COURSE: NEW TESTAMENT DOCTRINES
INTRODUCTION TO COURSE
The name of this course is New Testament doctrines. We want to use
this session to explain the goals for this course, and what the ‘New
Testament doctrines’ are.
1) New Testament doctrines’ simply means the ‘doctrine’ or
‘teachings’ of Jesus Christ and the apostles. This class will
primarily focus on what the Apostles taught to the church in the
first century A.D. The main reference in the Bible to these
doctrines is in Acts 2:42. (Read 2:42-43) Let’s first look at what an
apostle is, and who the apostles were.
A) The apostles were the original handpicked disciples of
Jesus Christ. There were originally 12 men in this group,
but Judas disqualified himself as an unfaithful unbeliever.
B) After Jesus ascended back into heaven, the remaining 11
disciples chose another person to become a disciple/
Apostle. We will look at this event in Acts chapter 1 in a
moment.
Read Acts 1:21-26. The apostle Peter believed that a
couple of the qualifications for a man to be an apostle were
1) Someone who had accompanied Jesus and the disciples
during the 3 ½ years of Jesus’ ministry. 2) Someone who
had seen Jesus after his resurrection.
C) Jesus himself chose another man to be his apostle, one
who would preach the gospel mainly to the Gentiles. This
man was a Jew named Saul, who later went by the name
Paul. After Jesus had ascended back into heaven, he
confronted Saul as Saul was traveling to Damascus to
persecute Christians there. Read Romans 1:1-6.
Question…. Are there any apostles still living today? How
can we know? Does anyone today meet the qualifications
found in the Scriptures? **Ephesians 2:19-20…Apostles
were the foundation of Christ’s church…and you only
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lay a foundation once, at the beginning. Revelation
21:14
2) Let us now consider the teachings/ doctrines of these apostles.
How can we be sure what their teachings were? (Only by what they
have written in the Bible… New Testament.) The New Testament is
a record of the apostles teachings. We must remember however, that
their doctrine was not their own.
A) These teachings and truths were not something that they
made up, or figured out on their own. The Bible makes that
perfectly clear. (Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17) Discuss. (Read
2 Peter 1:20-21) Discuss.
(Read 2 Peter 3:15-16)
Discuss. Questions….Why is it important to understand
that what the apostles wrote, was not their own ideas or
beliefs? (they could be mistaken.) Since everything that
the apostles wrote in the New Testament is actually the very
words of God himself, how does this affect us? (we must
believe and obey.)
B) The apostles doctrines never contradict the Old Testament
Scriptures, or the words and teachings of Jesus Christ
himself. All of Scripture is a unified whole.
C) All of the apostles doctrines are built upon the foundation of
the Old Testament Scriptures. They explain the difficult
concepts and mysteries of the Old Testament. (Read Luke
24:27) Explain. (Read Acts 17:11.) Explain.
D) The apostles doctrines actually completed and further
explained the teachings of Jesus Christ himself. That is
exactly what Jesus did as he taught the crowds and
disciples the real meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures.
(Read Matthew 22:29-33)
3) Let us now look at the form or the construction of the apostles
doctrines contained in the New Testament. First, the Old Testament
is made up of three sections, the Law (writings of Moses), wisdom
literature (psalms, Proverbs, Etc.), and the Prophets. (Luke 24:44.)
A) The Gospels… Matthew and John were apostles, John
Mark and Luke were fellow workers with the apostles.
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B) The book of Acts…written by Luke, a historical account of
the early church & missions.
C) The Epistles… letters written by the apostles… 13 letters by
Paul, first and second Peter, first, second and third John.
Hebrews by…? James and Jude… Witten by the half
brothers of Jesus.
D) The apocalyptic Book of Revelation… by the apostle John.
4) The scope or topics of apostolic doctrines…. The subject matter.
Apostolic teachings cover all of human history–from the original
creation of the physical universe, to the final re-creation of the
heavens and the earth. Genesis to Revelation.
A) The apostles repeat and expand the truth of the Old
Testament. We will look at these in detail in later sessions,
but they cover topics such as…. Creation of the world and
mankind, marriage between one man and woman, Sin and
its consequences, sacrifices and worship, death and
resurrection, judgment and reward.
B) The main teaching and focus of the apostles writings in the
New Testament (can you guess?), Is the person of Jesus
Christ, the son of God, The Savior of the world. They show
in detail how Jesus is the main figure/character of the Old
Testament, and in all of human history. All of the Bible is
about Jesus Christ. The Old Testament shows us why we
need Jesus… as the cure / remedy for sin and death. The
Old Testament Scriptures give many pictures and
illustrations of what Jesus would do when he came the first
time… mediator, redeemer, sacrifice, Atonement,
Reconciliation. And the Old Testament also revealed who
Jesus would be when he came… Savior, God in the flesh,
bread of life, living water, the second Adam, the lamb of
God, the light of the world, the way, the truth, and the life of
God himself. As the apostles wrote the New Testament
Scriptures, they made all of these truths about Jesus, clear
and understandable.
C) The central and primary truth of the apostles doctrine, is the
Gospel. All of the Bible is meaningless if we do not
understand and believe the gospel. Gospel means (?)
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(Briefly explain the gospel if time permits…. God… man….
Christ…. Response.)
1 Cor. 15:3-4
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Course #1: Beginning at the Beginning — the God Who
Created
Having learned that the Apostles taught God’s truth based upon the
revealed truth of God in the Old Testament as their foundation, we
should begin where God began in Genesis…at the very beginning. And
how does the O.T. begin? With God. Genesis 1:1…”In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. In this first
verse of the bible, God clearly declares that He ‘IS’, and that He alone is
the creator of all things. So let’s examine how the Apostles taught this
same truth. We will begin with learning about the person (being) called
God in the bible. Then we will learn about His creating and upholding
the universe and all life by His infinite power.
WHO IS THIS GOD?
Why did the apostles need to tell people about God, especially the Jews,
to whom God had revealed Himself in many ways throughout history?
There are many reasons that everyone needs to be taught about
God…..who He is, what He is like, what He has done, and how He
redeems sinners.
First, we do not naturally know God personally, as His friend. But He
knows us, because He has created us and keeps us alive, and He is
always involved in our daily lives, even if we don’t acknowledge or
worship Him.
Second, if we never come to a true knowledge of God and relate to Him
in a relationship of peace, we will die in our sins and be forever
separated from this Holy God.
Third, the only way to truly live and enjoy life, is to live in harmony and
peace with God. And we cannot do this unless we really know Him and
worship Him as He demands.
1) A great starting point to see what the apostles taught about God and
His creation is in Acts chapter 17. Here the apostle Paul had
traveled to Athens, Greece, on the continent of Asia, on the
Mediterranean Sea. (Map) Let’s read the biblical account as he
encountered the Greeks and their religious practices.
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(Read Acts 17:16-23) What did Paul observe about the religious
practices / beliefs of the Greeks? (Discuss) We will see why their
beliefs / worship was wrong later in the course.
To correct their misunderstandings about God, Paul then goes on to
tell them about the one true God. (Read Acts 17:24-32) What did
Paul teach them about God?
A) The only God who truly exists, is the God who made everything
(creator)…the same truth we find in Genesis 1. What does
this teach us about the ‘gods’ of other religions today?
B) God is not confined to temples, earthly buildings for religious
worship. What does this tell us about God?
__________________________________________________
________________________________
C) This God does not rely upon humans to meet His needs or to
make Him happy…verse 25.
D) This God gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
What does this say about you?
E) Verse 26a tells us that God began the human race with one
man. Who was he/his name? __________ (Refer to Genesis
1:26-27, 2:7-8, 18-25)
F) Verse 29, Why does Paul say that God is NOT like “gold or
silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill”?
Do people still think of God in this way today?
G) We will look at other aspects of Acts 17 later in the course. But
we need to know HOW Paul knew all these truths about God.
Where did he learn about God?
____________________________________
Do all people on earth ‘naturally’ know that God exists, even if they
don’t know much about Him? (Romans 1:18-23) Where do you
think the Apostle Paul learned that everyone knows about God in their
minds and hearts? (Psalm 19:1-4a)
2) Another great place to find out what the apostles taught about God
and his creation is in the Gospel of John, Chapter 1.
(John 1:1-14) Who was John? What does he write here about
creation and the creator?
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A) (Verse 1) Who or what is this “Word”?
_________________________ We find more information
about the “Word” in verse 14. This agrees with all that the
Bible teaches about Jesus, that he is the Son of God, that he is
eternal, he is God incarnate (In the __________________)
Verse 1 also says that he was ________ God in the beginning.
He also _________ God.
If there is only one God, how
could this “Word” be God too? (Discuss as needed)
B) (Verse 2) Where did this “Word” come from?(even before
creation)
C) (Verse 3) What did this “Word” do? He made _______ things.
(Verse 10 also) The apostle John is very clear that Jesus the
Messiah, the Son of God, was involved in the creation that we
read about in Genesis 1.
D) Does the apostle John’s teaching about Jesus being the
creator, contradict or disagree with what we’ve read in
Genesis, or does he give us additional details about God and
his creation that we do not find in the Old Testament? (Discuss
the harmony and unity, the singular focus of the Scriptures if
necessary) (Progressive revelation)
3) Let’s now consider what the author of the New Testament book of
Hebrews tells us about God and his creating work in the beginning.
(Hebrews 1:1-3a)
A) This scripture tells us about the relationship between God the
father and God the son. (See v.8-9 if needed) We have
additional truth given to us about Jesus the creator. Verse 3b
tells us that God the father created all things “through” His Son.
The author of Hebrews makes this claim about Jesus based on
his knowledge of Psalm 45:6-7. Look how he uses these Old
Testament verses in Hebrews 1:10. His claim is that in Psalm
45: 6-7, it is God the father who is speaking this to (or about)
God the son… Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews is giving
us more insight into the Old Testament scriptures.
B) When we read Hebrews 1:3, we find more information about
Jesus and his creating power. What does the last part of the
verse tell us that Jesus does? “He _________________ the
universe.”…. What does that mean? How does Jesus “keep
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the universe going”?..... “By the ___________ of his power”.
Is there any similarity between Jesus upholding the universe
by his “word”, and how God created all things in Genesis 1?
(Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24) The author of Hebrews is
teaching his readers about Jesus Christ who is the Son of God.
His audience was Jewish and they were very familiar with the
Old Testament, they believed that it is God’s Word. That is why
he uses the Old Testament Scriptures to show them that Jesus
is the Messiah and Creator.
C) The author of Hebrews also confirms the Old Testament record
of God creating all things by the power of his “Word”, in
Hebrews 11:3. (Read and discuss)
4) Lets look in the New Testament letter to the Colossians, written by
the apostle Paul, to see what he was teaching them about God and
his creation. (Colossians 1:13-20)
A) In verse 15, we read that Jesus is “The image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creation”. Many of the Cults and false
religions use this verse incorrectly. They do not give the true
meaning of the words that are used about Jesus here.
(Discuss “Image”) When we read that Jesus was the
“Firstborn” of all creation, we might think that this is teaching
that Jesus was the “First thing” that God created, before he
created everything else. This is what the Mormon religion, and
other cults teach about this verse. But we know from
everything else that we read in the Bible that Jesus was never
created. He has always existed as God the son, without
beginning, without end, eternal. (Revelation 1:17-18, 22:13)
Many times, the word “Firstborn” does mean… Born first. In
those occasions it is referring to the order of birth…. First,
second, third, etc. That is how the word is used in Colossians
1: 18 where it describes Jesus as being the “Firstborn” from
the dead. Jesus was the first person who was resurrected
from the dead with a glorified, Imperishable body. But
“Firstborn” also has the meaning of being “First” in priority,
rank, position or quality. And in Colossians 1 verse 15, it
means that Jesus is the “Greatest” over all creation.
B) Verse 16 tells us much more about “What” Jesus created, in
the beginning. Whereas the Old Testament describes the
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creation of the physical universe in Genesis, the apostle Paul
teaches us that Jesus created much more than just the
physical universe, the things that we can see and touch and
experience. The apostolic doctrine of creation teaches us in
this scripture passage of Colossians, that Jesus created “All
things”. Things which we cannot see in ________________,
and everything on the earth. “Visible and
______________________”. What is the apostle Paul
describing when he says that Jesus created, “thrones or
dominions or rulers or authority”?
_____________________ beings. Angels, demons, Etc.
C) In verse 17, the apostle Paul agrees with what the apostle
John taught about Jesus as the son of God. “He is before all
things”…..”in the beginning was the word, and the Word was
with God. (John 1:1)” God the Father had revealed to the
apostles by the Old Testament Scriptures and the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, these truths about Jesus creating, that He did
not show to the Old Testament prophets.
5) Let’s now consider what the apostles taught regarding “How long”
God took to create the universe and everything in it. In the first
account of creation in Genesis 1, how long did God say that it took
him to create everything? _________ days. Were these normal
twenty four hour days like we have today? Have you ever heard
that God took millions or billions of years to create our world through
the process of evolution? Does the Bible say that? Is there
anywhere else in the Bible where it says that it only took six days for
the Lord to create everything? Exodus 20:8-11
A) Is there any place in the New Testament that tells us that God
created everything in six days, like it says in Genesis and
Exodus? Matthew 19:4-8 Although Jesus is answering a
question about divorce, what does he use as the foundation for
his answer? He refers to Genesis chapter 1:27, and 2:23-24.
The apostle Matthew teaches that Jesus believed in a literal
Adam and Eve, Who were created by God on the sixth day of
creation (From the beginning).
B) Although we will look at these verses in greater detail later in
the course, let’s see what the apostle Paul taught about the
beginning, the time of God’s creation. In his letter to the
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Romans, Chapter 5, starting in verse 12 Paul is explaining why
we humans need a Savior. As he explains to the Christians in
Rome that Jesus came to save sinners, he is reinforcing the
biblical truth that all people are sinners. And he explains “How
we came to be” sinners. (Romans 5:12-14) The apostle
Paul was teaching that Adam was a literal man, created on the
first week of creation. In Genesis 3 we read how Adam and
Eve sinned against God by disobeying His commandment.
Paul says that this was a true, literal event, and because of
Adams sin, every human being since him (Except for Jesus)
has inherited that sin nature, and needs a savior. Paul teaches
that all human and animal death is a result of Adams sin. And
that is exactly what we find in Genesis chapter 3. But if God
used millions of years of evolution, and if humans descended
from apes, as the theory of evolution teaches… then there
would have been millions of years of death, disease and
decay…. before Adam. But God pronounced all of his creation,
Including Adam and Eve… very good! Adam was created in
perfection and lived without sin until the day he rebelled against
God…. And that brought death into the world. This theory of
evolution directly contradicts the word of God, and cannot be
true. The sin of Adam brought about death. Both the Old and
the New Testament is very clear about this. (1 Corinthians
15:21-22, 45)
C) The author of Hebrews also teaches that God created
everything in the beginning, in six literal 24 hour days.
(Hebrews 4:4) Read and discuss. Also verse 10.
D) Do the apostles teach anything concerning “How long ago”
God created everything in the beginning? They do! (Matthew
1:1-17) The apostle Matthew begins his gospel with a
genealogy, or a listing of the family tree leading up to Jesus.
He traces the lineage of Jesus back to Abraham, the first
Israelite. Matthew considers the Old Testament Scriptures to
be historical and accurate as he writes about the beginning of
the Jewish race, and how it led to Jesus.
If you look at Luke 3:23-38 you will find another genealogy of
Jesus. This one was written by Luke, who was a physician of
the apostle Paul, and traveled with him on many of his
missionary trips. Luke begins his gospel by telling his readers
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that he had followed all of the events regarding Jesus, and has
examined them by speaking to eyewitnesses of Jesus, and
Luke wrote his Gospel to give an orderly account of the truth of
Jesus’ life. In Luke’s genealogy he begins with Jesus, and
works his way back beyond Abraham, all the way to Adam. If
you add up all of the lifespans in the various genealogies of the
New and Old Testaments, it shows about four thousand years
from creation to Jesus, and we are living a little over 2000
years after Jesus. The consistent testimony of the New
Testament writers, is that all things were created in six days,
about 6000 years ago, exactly the way that God reveals it in
Genesis.
6) The New Testament writers also confirm what Genesis teaches
about God creating man first, and then creating the woman from his
rib. Look at 1 Corinthians 11:8. The apostle Paul is teaching
apostolic doctrine about relationship and authority in the church, and
in the home. God has given the husband and father responsibility
and headship over his wife and children, which they are supposed to
submit to. The basis of this Male authority in the home and in the
church, is founded here upon the creation order of the first man and
woman. Paul is teaching that since God made the man first, and the
woman from the man, God has granted the man headship and
authority over his wife. The apostle Paul confirms Genesis 2:21-25.
The apostle Paul gives the same teaching to Timothy, a younger
pastor, in his letter 1 Timothy 2:13-14. Again, Paul is teaching about
the God established roles of leadership and submission in the
church. And he uses the creation account of the man and woman
found in Genesis, as his foundation for this truth. Paul expands his
explanation for why the husband has authority over his wife, and why
men are to be leaders in the church and not women, by referring to
the account in Genesis 3 where Satan tempted Eve and she was
deceived, but Adam sinned knowingly.
CONCLUSION… as we consider the apostles teaching on creation, and
the God who created everything, we see from their writings in the New
Testament that they did not contradict or dispute anything that we find in
the Old Testament Scriptures. The apostles believed the Old Testament
Scriptures to be the inspired and authoritative Word of God.
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Furthermore, they agreed with and reinforced the reality of a six day
creation which occurred about 6000 years ago. In our next session, we
will see more about that original creation, and what has happened since
then.
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Course #2: From Perfection to Rebellion
In our last session we learned that the Apostles doctrines were all
founded on the Old Testament Scriptures and inspired by the Holy Spirit
and the teachings of Jesus. We now move on to the second section,
where we see how God’s perfect and complete creation is ruined by
man’s rebellion and disobedience to God. God’s once perfect creation is
in the state that is in today because of human depravity and selfishness.
Let’s see how the apostles teach about the fall of man into sin, and the
resulting chaos that followed.
Begin with review of Creation….(God’s original directions for mankind…
fellowship, dominion, work-tending, procreation)
OLD TESTAMENT FOUNDATION
1) The fall. Read Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17, 3:1-24. (Quick review if
needed, questions)
2) Results of the fall. What are the immediate results of Adam and
Eve’s disobedience? 3:7…open eyes…see their guilt, feel their
shame.
3:8…Trying to hide from God…uncomfortable in His presence. He is
holy, they are now unholy.
3:12-13…Blaming others for the problem, not taking responsibility for
own sin.
3:14…Serpent cursed (all animals suffer & die)
3:15…Enmity between serpent and woman (satan vs. humans &
Jesus)
3:16…Pain in childbirth, subservient to husband.
3:17…Earth not give up food willingly, hard labor.
3:18…thorns, thistles, weeds.
3:19…Death.
3:23…banished from the garden of God.
3:24…Prohibited from the tree of life.
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NEW TESTAMENT TEACHINGS
3) Expansion of Adam’s sin and curse to all mankind.
A) ALL HUMANS BECAME SINNERS
The apostles are diligent to repeat what they saw in the Old
Testament, that because of Adam’s sin, all humans since him
(except for Jesus) were born in sin, and live as sinners, unless
God graciously saves them through repentance and faith in
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
ROMANS 3:10-20,23
COLOSSIANS 3:5-7
1 JOHN 1:8, 10
What does this have to do with our life, and our families? Were
we born without sin, without a need for a savior?
B) ALL HUMANS WILL EXPERIENCE PHYSICAL DEATH
In the New Testament, the apostles teach often about the reality
of human, animal and plant death. They had all the history of
the Old Testament, which revealed that everyone eventually
dies. But the apostles make sure that we understand WHY
everyone dies, because it is a spiritual problem for every person
that we need to think about.
ROMANS 5:12-14, 6:23
JAMES 1:14-15
1 JOHN 3:15
Just as God promised Adam that his disobedience would result
in death, our sin also brings death. Can you escape death?
How old is the oldest living person that you know? Do you think
that they will live forever?
C) ALL HUMANS ARE SEPARATED FROM GOD
This is something that Satan lies to us about. Most people
believe that they are naturally ‘children of God’, and that God is
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pleased with them. But what does the bible say? How did
Adam’s sin result in separation from God?
ROMANS 8:5-8
3 JOHN 11
EPHESIANS 2:11-12a
JOHN 14:17a
COLOSSIANS 1:21
We need to believe what God tells us in the bible, instead of
what our world teaches us. One of the greatest gifts you can
give to another person is to show them from God’s word that
they are a sinner, and separated from God. We all need to
have our sin forgiven, to be friends with God.
D) ALL HUMANS ARE WICKED, EVIL, SELFISH
Sin shows itself in many ways. Often we can pretend that we
are good, and try to hide our sin. But eventually our true nature
will reveal itself, and we are shown to be evil.
ROMANS 1:24-32
GALATIANS 5:19-21
1 PETER 4:3-5
No one likes to think that they are evil. You may not do some
of the terrible, evil, awful things that ‘really bad’ people do. Yet
if it was not for God and His grace restraining your evil (and
mine) we would be the very worst people on earth, doing things
so wicked that we can’t even imagine it. God’s Holy Spirit is
restraining, controlling evil upon the earth.
E) ALL HUMANS ARE ENEMIES OF GOD, REFUSING TO
OBEY GOD
The more we read in the bible about the effects of sin, and our
corruption, the worse we feel about ourselves, and the way we
treat God. If you ask a person if they love God, they will
always tell you ‘Yes!’, even if they are living their life ‘against’
God, and disobeying His commandments. Even our hearts will
lie to us, convincing us that we are ‘good’ by nature, and that
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we are a ‘friend’ of God. But what does the bible say about us
all?
ROMANS 1:21-23
JAMES 4:1-4
TITUS 1:15-16
REVELATION 9:20-21, 16:9, 19:19
Even some Christians and preachers refuse to admit this truth
about our natural hatred of God and His truth. They feel that it
is mean or harsh to tell people that they are God’s enemies.
But are we helping people by hiding the truth from them?
Would a doctor be a good doctor if he did not tell someone that
they had a fatal illness, if it could be cured by medicine?
F) ALL HUMANS ARE BORN SPIRITUALLY BLIND
To be spiritually blind means that we don’t see the truth about
God or ourselves. We are unable to discover spiritual truth on
our own, without God’s help. We have no natural ability to
know God as He truly is, instead we believe Satan’s lies about
God. If He leaves us alone, we will live and die in spiritual
blindness, believing lies instead of truth.
JOHN 1:9-11, 9:39-41, 12:35-36, 46
1 CORINTHIANS 2:14
EPHESIANS 4:17-18
1 PETER 2:9
2 CORINTHIANS 4:3-4
MATTHEW 13:14-15, 18-19
As spiritually blind humans, we can’t see the sinfulness of our
hearts and minds, and we can’t see how far from God we are.
It is easy for us to see the sins and faults of other people, but
we think that we are better than most people.
How can a physically blind person see the light? Can a
spiritually blind person see how to reach God?
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G) ALL HUMANS ARE BORN SPIRITUALLY DEAD
We have to be careful to not take this analogy ‘too far’, we must
not make it mean more than God intends for it to mean. One
thing is certain, if we are all born spiritually dead, we need to be
made spiritually alive. Dead people cannot give themselves
life, they need a greater power outside of themselves to give
them life.
EPHESIANS 2:1-3
JOHN 3:3, 5
Just as God told Adam, ‘in the day that you eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die’…he died
spiritually even as he remained physically alive. (He was in the
process of dying physically from that moment on)
Do you realize that most of the people that you see walking
around are dead? (spiritually) Think about it!
H) ALL HUMANS EXPERIENCE CONFLICT WITH MAN
We saw in Genesis that as soon as mankind rebelled against
God and God’s commands, and became a sinner, it affected
Adam’s relationship with his wife. Sin corrupts and destroys
everything. Our human relationships are often difficult because
we are sinners living with sinners.
ROMANS 1:30
MATTHEW 10:21
Not only does sin destroy our relationship with God, it also
damages our earthly relationships. One of the effects of sin is
to make us selfish. We naturally want everything in life to
please us. We often don’t care what happens to other people,
as long as only ‘good’ things happen to us. That is sin.
I)
ALL HUMANS ARE UNDER SATAN’S INFLUENCE
Most of the time, we believe that we are controlling our own
thoughts and actions, unless another person makes us angry
or sad. But God’s word tells us that Satan is powerfully leading
and directing us into sinful activity and thoughts. Because we
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can’t see him with our eyes, we think that he doesn’t really
exist, or that he has no effect on us.
EPHESIANS 2:1-3
1 JOHN 3:8a, 5:19b
2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-12
2 TIMOTHY 2:24-26
JOHN 8:34, 43-45
2 CORINTHIANS 4:4
MATTHEW 4:1
Just because Satan is the ‘prince of the power of the air’, the
‘god of this age’, doesn’t mean that we can blame him for our
sin and rebellion against God. We are accountable for our own
actions, and will be judged by God for our lives, not for what
others do.
J) OUR PLANET EARTH IS DECAYING
Just as read in Genesis that God cursed the earth because of
Adam’s sin, the effects of sin continue on our planet and
universe.
ROMANS 8:19-22
Where do you see the effects of sin on our planet, our physical
world? What would your continent or country be like without
sin’s effects?
K) ALL HUMANS ARE UNDER GOD’S RIGHTEOUS
CONDEMNATION & WRATH
The destructive effects of our sin go far beyond this lifetime.
Sin will affect us for all eternity, if we die as sinners. Our
separation from God will not be ended when our earthly life is
over, it will continue forever.
ROMANS 1:18, 2:3, 5, 16
1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-10
2 PETER 2:4-10a
EPHESIANS 5:5-6
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PHILIPPIANS 3:18-19
2 THESSALONIANS 2:5-9
HEBREWS 4:13, 9:27, 12:25
JUDE 7, 10
REVELATION 20:11-15, 21:8
The apostles teach us the awful truth that God’s wrath and
condemnation for sin will not be quenched just because we die
physically. The bible teaches that all people will live forever in
their resurrected bodies. Some will live forever in God’s
presence in peace and joy, because God has made them
righteous and forgiven in Jesus Christ. But everyone who dies
without Jesus as their Lord and Savior, will live forever in the
lake of fire, eternal hell.
This is a sad truth, something that no one wants to hear, or to
believe about themselves or their family. Yet if we refuse to
believe the truth about our helpless condition in sin, we will
never seek a cure. People who don’t think they are sick do not
look for a doctor.
In our next session we will see the grace, mercy and love of God. We
will see what God has done to rescue us and to make us spiritually alive.
But before we get to the ‘good news’ of the gospel, please take some
time to think about your sin, and your standing with God. Do you have
unconfessed sin? Have you ever gone to God to have your sin
forgiven? Do you believe what God says in His word about your need to
be cleansed, forgiven, made alive in Christ?
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Course #3: Redemption — God rescues mankind from
rebellion, sin & death
Having learned what the apostles taught about creation, sin, and the
result of man’s rebellion, we will now look at what God did to make
forgiveness and salvation possible for sinful humans. Let’s begin by
taking a brief look at what the Old Testament teaches about our
Redeemer and Savior.
OLD TESTAMENT FOUNDATION
1) The coming Redeemer. (What does redeem mean?) Read
Genesis 3:15. Who is it that would crush the head of the serpent?
When did that happen?
God gave His people many pictures or illustrations to help them
recognize the coming Redeemer. This redeemer is often called the
‘Messiah’ in the Old Testament. What does ‘Messiah’ mean? The
_______________ one.
(Explain ‘Type’ & ‘Antitype’…animal
tracks)
A) Blood sacrifices. From the very beginning, when God
provided animal skins for Adam and Eve to cover their
nakedness, He was teaching them that for sin to be forgiven, it
requires the death of an innocent animal or person. All through
the Old Testament, God had His people constantly making
animal sacrifices to Him. (Abraham and Isaac)…. Substitution.
B) Religious feast and festivals. When God brought His people
into the Promised Land, He commanded them to observe
several feasts throughout the year. These feasts were
designed to make the people remember what God had done
for them in the past, but they were also a picture of what the
perfect Savior would do for mankind in the future. (Passover)
C) Judges, Priests, Prophets and Kings. God often gave His
people human leaders and rulers, who were to teach the
people about God, warn them when they disobeyed God, help
them worship God correctly, and lead the people to live for God
only.
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D) Tabernacle and Temple. God gave his people very specific
instructions for building his place of worship, and how they
were to approach him. They could not come whenever and
however they wanted. They had to come to God “His” way or
they would not be accepted by God. God was teaching his
people about himself through the tabernacle.
E) Shepherds. God often used the person and the work of a
shepherd to illustrate how He would care for his people, like
sheep.
F) Kinsman Redeemer. In the Old Testament, God allowed his
people to “get back” something they had sold, lost or forfeited,
by having a close relative “buy it back” for them. (Book of
Ruth)
G) Specific Old Testament persons. God often wrote about
certain people in the Bible, to give us a glimpse or a hint of
what the Savior would be like when he came.
Adam, Noah, Jonah, Melchizedek, Moses, David, Solomon,
Joseph, Aaron, etc.
NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING ABOUT OUR REDEEMER
In our second session we emphasized that all humans are spiritually
blind and dead, separated from God because of our sin, and there is
nothing that we can do about it to help ourselves. (Jeremiah 13:23) In
this session we will begin to see what God has done for us so that we
can be reunited to him, having our sins forgiven and being made
spiritually alive. This topic of our SAVIOR and REDEEMER is the main
focus of the Bible. The Bible was written so that we would know how we
can be accepted by God. This is the most important truth that any
human being can learn. No matter what we may accomplish in life, no
matter what we may possess, if we are not right with God… we will lose
everything and remain forever in hell. The Gospel is the most important
message in the world, and it is what God commands his people to
preach. Let’s now look into the New Testament to see what the apostles
tell us about our great Savior!
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Who is the Redeemer? (John 1:1-18)
We looked at this Scripture in a previous class so we won’t spend a lot
of time here. But this is a great chapter to teach us many truths about
Jesus, so we will use it as a starting outline to look at other New
Testament verses.
V.1-2… Jesus was in the beginning with God, and he was God.
(Trinity… God the Son) V.3… he is the Creator. V.4-5… he is Life
and Light. (we are spiritually dead and blind) V.9-11… he is the
true light, but spiritually blind people will not see him as the Savior
unless the Holy Spirit opens their spiritual eyes. V.14… The
eternal Son of God became a human being, so that we could be
saved by “a perfect man”. V.16-18… Jesus brought to earth the
grace of God… in salvation. Jesus revealed God the Father to us
humans, and made the way for us to become the children of God.
V.29, 34… this chapter was written by the apostle John, and he
gives us his personal witness about Jesus, the witness of John the
Baptist, and the words of Jesus himself. Jesus is described as
“The lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” He is
also described as the “Son of God”. V.41… Jesus is called
“Messiah”, or “Christ”.
V.49… Jesus is again called the “Son of God”, and also “The king
of Israel”. Now we will take a more detailed look to see what John
and the other apostles taught about Jesus, and the salvation He
purchased for us.
1) LIFE
What do the apostles teach and write about Jesus being eternal life,
and giving us eternal life. Let’s begin in the gospel of John and then
look at other scriptures.
John 3:3-8, 16-18, 5:24, 39-40, 6:63, 68, 11:25-27, 12:50, 14:6,
17:1-3, Acts 3:15, Romans 6:5, 22-23, Ephesians 2:4,
2
Timothy 1:8-10,
1 John 1:1-2, 4:9, 5:11-13, 20.
It is true from God’s word that all of us are born in Sin, spiritually
dead, and for us to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must be born
again into spiritual life. And Jesus Christ is the only one who can give
us this eternal life.
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2) LIGHT
As the Bible teaches that we are all spiritually blind, we need light
from God to see his truth and to know him.
John 8:12, 9:5, 39, 12:44-46,
2 Corinthians 4:6
Jesus is the light of God, he is the light of the world, and he gives
light and life to all who will receive him.
3) MAN / ADAM
God does not explain why, but it was necessary to have a human
being to redeem us, to reconcile us to God. For God to be truly just
and holy, he cannot just overlook our sin, or forgive us just because
we say we are sorry. Someone had to pay the price for our sin, to
suffer the punishment of God’s justice and wrath against sin.
Acts 2:22,
Romans 1:2-6, 5:17-19,
1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 49, Philippians 2:5-11,
1 Timothy 2:5-6,
Hebrews 2:14-18.
God makes it clear in his word that the first Adam failed. He was
created in perfect righteousness, but rebelled against God, breaking
his commandment, being unfaithful to God. When Jesus came to
earth and became a human being, he accomplished everything that
Adam failed in. Jesus remained perfectly righteous, he kept all of
God’s laws, and he took upon himself the punishment for Sin… that
we deserve.
4) LAMB
Just as God gave the Israelites several “Pictures” of lambs being
slaughtered and shedding their blood, to atone for the sin of the
people, Jesus in the New Testament is pictured as the Lamb of God
who takes away our sin.
John 1:29, 36, Acts 8:32-35,
1 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews
9:11-14,
10:5-10, 12, 14,
13:11-12,
1 Peter 1:18-21,
Revelation 5:6-14, 7:10, 14-17.
Probably the clearest example of what Jesus accomplished for us as
the Lamb of God, comes from the Old Testament Passover lamb. If
any family would not sacrifice a lamb and put its blood over their
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doorpost as God commanded, death would come to the family.
(Exodus 12:12-13)
5) SON OF GOD
Almost every other religion in the world denies that Jesus was the
Son of God. And yet the Bible makes this very clear. If Jesus was
not the Son of God, he would have been born with sin, and could not
have become our Savior.
Luke 1:30-33, John 3:13, 31-32, 35-36, 5:18, 8:23-24, Acts
9:20, 2 Corinthians 1:19, 2 Peter 1:17
6) MESSIAH / CHRIST
God promised his people many times in the Old Testament that he
would send them a Redeemer, His messiah. The Word “Christ” is
used 555 times in the New Testament, and it always refers to Jesus.
John 4:25-26,
7)
Mark 1:1,
Acts 2:36, 4:25-26, 9:22, 18:28
PROPHET
During the time of the Old Testament, God gave his people prophets,
priests and kings to lead them and to teach them to obey God.
These human leaders just prepared people to receive Jesus, who is
our perfect prophet, Priest and King.
John 6:14, Acts 3:22-23, Luke 13:33, Hebrews 1:1-2
Old Testament prophets spoke for God, they gave the people God’s
word. Now Jesus, who is the Word, also spoke to the people God’s
truth during his time on earth.
8) PRIEST
A priest in the Old Testament was a man appointed by God, to
mediate between God and man. (Explain mediator) Those priests
did this by taking the sacrifices of the people and pouring the blood
out on the altar at the Tabernacle. The people were not permitted to
make their own sacrifices wherever they wanted. God commanded
them to do it his way.
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Hebrews 3:1, 4:14, 5:5-10, 6:20, 7:24-28, 12:24,
Timothy 2:5,
1
Jesus became our perfect high priest, because he took his perfect,
Sinless blood and offered it to God as a payment for our sin. By the
wisdom of God, Jesus is both our sacrifice and our great high priest,
who mediates on our behalf with God the father.
9) KING
Luke 1:30-33, John 18:33-37,
Revelation 19:11-16
Colossians 1:13-14,
Jesus is our eternal King, he has purchased the kingdom of God by
his death and resurrection, and he makes us citizens of the kingdom
of heaven when we receive his sacrifice for sin.
10) LIVING WATER
In the Old Testament, as God was leading the Israelites through the
wilderness, they complained that they had no water to drink, and that
they would die of thirst. So God miraculously gave them water out of
a rock.
John 4:10, 13-14, 7:37-39,
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
We all need living water for us to live spiritually, and Jesus himself is
the water of eternal life.
11) SAVIOR
John 4:42,
Acts 4:11-12, 5:31, 13:23, 16:30
12) JUDGE
John 5:22-24, 27, 12:31-36,
17:31
Acts 4:11-12, 5:31, 13:23, 16:30,
13) BREAD OF LIFE
When the Israelites were being led through the wilderness, they had
no food to eat. So God miraculously gave them manna from heaven,
and they ate it for 40 years, and lived.
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John 6:35-40, 46-51
We must be careful not to misunderstand what Jesus is saying here.
Many of the people who heard him at that time did not understand
what he was saying. They thought that he was telling them to
actually eat his flesh and drink his blood. (Cannibalism) Jesus was
using a figure of speech to teach them an important truth. (Explain
what he meant by “Eat his flesh”= come to me, and “drink his blood”=
believe in me. V.35.)
14) SHEPHERD
Because we humans are sinful, because we naturally wander away
from God, we need a shepherd to bring us back to safety. The Bible
often refers to humans as sheep. (Isaiah 53:6)
John 10:11, 14-18, 27-30,
2:24-25, 5:4
Hebrews 13:20-21,
1 Peter
15) THE WAY
The Old Testament often speaks of the way we live our lives, as
walking down a path. There are two paths that we can take in life,
the way of life or the way of death. There are paths of righteousness
and unrighteousness. (Jeremiah 21:8, Proverbs 14:12)
John 10:7, 9, 14:6
If we decide to take any other path in life, other than Jesus Christ, it
will end in eternal death and punishment.
16) REDEEMER FROM SIN & DEATH
To redeem means to “Buy back”. Although mankind was originally
created in the image and likeness of God, we have been sold into
slavery through sin. It is Jesus Christ who purchased us with his
own blood, so that we might belong to God as His children.
John 8:34, 36,
Acts 2:38, 20:28,
Romans 8:1, 1
Corinthians 6:20, 7:23, 15:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21,
Galatians 1:3-4,
4:4-5, Ephesians 1:7, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter
1:18-19
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17) RIGHTEOUSNESS
It is our unrighteousness that separates us from God. There is no
way for us to make ourselves righteous. We must receive the
righteousness of Christ if we want to be accepted by God.
Romans 3:21-22a, 10:4,
2:1
1 Peter 3:18,
2 Peter 1:1,
1 John
18) PEACE
Adam and Eve were created in perfection, and lived in perfect
harmony and peace with God until they rebelled against him. It is
Jesus who has made peace between us and God by his shed blood,
and Jesus IS our peace.
Romans 5:1, 9-11, Ephesians 2:14-17, Colossians 1:19-22, 1
Thessalonians 1:10 Isaiah 9:6
God used many people and objects to prepare his people for Jesus. It is
a valuable exercise to search the Old Testament Scriptures for types and
shadows of Jesus. Here are just a few examples that you might want to
study on your own. Adam, a prophet like Moses, Joseph, Melchizedek,
David, Solomon, Noah’s Ark, the tabernacle, Jonah, the scapegoat, the
Sabbath, the sacrifice of Isaac, Etc.
We do not have enough time in this class to properly cover this topic.
We can spend the rest of our lives studying the Scriptures to find what
Jesus is, and what he has done for us. What is important is that we
understand what the Bible teaches about our need for him. We must
believe all that God says in his word about Jesus being the only Savior
for mankind. The heart of the Bible is the gospel.
If we do not get the truth about Jesus right, nothing else matters.
Our problem… is our sin and separation from God.
The remedy… is Jesus Christ. His sinless life, His sacrificial death, His
resurrection from the grave and ascension into heaven.
Our salvation… to repent (Turn from our Life of sin to God and his
truth), to believe that Jesus is the only Savior died on the cross for our
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sin and rose from the dead, God accepting his sacrifice on our behalf.
To confess our sin and trust in Jesus alone for our righteousness.
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Course #4: God Works Through His People — The Church
Learning about our great need for salvation, and how Jesus has
provided forgiveness and eternal life by the sacrifice of Himself on the
cross, we now need to see what the apostles wrote about this new life
that we have in Jesus. God did not save us so that we can continue to
live for ourselves, or for sin. If we have been born again through
repentance and faith, God gives us a new purpose for living, and a new
way to live. When God reconciles us to himself through Jesus, he
makes us his children. He makes us citizens of his kingdom, and he
puts us into a new family, the “Body” of Christ… which is the church.
Almost all of the New Testament is written to Christians, people who
have been saved by Jesus. The 4 gospels are historical accounts about
Jesus that all people need to read, to learn what Jesus did and who He
is. Acts is a record of the Holy Spirit working through Christians to build
the church. The epistles are written to individuals or churches to
instruct them how to live for Christ. There are a few portions of Scripture
which warn unbelievers to repent and believe, but most of it is written to
Christians, teaching us how we are to live in this world as followers of
Christ. Let’s begin this course by thinking about the Progress of God’s
saving work in the lives of Christians.
1) Justification / Sanctification / Glorification
Romans 8:29-30,
1 Corinthians 6:11
We must understand what the scriptures teach about the ‘process’ of
how God works in our lives or we will be confused.
Justification…Happens when we are delivered from the PENALTY
for sin, through the substitutionary death of Jesus. This happens
instantly and completely the moment we repent and put our complete
trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This is a one time event. We
are either saved, or unsaved. When God justifies us through Christ,
we instantly become His children through the ‘new birth’, and are
secure in God’s grace and power. Justification is the work of God
upon us. To be justified is to be “declared righteous” by God. (Titus
3:7, Romans 3:24, Galatians 3:24)
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Sanctification…Happens throughout our life, after salvation. It is
being delivered from the POWER of sin, by yielding to the Holy
Spirit’s leading, by renewing our minds by God’s word, by disciplining
ourselves to pursue righteousness and forsake sinful habits,
thoughts and actions. Sanctification is a process, and it is ongoing
as long as we are alive in this world. We become more and more
sanctified as we cooperate with God’s work on us daily, to make us
like Jesus in thought and actions. Sanctification must be the goal of
every Christian, because it is God’s goal for us.
(1 Thessalonians 5:23, 4:4, 7,
2 Corinthians 7:1)
Glorification…Will finally happen when we will be delivered from the
PRESENCE of sin. We will be glorified after we die, when we enter
the presence of God. He will forever change our ‘earthly’ nature, and
remove the sin nature that we struggle with today. We will be
unable, and unwilling to sin in God’s presence, so that He will be
glorified by His perfected creation…us! It will happen instantly and
eternally.
The reason we need to understand these 3 ‘phases’ of our
salvation is so that we won’t be confused when we read the bible. If
a verse is speaking about sanctification, but we are thinking it is
about justification, we will misunderstand it and possibly teach a
false doctrine. The false religions and cults make this mistake. A
right understanding of this process of salvation guides us when we
read from the apostle Paul’s writings, “you were saved”, or “you are
being saved”, or “we will be saved”.
2) GOD MAKES ALL THINGS ‘NEW’ FOR HIS REDEEMED PEOPLE
A) We have a NEW MASTER.
If we are saved… we belong to God. (1
Corinthians 6:19-20, Acts 20:28) This means
that we are not free to live our lives anyway that we
want to. We cannot do or act by our own desires,
we must be doing what God desires us to do. That
is why Jesus told the people that came to him, to
“Count the cost” before they committed themselves
to following him. (Luke 14:25-33) Before God
saved us, we spent our entire life living for
ourselves, doing what we wanted to do. Not only
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that, we were slaves to sin and to Satan. (Romans
6:16-17, 1 John 5:19) Now that we have been
saved, redeemed, we are to live as slaves of Jesus,
and slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:6, 17-22)
B) We have a NEW FAMILY.
God saves us as lost individuals, and places us into
His new family, the body of Christ, the CHURCH.
Colossians 1:18,
Ephesians 5:22-32,
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27
We need to remember as we read the New
Testament, that most of it is written to us as a
church, not as individuals. We have a responsibility
to care for our fellow believers, worship with them,
pray for them, help them, serve them, enjoy them,
grow from them, teach and be taught the scriptures
with them. (Explain ‘church’)
C) We have a NEW HELPER.
Just before Jesus left the earth to ascend back to
heaven, he promised His disciples that He would
send them another helper to be with them forever.
Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit.
John 14:15-17, 26, 15:26, 16:7-14, Ephesians
1:13, 4:30, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:4-11,
Romans 8:14, 27 Galatians 5:16-25, 2
Corinthians 3:18)
D) We have a NEW PURPOSE IN LIFE.
Our purpose in life is to honor God in everything we
do. We must live our lives to give Him glory, to
obey and worship Him, to enjoy our Creator and
Redeemer as long as He gives us life. (1
Corinthians, 10:31, 1 Peter 1:13-19) In most of
the epistles, the writer begins by teaching doctrine,
or truth about God, Jesus, our salvation, etc. Then
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they move on to instructing us about how we are to
‘live out’ our new life in Christ.
E) We have a NEW MISSION IN LIFE.
Since we have been redeemed from our sin and
selfish living, we need to tell other people about the
salvation that is available through Jesus. (Matthew
28:18-20) Although Jesus was speaking to the
disciples that were with Him on that day, His
command applies to us today. Make Disciples.
Baptize them. Teach them to obey God’s Word.
This is our duty also. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) The
apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers to
remind them that we have been enlisted by God to
represent Him to the lost world, proclaiming the
gospel and calling people to repent and trust in
Jesus, and to give Him their lives.
F) We have NEW RESPONSIBILITIES.
When God saves us and places us into His family,
we are responsible to live for Him, and to obey Him.
Here are a few of our responsibilities as a Christian.
(1) BAPTISM
(Matthew 28:18, Acts 2:41, 9:18, Romans 6:4)
The baptism that we are speaking about is water
baptism by immersion (submerge). This is one
area of confusion for many Christians as they
read the bible, because we must determine
when a verse is teaching about water baptism,
or the spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit that
happens when we are saved, born again.
(Acts 1:5, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27)
Are you saved? Have you been baptized? If
not, you must talk with your pastor about
scheduling that as soon as possible because
you are disobeying your Savior.
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(2) READ & STUDY YOUR BIBLE
The only way we can know the truth about God
and ourselves, is through the bible. The bible is
different from every other book ever written.
Many books can be read one time, and you
never need to read it again. But the bible is alive
and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). We can never
know the bible perfectly. Each time we read it
we should learn something new, and we should
know God better. As a Christian, the bible is
your most valuable possession, and should be
studied, loved, treasured, taught and shared with
others. This is especially true for those of you
who are pastors.
(Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy
2:15, 3:16-17)
(3) PRAYER
Prayer is simply talking to God. It should be as
natural for a Christian as breathing or eating.
Prayer is how we access God’s power, leading,
and blessings. In prayer we should be thanking
God for who He is, and for what He has done,
and is doing in our world and lives. We not only
pray for ourselves, but for other people.
(Philippians 4:6, Matthew 6:5-13, 1
Thessalonians 5:17) One thing that we must not
be misled about, is what is the place and
purpose of prayer. Some people will teach that
God ‘has to’ answer our prayers, if we pray with
faith. But that is not true. If God can be forced
to answer our prayers, then we are more
powerful than Him. That would make Him to be
our servant. We are to pray with faith, with
confidence that He hears our prayers, and can
do anything on our behalf. But when we pray we
must leave the answer in God’s hands, and trust
that He will do what He knows is best, because
His way and will is always perfect.
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(4) BE FAITHFUL TO THE MEETINGS OF THE
CHURCH
(Hebrews 10:23-25, Acts 2:41-47, 5:11-14)
We were not saved to be isolated from other
Christians. The church is God’s gift to us. We
need the fellowship, worship, encouragement,
spiritual gifts and preaching that is found in a
healthy church.
(5) SERVE THE LORD AND OTHERS WITH YOUR
SPIRITUAL GIFT
The apostles teach us that every believer has
been given a spiritual gift by the Holy Spirit. (1
Peter 4:10-11, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11) God does
not give us these spiritual gifts so that others will
think that we are special, or more important that
other people. These gifts are not for us, they are
to be used in the church to bless and help our
fellow believers.
(6) LIVE A MORALLY UPRIGHT LIFE
God saves us and gives us His Holy Spirit so
that we would live in purity, holiness, and
righteousness. We cannot live lives of sin and
disobedience to God’s commands. Our lives are
to be imitations of Jesus. (1 Corinthians 11:1,
1 Thessalonians 1:6, Romans 12:1-2) If we
claim to be saved, yet live like an unbeliever, a
pagan, we may not be saved at all. If we are
truly born again, our life will give evidence of
being changed. (John 14:15, 21, 1 John 2:3-6,
3:23-24)
We cannot live a pure life by our own power or
will, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to live
right. But we must make a real effort to be selfdisciplined, to pursue holiness and flee from sin
and temptation. (Romans 13:12-14, Ephesians
4:20-32, Colossians 3:1-14, 2 Timothy 2:22, 1
Timothy 6:11)
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If we are a pastor or elder in the church, one of our primary
responsibilities to the Lord is to ‘shepherd’ the flock, the
people of the church. And a great portion of our preaching
and teaching should be aimed at reminding them that God
has saved us to live for Him. We must use the bible skillfully,
applying it’s truths to our hearers daily situations, warning
them about going back to the ways of the world, guarding
them from false teaching and beliefs, encouraging them to
submit to the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, urging them to
keep their eyes focused on Christ, to life for Him and to deny
self. And more than ‘teaching’ them to do these things, we
ourselves must be ‘living’ to please God in every way, to be
an example to the flock of what it ‘looks like’ to pursue
godliness and righteousness.
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Course #5: God Renews And Perfects His Creation
In our earlier lessons, we saw from the bible that God originally created
all things, including human beings, perfectly. God’s creation…the entire
universe was flawless and beautiful, with nothing wrong or bad in it. But
because of Satan’s rebellion and his deception of Eve, and Adam’s
rebellion against God, the entire universe was plunged into sin and
decay. Our planet, our solar system, everything that we can see is
getting old, wearing down, decaying and dying.
But we must thank God, because He has made a way for us to be
redeemed from death, and reconciled to Himself through Jesus our
Savior. Not only does God save individual sinners, He also has a plan to
renew all things. His process of renewal began with Jesus bringing
victory over sin, defeating death and Satan by His sacrificial death and
resurrection. God renews people as He saves them and changes them
for His glory. In the future, He will renew our bodies, our nature, our
planet, all things.
Acts 3:19-21…”Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may
be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the
presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed
for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for
restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his
holy prophets long ago.”
The apostle Peter told the crowd in Jerusalem that God would eventually
‘restore’ or ‘renew ‘all the things about which God spoke.” In the Old
Testament God told His people that although mankind (and the Nation of
Israel) was rebellious and constantly turning away from God, in the
future God would work to bring His people back into a relationship of
peace and trust with Himself.
Ezekiel 36:24-29…‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather
you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I
will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will
cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will
give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from
you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put
my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful
to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your
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ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save
you from all your uncleanness.”
This promise of God has not been fulfilled yet. But God will make this
happen for the Jews in the future. We will see more about this renewal
of their hearts later in this class.
Colossians 1:15-20 (Read and discuss…reconcile / renew)
Ephesians 1:9-10
(Read and discuss…unity / renew)
So let’s see from the bible, God’s process of renewing all things.
1) RENEWING our relationship to God…. JUSTIFICATION
Psalm 51:10
2 Cor. 5:17
When God created Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden, he was
created in the image and likeness of God. But because of sin, we
cannot truly reflect God’s character and nature. Our lives are lived in
opposition to God and his ways until he redeems us and places his
Holy Spirit within us. Through salvation, our relationship with God
has been restored and renewed, and we can now live with Him in
peace and harmony. (Titus 3:3-7) discuss. (Hebrews 10:15-18)
We should never think lightly about having a renewed relationship
with God. It is the most important thing in the world. We should
want to see our family, our friends; our neighbors… enjoy the
blessings of being reconciled to God.
But although our standing with God has been renewed, as long as
we live in this body of sin we must strive to live a life that honors and
pleases God. This is why God gives us his Holy Spirit, so that our
manner of living might be renewed also, into holiness.
2) RENEWING our fellowship with God & His children….
SANCTIFICATION
After a person is born again they have a new purpose for living. We
are to live as followers of Jesus and as examples of what true
righteousness looks like to other people. It is God’s will that we grow
in spiritual maturity, becoming more Christ like every year. This
requires self-denial, self-discipline, and obeying the Holy Spirit.
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(Colossians 3:1-10) Discuss. (Ephesians 4:20-24) (2
Corinthians 3:18, 4:16) If we claim to be a follower of Jesus, but
our lifestyle, our attitudes and behaviors are not becoming more like
God, something is wrong. It is God’s will that every believer is
transformed into the likeness and image of our Savior. Sanctification
is what God uses to bring unity and joy to his church, and into our
fellowship with God himself.
3) RENEWING God’s image & presence in this world…. THE
CHURCH
God did not save us just so that we can go to heaven.
He wants to use us to encourage and strengthen other
believers, and to take the good news of salvation to those
who do not know God. It is God’s intention to reveal
himself to the lost world through His church, His people
who are being transformed into His Image. When people
see the church, they should see God, working through his
people. (Ephesians 2:11-16, 3:8-10) God’s work of
renewing our minds, hearts and bodies will not be
complete in this earthly lifetime, but it will be
accomplished perfectly and eternally when He calls us to
Himself in glory.
4) RENEWING our physical bodies after death…. RESURRECTION
When Jesus died on the cross and was buried in the
tomb for 3 days, He then came back to life and appeared
to His disciples. He resurrected from the dead, having a
changed, glorified body. He was able to change His
physical appearance so that His disciples would not
recognize him, he was able to pass through walls, appear
and disappear when He wanted to. The apostles teach
us in the New Testament that when Christians die and go
to be with the Lord, on the day of the Rapture (when
Jesus comes back to earth) our physical bodies will also
be remade and resurrected by Him, and will be reunited
to our soul, our spirit. Our bodies must be changed so
that they will be able to live forever in the presence of
God.
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John 11:25-26, Romans 6:5, 8:23, 1 Corinthians
15:20-22, 42-44, 50-57, Job 19:25-27
It will be wonderful to experience eternal life with no pain,
no sickness, no growing old, no disease or death. Just
as Adam was created with the ability to live forever if he
had not sinned, in eternity God will renew our bodies into
bodies that will live forever with Him.
5) RENEWING our planet, animals & life…. THE MILLENNIAL
KINGDOM
The apostles tell us that before God is finished dealing with sinful
man, with our planet and with Satan, there will be a period of renewal
on the earth. We refer to this as the millennial Kingdom (Explain
millennial) Jesus will return to earth and will rule over the nations in
righteousness from Jerusalem. He will fulfill all of the Old Testament
prophecies and promises about Himself as the Messiah. One
reason that the Jews of Jesus’ day would not accept him as Messiah,
is because he did not try to overthrow the Roman government,
become the king of Israel and rule the world in righteousness. The
Old Testament prophets said that the Messiah would do all of these
things, yet Jesus was crucified on the cross. But the New Testament
writers make it clear that Jesus came the first time to provide
salvation for mankind, and he will return in the future to rule the world
from Jerusalem, and to destroy all evil and rebellion against God.
From references in the Old Testament, it appears that during this
time God will restore the earth to become like it was shortly after
creation, before the worldwide flood of Genesis 7.
Revelation 20:1-7, Isaiah 11, 65:18-25, Matthew 19:28
6) RENEWING everything for eternity…. NEW HEAVEN & EARTH
The apostles teach us that at the end of this age, on the
great day of the Lord, God’s complete and final judgment
will come upon all people who refuse Him, upon Satan
and the demons, and even upon our physical universe.
In this judgment, God will destroy all things by fire, and
will make a new heavens and earth which will be where
God will live with his redeemed people forever.
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2 Peter 3:10, 13
Revelation 21:1
A) Vanquishing Evil Forever.
Revelation 20:7-15, 2 Peter 2:1-10a, 3:3-12, Jude 6-7,
Daniel 12:1-4
Finally, justice will be complete and perfect. We will never
have to worry about being lied to, cheated, hurt or
mistreated. Every wrong will be made right, as every sin will
be punished. Everyone who has repented and put their
trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior has had their sin punished
by God, as He poured out His wrath against our sin upon
Jesus on the cross. But everyone who refuses Jesus will be
punished eternally for their sin and rebellion against God, in
the lake of fire. This is what we are to warn people about, to
flee from the coming wrath of God on the Day of Judgment.
We urge them to repent and believe in Jesus, to be saved
from God’s righteous wrath.
B) Making ALL THINGS NEW.
2 Peter 3:13,
Revelation 21:1-7, 22-27, 22:1-5
We are still living in a world cursed by sin, among people
who are controlled by the ‘prince of the power of the air’,
and we live in bodies that are still vulnerable to our sin
nature, temptation and lust. But God has given us
everything we need to be victorious over sin, and to live for
Christ. It is our duty and privilege to resist Satan, to flee
from evil, and to pursue righteousness as long as we live.
And if we are faithful to Christ, we will receive the reward He
is holding for us…..Eternal life in God’s presence!
John 14:1-3 Revelation 5:6-14…”Then I looked and heard the
voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and
ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and
the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were
saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and
wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the
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earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who
sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory
and power, forever and ever!”
Additional scriptures for self-study….
Psalm 102:25-28, 103:1-5, 2 Peter 1:3-4
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