robroyston church of scotland

If you have any questions about what we believe that aren't answered here to your satisfaction then please send an e-mail with your question to info@robroystonchurch.org.uk and we'll do our best to answer it for you.

Q: Who Made You?

A: God Made You (Genesis 1:27)

This is one of the two most important questions we look at. Just like when you create something (say out of clay or wood) it belongs to you, and just as when an artist paints a painting on a blank piece of canvass it is his or her property, so we are God’s property because he made us.

Q: Why did he make you?

A: To glorify and enjoy him (1 Corinthians 10:31)

This is another really important question. Because God made us (Question 1) he is the one who knows what we were made for – and he says it was for two things, to glorify him (which means to praise) and to enjoy him.

Q: What else did God make?

A: All things (Genesis 1:31)

Everything we see around us, whether it’s on the earth, in the sky or in space, whether seen through a telescope or a microscope, was made by God!

Q: Why did he make all things?

A: For his own glory (Revelation 4:11)

All the things God made – absolutely everything – he made so that he would be praised.  This means that the tiniest detail about even the most minute insect in Creation was made by God so that he would be praised.

Q: Where does God teach us to praise & enjoy him?

A: The Bible (Psalm 119:99; John 5:39)

We can learn a lot from other people who are older and wiser than us (such as our teachers), but if we want to know how to live life here on earth we don’t learn from other people, we learn it from the Bible.

Q: What is God?

A: God is spirit (John 4:24)

God is not a person like us who lives on earth, he is spirit. This reminds us that God is very different from us, even though we were made in his image. It also reminds us he doesn't need the earth, food or water to survive.

Q: Where is God?

A: God is everywhere (Job 11:7)

That means he can be in different places at the same time! This thought is both comforting and overwhelming; comforting because we know we can never be alone (no matter where we are) and overwhelming because we can never hide from him (even when we are doing wrong things).

Q: Did God have a beginning?

A: No. He has always existed (Psalm 90:2)

Look at any object in the room around you.  At one point in history it did not exist (though we might have to go back hundreds of years). God is not like that; there will never be a time when he does not exixt.

Q: Will he have an end?

A: No. He will always exist (Psalm 102:27)

Everything we see around us will one day no longer be there; it will have rotted away, been destroyed or corroded. God is not like that; there will never be a time when he does not exixt.

Q: Does God ever change?

A: No. He is always the same (Psalm 102:27)

Sometimes even our parents and close friends let us down because they change their mind and don’t keep their promise. God is not like that, he never changes.

Q: Does God know everything?

A: Yes. Nothing can be hidden from him (Psalm 44:21)

Although we can do things in secret so our parents or friends don’t know about them, God always knows about them because we can’t hide anything from him (even our thoughts) :-S

Q: Can God do everything?

A: Yes. He can do everything that pleases him (iasiah 40:12-15)

You know the little hollow bit in the palm of your hand?  The Bible says that all the seas of the whole world can fit in that part of God’s hand!  Imagine a drop of water falling into a bucket of water – the Bible says all of the nations in this world (in Africa, Asia, Europe, etc.) are like that little drop to him!  God is big enough & powerful enough to do anything he wants.

Q: Can you see God?

A: No. But he can always see you (Colossians 1:15)

Although we can’t see God we can see evidence that he exists, like when we look at Creation around us (mountains, oceans, plants & animals) and when we are provided with food and clothes. Being a Christian can be difficult sometimes because we can’t see God, but we must always remember that even although we can’t see him, he is still there.

Q: How many 'Gods' are there?

A: There is only one God (Isaiah 45:5, Deuteronomy 6:4)

The Bible is really clear that although people believe in lots of different gods, there is actually only one who is really alive – and that’s the God of the Bible.  There are no other Gods apart from him.

Q: How many persons are there in the one God?

A: There are three persons in the one God (Matthew 28:19)

There are some really difficult sums that we cannot understand, and there are even some that no-one in the world is able to understand. This answer is a bit like that – the Bible tells us there are three persons in the one God – which is really hard for us to understand.

Q: Who are these three persons?

A: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)

The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God – and yet there is only one God. They differ in what they do, or the role they have. For example, when we say (as Christians) that God saves us from before the beginning of time, God the Son submitted to his Father's plan and died on our behalf, God the Holy Spirit convinces us that these things are true and helps us to live as Christians.

Q: Who made the world?

A: God, and he made it out of nothing (Genesis 1:31, Hebrews 11:3)

When you or I make something, we need to make it out of something (paper plane out of a sheet of paper, chair out of wood, etc.). God doesn't need anything to make something. He can make things out of nothing, and the Bible tells us that when he made the whole world there was nothing there to begin with.  Nobody else can do that – God is amazing!

Q: How did God make the world?

A: By speaking powerful words (Psalm 148:5)

God called the whole of Creation into being by speaking and in so doing established a relaitionship with the world right from the outset.

Q: Were Adam and Eve good when God made them?

A: Yes, very good. All that God made was good (Genesis 1:31)

The Bible tells us that when God made the earth, he made it good. Unfortunately it hasn't stayed in that good condition because of the choices Adam and Eve made (and every human being has made since). When God calls something good we can be sure it truly was wonderful, because God is the one who defines goodness.

Q: What is sin?

A: Sin is disobeying or not keeping God's law (1 John 3:4)

We live in the UK and therefore have to obey the law of this land. Everyone in this world lives on God's planet and was made by God, and so we have to obey God's law. We can break God's law by doing something we are not allowed to do (like lying), but we can also break his law by failing to do something we should be doing (like loving him with all our hearts).

Q: Did Adam and Eve continue to be good?

A: No. They sinned by disobeying God (Genesis 3:3)

There are many things in life that we need to be taught – like times tables or how to behave properly. Why is it that although we've never been taught how to lose our temper or be selfish we can do these things well? The Bible says that although Adam and Eve were made 'good' they didn't stay good, but disobeyed God. As a result, none of us are 'good' and sinning comes very naturally to us.

Q: What happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned?

A: They were separated from God (Genesis 3:24)

The most serious result of sin is that it seperates us from God. Before they sinned, Adam and Eve could walk with God in the Garden of Eden, but after they sinned they were put out of the garden of Eden and not allowed to re-enter (God even put a flaming lightsaber-like sword in front of the entrance to make sure they couldn't get back in). God cannot tolerate sin in his presence because he is holy.

Q: Does Adam's sin affect us?

A: Yes. We are all Adam's children. He acted for us all and as a result we are all born in a sinful condition (Romans 5:12).

If you are still at school, everyone who wears the same uniform as you in some way represents you. If someone from your school steals something from a shop when wearing their school uniform, it also affects you because you wear the same uniform (whether you were there at the time or not). In a similar way the Bible teaches that Adam represented us all and when he sinned it affected us all; every human being since Adam is or has been sinful from birth.  The good news is that Christians also have another representative – Jesus – and the good he did far outweighs the bad that Adam did.

Q: Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful condition?

A: No. Our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven (Psalm 9:17).

A marathon is a running race of 26.2 miles. That's a long race and to be able to participate in a marathon you need to be fit. If you are overweight or underexercised you will not be fit for it. The Bible tells us we are not naturally fit for heaven, and we need to be made fit for it. But we don't get fit for heaven by exercising more or by being careful what we eat, like we would for a marathon; to be fit for heaven we need our hearts changed (we'll hear more about how God does this for his people in the coming weeks).

Q: What did God do to save his people from his anger and punishment?

A: He sent his son so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Why did God do it? He did not have to send his son; he did not have to save people; and yet he did. Why? The Bible tells us it is because he loves us with a really deep love. A love that is a little bit like the love a husband has for his wife when he makes promises to her, when he wants to be with her forever and when he promises to look after her. God really, really loves you!

Q: Who was the mother of Jesus?

A: The virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18).

Mothers were not respected in Jesus' day. In fact, women were treated as if they were not worth very much at all. It was then that God decided to send the Saviour of the world – to be born of a woman! A young poor woman woman called Mary was to mother the Saviour of humanity and be remembered every time the birth of Jesus is mentioned. Also, when he was on the cross, one of the few things Jesus spoke concerned his mother – to make sure she was looked after. It is clearly important that we celebrate our mothers and that we look after them as best we can.

Q: Did Jesus ever commit any sin?

A: No. He obeyed God perfectly always (Hebrews 4:15).

This is amazing! Jesus was not affected by Adam's sin, and he lived his whole life without sinning. This means that if other people insulted him or tried to beat him up he didn't hate them. It also means that, as a boy, when his mum or dad told him to do something (like tidy his room) he always obeyed, or when he wanted to play with a toy someone else was playing with he didn't just go over and take it. Throughout his whole life Jesus didn't ever sin once!

Q: How did Jesus save his people from sin?

A: Jesus suffered and died in the place of his people to pay the price for all their sins (Hebrews 9:28).

Because Jesus was born without sin and lived his whole life without sinning, before God he did not have to pay any price for his own sin. The great news of the Gospel is that when Jesus died he took the punishment for OUR sins. So Jesus died for all the times we have disobeyed God and all the times we will disobey God.

Q: Who will be saved?

A: Only people who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15).

Repenting involves saying sorry, but not just saying sorry. If you really mean 'sorry' you will do everything within your power not to do the same thing again! Believing in Jesus is a bit like taking medicine – you need to believe that you need it AND that it can help. To believe in Jesus we need to believe that we are in need of being saved, and that he can do it.