Monday, July 30, 2012

Bible Study - Knowing God:God Is Eternal Life to Me


Hi Everyone


Notes for the Bible Study are below.  Click here to download the audio file.


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Knowing God:God Is Eternal Life to Me
There’s much more to life!


Knowing Him is Eternal Life
    John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (NKJV)

    Eternal Life is knowing God and Jesus Christ.  We received salvation the day we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, but we will spend all of eternity realising just how great this salvation is.
    More than just a ticket into heaven – He is the answer to all we need, the source of everything and has to be the centrality of our life’s focus.  

    John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (NKJV)
    The way, the truth and the life are in a relationship with Jesus. When we know Him, we know the way, we know the truth and most of all, we know THE LIFE.


    His Life is in Us, Is One With Us 
    2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJV)

    Inside of all of us who believe is a New Creation.  Our spirits were made new.  We did not have a spirit in the past – it was dead.  This new Spirit is one with the Lord.

    1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (NKJV)

    So What Does Eternal Life Mean to Us?


    Saved from Sins
    Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (NKJV)


    What are effects of our sins?
    Sin perverts, destroys 
    • The World was almost destroyed by sin – time of Noah
    • Abram (later Abraham) was asked by God to leave the land of his forefathers because of sin (Joshua 24:2)
    • Wherever sin is prevalent, society as a whole declines
    Without Jesus …
    …sin will destroy you here and in the afterlife.
    Sin is increasingly destroying the developed world today, as the church fails to occupy our ground, take what was already won by Jesus.


    Saved, Made Whole
    “Save” in Greek = “sozo” – Rescue, make whole, complete, well.

    Matthew 9:21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well [sozo].” (NKJV) 
    Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save [sozo] His people from their sins.” (NKJV)


    Sin Made Us Un-whole
    Sin makes us un-whole.  Jesus came to save us from sin.  To make us whole when we were un-whole.

    We live in a state that is FAR, FAR fallen from what God had intended, the life Adam had in the Garden.

    Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. (NKJV)

    Jesus came to save us from sin.  To make us whole when we were un-whole. 
    Jesus traded your un-wholeness for His wholeness on the Cross, He was perfection crushed for your imperfection.


    Every Un-wholeness is a Result of Sin
     Addictions
    • Drugs, medication
    • Booze
    • Cigarettes
    • Computer games
    • Facebook
    • Golf/Fishing/Canucks…You name it!
    Emotional issues
    • Anxiety/worry/fear/stress
    • Anger/resentment
    • Guilt/shame
    • Unworthiness/low esteem/rejection/insecurity
    • Depression
    • Envy/jealousy
    • Grief
    • Confusion
    • Hopelessness
    • Deep suspicion/inability to trust
    • Cynicism/scepticism/unbelief
    • Ungodly thoughts
    Behavioural issues
    • Trouble relating with others
    • Attention seeking
    • Suicidal/self-destructive behaviour
    • Eating disorders
    • Lust, promiscuity 
    • Criminal or deviant behaviour
    • Homosexuality
    • Lack of motivation
    Bad habits (poor eating choices, bad lifestyle choices and others) 
    Sicknesses and diseases
    Poverty/Fear of poverty
    Every un-wholeness in us is a result of sin.  Imagine what our lives would be like if we were whole.
    These are ALL part of the fall.
    Jesus traded your un-wholeness for His wholeness on the Cross, 
    He was perfection crushed for your imperfection.

    2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NKJV)

    1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed. (NKJV)

    Jesus died to make us whole.
    As The Life of God permeates our lives, these areas of un-wholeness will fall away from us. 


    We Need to Lay Hold of Eternal Life 
    We need to be increasingly led by the Holy Spirit through His Word, 
    We could be saved and continue in our old selves, not renewed and lead lives as Carnal Christians, not bearing fruit.
    We need to grow up and this is the process.  It is not about learning good morals or good behaviour or abiding by a code of conduct or “Christian values”.
    It is about knowing the finished work of Christ on the Cross.

    Philippians 3: 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (NKJV)

    1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (NKJV)

    James 1: 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (NKJV)
    It is the Word that saves your SOUL, makes it whole.


    A Picture of Wholeness
    Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. (NKJV)


    Renew Your Mind and Lay Hold!
    Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (NKJV)
    We need to realize that in every area of life, Jesus loves loves loves us and has already made a way for us.  We need to know His love for us, to be full of Him.
    Prove the will of God, not only to yourself, but as a testimony.

    Ephesians 4: 17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, (NKJV)
    Gentiles, people who don’t believe, can only walk according to 2 parts – soul and body.  Futility of the mind.
    New man is created according to true righteousness and true holiness – no spot or wrinkle!

    Ephesians 4:22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (NKJV)


    Know God, Know Love, Have The Life
    Ephesians 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (NKJV)

    Know God, Know the Cross, Know His Love,
    Be filled with The Life.


    The Take Away
    • God has given us Eternal Life.  He has given us Himself in Jesus
    • We now have that Zoe Life living in us, the Holy Spirit, one with our spirit
    • This Eternal Life saves us for eternity, makes us whole now
    • Every issue is life finds its answer in this Eternal Life
    • For us to walk in victory, we need to put on the New Man, renewing the spirit of our minds
    • This comes from meditating on His love for us in scriptures.




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