The following flow chart is an outline of 25 major doctrinal topics in five categories.  These topics are arranged to emphasize His Story (history), from the beginning of time (2 Tim 1:8-9), to the end of this age (1 Cor 15:20-28).  Our church is studying these topics, along with relevant sub-topics each Sunday afternoon.  After thirty minutes of teaching on a particular subject, then the men and boys go into a separate group from the ladies and girls, so each group can discuss how these truths impact their personal rank, role, and responsibilities. For more in-depth study of systematic theology, we've listed a number of books at the end of this article.

God Isa 45:1	Creation Gen 1:1	Man Gen 2:7	Family Eph 3:14	End 1 Cor 15:28
"I AM"   (Exo 3:14)	Man's Theory  (Rom 1:25)	Eden  (Gen 2:25)	Messiah  (Isa 9:6)	Season  (Mat 24:36) Isa
Authority   (John 17:17)	God's Work  (Heb 11:1-3)	Separation  (Gen 3:6)	Israel  (Rom 11:25-26)	Rapture  (1 The 4:17)
Holy Love  (1 Jo 1:5; 4:8)	Bara Stuff Space, time, matter, energy (Gen 1:2)	Justification  (Gen 3:21)	Church  (Mat 18:17)	Tribulation  (Dan 12:1)
Triune  (Mat 28:20)	Bara Animal Souls  (Gen 1:20) nephesh chayah	Sanctification  (Ro 12:1-3)	Structure  (Heb 13:7)	Millennium  (Isa 65:25)
Family  (Pro 30:4)	Bara Human Souls  (Gen 1:27) nephesh chayah	Glorification  (1 Jo 3:2)	Strategy  (Mat 28:18-20)	Eternity  (Mat 25:46)

The above five headings (God, Creation, Man, Family, Last Things) are an attempt to categorize the major truths of God's Word in a way that simply and systematically conveys not only the nature and purpose of God, but also His method and His prophesied time-table which guarantee His accomplishment of it.  Along with each topic is a key Scripture reference to serve as a spring board as you dive into the Bible to study that subject.

God is the only self-existent One, who is also a triune family, intimately cooperating in love, under the rank and direction of God the Father's sovereign authority.  God the Son is fully God, yet eternally submissive to His Father in love, obedience and honor.  God the Holy Spirit is fully God, yet eternally eager to deflect all esteem away from Himself, through the Son, and ultimately up to God the Father.

Creation of a physical universe in His image to reveal and share in His life and glory is God's purpose.  No competition or survival of the "fittest" existed in God's original creation.  The wolf and the lamb, the lion and calf, played together in the full knowledge of the LORD and His way of unselfish love.

Man was the pinnacle of God's creation.  Adam, representing God's male authority, was created to be the loving head of the human family.  Adam and Eve, together, were not a "dysfunctional" family.  They functioned together as one, according to the ranks, roles, and responsibilities God designed them to exercise.  They reflected God's character of holy love, through an ordered relationship of peaceful harmony.   Sin then entered in, so God foretold of His plan to redeem His creation and accomplish His unchanging goal of perfectly revealing His character through His creation, especially man, forever. 

Family is one of the central attributes of God, and He has centered His plan of redemption around "the called out ones" (ekklesia).  He is calling out from this rebellious world, a faithful family of submissive followers who will lovingly submit to the Messiah/Christ.  Messiah is the cornerstone anchor of God's plan of redemption.  Messiah is the seed of a virgin woman who would come and crush the head of the serpent.  God preserved a remnant line of this faithful family (Seth ... Noah ... Shem ... Abraham ... ) producing first the family-nation of Israel as the seedbed for the coming Messiah.  Following Israel's temporary rejection of Jesus 2,000 years ago, the Church (ekklesia) now represents God's faithful family to the world, with the responsibility to reflect His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  

The last things to come in God's plan of redemption involve God's calling His Church home to heaven, and His restoration of national, ethnic Israel back to its true Savior and Lord, Jesus the Messiah (Yeshua ha Mashiach).  God will pull back His hand of grace in response to Israel's prideful claim to self-sufficiency.  Discovering that they are unable to defend themselves against the world during the tribulation ("Jacob's Trouble") will bring them to their knees in humble, submissive repentance and faith.  They will finally call on the name of the LORD, JESUS, and He will come to their rescue, bodily, through the clouds of heaven, with power and glory.  He will rule the earth through Jerusalem for a thousand years.  A thousand years is as a day to the Lord, and in this seventh millennium, Sabbath rest of restoration, Messiah Jesus will restore the creation to its original state of peaceful harmony.  Then comes the end, the final judgment.  God's called out remnant will enter into His Kingdom.  Those who refused to submit to His authority and to His way of unselfish love will be totally separated from God's presence and cast out into the lake of fire.

*  Simple Systematic Theology is not dry, dead, data.  It is the water of life to dying and thirsty souls.

God's Word is Your Soul Food ! 

Hebrews 5: ¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Do you feed on it daily, reading, memorizing, and meditating?  Do you know the 66 books in God's library and His central message in each one?  Can you explain and biblically defend the major doctrines of the Christian faith?  Can your children? 

Everyone is a shepherd in some way or another.   A shepherd's primary responsibility is to ensure that the sheep are fed a balanced and healthy diet.  All of Holy Scripture is God's necessary food for a hungry, growing soul.

John 21:15-17 ^"So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs." ¹⁶He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My sheep." ¹⁷He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep."'

In order for spiritual sheep to utilize the nutritional benefit of God's Word, shepherds need to feed it to them in at least two primary ways:

1. Expository Exegesis: which simply means to examine it in order, from Genesis to the Revelation, verse by verse in context, drawing out the meaning and application God has put into it.  This is the method we use in our Sunday morning sermons, "The Bible: One Bite At A Time".  Our hope is to work through the Bible from beginning to end, over and over again, yet emphasizing different truths and practical principles each time around.

2. Simple Systematic Theology: which means to examine the important doctrinal topics found in the Bible, and how they all fit together to support and further explain one another.  We  use our Sunday afternoon study to cover the major topics of "Systematic Theology", each year.  All other significant doctrines and principles for abundant life with God and neighbor can be studied under these basic headings.

* It is then the responsibility of heads of household to feed these truths to the members of their homes in a manner that is adapted to each person's practical needs.  The goal as always is to © L.E.A.D. them to restoration and maturity in Christ's image (Loving, Equipping, Accountability, Discipline).  If needed, the head of household should seek discipleship counseling from one of the elders to learn how to speak the truth in love, and train others in the practical application of spiritual truths. 
(See also, © Seven Steps For a Down To Earth Practical Theology) (© A Five Level Apprentice Training for Discipleship Counselors)

In order for you to receive the full blessing of our Father's awesome Word, you and your family need to make every effort to pursue both study methods.  Beware of trying to replace one of them with the more "pleasurable" JUNK food of TV, magazines, etc....  They might taste good, but they're not the best, and your soul will suffer from spiritual malnutrition as the years unfold.

God: "I AM"

Exo 3:¹⁴And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ "

Isa 45:⁶ "That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting, that there is none besides Me.  I am the Lord, and there is no other; . . . ."

Our God, is an awesome God.  YAHWEH, the I AM, is self-existent, immutable, omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.  Knowing and meditating on the fact that God never gets up on the wrong side of the bed, like finite and fickle men, but is consistent in His presence, power, and knowledge will motivate us to submissive faith and obedience.  God alone is worthy of our trust and obedience.

This is not just some lofty religious concept, it's a powerfully practical truth.  For example, it's scary for families to trust the finite, fallible, and sinful man of the house to © L.E.A.D. them into an unknown future.  They know that he doesn't know everything, can't be everywhere at once, and is not as powerful as he thinks he is.  But if the man of the house shows his wife and children that he is willing to seek the guidance of the great and awesome "I AM", then his family can more easily trust that God will overcome his "natural" limitations and temptations.  For the very same reason that the people of Israel needed to know that it was not just Moses leading them, our families must see that we are lead by God, not our own flesh.  By our constant prayer, Bible study, and accountability to pastoral elders (Heb 13:7, 17), they can see that we are submissively following THE Leader: Jesus.

Even before a man reads the Bible, he knows that God exist because of all the evidence visible throughout the universe.  There's no valid excuse.  Faith is not blind and irrational.  Faith is the decision to submissively trust the One who has revealed Himself through creation, from the quantum mechanics of subatomic particles to the mind boggling order of massive interstellar nebulae.  Everything we know and see demonstrates that our finite space/time continuum is not an accident.

Please take time to get alone and meditate on God's revelation of His "I AM" nature in Scripture:

Heb 11:¹Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ²For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. ⁴By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. ⁵By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Rom 1:²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, . . . ."

Gen 1:¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

1 Tim 6:16            God alone has inherent immortality.
2 Tim 1:8-9           Time actually had a beginning.  Before time was, God IS.
Exo 6:3                 God tells us that He has progressively revealed personal details of His nature, beyond the mere fact of His power (El Shadier).
Isa 41-48             God says His primary proof that the Bible is His Word is future prophecy, demonstrating that its source is One who transcends space and time.
John 8:58             Jesus proclaimed His deity by declaring Himself to be the self-existent "I AM", in the flesh & in our face.
Heb 13:8             The Bible assures us that God is stable, unchanging, and therefore trustworthy.

The age old, new age, Luciferic LIE is that man can evolve to become his own "I AM".  This dangerous deception leads us to the next major doctrinal topic under the cornerstone heading of GOD.  It's the topic of AUTHORITY.  What is the authoritative source of knowledge for the things we believe about the ultimate questions of life?  Is the God of the Bible really LORD?
1 Cor 15:1-28     Remember, that the culmination of His Story will be the bringing of all things into submission under His reality.

God:  "I AM Authority"

John 17:¹⁷  "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."

Rom 1:^{20 "}For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, . . . ."

Everyone has answers to the ultimate questions of life:
        1. Who am I?
        2. Where did I come from?
        3. Why am I here?
        4. How can I know for sure?

A person's answers to the first three questions necessarily stand or fall on the answer to the fourth question.  How can someone know for sure that their beliefs are truth?  What source of authority backs up what they believe?  This issue is what theologians and philosophers call epistemology.  Epistemology is the study of man's source of knowledge, the authority for what a person believes.  There are four major avenues which are generally claimed for sources of knowledge:
        1. Logical Reason
        2. Empirical Experimentation
        3. Subjective Intuition
        4. Special, Objective Revelation of Truth

Each of these avenues of knowledge are valid and useful for answering certain questions.  But 1-3 cannot answer the ultimate questions of life with certainty.  Only direct, objective revelation from the Creator who transcends the limits of this finite, space-time continuum can answer questions of an ultimate (eternal) nature.  Certain truths like the facts of chemistry, mathematics, medical science, etc., are available to us through the study of the physical world around us.  This is called general revelation.  Romans 1 tells us that we can know that God exists by looking at the order of creation.  But general revelation can't answer the specifics of the ultimate questions.  Special revelation from the Creator is necessary for man to have those answers.

But many different religions have books that they claim are direct revelations of the creator.  How can we know which ones represent God's authority?  Since God transcends the space-time creation, then the most obvious evidence for His authorship would be 100 % accuracy in prophecies that transcend the present and foretell the future.  This is in fact exactly what God, through His prophets in the Bible, has promised He would provide, so that the world may know that HE IS.  In Isaiah 41- 48, God says He will prove that He alone is God and that His Bible is His authoritative Word, by proclaiming the future and then He, Himself, will bring it to pass.  Even more, the God of the Bible promises that 100 % of His prophesies will come true with impeccable accuracy.   No other religious book even attempts to use such prophecy to demonstrate that its author is God.
The Bible is God's special revelation, and its central theme is History (His Story), the story of Messiah Jesus, the God/Man redeemer of His rebellious creation.

Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?".  Legend? Liar? Lunatic? LORD?

Mat 7:^{28  "}And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, ²⁹for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."

Many "additions" tempt man to look beyond God's Word for answers to life and godliness, such as psychology, mysticism, Book of Mormon, Koran, etc......  But the Bible stands alone, above all other sources as the inerrant, sufficient, authoritative Word of God.

Gen 1:1-5            God . . . . said
Exo 20                 Ten Commandments
Psa 19                 Word is . . . . inerrant and sufficient
Psa 119               Word is . . . inerrant and sufficient
Pro 30:5-6           Word is . . . do not add to His Word . . .
1 Cor 4:6             Learn not to think beyond what is written
2 Tim 3-4             Scripture is God-breathed, & warns about authority, rebellion, and the Last Days
1 Pet 1:24-25       God's authority (Scripture) overrules man's majority, forever  
2 Pet 1:19            We have a God's prophetic Word, which is more sure than subjective experience, etc...

God:  "I AM Authority & Holy Love"

Eph 1:^{4 " . . .} just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, . . . . "

Josh 24:¹⁴ "Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! ¹⁵"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. ²⁰"If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good."

God's holiness and His love are often mistakenly described as if they were opposites in conflict with one another.  But in God's reality, they are two sides of the same coin, or the same face, God's countenance.  God's holiness is inseparable from His love, and vice versa.  Therefore we, His people, cannot reflect His love without His holiness, nor manifest His holiness without His love.  Everywhere in Scripture, when it speaks of God's love, the context also speaks of God's holiness.  His holiness is the delegation of His authority structure built into His creation.  It is the backbone of all order and function.  When the world and the psychologized church emphasize love over God's authority, the result is not strong relationships, but a mushy mess of chaotic disorder.  Families degenerate into dysfunctional democracies and finally end up in anarchy as parents fail to exercise God's delegated authority over spoiled children.  And God's people wander aimlessly in impotent confusion when the men abdicate their rank, role, and responsibility (Isa 3:12).

Likewise, if a person or a church tries to maintain holy order through authority, but fails to balance it with God's love, then the result is a hard and rigid system that produces only external submission not genuine trust and eager cooperation.

Deut 7:^{6 '}"For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. ⁷"The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; ⁸"but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, ..."

Here are few other Scriptures that illustrate the inseparable nature of God's holy love:

1 Peter 1:13-17 and 4:7-9  be holy as God is Holy . . . love one another is the law
1 John 1:1-10 and 4:7-9   God is holy light . . . and walking in the light is loving your brother
Rom 5:5  the love of God has been poured out within Christian hearts through the Holy Spirit
2 Cor 6:4-10 by the Holy Spirit, by love, by the word
2 Cor 13:14  the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

As this study unfolds, online notes will be added for each topic ...