Christmas ABF Fellowship

Knowing God Ch. 13 - The Grace of God

The Grace of God

“God’s riches at Christ’s Expense.”

No Grasp of Grace

1. The moral ill-desert of man.

-“For modern men and women are convinced that, despite all their little peccadilloes-drinking, gambling, reckless driving, sexual laxity, black and white lies, sharp practice in trading, dirty reading, and what have you-they are at heart good Christian folks.”

Young Life

-You can’t be a slave to two masters!

-Fail to realize that are image is tarnished in the fail.

-Doctrine of original sin…our hearts are evil from the beginning.

2. The retributive justice of God.

-God must punish sin (Gen 18:25).

-Many simply want to cast themselves on the character of God, thinking that God is a God of love, but he has to be a God of justice as well.

-Morality? Where does that come from? Have you ever had a discussion about ethics without Scripture?

3. The spiritual impotence of man.

-Rom 3:20 – “No one will be declared righteous in his sight observing the law.”

-We strive in this place where we think our actions will please our savior!

-You can’t please him by your actions.

-Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”

4. The sovereign freedom of God.

-We think we are the good guys. And God is obliged to love us and take care of us.

-God is perfectly free and is not served by human hands. He doesn’t need you on His time. But you should desire to be on His team.

Not Earned or Deserved

-Grace and salvation go together hand and hand (Eph 2:8-9).

-Rom. 5:8 – God paid the highest price for us.

-Lemon Lot – God buys you. But that’s not the incredible thing…he pays top price.

1. Grace is seen as the source of the pardon of sin.

-Change from a condemned criminal to a joint-heir.

-Free to us, but costly to God.

-Eph 1.7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will…”

2. Grace is the motive of the plan of salvation.

-God planned redemption before the earth was created. Because God gets glory when his grace is praised. (Eph 1)

3. Grace as the guarantee of the preservation of the saints.

-1 Peter 1:5 “who by god’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

The Marks of a True Christian

This is GraceAnna :-)

For those interested, I posted a link to Grant's recent sermon from MY BLOG.

Grant started another training cycle on Parris Island, but hopefully he will be able to update his class notes soon.

Merry Christmas!

Knowing God Chapter 7

Read Hebrews 11

Abel – Genesis 4

Enoch – Genesis 5:18-24

Noah – Genesis 5:29-10:32

Abraham – Genesis 12-25

Sarah – Genesis 12-23

Isaac – Genesis 17-35

Jacob – Genesis 25-50

Joseph – Genesis 37-50

Moses - Pentateuch

Rahab - Josh 2:1, 3; 6:17-25

Gideon - Judges 6-8

Barak - Judges 4-5

Samson – Judges 13-16

Jephthah – Judges 11-12; 1 Samuel 12:11

David – Ruth 4, 1 & 2 Samuel

Samuel – 1 Samuel

How can we relate to these people? Many of us when we open up the Scriptures, it’s so hard to enter into this world! Why? When the pleasures of simple entertainment are so readily available? Why even open the Bible? Because our lives our in the balance! And life is so short. The God is the same that the Old Testament saints worshipped. God is directing our lives. Your destiny is in His hands. The Bible reveals God’s unchanging character.

God is immutable!

1.) God’s life does NOT change!

Psalm 93:2 Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.

1 Timothy 6:15-16 he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Psalm 102:26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Our lives are so short. Story of my dad’s things…that have outlasted us. Trees outlast us. The Broad River will be here long after your gone…God the unchangeable one is here and wants to have a relationship with you.

We need God! Christianity is not a religion where we go to feel good about ourselves. We need God for our every breath.

2.) God’s character does NOT change!

Exodus 3:14-15 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, “The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Exodus 34:5-8 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.

We change. And you become what you worship. Are you the person you want to be? Are you being daily transformed even more into the image of Christ. Progressive Sanctification. The Holy Spirit brings it about in our lives, but we have to follow Christ! That’s our responsibility. Don’t be the same person you were two years ago or fiver years ago. If you are, you are wasting time.

3.) God’s truth does NOT change!

Our words are always changing and they’re not always true! Sometimes we think we’re right but we’re wrong!

Story about LIZ at school.

Seriously, how many things have we said that have been flat out wrong?

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

4.) God’s ways do NOT change!

God has not changed. God is not more advanced. God wasn’t primitive when he was destroying villages. The people were evil and had rebelled against God. God deals with us the same way we he did with OT saints. If you’re hear today, I think the LORD has a special hand on your life. God loves everyone, but there are some that the LORD loves more.

5.) God’s purposes do NOT change!

1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.”

God doesn’t change his mind or his intentions!

We can believe God’s promises!

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Psalm 33:11 The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

6.) God’s Son does NOT change!

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Knowing God Week 7 Chapter 6

Knowing God Chapter 6

Trinitas: Latin for threefold. The English word “Trinity” is not found in Scripture.

Genesis 1:1-2 – In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

The Bible opens focusing on the Trinitarian nature of God!

But there is only 1 GOD!

Deut 6:4 – Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

God is Trinity, and He demands our worship.

The Biblical teaching on the Trinity embodies 4 essential affirmations (taken from ESV Bible Doctrine: An Overview):

1.) There is one and only one true living God.

2.) This one God eternally exists in three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

3.) These three persons are completely equal in attributes, each with the same divine nature.

4.) While each person is fully and completely God, the persons are not identical.

The Trinity may best be seen in the NT passage Matt 3:13-17 – Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

John also opens his Gospel in the same manner:

John 1:1-3 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Colossians 1:15 – He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

The classic Arian heresy: Christ is a created being – he’s not. Paul is talking about rights as the divine Son (Psalm 89:27)

When Christ left, he promised to be with us always! – He is in the form of the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit is our “comforter.” – John 14:16 – And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:26 – But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 15:26 – But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Great way to introduce the forgotten member of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit!

The Father sends the Spirit in John 14 just like the Father sent Jesus (John 5:43)

Establishes Authority:

The Father has authority over the Son and Spirit. The Son has authority over the Spirit. But all three are equal and are God. (Matt 28:19-20)

Divine Attributes of the Spirit (from ESV Biblical Doctrine: An Overview):

The Holy Spirit is eternal	Heb. 9:14
The Holy Spirit is omnipresent	Ps. 139:7-10
The Holy Spirit is omniscient	1 Cor. 2:10-11
The Holy Spirit is omnipotent	Luke 1:35-37
The Holy Spirit is holy	Rom 1:4

There wouldn’t be any rebirth without the Spirit!

Salvation was designed by the Father, purchased by the Son, and given by the Spirit!

John 3

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “how can a man be born when he is old? Cane he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. D not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hears its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The Spirit causes rebirth! We can pray for a revival, but we can’t bring revival.

Ephesians 1:13 – In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

It is also the Spirit that empowers us to live the Christian life. Prophesied in Joel 2:28 – And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see vision.”

Ezek. 39:29 – And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.

Galatians 5:22 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Believers can still be tempted by their flesh to follow the ways of the world: Eph. 4:1-3…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

His greatest goal is to glorify Christ!

John 16:13-14 – When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Spirit wants to lift up Christ at all costs. We know that the Spirit is in us by a sanctified life!

Rom 8:9 – You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Knowing God Week 6 Chapter 5

LESSON by Matt Wells

Definition of Incarnate: embodied in flesh; given a bodily, esp. a human, form.

People have a difficult time believing that JC walked on water, fed 5,000 ppl, etc.

However, if God truly made the worlds and is the author of life, it is not hard to

believe he performed these divine acts of creative and supernatural power.

The more amazing fact is that God was made man. Read [ Rev 1:13-19]

Movie: of how a man became an ant - - this gives only a slight taste of what it was

like for JC to become man. .

1. What affect does Jesus’ brutal entry into the world have on you?

[Phil 2:5-8]

2. Who is Jesus? Read [Colossians 1:15-20] 1- Image-bearer of God

the Father, 2- Creator of everything, 3-transcendent ,4- Sustainer

of all life and all creation. 5- Husband/head of the bride/church. 6-

Ultimate sacrifice/ reconciler What are some things this passage tells

us about Jesus? [Col 2:9] Christ is human.

[Jn 20:31] Son of God

LAMININ Story… Universe Story [X-factor]

Read John [1:1-18] Who else is Jesus? 1-eternal 2-fellowship w/God 3-Deity/

God 4-God directed him to make all things 5-He sustains all life 6-became

flesh=incarnate. MANY of these themes repeated.

Maker of universe: [Hebrews 1:2]

God being made fully man. He who created the angel who became Satan was now

tempted by Satan. Became God plus man.

3. WHY did Jesus become human, using Scripture? [Hebrews 2:17-18,

4:15-16] JC as a sympathizing high priest. & [Phil 2:5-8]

KENOSIS Theory: In order to be fully human, the Son had to renounce some of his

divine qualities. Based off of [Phil 2:7] ]emptied himself’, ‘made himself nothing’

Bishop Gore: Jesus gave up divine knowledge while maintaining moral infallibility

[page 59] Believed that Jesus had an incomplete view of the OT.

Jesus did not lay aside divine power, but divine dignity and glory. [page 60].

Yet how can Jesus lack divine powers and still have deity? How can he be the image

of God, and yet not have his power or attributes? Read [Matt 26:52-54]

[John 7:16 and 8:28, 12:49-50] JC spoke what God had ordered him to, so either

everything JC says is a lie, or everything he says is truly of God.

4. What were some instances in which Jesus Christ had divine knowledge or

asked a question? [Mk 13:32] unsure of his return date, Who touched his

clothes, how may loaves do you have? Lazarus is dead, fish that Peter will

catch has a coin in its mouth.

5. It’s not that Jesus lost his divine powers but restrained them- - how are we

to account for this restraint?[Jn 5:19,30] [Jn 6:38] Jesus dependent on God

and there to do His will. Read [I Cor 11:3] We are called to do the same

[15:5] JC as the vine

6. What does Packer refer to as the “real-kenosis” ? [II Cor 8:9 ~ JC became

poor] JC was born to die.

Story of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10:30-37] [Matt 9:13] I desire mercy…

He did not simply go halfway, he went all the way. Compassion/pity requires action.

Good Samaritan = Jesus

7. What are some specific actions you can perform to manifest the Christmas

spirit?

Knowing God Week 5 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Knowing God Week 5

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them for I the LORD our God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Q: What are some ways that you try to obey this command?

Q: What do you think you can do to avoid breaking this command?

At first glance, it seems that this is an example of idol worship. Packer mentions Romans 1:23…”they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

The best explanation of Romans 1:23 is Romans 3:23! Falling short of God’s glory is sin.

The second commandment has always been taken to mean that the worship of God by images is forbidden.

“…or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above.” This is clearly forbidding the use of images of God in our worship. That’s why we don’t have a picture of Christ or a depiction of the Father in our sanctuary.

Packer notes that Christians have historically debated the use of pictures of Jesus for teaching children. Personally, I am in favor of using pictures for teaching children. As long as there are not images during our times of worship, I think we are fine with allowing children to color/view pictures of Jesus.

1.) Making an image of God obscures His glory? Why? Because it hides His attributes! Our God is a living God. He is real. And He is Spirit. What is God’s glory again? The manifestation of God’s unique and unending attributes. His glory must be fought for and protected in our lives. We must not exchange it for a lie! And that’s what God is forbidding in the 2^nd Commandment. This is what God is jealous over…His own glory! God is motivated by His own glory. God doesn’t exist to serve us. By His nature He must praise His own glory the most. And He wired us so that we can only be satisfied when we our truly glorifying God (that’s what we talked about last week).

So let’s talk about some symbols and whether or not they are appropriate.

What about a crucifix? A crucifix is not appropriate because it does not reflect Christ as risen and glorified. It doesn’t properly express His deity!

What about a cross? A cross is appropriate because it doesn't represent a member of the Trinity. It points towards our salvation in Christ, but it is NOT a direct representation of Christ.

2.) Images mislead us, for they convey false ideas about God. Not only do images NOT contain the total truth of God, they contain errors as well.

Packer – “Psychologically, it is certain that if you habitually focus your thoughts on an image or picture of the One to whom you are going to pray, you will come to think of him, and pray to him, as the image represents him. Thus you will in this sense “bow down” and “worship” your own image; and to the extent to which the image fails to tell the truth about God, to that extent you will fail to worship God in truth. That is why God forbids you and me to make use of images and pictures in our worship.”

Which leads to the aspect of mental images. Does your mind contain an image of God when you worship?

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”

What does this 2^nd commandment tell us about God’s character?