• 30-Minute Version •
NUMBERS MARK THE SAME TOPIC:
In: Shame & Fear & Guilt & Emptiness
• In: English & Japanese versions.
• In: Short and Long versions.
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WHAT WAS BEFORE THE BEGINNING?
In the beginning God...
Genesis 1:1 –
the first words in the Bible
Before…you brought forth the…world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2
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WHO IS GOD?
Creator.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
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"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" say the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
Isaiah 40:25-26
The only God.
[Creator God declares:] "Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
Isaiah 43:10
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Lord over everything.
[God says:] "I, even I, am the Lord."
Isaiah 43:11
Loving Father.
Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Deuteronomy 32:6
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and...is not far from each one of us. "For in him we live and move and have our being. ...We are his offspring."
Acts 17:24, 27-28
God created man...––male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27
God blessed them.
Genesis 1:28
God is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Psalm 145:9
[God the] Father in heaven...causes his sun to rise on the evil [people] and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:45
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Only Savior.
[Creator God says:] "Apart from me there is no Savior."
Isaiah 43:11
All powerful.
Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving.
I Samuel 14:6
With God all things are possible.
Matthew 19:26
Totally reliable.
Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.
Romans 10:11
Judge of all.
He [God] has set a day when he will judge the world with justice.
Acts 17:31
1-God-in-3-Persons: or, the same essence in 3 forms –
• God the Father
In the Bible "God" usually refers to God the Father.
• God the Son
The Son of God – Jesus Christ
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• God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit – God's Spirit / Christ's Spirit / the Spirit
They are one God:
There is one God.
James 2:9
We know that…there is no God but one.
1 Corinthians 8:4
They have the same:
Nature
Heart
Purpose
Character
God is love.
I John 4:8
"I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Leviticus 19:2
But they have different:
Roles
Functions
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The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned together in the Bible:
God's [children]...have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the [Holy] Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ.
I Peter 1:1-2
[Jesus said:] "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19
So we know that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are 3 individual persons.
Yet, they are one God.
Does 1-God-in-3-persons make logical sense?
At first it may seem to be a logical impossibility.
But we all know a very common substance that is 1-essence-in-3-forms.
So, while amazing, something being of 1-essence-in-3-forms is not outside our common experience.
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WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
When you received the word of God…you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God.
I Thessalonians 2:13
[God,] all your words are true.
Psalm 119:160
[Jesus said:] "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
Mark 13:31
[Jesus said:] "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law [of God] until everything is accomplished."
Matthew 5:18
When Jesus needed to prove who he was, he referred to the Bible!
To John the Baptist
To the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
To the disciples in the upper room Luke 24
Is this circular reasoning?
Is it circular reasoning to use the Bible to prove the truth of what is written in the Bible? If the average person did this it might be circular reasoning. But when God does it it is a different story.
The fulfillment, in the New Testament, of prophecies made 700 to 1400 years before, in the Old Testament, is obviously an act of Creator God.
We cannot even predict all that will happen next week!
But the eternal God is not limited by the constraints of time – he knows everything: past, present and future.
Illustration:
Prophecies are like an address on an envelope.
In just 5 short lines of information, they narrow the identity of the recipient down from any one of 7 billion people in the world to just 1.
That is how powerful prophecies in the Word of God are in identifying the one true Messiah.
They all point to Jesus Christ – and to no one else!
It is said that there are over 100 prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament.
Yet it only takes a handful to point directly at Jesus – and eliminate all others.
So the Bible is of greatest importance in coming to and knowing God.
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WHO IS MAN?
God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over … all the earth.” …So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
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Of course, we are not God, for we were created by God.
Anything that is created is inferior in status to the one who created it.
But we are similar to God in important ways:
• We can communicate, create, and love in very sophisticated ways – far above animals.
And we can relate personally to God:
• We can have a unique spiritual relationship with our Heavenly Father as his loved children – which animals cannot have.
• We can live with God forever.
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The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7
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The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15
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God said, "…Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Genesis 1:26
God gave us an honorable, important status:
• to rule over the earth.
God gave important responsibilities:
• to take care of the Garden and work it.
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THE WORLD WAS PERFECT
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 1:31
Sin and evil had not yet entered the world and drastically impacted it.
So, there was no:
Death.
Guilt.
Shame.
Fear.
Suffering.
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GOD GAVE MAN ONLY ONE RESTRICTION
God commanded [Adam] the [first] man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
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She [Eve, the first woman] took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband [Adam], who was with her, and he ate it.
Genesis 3:6
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This resulted in the following disaster for the whole world.
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WHAT IS THIS TREMENDOUS PROBLEM?
It is Sin & Death.
Sin is the breaking of [God's] law.
I John 3:4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
That is what Adam did.
He did what God told him not to do.
Sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 5:12
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
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Sin and death are our greatest problems.
All around us, it is evident that sin in people is the source of evil in the world.
And death is our enemy:
The...enemy...death.
I Corinthians 15:26
But aren't sin, evil and death just a natural part of our world?
We are so used to evil and death that we think they are just a natural part of life –
that they are unavoidable.
But, at the beginning God created the earth without these things.
As we already read:
Sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin.
Romans 5:12
So, sin and death are not a natural part of our world.
They are the direct result of the first man's choice to disobey God.
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HOW DID ADAM & EVE REACT TO THEIR SIN?
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden…, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8
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Sin destroys the Father-child relationship that we have with God.
Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you.
Isaiah 59:2
Are we any different from Adam & Eve?
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands.
Romans 3:10-11
There is...no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:11-12
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BUT WHAT WAS GOD'S FIRST REACTION TO THEIR SIN?
But the Lord God called to the man (Adam), “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
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Think how significant this is!
What did Adam deserve?
"...when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
But what did God do?
God, because of his great love for us, took the initiative to come looking for man to call him back to himself:
“Where are you?”
God did this on about page 3 of the 1,000+ page Bible!
What does this tell us about the message of the rest of the Bible?
Throughout the entire rest of the Bible, though we deserve death, God is calling us back to himself .
Unless God does this, we are doomed, because...
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SIN HAS VERY SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES:
To Adam he [God] said, "Because you...ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' ...cursed is the ground because of you... By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Genesis 3:17, 19
The Lord God said, "The man has now [come to know]…good and evil. He must not be allowed to...take also from the Tree of Life, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:22-23
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It took just one sin to separate mankind from God.
What was the immediate spiritual result?
Spiritual death for Adam and Eve.
In time, what was the physical result?
Physical death for Adam and Eve.
So it is with us.
Death came to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 5:12
Sin separates all mankind from God for all eternity.
So what can God do to re-establish our relationship with him?
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GOD PRESENTS OPTION #1 FOR OVERCOMING SIN:
First, God gave very general, logical instructions:
The Lord said to Cain [Adam & Eve’s son], “…If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; …but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:6-7
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First, God told us to "do what is right."
He told us to "master" sin.
So, God's instructions were general and obvious:
It is your responsibility not to do bad things.
It is your responsibility to do good.
Illustration:
This makes perfect sense! This is what parents and teachers teach children: Just do what is right. Do what you are supposed to do. Don't do what you shouldn't do.
But much later, God gave very specific instructions:
[Creator God said:] “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 18:5
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(It is said that God has given over 600 commands in the Old Testament!)
The...commandment...was intended to bring life.
Romans 7:10
Keeping God's Law perfectly results in eternal life!
That was the original purpose of the Law.
So this is Option #1 for gaining eternal life:
Trying with all our power we must never do wrong and always do right.
We must obey everything God tells us to do.
We must be a perfect person.
That means that, in the end, we are judged for what we do:
In the Old Testament it says:
Ah, Sovereign Lord, ...your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
Jeremiah 32:17, 19
Finally, at the end of the Bible it says:
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in [God's]...books.
Revelation 20:12
And we are even judged for our motives, thoughts and words!
[God says:] "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
Jeremiah 17:10
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
I Samuel 16:7
By taking even our motives into consideration, God judges our actions very fairly.
[Jesus said:] "I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matthew 12:36-37
It is the Lord who judges me. ...He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.
I Corinthians 4:4-5
The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 16:5
The cowardly...their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Revelation 21:8
So we get from God exactly what we deserve.
God is so just that he even takes our thoughts and motives and words into consideration.
But is it good news that God is so just and fair?
Do you really want to get what you deserve?
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CAN WE REALLY OVERCOME SIN?
Did Cain, and the people who came after him, "do what is right?"
Did they "master" sin?
Answer:
Unfortunately, centuries after Cain during the time of Noah, Option #1 had already proven to be a failure.
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become.
Genesis 6:5
Yet even today, most people are still attempting to use Option #1 as their way to be good in God's eyes.
But, do they realize that God even judges motives, thoughts and words?
The Lord saw…that every inclination of the thoughts of his [man's] heart was only evil all the time.
Genesis 6:5
And, do they realize that God's heart is grieved?
The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
Genesis 6:6
So, God decided to start over with Noah.
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. …Noah was a righteous [good] man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
Genesis 6:8-9
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people [with a flood], for the earth is filled with violence. ...So make yourself an ark. ...You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.”
Genesis 6:13-14, 19
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The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family.”
Genesis 7:1
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They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind. ...Pairs of all creatures...came to Noah and entered the ark...as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth...and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. ...Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out.
Genesis 7:14-17, 19
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Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
Genesis 7:23
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How many ways were there to be saved from the Great Flood?
Only one.
Only God's way.
Did human effort help anyone who was not on the ark?
No.
No matter how hard they tried, no one could save themselves by their own efforts.
Yet even today, most people are still attempting to save themselves –
so they use Option #1 to try to be good in God's eyes.
What made Noah different from everyone else?
Only one thing:
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that [1] he exists and [2] that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah…in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:6-7
So Noah earned nothing by his own efforts, but received a great gift from God because of his faith:
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Genesis 6:8 (New King James Version)
(We'll discuss this more in a little bit.)
Can we accuse God of being unfair in sending the Great Flood?
Actually, whose responsibility is it to "master sin?"
The Lord said… "Sin…desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:6-7
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So the problem of sin belongs to us.
Sin is not God's responsibility. He has no obligation to solve our sin problem.
We know the consequences of not "mastering sin:"
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Romans 1:32
So, even today, people do not take sin seriously.
There is no one who understands. There is...no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:10-12
During the time of Noah, people did not take sin seriously either:
In those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away.
Matthew 24:38-39 (New American Standard)
JESUS BELIEVED THE ACCOUNT OF THE FLOOD – AND OF CREATION (MARRIAGE).
But didn't God care?
Of course, he did!
The Lord was grieved…, and his heart was filled with pain.
Genesis 6:6
How did God show that he cared?
Noah [was] a preacher of righteousness.
2 Peter 2:5
So, through Noah, people had the opportunity to turn from their evil ways.
God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
1 Peter 3:20
(God waited a long time. The ark likely took 60 to 80 years to build.)
(Genesis 5:32; 6:18; 7:6)
Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation.
2 Peter 3:15
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Even more amazingly . . .
Christ…went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
1 Peter 3:18-20
This is a mysterious statement – but one important point is very clear:
God provided clear opportunities for everyone living before the Flood to turn from evil and seek him.
Because of his great love, God went far beyond anything he was obligated to do.
Even so, do you think that God is serious about getting rid of sin?
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.
Psalm 5:4-6
But did the terrible punishment of the Flood change people’s hearts?
[God said after the flood:] “Every inclination of his [man’s] heart is evil from childhood.”
Genesis 8:21
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Nothing had changed!
But, why not?
Because we, ourselves, are wrong – from the very beginning.
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5
(Psalm 51:7 in Japanese, New Interconfessional Translation)
We are wrong even before we do anything good or bad.
Our problem starts with what we are.
Our problem isn't simply what we do.
Then we all continue down the wrong path.
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
Isaiah 64:6
(Isaiah 64:5 in Japanese, New Interconfessional Translation)
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:11-12
The threat of punishment ...
• May frighten us.
• May even get us to control our outward behavior to some degree.
• May cause us to conceal our inner thoughts and motives.
And God's Law ...
• May pressure us to do good and avoid evil.
But neither great punishment nor God's Law:
1. Can change who we are inside – can change our identity.
2. Can give us the power that we need:
To always do right.
To never do wrong.
The Law was powerless to do [it] in that it was weakened by [our]…Flesh.
Romans 8:4
But, don't we get credit for doing some good things?
Whoever keeps the whole Law [of God] and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
James 2:10
Illustration:
God’s Law is like a priceless vase: If you drop it once, you completely shatter it.
The Law is not like an exam with a passing score of 51%.
The Law is not like a scale that balances the good against the bad.
Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything [Option #1] written in the Book of the Law [the Old Testament].
Galatians 3:10
God's Law is based on a relationship:
"I am the Lord your God. ...Obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God."
Leviticus 18:2, 4
Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder."
James 2:10-11
What matters is who said it!
Our Creator said it.
Our Father said it.
So our sin completely breaks our relationship with our Creator who made us –
it betrays our relationship with our Father who loves us.
Even when we sin against other people, our debt is first and foremost to our Father who created us.
Notice this prayer of confession for sins committed against other people:
Have mercy on me, O God. ...Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Psalm 51:1, 4
Question:
Since this is all true, do you really want to be judged by God, himself?
Do you want to be judged on the basis of what you have done to him?
Do you want to be judged on whether you kept his Law perfectly?
So what is the end result?
Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Hebrews 9:27
We only get one chance at life.
Please, don't waste it.
The Bible has sobering prophecies about the judgment that will come at the end of the world:
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake...to shame and everlasting contempt.
Daniel 12:2
The dead, great and small, [were] standing before the throne [of God], and books were opened. ...The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Revelation 20:12
[Jesus said:] "At the end of the age...the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 13: 40-42
First, God told us to "master" sin – but we couldn't do it.
Then, God told us to obey his specific Law – but we couldn't do that either.
BUT WHAT ABOUT RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES & RITUALS?
Can't they restore our purity? Our relationship to God?
Mastering sin is our responsibility – but we can't do it and only deserve death.
Yet even here God is loving and merciful to us.
Creator God actually gave Israel a yearly purification ceremony.
This happened in about 1440 BC during the time of the great leader Moses, and of Aaron the high priest.
It was about 1,400 years before the Messiah came to earth.
This ceremony was an important part of Option #1.
Option #1 is the great effort people must make – to always do right and to always keep all of God's Laws.
But the people of Israel could not avoid sinning.
So God put a temporary solution for sin into his Law.
The Law…was added because of transgressions until the Seed [Messiah]...had come.
Galatians 3:19
This solution was a crucial part of Option #1 – it covered people when they sinned.
The Day of Atonement – God's temporary solution for sin.
The Lord spoke to Moses…: "Atonement (payment) is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites."
Leviticus 16:2
The Lord said to Moses: "Tell…Aaron [the High Priest] not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain [in God's sanctuary] …, or else he will die, because I appear [there]."
Leviticus 16:2
Creator God is holy – so no one is worthy to come into his presence.
Even the High Priest could not come freely into God's presence.
This is how Aaron is to enter the sanctuary area: with a young bull for a sin offering. …Aaron is to offer the bull [on the altar] for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household.
Leviticus 2:3, 6
Before going into Creator God's presence, even the High Priest's sins had to be paid for.
Something or someone must pay the penalty of death for sin.
From the Israelite community he is to take two males goats for a sin offering. …Aaron shall bring the [one] goat…and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the [other] goat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert… . He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites––all their sins––and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert... . The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place.
Leviticus 2:5, 9-10, 21-22
The first goat paid the penalty of death for all the people's sins.
The second goat carried all the people's sins far from them.
This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.
Leviticus 16:34
Why were animals sacrificed?
Because –
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
The soul who sins is the one who will die.
Ezekiel 18:20
So, our life is on the line when we sin.
Unless something dies in our place, we forfeit our life for all eternity.
So God said to the Israelites:
"The life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life."
Leviticus 17:11
The animal that was sacrificed died in their place.
The animal's life becomes payment for their life – by shedding its life-blood.
So –
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22
Is this not shocking?
This ceremony is shocking because it makes very clear that:
• Sin is a life and death matter for us.
• In fact, the payment for sin is extremely costly – it demands the payment of a life. And it can only be eliminated in a very horrific manner.
• So, the problem of sin cannot be dealt with lightly and casually.
But even this ceremony had major weaknesses:
This is also true of other ceremonies, sacrifices and gifts to God found in God's Law.
In fact, these weaknesses apply to any religious ceremony meant for spiritual purification.
1. People still couldn't enter directly into God's presence.
Only the High Priest entered the inner room [the Most Holy Place], and that only once a year. …The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been [made known].
Hebrews 9:7-8
So people's relationship to God was not truly restored by this ceremony.
2. People didn't feel cleansed from their sins.
The gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings––external regulations.
Hebrews 9:9-10
Religious ceremonies cannot purify us from our sins or change our hearts.
They are only external.
3. The sacrifices themselves were inadequate.
The Law…can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship… , because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 10:1, 4
Even the sacrifice of animals (though commanded in the Old Testament) cannot remove our sins and make us perfect.
How do we know it is impossible?
If it could [remove sins], would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
Hebrews 10:2
The Bible asks a brilliant question!
If something has to be done again, it is proof that it was not effective in the first place.
And if it has to be done repeatedly, it is proof that it will never be effective.
Something to think about:
If any religious ceremony, meant for our purification, has to be repeated, why do we rely on it?
4. The High Priest was supposed to represent us to God – yet he was inadequate!
Every High Priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Hebrews 5:1
This is because we are incapable of going into God's presence on our own.
Who can endure the day of his [the Lord"s] coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiners fire.
Malachi 3:2
So we need an intermediary – someone who can go between us and God.
• Yet even the High Priest, himself, lacks the status or ability to go directly into God's presence.
The Lord said to Moses: "Tell…Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain …, or else he will die, because I appear [there]."
Leviticus 16:2
• The High Priest, himself, is a sinner.
Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself.
Leviticus 2:6
• The High Priest can only go into God's presence because of the blood of another.
The High Priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood.
Hebrews 9:7
• The High Priest was powerless to bring us into God's presence.
The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been [made known].
Hebrews 9:8
• The High Priest cannot give us eternal life – because even he dies.
There have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.
Hebrews 7:23
So, what do we need?
We need a High Priest who . . .
…lives forever… and has a permanent priesthood. …He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Hebrews 24-25
So, any priest who dies has no ability to purify us from our sins and give us eternal life.
Question:
Are you depending on a priest who will die?
Are you depending on someone who will die, or has died, for your . . .
• cleansing from sin?
• spiritual purity?
• eternal life?
So the Old Testament priesthood, itself, had to be changed.
If perfection could have been attained through the [Old Testament]…priesthood…, why was there still need for another priest to come––…not in the order of Aaron?
Hebrews 7:11
Those Old Testament priests were part of Option #1.
Option #1 cannot make us clean in God's sight.
So perfection was impossible through those priests and through those sacrifices.
The type of priesthood determines the type of law.
On the basis of it [the Old Testament priesthood] the Law was given to the people.
Hebrews 7:11
This Law was Option #1.
But this Law and this priesthood were ineffective.
The Law appoints as High Priest men who are weak.
Hebrews 7:28
So . . .
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the Law made nothing perfect).
Hebrews 7:18
So Option #1 was set aside.
And a new High Priest was necessary.
Such a High Priest meets our need––one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
Hebrews 7:26
But a new kind of priest means a new law – a new way to God.
When there is a change of the priesthood there must also be a change of the law.
Hebrews 7:12
So Option #1 must be changed:
• Its High Priest must be changed.
• Its sacrifices must be changed.
• Its Law must be changed.
What, then, is the benefit of the Day of Atonement?
It causes us to see ourselves as we really are.
Those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.
Hebrews 10:3
The Day of Atonement, and all other purification ceremonies that must be repeated over and over, make one thing very clear:
We are sinners.
This should cause us to seek another solution for purification from our sins.
So, it points us to a permanent solution.
A better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 7:19
What is this better hope?
The Law was put in charge to lead us to Christ [the Messiah] .
Galatians 3:24
The Day of Atonement is one of the greatest symbols of what the Messiah will do.
It points us to:
• a new High Priest.
• his new sacrifice.
• a new law.
And it points us to a new solution for sin – Option #2.
"This is the covenant [Option #2] I will make with them after that time," says the Lord. "I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
Hebrews 10:16-17
So the Day of Atonement was unsuccessful in removing our sins.
But the Messiah would come and do everything that the Day of Atonement could not do.
SO OPTION #1 FAILED.
If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant [Option #1], no place would have been sought for another [Option #2].
Hebrews 8:7
So the first covenant [Option #1] failed because:
• The Law failed.
• The sacrifices failed.
• The High Priests failed.
Whose fault is it?
God found fault with the people and said: "...They did not remain faithful to my covenant [Option #1]."
Hebrews 8:8-9
We failed.
Because of us, the Law (with its rules, sacrifices, and High Priests) failed.
For the Law:
• can tell us what to do.
• but cannot give power to do it.
• and cannot make us good.
The Law was powerless to do [it] in that it was weakened by our…Flesh.
Romans 8:3
And who have we offend?
Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you.
Deuteronomy 32:6
Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you.
Isaiah 59:2
And his [God's] heart was filled with pain.
Genesis 6:6
There is…no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:10-12
So we are separated from God our Father forever.
And what are we enslaved to?
Sin & Death & the Devil.
[Jesus said:] "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin…
…Now a slave has no permanent place in the family."
John 8:34-35
[Jesus said:] "He who does what is sinful is of the Devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning."
I John 3:8
[Jesus said:] "You belong to your father, the Devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire."
John 8:44
The Devil...has the power over death.
Hebrews 2:14 (Good News Translation)
All their lives [people] were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Hebrews 2:15
So what is our situation?
[It is] without hope and without God in the world.
Ephesians 2:12
So we are eternally doomed.
BUT . . .
God is love.
I John 4:8
The wages of sin is death [Option #1], BUT the GIFT of God is eternal life [Option #2].
Romans 6:23
11
SO GOD PRESENTS OPTION #2 FOR OVERCOMING SIN:
While Option #1 was still in operation, God set in motion a long process that could save the whole world.
This plan is very specific.
So about 2000 BC, starting in one specific place on earth, God chose one man Abraham to become the father of one nation Israel.
The Lord...said to Abra[ha]m, “I will make you into a great nation, …and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:1-3
Manga Vol. 1, page
How would God bless all people through Abraham?
Jesus Christ [was]… the son [descendant] of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1
About AD 1, God would send the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to this earth to be born in the country of Israel.
But Abraham, who was about 80 years old, had a big problem:
Abra[ha]m said, "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless. ...You have given me no children." ...Then the word of the Lord came to him: "...A son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars. ...So shall your offspring be."
Genesis 15:2-5
Then comes one of the most important statements in the Old Testament!
Abra[ha]m believed the Lord, and he [God] credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
Manga Vol. 1, page
This is Option #2:
Abraham believed God, and God gave him a gift.
This gift was righteousness.
This gift only came to him because he believed God – because he had faith in God.
He did not earn it by working hard to be good or trying hard to obey God's Law (Option #1).
So Abraham was saved by Option #2 – not by Option #1.
What then shall we say that Abraham…discovered in this matter? …When a man works [for an employer], his wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. However to the man who does not work [Option #1] but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness [Option #2].
Romans 4:1, 4-5
Instead of working to please God, Abraham had faith in God.
God credited Abraham's faith to him as righteousness.
And, the righteousness he received from God allowed him to receive eternal life.
And…Abraham…was called God's friend.
James 2:23
What is "faith"?
Faith = Believing / Trusting
What is "righteousness"?
Righteousness = Being clean, pure and good in God's eyes – as though we are without sin!
[The Bible] speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness [Option #2] apart from works [Option #1]: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Romans 4:6-8
So, God forgiving all our sins is an important part of God making us righteous.
Is the gift of righteousness only for Abraham?
The words "it was credited to him [Abraham]" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness––for us who believe.
Romans 4:23-24
Illustration:
You may have no money in your checking account. But if the bank decides to credit $1 million to your account, then you have it. In the same way, we have no righteousness of our own. But if God credits it to us, we have it!
So we too are made righteous by Option #2, believing God –
and not by trying hard to earn our own righteousness [Option #1].
What especially do we believe?
Abraham, who was about 80, had to wait about 20 more years before God fulfilled his promise to give him and his wife Sarah a son.
So, like Abraham, we believe that God can raise the dead –
He believed [in]...the God who gives life to the dead. ...Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. ...Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead––since he was about a hundred years old––and that [his wife] Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, ...being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised. ...The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness––for us who believe in him [God] who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Romans 4:17-21, 23-24
So Abraham is the father of everyone who has faith in God!
He is the father of all who believe. ...He is the father of us all. ...He is our father in the sight of God.
Romans 4:11(-12), 16-17
So, you too can be included!
But isn't Abraham just the father of the Jews?
No! Because Gentiles (non-Jews) are actually included in God's plan from the very beginning.
He [Abraham] is the father of all who believe. ...He is the father of us all. As it is written [in the Old Testament]: "I [God] have made you [Abraham] a father of many nations."
Romans 4:11, 16-17
God never thought of Abraham as the father of just one nation, Israel.
God always thought of him as the spiritual father of all nations.
So your country was already included in God's plan, through Abraham, 2,000 years before the Messiah came.
In fact, all God's children were actually chosen by God even long before that!
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world.
Ephesians 1:3-4
Only those who have faith in God's promise are true children of Abraham:
Not all [Jews] who are [physically] descended from Israel are [true] Israel. Nor because they are his [Abraham's physical] descendants are they all Abraham's children. ...In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as...offspring.
Romans 9:6-8
In Creator God's eyes, there is something far more important than your physical ancestry.
Are you a Jew by birth?
There is something far more important than that in God's eyes.
Are you a non-Jew by birth?
There is something far more important than that in God's eyes.
No matter your ancestry...
Your faith in God's promise is what makes you a true child of Abraham – a true child of God!
This was God's plan for you from the beginning.
Remember, God chose his children before the creation of the world – before your country ever came into existence.
So don't miss God's plan because of your ancestry.
In God's eyes we are all one – if we have faith.
Because eternal life is a gift from God, God gives it to anyone who has faith:
[God's] promise [of eternal life] comes by [our] faith, so that it may be by [God's] grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring–– ...to those who are of the faith of Abraham.
Romans 4:16
[Abraham] is the father of all who believe but [are not Jews]..., in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is the father of the [Jews]...who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that...Abraham had.
Romans 4:11-12
[Now,] a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written [in the Old Testament]: "The righteous will live by faith."
Romans 1:17
And this gift of righteousness and eternal life comes to us only through the Messiah:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus the Messiah], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Before believing in the Son of God ...
You were dead in your transgressions and sins. ...BUT because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. ...It is by [God's] grace you have been saved, through faith––and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God––not by [your] works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:1, 4-5, 8-9
So Option #2 was completely based on what the Messiah would come to earth to do.
This was clearly predicted long before Christ's birth!
About 1300 years after Abraham and about 700 years before Jesus Christ was born, God's prophet Isaiah gave this description of what Jesus Christ would suffer on the cross. Isaiah foretold this about the Messiah:
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all…have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [the Messiah] the iniquity [sins] of us all.
Isaiah 53:5-6
Do you know when God actually planned to send his Son?
Creator God actually planned Option #2 before the creation of the world!
You were redeemed...with the precious blood of Christ...[who] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
I Peter 1:18-20
So God went to great effort over thousands of years of time to set up exactly the right circumstances to send his Son to us.
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son...to redeem those under the Law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Galatians 4:4-5
Before Jesus Christ came, God's plan remained a mystery:
[Jesus said:] "I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men [in the Old Testament] longed to see what you see [today] but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."
Matthew 13:17
But...
To you the word of God [comes] in its fullness––the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations.
Colossians 1:25-26
What is this mystery?
[Now] God has chosen to make known...the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27
God's eternal plan (Option #2) is all based on one thing:
Christ in you.
He who has the Son has life.
I John 5:12
Today, in his great love, God the Heavenly Father offers you the opportunity to become part of his family forever.
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
Hebrews 3:15
HOW AMAZING IS GOD'S LOVE ...
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen!
Romans 11:33-36
We can't save ourselves [Option #1], so God gave us a gift [Option #2]:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus the Messiah], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Why did Jesus come to this world?
Jesus said... "[I] came to seek and to save what was lost."
Luke 19:9-10
When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36
[Jesus said:] Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ...Learn from me, ...and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29
This is our only hope.
No matter how strong or self-sufficient you may think that you are...
• You will be defeated by death.
• You cannot overcome the sin and evil in your own heart.
There is no hope in Option #1 – which is the impossible task of trying hard to be good enough for God.
12
SO WHAT DID THE MESSIAH DO FOR US?
1. Christ took our death penalty on himself.
He [Christ] suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9
Why did he have to die for us?
Because...
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
Therefore...
Without the shedding of blood [death] there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22
So there was no other way.
Someone has to die for our sins –
either we,
or Christ.
2. Christ took our sins on himself...
He [Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [cross].
I Peter 2:24
God made him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that ...
II Corinthians 5:21
3. ...We became God's righteousness!
... so that in him [Christ] we might become the righteousness of God.
II Corinthians 5:21
4. Jesus Christ frees us from our slavery to sin.
[Jesus said:] "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ...If the Son [of God, Jesus Christ] sets you free, you will be free indeed."
John 8:34, 36
We all sin –
and we can't help but sin –
because we are sin's slave.
How does Jesus set us free?
Our Old Self was crucified with him [Christ].
Our Old Self was put on the cross with Jesus.
Jesus is our representative.
We died with Christ.
Romans 6:8
What happened when we died with Christ?
Our Old Self was crucified with him so that…we should no longer be slaves to sin––because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 6:6-7
How can dying free us from slavery?
5. So God forgives and forgets our sins.
I [God] will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
Hebrews 8:12
6. We become God's children.
To all who received him [Jesus Christ], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12
7. We become a new creation.
What were we before we believed?
You were [spiritually] dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world...and the spirit [Satan] who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:1-2
We...were by nature children of [God's] wrath.
Ephesians 2:3 (NAS)
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
Isaiah 64:6
Those controlled by the Flesh cannot please God.
Romans 8:8 (Berean Study Bible)
Those who are in the Flesh cannot please God.
Romans 8:8 (NAS)
What is the Flesh?
Flesh seems to be a general term or over-arching label in the Bible for the strong pull within us to do evil.
It is definitely not our physical body – because we serve God with our bodies.
Offer the parts of your body to him [God] as instruments of righteousness.
Romans 6:13
Flesh seems to include:
• The sin nature we are all born with.
• Our Old Self.
The Flesh does the following things:
• Uses our minds and bodies for evil purposes.
• Desires to rebel against God.
• Is controlled by Sin.
• Thinks evil thoughts.
• Has bad attitudes.
• Does evil deeds.
Our Flesh controls us before we believe in Jesus Christ.
But after we believe, we can and must control the Flesh, with the help of God's Spirit.
So we are able to have victory over our Flesh in this life.
But, our struggle against the Flesh will be difficult and continue until we see Jesus face to face.
For Bible references and more details see: How Do I Defeat My "Flesh?"
When we believe we get a new identity:
But because of his great love for us, God...made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.
Ephesians 2:4-5
In him [Christ] we...become the righteousness of God.
II Corinthians 5:21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
II Corinthians 5:17
God transforms us into a new person in Christ.
Then we make a conscious choice regarding our new identity.
You were taught...to (have) put off your Old Self, ...and to (have) put on the New Self, created to be like God.
Ephesians 4:22, 24 NIV & (BibleHub, English - Greek / Hebrew Interlinear)
Illustration:
When someone is chosen by the coach to be on a football team or soccer team, their identity changes: they become a football player or soccer player. And they receive a new uniform that represents their new identity.
Then they must make a choice. Will they choose to identify themselves by their new identity, or will they hold onto their old identity? Before they do anything else they must embrace their new identity.
So they take off their old clothes and put on their new uniform.
Then they go out to play the sport.
Illustration: Your identity matters.
ARE YOU A FAKE TREE OR A REAL TREE?
Before we believe in Jesus Christ, we are like an artificial Christmas tree.
An artificial Christmas tree has no life in it – it is dead.
No matter how much you decorate it to try to make it look good, it has no life within.
The decorations do not change its true identity – it is a dead tree.
Before believing in Jesus Christ we are spiritually dead.
No matter how many good deeds we do to make ourselves look good, they are no better than decorations on a fake tree. These deeds do not please God – in fact, they cannot please him.
This is because...
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
I Samuel 16:7
Good deeds do not change our true nature: We remain spiritually dead because of our sins.
After we believe in Jesus Christ we are like a living tree.
We receive the Spirit of Christ; we become a New Creation. We have God's life within us.
A living tree produces real fruit. And Christ's life in us produces real spiritual fruit.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Psalm 1:3
So our good works flow out of the life of God's Spirit that is within us. They aren't just decorations attached to the outside. Just as the life within a living tree produces real fruit, God's Spirit in our lives produces genuine good works that are pleasing to him.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23
All God's children should produce this fruit.
We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
There are different kinds of gifts [spiritual abilities], but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
I Corinthians 12:4-6
So our lives have great purpose here on earth:
For God gives each of us different things to do for him – things he has already planned for us to do!
We should do these things motivated by love for God and love for others.
[God says:] "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
Jeremiah 17:10
So my heart and motives matter:
If I...have not love, I am nothing. ...If I...have not love, I gain nothing.
I Corinthians 13:2-3
In this life we may not see the full results or prosperity of much of what we do for God.
But God does not forget.
[Jesus said:] "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
Matthew 10:42
Some of the results will only be seen in the next life.
8. The Spirit of Christ lives in us.
The Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Christ.
Romans 8:9
(Holy Spirit = Spirit of God = Spirit of Christ = Spirit)
9. We receive eternal life and a resurrected body.
Jesus said… , “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26
We know that if the earthly tent [body] we live in is destroyed [dies], we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. …[We will] be away from the body and at home [in heaven] with the Lord.
II Corinthians 5:1, 8
[The Bible's final prophecy about the future says:] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. ...And I heard a loud voice from the throne [of God] saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Revelation 21:1, 3-5
13
SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
– a 5-minute response –
Believe:
The jailer…asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved––you and your household.” …Then immediately he and all his family were baptized. …He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God––he and his whole family.
Acts 16:29-34
Acknowledge:
If you confess [acknowledge] with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess [acknowledge] and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trust in him will never be put to shame."
Romans 10:9-11
(NIV & Strong's Greek Dictionary)
Repent:
Repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his [Christ's] name to all the nations.
Luke 24:47
They must turn to God in repentance [for their sins] and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
Acts 20:21
Love:
“'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (and with all your strength).' And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law...hang[s] on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:37-40 / (Mark12:30)
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:6
Read the Bible:
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk [the Bible], so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
I Peter 2:2
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Colossians 3:16
Pray:
This…is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven ...”
Matthew 6:9
Prayer is talking to your Father who loves you!
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the saints [God's children].
Ephesians 6:18
Don't worry • Be content • Be thankful:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:17-18
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Hebrew 13:5
God's continual, loving presence with us is the foundation for all our attitudes!
Don't be afraid or timid • Be bold and full of faith:
works prepared for you to do
don't be afraid to testify about and suffer for Christ
Obey:
[Jesus said:] "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
John 14:15
Our motivation is:
love for God and others –
not trying with all our might to follow the letter of the Law.
The power comes from:
our cooperation with the Holy Spirit who is living and working in us.
We...call people...to the obedience that comes from faith.
Romans 1:5
This obedience is based on our faith in Christ, not on trying hard on our own to follow a list of rules.
Righteousness from God...is by faith from first to last, just as it is written [in the Old Testament]: "The righteous will live by faith."
Romans 1:17
We started out by faith in Christ – and we became a child of God.
Then, by faith in Christ we are to live each day in obedience to him.
And, by faith in Christ we will live for all eternity.
But "the obedience that comes from faith" isn't automatic:
God works,
And we work.
You...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13
So learn to avoid the 2 extremes:
• Of trying to do it all in your own power;
• Of expecting God to do it all for you.
So, we please God by relying on his Holy Spirit...
...because we are not Sin's slaves any longer:
We know that our Old Self [that we were born with] was crucified with him [Christ], so…that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because everyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 6:6-7
A very powerful truth:
1. Our Old Self was Sin's slave.
So, before we believed in Christ, we couldn't help but commit sins.
2. But our Old Self was crucified on the cross with Christ.
Illustration:
Obviously, when a slave dies, he is no longer under his master's control.
He's dead!
3. So now we are free to serve another master – God.
(Visual Illustration: Old Self crucified with Christ)
Before we believed in Jesus Christ...
• Our Old Self made it impossible for us to please or obey God.
• Sin, as a force or slave master within us, made it impossible.
• Our Flesh, with its evil desires, made it impossible.
But our Old Self was crucified with Christ, and now we have Christ's Spirit living in us.
So now we have the ability and power to please God!
[Now] the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the Flesh but according to...[God's] Spirit.
Romans 8:4
"Righteous requirements" are God's lofty standards. Now we can meet them!
They are different from slavishly trying to follow a long list of commands that are part of "the Law's written code."
So…we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the [Law's] written code.
Romans 7:6
An Important Key: Our Minds.
[Don't have your] minds set on what the Flesh desires; but...have...[your] minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of the Flesh is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:5-6
Where we focus our minds is crucial:
To please God each day we must focus on...
• Things of the Spirit.
• Not, things of the Flesh.
Our minds guide our words and actions.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is––his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
Put Off & Put On:
With regard to your former way of life, ...put off your Old Self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.
Ephesians 4:22
Put on the New Self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:24
Go to church with God’s children:
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.
Hebrews 10:24-25
In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ...Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Romans 12:5 / I Corinthians 12:27
There are different kinds of gifts (spiritually abilities)... There are different kinds of service... There are different kinds of working. ...All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. ...Now to each one the manifestation [expression] of the Spirit is given for the common good.
I Corinthians 12:4-6, 11, 7
The Holy Spirit wants to bless you through God's other children.
But he can't, if you don't go to church!
The Holy Spirit wants to bless God's other children through you.
But he can't, if you don't go to church!
Greet Priscilla and Aquila. ...Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Romans 16:3, 5
... his [Christ's] body, which is the church ...
Colossians 1:24
Christ's church or body is not a building.
Christ church is made up of God's children – those who believe in Jesus Christ.
So it can meet anywhere.
Together we:
• Worship God.
• Learn about God through the Bible.
• Encourage one another in our relationship with Christ.
• Pray to God together – and pray for each other.
• Tell about Jesus to people who don't know him.
• Do God's work and serve each other.
How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
Psalm 147:1
Be baptized:
Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:38
Tell others about Jesus:
I am not ashamed of the gospel [of salvation], because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Romans 1:16
As Jesus was sitting…the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "...what will be the sign of your coming [back again] and of the end...? Jesus answered: "...This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Matthew 24:3-4, 14
Don't give up during hard times:
Consider it pure joy...when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. ...For...God...predestined [us] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. ...If God is for us, who can be against us? ...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convince that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:28-29, 31, 35, 37-39
In the midst of trials:
• Rejoice – God loves you. Nothing can keep you from his love!
• See it through to the end:
God's intention from the very beginning is to make you like Jesus!
Don't give up part way and miss out on the spiritual benefit.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, ...who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, ...so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:2-3
You have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves..." ...God is treating you as sons.
Hebrews 12:5-7
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Hebrews 12:12-13
In the midst of trials:
God is working in you to make you grow spiritually.
It is also your responsibility to make the effort to grow spiritually.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12
It will be worth it!
Be prepared to face persecution for Jesus’ sake:
[Jesus said:] “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of me. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven, ...for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Luke 6:22-23 & Matthew 5:12
[Jesus said about the end times:] "You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ...But he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Matthew 24:9, 13
[Jesus said:] "Do not be afraid of those [people] who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One [God] who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ...Even the very hairs of your head are numbered [by your heavenly Father]. So don't be afraid."
Matthew 10:28, 30-31
Now if we are children [of God], then we are heirs––heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:17-18
Focus on the key:
With Christ!
• Now.
• Through all eternity.
[Jesus said:] "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33
Rejoice!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Psalm 146:1-2
OUR UNAVOIDABLE DECISION.
We are given only 2 options!
Whoever believes in [Jesus] the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
John 3:36
What is God's heart toward you?
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise [to judge everyone], as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
II Peter 3:9
"As surely as I live," declares the Sovereign Lord, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live [eternally]. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die [eternally]?"
Ezekiel 33:11
But ...
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the [physical] death of his saints [those who believe in Jesus].
Psalms 116:15
God looks forward to being with his children forever!
Jesus says: First, consider the cost of following me.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man [Jesus] will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Mark 8:34-38
So God’s invitation to you on the last page of the Bible is: Come!
The Spirit…say[s], “Come!” …Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life [Option #2].
Revelation 22:17
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