand God and his triune nature. This means that God is bigger and better than us. When there are things happening around us that we cannot understand, we can rest assured that our unfathomable God understands and ordains it all for His glory and for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). The more we consider God, the more in awe of him we become. This week, let’s spend time telling God all the reasons that we are in awe of Him and asking Him to help us thirst for a greater understanding of Him.
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: As a family, make a list of all the awe-inspiring ways that God is different than us. Hang the list up somewhere you will see frequently and praise God whenever you remember these things.
- For younger children: Parents, help your toddler or preschooler complete the prayer: “Thank you God for being ______!” (Kind, big, good, loving, God!, etc…)
- For older children: At a meal-time or bed-time, talk about how it is a comfort to us that God is bigger than us and has a complete understanding of the world and our own lives. What are the things we don’t understand that we can pray to God about?
Question 2:
Q. What is God?
A. The creator of everyone and everything.
God created the world. God created you. God created me. These feats alone make him Elohim, Strong Creator, but our Elohim goes further than this in his mighty creations. Our Strong Creator God also made a rescue plan for us from sin and brokenness.
When humanity chose to turn away from God and pursue sin, our relationship with God was broken beyond any repair we sinners could offer ourselves. It’s a good thing God is our Strong Creator. Through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, he created a way for us to be saved from sin and be brought back into relationship with Him!
The answer to the question, “What is God?” is good news for us, both in eternity and in these present circumstances. He is Elohim, the strong creator of everyone and everything. Our Elohim is in the business of creating rescue, life, and hope in even the darkest places, from the depths of hell, to coronavirus, to our own hearts.
This week, as you study Question 2, we encourage you to meditate on Romans 8:32. He who created the world, people, and a rescue plan for us is still ruling and creating in the world today. How do you see him at work creating life and hope all around you?
Meditate on this truth…
- For all ages: Go on a nature walk around your neighborhood. Look around at God’s creation for all the new life you can see. As you point out the new life you find, talk about how this remind us that Jesus rose from the dead and gives us new life in him.
Question 1:
Q. What is our only hope in life and death?
A. That we are not our own but belong to God.
“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)
Because we belong to God, we are his dear children. In him, we are perfectly loved, cared for, and saved from our sin. Whether in life, death, or eternity: this is our hope: we belong to our Father, and in our Father, we find our belonging. As you sit in this question, think about what it means to belong to God in every situation? What difference does it make? How does belonging to God give you hope today?
Meditate on this truth…
- With younger children: Use the New City Catechism app or website to learn the song that coordinates with Question 1. Listen to the song during regular parts of your daily rhythm, such as during diaper changes or chores.
- With older children: During a meal-time, talk about hope. What does hope mean? What kind of things do we hope for? Why is God our ultimate hope?