The Principles of First Mention

By Robert Morris

You always remember your firsts: Your first date. Your first job. Your baby's first word.

The reason we remember our firsts is because they're significant. They're the beginning of what is to come, and each one has the potential to develop and grow into something more.

In this series, Pastor Robert teaches that the first time a word or phrase appears in Scripture is important. The first mention often establishes a precedent, pattern, or biblical concept that occurs throughout the rest of the Bible. As Pastor Robert unpacks the principles of first mention, God's Word will come alive with new insights and understanding. This study guide is a companion to the DVD and is designed for group study or individual reflection.

Read your Bible with new enthusiasm as you discover the first mentions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781951227746

Robert Morris

ROBERT MORRIS is the founding senior pastor of Gateway Church, a multicampus church in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He is featured on the weekly television program The Blessed Life and is the bestselling author of twelve books, including The Blessed Life, From Dream to Destiny, The God I Never Knew, and The Blessed Church. Robert and his wife, Debbie, have been married thirty-five years and are blessed with one married daughter, two married sons, and six grandchildren. Follow Robert on Twitter @PsRobertMorris.  

Book preview

1

The Beginning of Death

We don’t have to live in fear of death when we accept the free gift of God’s grace.

ENGAGE

Share about one of your firsts from childhood (first day of school, first bike ride, etc.).

WATCH

Watch The Beginning of Death.

Think about what the Bible says is the cause of death.

Look for what the Bible says is the cure for death.

(If you are not able to watch this teaching on video, read the following. Otherwise, skip to the Talk section after viewing.)

READ

In this series, I want to teach you about the Principles of First Mention. In theology, when a word is first mentioned in the Bible, you need to understand what that word means so you can understand what it means in the rest of the Bible. Any time you talk about a principle from Scripture, it has to be congruent with the whole of Scripture.

When we talk about the Law of First Mention, you also have to understand the Law of Context, the Law of Consistency, and the Law of Congruency. It has to be taken in context, be consistent with the whole of God’s Word, and be congruent with God’s nature and character.

You can’t take one verse out of context and build a doctrine or theology. People have often told me something like, Pastor, I’m leaving my spouse, and I can show you the Scriptural reasons for doing so. I remember telling one man, What do you do for a living? He said he was a doctor. So I said, Well, let me tell you how the body works. He replied, I don’t think you know how the body works. I told him, Then don’t tell me what the Bible says.

I don’t mean that you can’t study the Bible and learn—I want you to study the Bible and learn! But it’s all too common for people to take one verse out of context and think they’ve come up with a brand new theology. Theology stands on its own. It must be consistent and congruent with the whole Bible. You can’t take one verse out of context if you want to truly understand what it means. If you take a verse out of context, you can prove just about anything you want to. That’s called contextual exegesis

The word genesis means ‘beginning.’ The book of Genesis starts with, In the genesis or In the beginning (1:1). Do you know which other book in the Bible begins with In the beginning? It’s the book of John. It says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)

If you had to read only two books of the Bible to try and get an understanding of all of it, Genesis and John would be two good ones to choose. Genesis shows us how the world began and the covenant God made with us, and John shows us how Jesus came and redeemed the world.

All the messages in this series are going to begin with, The beginning of … The title of the message for this week may sound negative but bear with me. It’s titled, The Beginning of Death. Death began in Genesis with Adam and Eve.

I have three questions for you:

W

HAT

I

S

 

THE

 C

AUSE

OF

 D

EATH

?

Many people would say the cause of death is sin. And that’s true. But if people go down that road too far, they end up trying not to