Workbook 1

 

 

 

 

(Lord’s Days 1-26)

 

 

 

 

 

1997 Edition

 

 

 

 

by

 

Rev. Dale H. Kuiper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOREWORD

 

                This workbook has been prepared at the request of the 1974 Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America.  The two volumes provide sufficient material for a two-year period of instruction for young people fourteen and fifteen years of age.  In our sequence of catechism books, this workbook belongs between the New Testament for Seniors and Essentials of Reformed Doctrine books.  Although the workbook can be used with the existing Heidelberg Catechism for Juniors book, its real purpose is that it be used with the Heidelberg Catechism itself; following this method, the actual Lord’s Days are memorized by the student.  The workbook then serves the purpose of assisting the student in the understanding of the Lord’s Days and provoking him into thinking through this instruction.

 

            Pastors:  Fifty-two lessons are provided in the workbook.  This will allow for two thirty-lesson catechism seasons.  Four weeks each year are available for testing or for discussion periods.  It is suggested that the booklet The Three Forms of Unity be used as the textbook.  This booklet is much handier than the Psalter, and will encourage the student to follow instructions in looking up information in the other confessions.  It is presupposed that the student knows the books of the Bible so he can find his way through the Scriptures easily.

            The key to the use of the workbook is flexibility.  There are three parts to the total picture of instruction:  the students’ memorizing of the Lord’s Days, the students’ filling in of the workbook, and the pastor’s presentation in class.  The workbook ought to be used carefully and with flexibility so that the presentation of the gospel in the classroom does not suffer.  In other words, the workbook is not meant to be the sole means of instruction.  The pastor can decide if the lessons are graded in class or handed in sometimes, if the material of the workbook is gone over thoroughly or only a few key questions are discussed.  Each pastor can integrate the workbook into his system as he sees fit.

 

            Parents:  The young people are encouraged to discuss questions and issues with their parents.  In several instances this is the only way the correct answer can be obtained.

 

            May the Lord bless this effort in presenting the priceless heritage of Reformed truth to our youth, that they may experience the comfort that belongs to the covenant friends of the Most High God!

 

Rev. D.H. Kuiper

Lynden, Washington

 

 

A.                        Introduction to the Catechism.  (You may want to discuss this part with your parents.)

1.     When was the Heidelberg Catechism written?  _____________  Who were the authors of the Catechism?  ______________________ and _____________________________  Under what circumstances was the Catechism written?  ญญ__________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

2.     When did the Catechism become one of the official creeds of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands?  __________________  What churches beside our own have the Heidelberg Catechism as one of their creeds?  __________________________________

3.     What does Article 68 of the Church Order say about the Catechism?  _______________ _______________________________________________________________________

B.    The emphasis of the Catechism.

1.     In addition to the Catechism, our churches have the _____________________ and the ___________________________ as our creeds or confessions.

2.     Read the first article of each of the other creeds.  Their subjects are __________________ _________________________ and __________________________________________.

3.     Rather than taking the doctrinal approach, the Catechism takes the practical, personal approach, stressing the idea of comfort.

a.      Comfort is needed:

___  only by the aged.

___  only by the sick.

___  by all people at some time.

___  by everyone at all times.

b.     In what wrong things might a young person try to find his comfort?  _____________ ____________________________________________________________________

c.      True comfort allows a person to live happily as well as ________________________.

4.     Give at least two reasons why the blood of Christ is called precious.  ________________ _______________________________________________________________________

5.     Job is an example of a man who stood in need of great comfort and who received it abundantly.

a.      Read Job 1:13-22 and tell why Job stood in need of comfort.  ___________________ ____________________________________________________________________

b.     Read Job 19:25-27 and tell why he was able to be comforted in the midst of all his woes.  _______________________________________________________________
C.  The division of the Catechism.

1.     What three things must we know if we are to have true comfort?  __________________, ___________________________, _____________________________

2.     We can find this threefold division expressed in a single passage:  Romans 7:24, 25.  Quote the proper phrases to show this.

a.      Misery — “__________________________________________________________.”

b.     Deliverance — “______________________________________________________.”

c.      Gratitude — “________________________________________________________.”

 

      This Lord’s Day instructs us in the fact that the true nature and extent of our misery can only be known out of the Law of God.  The Law, here, refers to the Ten Commandments.  Since we cannot keep the Ten Commandments, we are taught that our misery arises out of our sin and our guilt.

A.    Answer these questions carefully in your own words:

1.     What is sin?  After reading I John 3:4, write a definition of sin.  _________________ ____________________________________________________________________

2.     Did a sinless man ever live?  According to I John 1:8-19 and Romans 3:12, the answer is very plainly _________________.

3.     Is it possible for a person to sin without knowing it?  Read Luke 23:34 and I Timothy 1:13.  _____________________

a.      Is ignorance an excuse for sin?  ___________________

b.     Does ignorance make a sin a different kind of sin?  ______________

4.     Sin is a very terrible thing.  Today most people do not even talk about sin anymore; they are not concerned with what is right and wrong.  After reading Isaiah 59:1, 2; Psalm 51:14; and Galatians 3:10, give several reasons why sin is such a serious matter.

a.      Isaiah 59:1, 2 — ___________________________________________________

b.     Psalm 51:14 — ____________________________________________________

c.      Galatians 3:10 — __________________________________________________

5.     It is commonly believed that sin is committed only when a person does some evil act.  But see Matthew 5:21, 22, 27, 28; and James 4:17.  These verses make plain that sin is also committed in our __________________ and with our ___________________.

6.     Scripture uses many terms for sin.  Give several other words or synonyms for sin.

a.      __________________________

b.     __________________________

c.      __________________________

d.     __________________________

7.     Our sin is our misery due to the fact that the result of sin or the wages of sin is _________________.  (See Genesis 2:17 and Romans 6:23.)

B.    Mark with T or F to indicate whether the statement is true or false.

      ___ 1.  Christ teaches us that some of the Ten Commandments are more important than others.

      ___ 2.  It is possible to love God and hate the neighbor.

      ___ 3.  It is impossible to love the neighbor and hate God.

      ___ 4.  It is possible to keep some commandments and break others.

      ___ 5.  Love is the keeping of the law.

      ___ 6.  God Himself must tell us what is sinful if we are to know our sins.

      ___ 7.  What is sinful in one age might be perfectly all right in another.

      ___ 8.   All men by nature are haters of God and of one another.

      ___ 9.  The Ten Commandments are still God’s rule for our life today.

      ___ 10.  Our misery is rooted in what we are, rather than what we do.

      ___ 11.  The better we know our sinful selves, the more we will take our refuge in the cross of Christ.

      ___ 12.  God’s way of working is that He first humbles us and then exalts us.

      ___ 13.  God loves us because we love Him.

      ___ 14.  Young people really do not have to concern themselves with the matter of sin.

      ___ 15.  Christ did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.

      ___ 16.  We can find other ways of serving God than keeping the law.

      ___ 17.  If everyone does a certain thing, this thing cannot be sinful.

      ___ 18.  A slight understanding of our sin leads to a small cross and little reason for gratitude.

      ___ 19.  It is bad to talk about sin because it might make a person worry.

      ___ 20.  God is satisfied if we keep part of the law at least part of the time.

      This Lord’s Day includes instruction on the creation of man, his fall into sin, and the depravity that followed for the human race.  This is a very good method to follow.  If man is prone to hate God and the neighbor, it makes good sense to trace man back to his origins to discover the reason for his sinful condition.  Before answering the following questions, read Article 14 of the Belgic Confession and Articles 1, 2, and 3 of the Third and Fourth Heads of the Canons of Dordt.

A.    Answer each question with a word or two.

1.     Man was created in the image of God and after His likeness.  From Colossians 3:10 and Ephesians 4:24 we learn that the image of God in man consisted of _________________, _______________________, and __________________________.

2.     That man is a special creature is indicated by the unique way in which God created him.  Read Genesis 1:26 and 2:7.  Give two details that show that man’s creation was different from that of all the other creatures.

a.      _____________________________________________________________________

b.     _____________________________________________________________________

3.     According to Lord’s Day III, man was originally created that he might _______________ God his Creator, ________________ Him, and ____________________ in eternal happiness to glorify and praise Him.

4.     The relation that Adam and Eve have toward us and all the human race is that of _______________________________.

5.     Did the fall of Adam and Eve into sin affect us?  ____________  How?  (In answering this question, refer again to Canons, III/IV, Art. 2.)  ____________________________.

6.     Romans 5:12 is a very important text in respect to the doctrine of original sin.  Look at this text carefully and answer the following questions:

a.      By what one man did sin enter the world?  _________________________

b.     What is the relationship between sin and death?  ____________________________

c.      In the phrase, “… and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned …,” when did “all” sin, at the time of Adam or during men’s own lifetime?  ___________

7.     Depravity means wickedness and corruption.  Total depravity emphasizes that depravity or wickedness extends to every part of man’s nature and to every member of the human race.

a.      List the parts of the human nature that have come under the power of sin.  (Hint — see 4^th answer of Lord’s Day 2.)

1)     ____________________________          3)   ____________________________

2)     ____________________________          4)   ____________________________

b.     Quote a verse from Romans 3 that proves that every man is depraved.  “___________ ___________________________________________________________________.”

c.      What does Psalm 51:5 teach about our depravity?  ___________________________

8.     Because of total depravity, we are so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good and are inclined to all wickedness.  State the 3^rd point of common grace.  ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

      Is the theory of common grace contrary to the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dordt?  ________________

9.     God’s grace in Christ is the only way that depraved man can be delivered from his proneness to hate God and the neighbor.

a.      What is grace?  _______________________________________________________

b.     What act of God’s grace, specifically, is necessary if a man is to perform any good?  ____________________________________________________________________

B.    True or False (T or F)

      ___ 1.  Man can never blame God for what he is or does.

      ___ 2.  The days of the creation week could not have been long periods of time.

      ___ 3.  It makes little difference whether Genesis 1-3 are literally true or not.

      ___ 4.  God created man wicked and perverse.

      ___ 5.  Adam was capable of loving God perfectly according to his creation.

      ___ 6.  A baby is worthy of death the moment he is born.

      ___ 7.  There is a little bad in the best of us and a little good in the worst of us.

      ___ 8.  Man by himself is absolutely incapable of performing any good before God.

      ___ 9.  Every person is sinful because he imitates those around him.

      ___ 10.  We have nothing to do with the deeds of Adam and Eve.

C.    Match the term with its definition or description by placing a number in each blank.

1.     Creation                 ___ a. An act of willful disobedience against the law of God.

2.     Image of God         ___ b. Man is born dead in trespasses and sin.

3.     The Fall                  ___ c. An area created as a picture of heaven.

4.     Total Depravity       ___ d. A well-watered area near the Euphrates River.

5.     Common Grace      ___ e. Each one of us sinned when Adam sinned.

6.     Original Sin             ___ f. A birth by which the power of death is broken.

7.     Grace                     ___ g. God spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast.

8.     Regeneration          ___ h. The view that God’s grace is upon all men.

9.     Eden                      ___ i. The creaturely reflection of God’s perfections in man.

10. Paradise                 ___ j. The shining forth of God’s beauty when He bestows undeserved

                                                   favor upon His people.

 

      Up to this point, we have seen that natural man is a hater of God and his neighbor, is incapable of doing any good, and thus has come under the curse of God which is death.  In this Lord’s Day we are presented with many attributes or virtues of God:  His justice, mercy, and most high majesty.  We can look at these three questions and answers as three attempts of sinful man to escape the consequences of his sin without forsaking his sin.  Knowing that we are depraved and miserable, perhaps we begin to think along these lines:

1.     God is not fair in requiring of me what I cannot do.

2.     Maybe there is no such thing as punishment for sin.

3.     God’s mercy will take care of everything, so why worry?

The answers of the Catechism set our thinking straight.  If we are to find a way out of our misery, it must be God’s way out, not ours.

A.    Answer these questions, looking up the biblical passages where indicated.

1.     For man to suggest that God is not just is a terrible thing.  Read Deuteronomy 32:4 and find six words that describe the perfect justice of God.  ______________, ____________, _________________, _______________, _______________, and _________________

2.     Although the devil tempted and deceived our first parents, their fall was an act of willful disobedience.  This means that man wanted to sin.

a.      What excellent gifts were lost through the fall?  (Canons III/IV, Art. 1)  __________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

b.     What replaced these excellent gifts?  (same article) ___________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

c.      To what does Adam’s posterity refer?  _____________________________________

d.     Canons III/IV, Art. 2 states that corruption came upon the human race, not by ________________ but by the propagation of a _____________________________.

3.     Answer 10 speaks of two different kinds of sin.  List them and describe them.

      ______________ sin means ________________________________________________.

      ______________ sin means ________________________________________________.

4.     God hates all sin and will punish all sin.

a.      Is sin punished in this lifetime?  ________  How?  ___________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

b.     Is sin punished eternally in hell?  _______  After reading Luke 16:24 and Revelation 20:15, tell what language the Bible uses to describe the punishment of hell.  _____________________________________________________________________

5.     God is not only ___________, but also ________________________.

a.      Can God, in His mercy,  ignore the fact that we have sinned?  ____________

b.     Would God be God if He allowed sin to go unpunished?  ____________

c.      Which shows loving concern on the part of parents — if they let their children do what they want, or if they correct, warn, and administer some punishment?  Give a reason for your answer.  _________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

6.     Clearly, if man is to be delivered from his misery, the way of deliverance will have to take into account both the justice and mercy of God.

a.      Read Psalm 85:10.  This verse actually speaks of mercy and justice using slightly different terms.  What words are similar to justice?  ________________ and __________________  What word belongs with mercy?  __________________ 

b.     Where did mercy and truth meet together?  ______________________________

B.    Underline the best ending to the beginning of the phrase.

1.     That God is just means: 

a.      no one can ever be saved.

b.     His justice will have to be satisfied.

c.      He is cruel when He punishes.

2.     According to his creation, man was: 

a.      able to choose to obey or disobey God.

b.     already inclined to sin.

c.      not able to love God perfectly.

3.     The will of fallen man is: 

a.      still able to choose what is right.

b.     finds it difficult to choose the good.

c.      never desires what is good.

4.     Adam’s sin was so serious because: 

a.      it was committed in the beautiful Garden.

b.     it was against the covenant God.

c.      it meant he had to leave Paradise.

5.     The temptation and fall:

a.      happened according to the eternal will of God.

b.     was permitted to happen by God.

c.      happened against the will of God.

6.     Since the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour:

a.      we ought to give the devil no place in our lives.

b.     we need not be concerned because Christ will protect us.

c.      we can live as close to the world as possible.

7.     The “most high majesty of God” impresses upon us that:

a.      God is to be feared and obeyed.

b.     that God is so high we can never know Him.

c.      that God is not interested in the affairs of man.

 

      Question 12 gets right to the point of deliverance:  “… is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favor?”  But these important matters are not to be rushed.  Very carefully the Catechism exhausts every human possibility to show the hopelessness of man in himself.  In the last Question and Answer we are given the requirements of the Mediator, but He is not yet identified for us.

A.    Throughout the Word of God it is emphasized that man can do nothing to satisfy God’s justice, or to provide a way out of his misery.  Salvation is entirely of the Lord.  Here are a few examples of this truth:

1.     Read Genesis 3:7, 21.

a.      Adam and Eve tried to hide their nakedness by covering themselves with _______ ______________.  However, this could not cover their sin and shame.

b.     Therefore God provided them with ____________________ ____________.

c.      In what way did this point them to Christ?  _________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

d.     Since we read of sacrifice in Genesis 4:3, 4, may we conclude that God had instructed Adam and Eve concerning sacrifice when He gave them coats of skins?  _________

2.     Read Genesis 16:1-4 and Hebrews 11:11, 12.

a.      God had promised to send Abraham seed in whom all the world would be blessed, and that seed was Christ.  Yet, Abraham and Sarah had no children and they were past the years of childbearing.  What did Abraham and Sarah decide to do?  ___________ ____________________________________________________________________

      Was this pleasing to God?  __________

b.     When it was unmistakable that Abraham and Sarah could not have children, God sent Isaac.  By what power was Isaac conceived?  __________________ (Heb. 11:11, 12)

c.      Hence it is clear that ________________ can never bring forth Christ.

3.     Read Luke 1:30-35.

a.      God had promised David that his son would sit on the throne forever.  But at this time there was no proper descendant of David for _______________ to have as a husband.  The line of David came down to a lone virgin.

b.     When all is hopeless and dark, God reveals His salvation by causing the __________ _________________ to come upon Mary so that that which is born of her is called ________________________.

4.     Luke 18:27 sums this up very well.  Quote this text.  “____________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________.”

B.    Fill in the blanks.

1.     This Lord’s Day stresses that God’s justice must be satisfied and His mercy can never be in conflict with His justice.

a.      What is the idea of satisfaction?  __________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

b.     Why cannot we make this satisfaction?  ____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

c.      What are the two reasons why another creature cannot satisfy for us?  ____________ _____________________________________________________________________

2.     Read Hebrews 9:11, 12.

a.      Did the blood of animals satisfy for sin during the Old Testament times?  _________

b.     What was the significance of animal blood?  ________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

3.     What are the requirements of a mediator and deliverer?

a.      ___________________________

b.     ___________________________

c.      ___________________________

4.     In the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:12) our sins are called debts.

a.      What is the idea of a debt?  _____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

b.     If we stopped sinning at this moment, would God be satisfied with us?  __________ Explain.   ____________________________________________________________

5.     At the end of this Lord’s Day it looks almost impossible that we should ever be delivered.  But God is faithful!  What name of Christ describes best the idea of Answer 15?  __________________________  (See Isaiah 7:14.)

 

 

      In this lesson the Mediator is set forth as to His requirements.  We learn of our Mediator in the holy gospel, which comes to us in the Scriptures.  Hence, we can very profitably study the doctrine of Scripture here.

A.    Fill in the blanks.

1.     Why cannot a sinner satisfy for the sins of another person?  ________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

2.     That God requires that “the same nature which sinned shall make satisfaction,” means that the Mediator will have to have a ______________ ____________________.

3.     Answer 17 contains these elements:

a.      The human nature of the Mediator must be sustained by the ____________________ ____________________________.

b.     The human nature must obtain ______________________ and _________________.

c.      The Mediator must then give these things He has obtained to ______________.

4.     Our Lord Jesus Christ is in one _________________ both very God and a ___________ _____________________.

5.     I Corinthians 1:30, 31 reads, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:  That, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

a.      Skim through the last part of I Corinthians 1.  With what is wisdom contrasted?  _____________________________________________________________________

b.     If man could save himself, or if salvation were of works, would verse 31 be true?  _________  Explain.  ___________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

c.      Hence it is clear that God has arranged all things so that the salvation of His people would result in His ___________________________.

6.     Where do we learn who and what the Mediator is?  ______________________________  Romans 10:14, 15 makes clear that we do not learn this by reading the Bible, but through ________________________________.

a.      Answer 19 really states that the holy gospel from beginning to end is Christ.  The Bible on every page gives us God’s revelation of Himself in His Son, who is the Word.

1)     Quote the first announcement of the gospel in Paradise and circle the word that refers to Christ.  “__________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________.”

2)     Quote Genesis 22:18, which was spoken to the patriarch Abraham.  “__________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________.”

3)     Quote a verse from Isaiah 53 that shows how the prophet spoke of the coming Messiah.  “________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________.”

4)     Quote Hebrews 7:27, which shows that Christ is the fulfillment of all Old Testament sacrifice.  “________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________.”

5)     Quote Romans 10:4, which shows that the fulfillment of the law is in Christ:  “_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.”

b.     The holy gospel is trustworthy only if it is true!  In II Timothy 3:16 and II Peter 1:21 the Bible sets forth its own teaching on the inspiration of the Word of God.  Read these verses, consult your parents if necessary, and answer these questions:

1)     What is meant by inspiration?  _________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

2)     What do we mean by verbal inspiration?  ________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

3)     What is meant by infallible inspiration?  _________________________________ __________________________________________________________________