Search This Blog

Sunday, October 26, 2008

References - October 26, 2008 - God's Holiness and Wrath go perfectly together with His Love in Jesus Christ

References from class on October 26, 2008

A few had requested that I put out the scripture references from today's lesson. Here the are:

We referred to 2 Corinthians 5 vs 11 to the end of the chapter. Verse 15, 17, 20, and 21 emphasized.

He is Intentional and provided proof of him being intentional:

Luke 24:25-26
Mark 10:45
Rom 5:8
John 10:30
Please reference the book as well, multiple scripture references are there


He ALONE is redemptive

2 Cor 5:17, 21
Rom 8:1
Heb 9:26
Matt 26:56 - even the disciples fled
Rom 3:25
Heb 2:17
1 John 2:2
1 John 4:10
1 John 5:13
Heb 9:26
Then reference the book and the below from www. gotquestions.org:

He is the only, unique Son of God (Psalm 2:7, 11-12; John 1:14; Luke 1:35).2. He is eternal. He existed from eternity past, He exists in the present, and He will exist for all eternity in the future (John 1:1-3, 14; John 8:58).3. Jesus alone is the One who bore our sins so that we could have forgiveness and be saved from them (Isaiah 53; Matthew 1:21; John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-3).4. Jesus is the only Way to the Father (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5); there is no other way to salvation. He is the only righteous One who exchanged that perfect righteousness for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).5. Jesus alone had power over His own death and the ability take back His life again (John 2:19; 10:17-18). Note: His resurrection was not a “spiritual” one, but was physical (Luke 24:39). His resurrection from the dead, never to die again, distinguished Him as the unique Son of God (Romans 1:4).6. Jesus alone accepted worship as an equal with the Father (John 20:28-29; Philippians 2:6), and indeed God the Father states that the Son is to be honored as He is honored (John 5:23). All others, whether Jesus’ disciples or angelic beings, rightly reject that worship (Acts 10:25-26; Acts 14:14-15; Matthew 4:10; Revelation 19:10; 22:9).7. Jesus has the power to give life to whom He will (John 5:21).8. The Father has committed all judgment to Jesus (John 5:22).9. Jesus was with the Father and directly involved in the creation, and it is by His hand that all things are held together (John 1:1-3; Ephesians 3:9; Hebrews 1:8-10; Colossians 1:17).10. It is Jesus who will rule the world at the end of this present age (Hebrews 1:8; Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 2:35, 44; Revelation 19:11-16).11. Jesus alone was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:20-23; Luke 1:30-35).12. It is Jesus who demonstrated that He had the attributes of God [e.g., the power to forgive sins and heal the sick (Matthew 9:1-7); to calm the wind and waves (Mark 4:37-41; Psalm 89:8-9); to know us, being perfectly acquainted with us (Psalm 139; John 1:46-50; 2:23-25), to raise the dead (John 11; Luke 7:12-15; 8:41-55), etc.]13. There are a great number of prophecies concerning the Messiah’s birth, life, resurrection, person, and purpose. All were fulfilled by Him and no other (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Psalm 22; Zechariah 11:12-13; 13:7; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 53; Psalm 16:10).

He will Renew you both now and forever

2 Cor 5:15, 17, 20
John 10:10
2 Cor 6:2
Prov 26:11 and 2 Pet 2:22 bring us to the realization - we should not return to our own vomit as dogs do and our sin
Rom 6:13-25 remind us we cannot be overtaken by our sin when we look to the Redeemer

And more from the book and from gotquestions.org:

The punishment for sin is deathGod created earth and man perfectly. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, He had to punish them. A judge who pardons law-breakers isn’t a good judge. Likewise, overlooking sin would make the holy God unjust. Death in hell is Allah’s just consequence for sin. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Even good works cannot make up for wrongs against the holy God. Compared to His goodness, “All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6b). Ever since Adam’s sin, every human has been guilty of disobeying God’s righteous laws. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin is not just big things like murder or blasphemy but also includes lying, lusting, and stealing. Even the love of money or hatred of enemies is sin. Because of sin, everyone deserves death – eternal separation from God in hell. The promise required an innocent deathAlthough God banished Adam and Eve from the garden, He didn’t leave them without hope of paradise. He promised to send a sinless Sacrifice to take the punishment they deserved (Genesis 3:15). Until then, men would sacrifice innocent lambs as a substitute for their punishment. Sacrificing an animal showed men’s acknowledgement that their sin required death, repentance from that sin, and faith in the future Sacrifice from God who would bear their penalty. God reaffirmed His promise of the perfect Sacrifice with men such as Abraham (Ibrahim) and Moses (Musa). The prophets foretold Jesus’ deathFrom Adam to Isa, God sent prophets to mankind, warning them of sin’s punishment and foretelling the coming Savior. 700 years before the Savior was born, the prophet Isaiah described Him:
“Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:1-12).
The prophet compared the coming Sacrifice to a lamb, slaughtered for the sins of others. Centuries later, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the perfect Lord Jesus, born of the virgin Mary. Jesus had no earthly father, for He was from God. When the prophet John the Baptist saw Him, he cried, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). God sacrificed Jesus for sinBy sending Jesus to earth, God fulfilled His promise of a Savior from sin. Unlike us, Jesus never sinned. Thus, God sacrificed Jesus as our perfect Substitute. He took the punishment we deserve for sin: death. “God made Him [Jesus], who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Thus, Jesus was more than a Prophet. God made Him Savior and Lord! (See Philippians 2:6-11.) During His life, crowds thronged Him for healing and teaching, but the religious leaders scorned Him. At God’s appointed time, He delivered Jesus to be sacrificed for sin. Mobs cried out, “Crucify Him!” Soldiers beat, mocked, and crucified Him. As Isaiah foretold, Jesus was crucified in between two criminals and was buried in a rich man’s tomb. But He didn’t remain in the grave. Because God accepted His sacrifice, He fulfilled another prophecy by raising Jesus from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 26:19). Why did Isa/Jesus have to die? Jesus had to die because we cannot reach paradise on our own merit. Remember, the holy God cannot let sin go unpunished. If we bore our own sins, we would suffer judgment in the flames of hell. Praise God, He kept His promise to send and sacrifice the Substitute who bore the sins of those who trust in Him. The Injeel (Gospel) says, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified [made righteous/good] by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation [restored relationship]. “Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. . . . So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:6-12; 18-21). Therefore, Jesus had to die to provide the only way to paradise. If you believe Jesus died and resurrected to save you, turn from your own ways and trust Jesus alone! Follow Him as your beloved Master, for He will strengthen you through His Word, the Bible.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Scripture References from October 12, 2008

Hello! Here are the scripture references from this morning’s discussion:

Psalm 73:25-26 – Who is our God – do we live for Him?
1 John 4:8 – God IS love
1 John 1:5 – God IS Light
John 4:24 – God IS Spirit
Rom 3:26 – God IS Righteous

Personal and/or Infinite:
Psalm 50:10-12
I Cor 2:10-12
Zeph 3:17
Rom 8:26-27
Psalm 139:2
Mark 10:16

Separate and/or Involved:
Acts 17:24-25
Matt 7:11
Psalm 84:11
Rom 8:15
Gen 50:19-20

Holy/Righteous or Involved with Sin:
Deut 32:4
Luke 18:19
James 1:16-17
Rom 3:23
John 3:36
Rom 1:18
Lev 19:2
1 John 1:5
Gen 50:19-20
Ex 15:11
Hab 1:13

Free Will and/or Sovereign:
Matt 23:37
Psalm 145:3, 147:5, 139:6
Rom 11:33
Rev 4:11
Col 1:17
2 Tim 4:10
Acts 4:28
Eph 1:11

The Trinity
2 Cor 13:14
John 17:5
John 14:9
Luke 1:35
Gen 3:22
Gen 11:7
Isaiah 6:8
Matt 28:19
Mark 1:10-11

Study Notes and Questions for October 19, 2008

Thanks again to all of you for participating in the small group discussions in Sunday School this morning. I know it is a bit painful to separate and regroup during class so thank you for your patience as we use that format. It was a wonderful Sunday morning with seeing how God is both personal and infinite, separate (above) as well as involved, Holy and Righteous, and part of the Trinity (or at least our view) of His 3 persons in one and helps bring us closer to Him in our lives. We also discussed the one outstanding item that is separate FULLY from God which is sin. This morning I had some extra time between services and was able to study more on chapter 6 which we will get to in a few weeks. The entire chapter is devoted to sin. I found it great how God used this morning to talk to us both in service and sunday school about His name and how it is fully NOT related to sin which is one of the big reasons we can praise Him - 1 John 1:5 and Malachi 1.

Next week, October 19th, promises to be a great week as we look at Jesus, our Lord and Savior, what we believe about Him, and what His promises are to us. Having the payment for our sin taken care of by Christ He is the central point of all human exisitence and the only payment that will do for our sin and the progression from our study this morning should be great.

Please read chapter 3 of the book (Know what you believe) in prepraration for the questions below and the study next week. I will ensure to have the correct page numbers for both versions of the book. If you do not have a book we still have some left so please pick one up in the classroom or let me know and we will try and get one to you.

Study Questions for October 19, 2008 -

Why did Jesus come? Gal 4:4-5 and Rom 8:3

When it says that Jesus was born of a woman does this mean that Jesus could be anything but human?

Matt 1:18-20 - Explain what does it mean that there was a virgin birth?

If he was fully Holy how can he be human? Was he really fully human? Luke 2:7, Luke 2:40, Luke 24:42, Luke 24:46, Luke 24:39

Jesus also had a human mind - Luke 2:52 and Hebrews 5:8-9

Mary was not sinless (Romans 3:23) - So how can Christ be fully man and fully Holy? Luke 1:35, Luke 4:13, John 8:46, John 8:29, John 18:38

It was not that Jesus wasn't tempted - Heb 4:15, Heb 2:18, Luke 4:2

Jesus had to be fully man and fully God - 1 John 4:2-3 - God was concerned with saving men, not saving angels or something else. To be the propitiation He had to be fully man. Beyond that He is also our high priest as a man and an example for our lifes (1 John 2:6 and 1 Peter 2:21).

In what ways did Jesus show us that He was also fully God?

Matt 8:26-27
Matt 14:19
John 2:1-11
John 8:58
Rev 22:13
Mark 2:8
John 6:64
John 2:25, 16:30
Matt 28:20
Mark 2:5-7
Phil 2:9-11
Heb 1:6

Jesus also did not say "thus says the Lord" as prophets in the Old Testament - He said "But I say to you" as God... Matt 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44.

Did Jesus give up His divine attributes while on the earth? Col 1:19, col 2:9, Matt 1:23

Read John 1:14

Have a great week!

Andy

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Class Notes and Questions for October 12, 2008

Please read chapter 2 of Know What you Believe by Paul Little. This is the chapter on God. It will cover attributes of God, the Trinity, Providence, and free will. Next week should be a lively discussion.

Here are some questions for you after you read the chapter and based on our study of the Bible this week:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What would be the REASON WHY someone would teach something other than the Bible as truth? What motive would you have to teach something else? Does the bible teach anything that does not cooincide with what we know of God?

In addition (not replacement or supplemental need) to the Bible, what evidence do we have that God exists?

How would you reconcile the incoprehensibility of God and the fact that we can know God truly?

Differentiate between incommunicable attributes of God and communicable attributes of God.

Define God's "independence." How can the two parts of this definition be reconcidled?

Do most people today believe in the existence of God? Has this been true throughout history? If they believe that God exists, why have they not worshipped Him rightly? Why do some people deny the existence of God? Does Romans 1:8 suggest there is often a moral factor influencing their intellectual denial of God's existence (compare Ps. 14:1-3)?

Why do you think God decided to reveal Himself to us? Do you learn more about God from His revelation in nature, or His revelation in Scripture? Why do think it is that God's thoughts are "precious" to us (Ps 139:17)? Would you call your present relationship to God a personal relationship? How is it similar to your relationships with other people, and how is it different? What would make your relationship with God better?

As you think of God's independence, unchangeableness, eternity, omnipresence, and unity, can you see some faint reflections of these five incommunicable attributes in yourself as God created you to be? At what point would it be wrong to even want to be like God in each of these areas because it would be attempting to usurp His unique role as Creator and Lord?

Explain how God's immutability or unchangableness helps to answer the following questions: Will we be able to do a good job of bringing up children in such an evil world as we have today? Is it possible to have hte same close fellowship with God that people had during biblical times? What can we think or do in order to make Bible stories seem more real and less removed from our present life? Do you think that God is less willing to answer prayer today that He was in Bible times?

If you sin against God today, when would it start bringing sorrow to God's heart? When would it stop bringing sorrow to God's heart? Does this reflection help you understand why God's charactre requires that He punish sin? Why did God have to send His Son to bear the punishment for sin, instead of simply forgetting about sin and welcoming sinners into heaven without having given the punishment for sin to anyone? Does God now think of your sins as forgiven or unforgiven sins? Why?

Read Psalm 102:25-27

Why is God so strongly displeased at carved idols, even thouse that are intended to represent Him? How then shall we picture God or think of God in our minds when we pray to Him?

With regard to the circumstances in your life, will God ever make a mistake, or fail to plan ahead, or fail to take into account all the eventualities that occur? How is the answer to this question a blessing in YOUR life? Tell your spouse...

Do you really believe that God is working wisely in your life today? In the world? If you find this difficult to believe at times, what might you do to change your attitude?

Is it possible to decide to love someone and then to act on that decision, or does love between human beings simply depend on spontaneous emotional feelings? IN what ways could you imitate God's love specifically TODAY?

If you were to reflect God's mercy more fully, for whom among those you know would you show special care during the next week?

Are there activities or relationships in your present pattern of life that are hindering your growth in holiness because they make it difficult for you to be separated from sin and devoted to seeking God's honor?

Do you ever find yourself wishing that some of God's laws were different than they are? If so, does such a wish reflect a dislike for some aspect of God's moral character? What passages of SCripture migh you read to convince yourself more fully that God's character and His laws are right in these areas?

Do you reflect God's jealousy for His own honor instinctively when you hear Him dishonored in conversation or on television or in other contexts? What can we do to deepen our jealousy for God's honor?

Are you happy with the way God created you - with the physical, emotional, mental, and relational traites He gave you? In what ways is it reight to be happy or pleased with our own personalities, physical characteristics, abilities, etc? In what ways is it wrong to be pleased or happy about these things? Will we ever be fully "blessed" or happy? When will that be and why?

Why are people in our society, sometimes even Christians, quite careless with regard to truthfullness in speech? Do you need to ask God's help to more fully reflect His truthfullness in speech in any of hte following areas: promising to pray for someone; saying that you will be some place at a certain time; exaggerating events in order to make a more exciting story; taking care to remember and then be faithful to what you have said in business commitments; reporting what other people have said or what you think someone else is thinking; fairly representing your opponents viewpoint in an argument?

Read Exodus 34:6-7

Scripture References from Sunday, October 5, 2008

I was asked by a few to send out the scripture references used this morning in the lesson. Here are the references:

An unlying God: Num 23:19, Titus 1:2, Heb 6:18

Appealing to a higher authority: Prov 30:5-6

Answers and Affirmation:

Acts 17:11
Col 2:4
Luke 1:1-4
John 14:26
Isaiah 66:2
Titus 1:9
1 Tim 6:1-5
Eph 1:17-18
Col 2:6-7
Col 2:20-22
Psalm 12:6

Final items on the Bible: Psalm 119:81, 89, 97

We didn't get to the Hebrews verse in chapter 11: 11:1-3...

Please let me know if you need more information. Take Care!

Andy