THE KEY TO THE BIBLE, INSTRUCTOR - 3rd SESSION
GET ACQUAINTED - Describe what you enjoy doing in your spare
time.
What insights did you
bring to share?
Acts 16:14, “The Lord opened her
heart [
The terms we have been
considering describe the consequences of
historical events.
We have
been considering what God has done for us. ^
In view of this, what response
is called for? v
j. Mt.18:1-4 "You will never enter the kingdom of
heaven unless you turn and become like children" [In what way? >
humility]
1 Thes.1:9 "you turned to God from idols [?] to
serve the living and true God"
{Acts 11:21b "a great number who believed
turned to the Lord"}
Isa.55:6-7 “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is
near. Let the wicked forsake his
way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord that He may have compassion on him and
to our God for He will abundantly pardon.”
Conversion – turning (even to the point of reversal), implies reassessment
of truth; drives the question “to what, where, or whom?”
Old Testament example?
Rahab; Ruth
·
Fill in the blanks with the words conversion and regeneration and explain.
Regeneration makes conversion possible or
certain (select one).
The dead cannot convert,
the regenerate will.
k. Mt.4:17 "Repent for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
Mk.1:15 "Repent and believe in the
Gospel" Repent -
change one's mind [attitude]
Old Testament example? "Repent" was
the repeated call of the prophets to
10. Where,
when, and how did God pay a ransom, forgive and justify us, accomplish
redemption, propitiation, reconciliation, and save us?
Christ the righteous one suffered and died on the
cross
Col.2:14b "this [our debt] He set aside [forgave], nailing it to the cross"
1 Pt.2:24 "He bore our sins in His body on the tree" [substitution]
11. What
New Testament word encompasses the meaning of the work of Jesus Christ on our
behalf? The Gospel
of Jesus Christ
Mk.1:1 "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God"
Rom.1:16 "I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of
God for salvation to everyone who believes"
12. What
are the facts of the Gospel in the sequence they took place
historically?
The incarnation of Jesus, perfect life (pleased His
Father by submitting to His will), death, resurrection.
·
We
have been looking closer at what Jesus accomplished in his life, death and
resurrection. The events and
accomplishments referred to as the Gospel represent the goal toward which revelation was moving. Therefore the Gospel
of Jesus Christ is the key that unlocks all Scripture. It is in the Gospel that the glory
of God and of Christ is most clearly seen (2 Cor.4:4-6).
WRITE ON BOARD &
discuss [interact
with] the figurative
language of 2 Cor.4:4-6, "The
god of this age [the devil] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot
see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ [His divine glory is veiled],
who is the image of God." "For
God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts [sovereign initiative] to
give us the light of the knowledge [spiritual
life in the new creation, new birth] of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [not
fading like Moses, 3:13]."
Now, let us ask, "Why"?
The Bible speaks of actions
(what one does or doesn't do), motives
(why one does or not, what governs one's actions, moves him), attitudes (how or in what spirit one goes
about doing or not doing, see Attitude, a Bible Study http://pop.eradman.com/), and beliefs (ideas taken into one’s heart that govern
his perception).
13. What
motivated God to sacrifice Jesus for our sin?
What does God reveal about His own heart? 1 Tim.2:4 "God our Savior desires all
people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Tit.3:5 "He saved us according to His mercy"
Eph.2:4-8 "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us…that…He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
expressed in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved
through faith [means]…it [faith] is the gift [grace] of God…"
Jn.3:14-17 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness [redemptive event], so must the Son of Man
be lifted up, that the one who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave
[grace] His only Son, that the
one who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world
to condemn it, but in order that through Him the world might be saved"
Rom.4:6-8 “Blessed are those
whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered;
blessed is a man against whom the Lord will not count sin.”
Define mercy. Withholding executing the penalty [opposite of propitiation] deserved through
compassion, pity
Define grace. Doing good and giving to the undeserving [not for the righteous]
Dialog
with Ex.33:18-19; 34:5-7 in considering God’s character [
But,
God was still angry, so Moses interceded for the people and asked Him to
forgive their sin or blot him out of his book with along them. God answered that He would blot out the ones
who sin against Him and in the day He visits, He will visit their sin upon
them [punishment,
certain but unspecified]. The Lord showed his
continuing displeasure by sending a plague on the people.
God
told Moses that He would send His angel to lead them to the land He promised to
Abraham and drive out its inhabitants, but that He Himself would not go up
among them lest He destroy them (32:30-33:6). Moses again spoke to God and argued that it was
God's presence with them that distinguished His people from all others (33:12-17). The narrative continues as
Moses'
requested to know God, that God show him His ways (33:13) and glory
(v.18). "I will make My goodness pass
before you and proclaim My name 'the Lord.'
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy to
whom I will show mercy (v.19)." [sovereignty] "the Lord God merciful
[compassionate, NIV] and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy [lovingkindness,
NAS; faithful love, NLT; steadfast love, ESV & NIV] for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and forth
generation." Moses' response is worship
(34:5-9).
God's
name and reputation are
at issue. God's glory is expressed in the goodness of His heart and righteousness
of His actions. That’s why He warns
people to repent.
{Ezek.18:23, 32 "Do I take pleasure
in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign
Lord. Rather, am I not pleased
when they turn from their ways [repent] and live?" 33:11
"As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way
[repent] and live."}
14.
Contrast statements about the Old Testament with statements
about the New Testament in each of the following verses and state the
implications.
Heb.8:1-5 - O.T. “[priests] serve a copy and shadow of heavenly things”
N.T. “We have a high priest who is seated at the right hand of
the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, the true
tabernacle that the Lord has set up…”
Heb.10:1 - O.T. "the law is
a shadow of good things to come"
N.T. "true form of the realities" - good things have come and are not hidden
Col.2:16-17 - O.T.
"food and drink, or festival, new moon or Sabbath are shadows of things to
come" N.T. "the substance is in Christ" - the full story has come
out
· PRACTICE EXERCISE - Write on board [with brackets] and ask class to
insert comments.
This study encompasses
the 2 great periods of God’s silence, each marked by a supernatural
deliverance. Lk.4:16-21
[context: Jesus is in synagogue in Nazareth on
Sabbath reading from Isa.61:1-2a] "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has appointed Me [the reality behind the figure of being anointed with oil for an
office or task] to proclaim good news to the poor [category: needy, helpless, powerless, those humbled by the circumstances
of their lives].
He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the
captives [redemption]
and recovery of sight to the blind [In what sense?],
to set at liberty those who are oppressed [victims, downtrodden.
How?], to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor [Not a calendar year, but the period when salvation would at last be
announced by the Gospel accompanied by physical healing demonstrated that after
some 400 years of silence (since Malachi), God has 'remembered' His people and
'turned His face toward them'] Today this Scripture
has been fulfilled [the savior has come, salvation is
near] in your hearing." [see apdx.C, session
2]
THE CLOSE [FIRM, SOLID] CONNECTION OF THIS LANGUAGE WITH GOD’S PROGRAM OF REDEMPTION
getting
at what the Bible means for us to understand by looking at what it says
It won’t do to merely repeat Jesus’ words. They need to be filled with content to be
meaningful or they become empty like a slogan or a cliché. Jesus was about to make a way for men to be
forgiven and approach God, something portrayed but not available in the OT (Heb.9:8-12). Isa.61 refers to the liberation of
THE CONNECTION WITH GOD’S REST
After Joseph’s death, a
new pharaoh rose to power and set taskmasters over the Israelites
“to afflict them with heavy burdens.” “They
ruthlessly made the people work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard
service (Ex.1:8-14).” Some
400 years later, God sent Moses to lead them out, “I
have seen the affliction of My people…and have heard
their cry because of their taskmasters.
I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them…and to
bring them…to a good and broad land flowing with milk and honey… (Ex.3:7-10).” When
Moses approached pharaoh with God’s demand to release the people to sacrifice
to Him, pharaoh accused Moses of giving the people “rest
from their burdens” and
increased the workload even more, “let heavier work be
laid on the men (Ex.5:1-14).”
As Moses was leading the Israelites out of oppression and slavery in
The very next time the people were tested, God stood on a rock and had
Moses strike it with his rod, and water [representing “life” in the desert] flowed out for the whole congregation and their livestock (Ex.17).a God’s
rules governing the manna and the Sabbath were specific and detailed (Ex.16:14-36). The Sabbath was later included in the
covenant with
God
also established a Sabbath year. Every 7th
year the land was to be left alone [no planting, cultivating, pruning, or
harvesting]. The Israelites were to store up food from the
6th year and leave the fields for the poor, the hired hands,
foreigners, servants, and animals. There
was to be no pressure for people in debt to repay personal loans. It was the year of release [remission, cancellation
of debts] (Dt.15:1-2) to allow the land to recover
and people to recuperate from the ceaseless burden of making payments on loans.c
After
a series of 7 such years, 49 years in all, God mandated a year of Jubilee (Lev.25:8-13). Ez.46:16-17
calls it “the year of liberty.” For those who had fallen on hard times
because of the circumstances of life, or by being swindled by unscrupulous men,
or because they made bad or foolish decisions and were in debt or had sold
their land or themselves into servitude, God says FREEDOM for those who could
not redeem themselves or find a relative who would; CANCELLATION of the debts
they could not pay; RESTORATION of their inheritance in the land; God provided
food for everyone and all the animals on the fallow land. This is the language of deliverance and
meshes with Lk.4. So the weary laborer
looked forward to the Sabbath day when he could rest. So the man struggling to keep up payments on
his debts and provide for his family anticipated the Sabbath year to
relieve the pressure and give him a chance to catch up. So those who were hopelessly in debt, who had
lost everything waited and longed for the year of Jubilee [rejoicing, celebration]. So we
find our eternal rest in Christ our Sabbathd and wait for Him who restores
everything to the condition it ought to be in, to bring us into our
inheritance, the celebration of God with His people where the Jubilee will
never end. You might think that we are in a long period
of God’s silence similar to those two mentioned above. We are, but there is a difference. Christ who was the subject of those
revelations has come and everything God wants us to know He has already said. The Holy Spirit has been given to His people so
we can look at what He has already said and done with new eyes and to help us
make our way through the perils of this life awaiting His return and the
summing up of all things in Him.
---------------------------------
a This was a picture of eternal life that comes to us through the
judgment of Christ (1 Cor.10:1-5) [close connection].
b The
Sabbath was to
c The length of
d Heb.3:7-4:11 [close connection], see Keeping the
Sabbath in Christ http://pop.eradman.com/
FURTHER STUDY: The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul