Class Lesson August 4, 2013

Hey Gang,

This Sunday we continue in our series on God's Story with God Sends His Son found in the Book of John. In today’s passages, you’ll read about the coming of the Messiah promised in last week’s lesson. Isn’t this what we’ve been waiting for?

Yes, but there seem to be two camps: the God side and the Jesus side.

1. God fans like that He’s mighty, obvious, and all-powerful. They think Jesus is too nice.
2. Jesus supporters don’t like God’s ruthless abandon. They prefer Jesus’ love and compassion.

But the two can’t be separated. If you want one, you get both, and today’s Scriptures explain how. The Old Testament foreshadows the New Testament and the New Testament reflects the Old Testament.

The author of the Book of John is the apostle John, who traveled with Jesus. He watched Him heal and raise people from the dead, pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, walk up the road to His crucifixion, and die. John is the same John mentioned in Matthew 4:17-24. He was also one of the first to see Jesus raised from the dead. John was thought to be one of the youngest apostles due to his occasional immaturity and the childhood role among the men. So when this young man had around 50 years to reflect on His experiences with Jesus, his Gospel took on an entirely different tone – and contained almost completely different material – from the other Gospels.


John didn’t write simply to record Jesus’ life, as He said in John 20:31, “these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.” the Book of John was written to bring people to Jesus Christ.

The lessons in this series are:

1. June 2 - God Begins the Story
2. June 9 - God Chooses a People
3. June 16 - God Delivers His People
4. June 23 - God Instructs His People
5. June 30 - God Dwells Among His People
6. July 7 - God Establishes a Kingdom for His People
7. July 14 - God Disciplines His People
8. July 21 - God Restores His People
9. July 28 - God Promises the Messiah
10. August 4 - God Sends His Son
11. August 11 - Jesus Is Crucified and Raised
12. August 18 - Jesus Commissions His Church
13. August 25 - God Completes the Story

 

“Make us proud.” “Remember, wherever you are, how you act reflects on us.”



Can people identify your children with you as their parents? Is there a family resemblance in their behavior, you know, like father like son? In today’s lesson, God sends His Son, knowing that as His Son, He would show us who He is.



We must all take our place in the Circle of Life and we must never forget to...
Remember Who We Are!

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Life Goal

Recognize who Jesus is. Then believe and follow Him. 

John 8:19 “Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."

Are your children reflections of you?

• Our children are mirrors, reflecting images of what happens around them. In addition to sharing genetic similarities with parents, they reflect the gestures, language, and interests of the adults in their lives. You’ll notice your child holding a crayon just like Dad holds his pen, or using a phrase Grandma says often. The behavior and habits children are exposed to at an early age can become behaviors and habits they carry into adulthood.
• The human brain does 80 percent of its growing in the first three years of life. Genetics guide the growth of a brain in the skull, but do not completely design the brain. Instead, genes prepare the brain to be adaptable, hardwiring itself according to the experiences and environment in which your child grows up. Because experiences have a direct impact on brain development, your child is especially vulnerable to negative experiences in these first, vital years. 

Quotes:

• All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting to encounter yourself.
• Never raise your hand to your children it leaves your midsection unprotected.
• Our children are counting on us to provide two things: consistency and structure. Children need parents who say what they mean, mean what they say, and do what they say they are going to do.
• Children learn to smile from their parents.
• Children always assume the sexual lives of their parents come to a grinding halt at their conception.
• Parents have to instill the right principles in their children, but then it's up to the children to live up to those principles.
• The best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a few minutes of their time each day.
• Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them.
• The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents.
• To understand your parents' love you must raise children yourself.
• Parents who are afraid to put their foot down usually have children who step on their toes.
• Some parents could do more for their children by not doing so much for them.
• Our children are not going to be just our children-they are going to be other people's husbands and wives and the parents of our grandchildren.
• If your parents didn't have any children, there's a good chance that you won't have any.

In this week's lesson, God sends His Son, knowing that as His Son, He would show us who He is.
Our study of God’s Story has focused on Old Testament episodes identifying human sin and God’s desire to help. This week we begin the New Testament. Thus far, the coming Messiah has been anticipated. Now Jesus, the central figure of God’s Story, stepped out of eternity and into humanity to reveal God.
The author of the Book of John is the apostle John, who traveled with Jesus. He watched Him heal and raise people from the dead, pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, walk up the road to His crucifixion, and die. John is the same John mentioned in Matthew 4:17-24. He was also one of the first to see Jesus raised from the dead. John was thought to be one of the youngest apostles due to his occasional immaturity and the childhood role among the men. So when this young man had around 50 years to reflect on His experiences with Jesus, his Gospel took on an entirely different tone – and contained almost completely different material – from the other Gospels.
John didn’t write simply to record Jesus’ life, as He said in John 20:31, “these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.” the Book of John was written to bring people to Jesus Christ. 

I. THE SON CREATED – JOHN 1:1-2, 14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

If asked by an acquaintance, “Who is Jesus?” how would you answer? (Who am I?)

• Christ, the Word, is God in flesh.
• Christ, the Word, came to dwell as God with us.
• Christ, as the Word, is preexistent, coexistent, eternal, and equal with God.
• In Christ, the Word, we see the fullness of God’s grace and truth expressed to us.

How does John 1:1-2 compare to Genesis 1:1-2?

• 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
• Who is Jesus, has been asked for 2,000 years. Answers include everything from blatant denials He ever existed, to seeing Him as a great philosopher-humanitarian, to understanding Him as the Son of God. Sometime around A.D. 90, the apostle John set out to answer the question and the result was the Gospel of John. John knew Jesus was the pinnacle person of God’s Story. He begins with the words, “In the beginning” (1:1, Gen. 1:1). Jesus deserves the reverence and recognition normally reserved for God. More importantly, Jesus was not an afterthought or a Plan B in God’s Story. Rather, Jesus was actively involved as the key character of God’s Story from the beginning. John’s beginning goes beyond the beginning of creation recorded in Genesis. With the words, “In the beginning was the Word,” John declared Jesus existed before creation. Though he didn’t call Jesus by name until John 1:17, John declared Jesus to be the preexistent, divine Word.
• We see that all the members of the trinity (God in three expressions) were present at creation. Because of this, we can know that they have always been acting as one; they were of one mind in creation, and are of one mind in all things.

What does John mean when he declares that Jesus is the Word of God? (Logos)

• The answer to this question is found by first understanding the reason why John wrote his gospel. We find his purpose clearly stated in John 20:30-31. “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” Once we understand that John’s purpose was to introduce the readers of his gospel to Jesus Christ, establishing Who Jesus is (God in the flesh) and what He did, all with the sole aim of leading them to embrace the saving work of Christ in faith, we will be better able to understand why John introduces Jesus as “The Word” in John 1:1.
• By starting out his gospel stating, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” John is introducing Jesus with a word or a term that both his Jewish and Gentile readers would have been familiar with. The Greek word translated “Word” in this passage is Logos, and it was common in both Greek philosophy and Jewish thought of that day. For example, in the Old Testament the “word” of God is often personified as an instrument for the execution of God’s will (Psalm 33:6; 107:20; 119:89; 147:15-18). So, for his Jewish readers, by introducing Jesus as the “Word,” John is in a sense pointing them back to the Old Testament where the Logos or “Word” of God is associated with the personification of God’s revelation. And in Greek philosophy, the term Logos was used to describe the intermediate agency by which God created material things and communicated with them. In the Greek worldview, the Logos was thought of as a bridge between the transcendent God and the material universe. Therefore, for his Greek readers the use of the term Logos would have likely brought forth the idea of a mediating principle between God and the world.
• So, essentially, what John is doing by introducing Jesus as the Logos is drawing upon a familiar word and concept that both Jews and Gentiles of his day would have been familiar with and using that as the starting point from which He introduces them to Jesus Christ. But John goes beyond the familiar concept of Logos that his Jewish and Gentile readers would have had and presents Jesus Christ not as a mere mediating principle like the Greeks perceived, but as a personal being, fully divine, yet fully human. Also, Christ was not simply a personification of God’s revelation as the Jews thought, but was indeed God’s perfect revelation of Himself in the flesh, so much so that John would record Jesus’ own words to Philip: "Jesus said unto Him, 'Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, "Show us the Father"?'" (John 14:9). By using the term Logos or “Word” in John 1:1, John is amplifying and applying a concept that was familiar with his audience and using that to introduce his readers to the true Logos of God in Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God, fully God and yet fully man, who came to reveal God to man and redeem all who believe in Him from their sin.
• The Logos was the preexistent, divine Word of God and was with God the Father in eternity past. He became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who received Him by faith, Jesus gave the right to be children of God. He came to reveal God and to take away the sins of the world.

What examples from Jesus’ life demonstrate He is the Word made flesh? In what ways did His life reveal the thoughts, emotions, and plans of God the Father?

• Jesus regularly gave compassion to the needy, healing to the sick, and explanation to the confused. He quoted the Old Testament, bringing to life the fullest meaning of God’s Word.
• There are many more examples, Jesus revealed God’s zeal for the temple when He cleared it (John 2:13-17); He showed His patience for the sinful in the way He guided the woman caught in adultery (8:1-11); He demonstrated God’s compassion when He cried over the death of a friend (11:35).

II. THE SON CAME TO US – JOHN 1:11-13, 18, 29

11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. 12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

18 No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son—the One who is at the Father’s side—He has revealed Him.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

According to this passage, to whom did Jesus come?

• Jesus came to “His own” – the Jews. From the time of Abraham, God had promised the Jews (or Israelites or Hebrews) that they would be His chosen people, a blessing to the rest of the world. He prophesied about Jesus throughout the Old Testament.

Why didn’t many receive Him?

• The Jews were not looking for Jesus as He was; they were looking for a conquering king to free them from the Romans instead of a servant-Savior who would free them from their sins. Though some Jews accepted Him by faith, most rejected Him.

How would you explain the purpose of Jesus’ coming? (What is my purpose?)

• Jesus was rejected by His own people and by the world.
• Becoming a child of God is an act of God, not an entitlement or human accomplishment.
• We know what God is like through Jesus, His Son, who is God come in the flesh.
• Jesus came to take away the sin of those who receive and believe in Him.

John spells out His purpose.

1. Jesus came to His own. God had called the Hebrew people to be His kingdom of priests and His holy nation (Ex.19:6). Understandably, Jesus went first to the Jewish people in order to get them back on track with God’s plan. Later in God’s Story, Peter applied Exodus 19:6 “6 and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.” to Jesus’ followers (1 Pet. 2:9). 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

2. Jesus came to redeem all who would receive Him. What did it mean to say, they did receive Jesus? The Greek word means “to take” or “to accept.” They received Him by taking hold of His message, accepting His words as truth. Salvation is not a matter of mere intellectual assent to theological propositions. To believe in His name means to buy into every aspect of His character and purpose.

3. Jesus came to manifest the will of God. Those who believe in Jesus’ name were born of God. In this instance, John likened becoming a child of God to being born in a spiritual sense. New birth in Christ was not of blood, or the will of the flesh, or of the will of man.

4. Jesus came to reveal God. The Greek text emphatically pronounces, “God, no one has seen ever!” Yet, because Jesus became flesh, people can understand God through Him.

5. Jesus came to take away the world’s sin. John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, a title used only twice (John 1:29, 36). What did John mean by the title? For the Hebrews, the lamb was the sacrificial animal of the Passover (Ex. 12). Others see in John’s lamb a substitute sacrifice like the ram Abraham offered up in the place of Isaac. Up until the death of Christ on the cross, the Jewish system of atonement involved the sacrifice of animals. According to the law, without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness of sin (Heb. 9:22). Thus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” was God’s ultimate sin-sacrifice to remove our sins once and for all. The term world was inclusive of all people with regard to God’s invitation to receive Jesus by faith. At the same time, world was exclusive to those who received Him and believed in His name (John 1:12). Only believers have their sins taken away. The offer is good for all, but not all accept the offer.

 


Why did Jesus come to earth? What one purpose did He come to fulfill?

• The nature of Jesus’ coming to earth raises serious questions: Why did Jesus come to earth the way He did? What was the purpose of His entering the human race, living among us, and dying upon a cross? Why did the divine Son of God lower Himself to the extent of becoming wholly man? The answers to these questions can be summarized in a single sentence: “He came to call out—by His ministry, death, and resur­rection—a people for His name whom He would call His church” (Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10).
• In other words, the result of His visit to this earth is the church. Jesus did not write a book, found a college, or establish a physical family. The only reality that His earthly ministry produced was the church. The only body Jesus ever said He would build was a spiritual body which He termed “My church” (Matthew 16:18). The only foundation Jesus laid during His ministry was the foundation for the church. Hence, the church can be said to be the singular creation of the earthly advent of Christ.
• The life of Christ makes up 48 percent of the New Testament; the other 52 percent is composed of what the life, death, and resurrection of Christ produced—the church.
• The entire New Testament, therefore, joins together to teach that the church, the spiritual body of Christ, is the creation of Christ’s mission in becoming man.

According to verse 12, what does it take to be a child of God? How does that change our identity? How does that influence behavior?

• We become a child of God when we believe in His name. that phrase means we accept His teachings and His invitations to follow Him. But it means much more than a mental acceptance; we must prove that we believe by the obedience of our lives to His Word.
• When we know Him by faith, we don’t lose our earthly identity, but we now have a new, eternal identity based entirely in God.

We turn to Jesus, repenting of our sins, receiving Him, and daily following Him. What is the result of believing in His name?

• Jesus gives you the right to be children of God. The term right renders the Greek word meaning “authority.” To be children of God is the highest status attainable.

III. THE SON MINISTERED – MATTHEW 4:17-24 

17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” 18 As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. 19 “Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for people!” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. 23 Jesus was going all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 Then the news about Him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to Him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And He healed them.


What was Jesus’ message in 4:17? Who else proclaimed this message, according to Luke 3:3?

• God sent His Son to help people find their way back to Him. To do so, they needed to repent. The Greek term refers to a radical lifestyle change based on a complete transformation of thought and attitude regarding one’s relationship to God. Jesus’ ministry consisted of three primary activities: preaching, teaching, and healing.
• What role does repentance play in salvation?
• John the Baptist: 3 He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, (Luke 3:3)

What does it mean to you to follow Jesus?

• Being a Christian is never merely a matter of believing the right things about Jesus (orthodoxy); it is about following Him and doing the things He desires (orthopraxy).
• Kingdom of God—the reign and rule of Jesus in the hearts and lives of men.

How have you been changed by Christ-centered preaching, teaching, and ministry?

• Jesus is the eternal Word, God Himself, who became flesh to redeem sinners.
• Jesus calls people to receive Him and become children of God.
• Jesus continues to call people to come and follow Him.
• Following Jesus is not about keeping rules but involves entering a relationship with Him.
• Jesus is the master teacher of truth, preacher of the gospel, and healer who makes people whole.

How should we respond to who Jesus is?

• Hearing about Jesus doesn’t lead to salvation. Knowing the Bible doesn’t lead to salvation. Neither does going to church, living a “good” life, or giving to charity. But when we follow Him alone as the way to life, we truly believe. 

• Recognize who Jesus is. Then believe and follow Him.

Identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God calls to mind Old Testament references to the sacrifice of a lamb, pure and spotless, on the sacrificial altars. It is a reminder of the Passover lamb – though not sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins, the applying of its blood to the door posts was a critical factor in being spared death. Surely, it is a reminder of the Lamb of Isaiah 53 who willingly suffered for others. Is there any doubt Jesus is that Lamb of God? His own sacrificial and substitutionary atoning death was for the forgiveness of our sins and the means whereby the Lord established a new covenant written in His blood. (Matt. 26:28)

Prayer of Commitment

O Lord Jesus, I hear Your call, and I too immediately and gladly leave all to follow You. Amen. 

Who are you a reflection of?

See you on Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan

The Circle of Life