Man is a complicated creature. With all the tools and technology that we have today which is supposed to simplify our lives, we end up making it all even more complicated. This natural propensity of ours to complicate things even filters over into spiritual things, mostly in the form of pride.
Today we will be studying the simple, uncomplicated Gospel of Jesus – just as it is, untouched by human complications. Is it basic? Is it profound? Is it life-changing? Yes to all three. It is so simple that even a child can understand, and yet powerful enough to move mountains and break chains.
We live in a world that is constantly tearing us down and attacking us from every angle. News broadcasts tend to attack our hope by displaying the very worst of the day, while songs on the radio tend to sing about depression, loneliness and hatred. Movies and television shows usually sensationalize godlessness and sex... and we accept it in the name of “entertainment”.
So after all of this tearing down and attacking every day, it's no surprise that people are looking for satisfaction, for love, and usually turning to less than perfect sources that can be found in the world; settling for whatever they can get. Yet it may surprise you to learn that the Bible has a simple and effective, method for receiving more of the love of God into our lives, and strengthening us against the attacks of the world and the enemy (yes the love of God connected with strengthening). This is what we will be studying today.
Have you ever had to wait for a table at a fine restaurant? Or felt the anticipation of a Thanksgiving feast while it was still being prepared? When it finally arrived, did you refuse it, or did you receive it with gladness?
The Bible tells us that Jesus has prepared a banquet for us, with every good thing laid on the table, yet many have refused it, and gone away hungry. If you have been hungry for more of Jesus and His provision in your life, and have been wondering how to partake of this banquet, then this study will benefit you today.
It's been known as a greeting and a goodbye... “Peace” The Hebrew language even uses the word shalom, which literally translates to “peace” for the same purpose as a greeting and farewell. However the Bible has a much more grand view of peace, specifically the divine peace of Jesus.
Today I want to share with you this peace of God, what it is, how we receive it and how it benefits us. These things are spelled-out in the scriptures purposefully because God wants us to know them and have them. Jesus paid for us to have His peace because He loves us and wants us to receive freely from Him.
Continuing our series on the Wisdom of God. I once many years ago, heard a Christian express that Grace is all well and good, but that he wanted to move on to “deeper things”. I didn't think much about his comment at the time, but since then I have noticed that this idea is actually quite common. Over the years I have witnessed many people come to Jesus Christ with great optimism and joy as they realize the truth of what He has done for them, and they are filled with His Divine Joy and Peace, and then it sets in... the idea that “now that I've received Jesus, I have to work”. I must do this and this and this and that to “grow in Christ.” Now I do believe that there is a growth process for believers, however this growth process is not what some today think that it is.
So today as we continue to study the Wisdom of God, we will be examining how growing in the Divine Wisdom of God actually leads to growing in Grace; and I believe that as we see this truth in scripture, chains will be broken and the joy and peace of God will be loosed again for some that have lost sight of it.
Jesus is the meaning and the purpose of life. I want you to meditate on that statement for a moment... take it in, digest it. We have previously studied on how without Jesus, life is empty; this is not an over-exaggeration. People who follow after other things may experience a type of joy for a season, but it is not the true joy that can be found in Christ. I use the term “true joy” because I can tell you from my own life there was a time before I knew Jesus, that I experienced something that I thought was happiness, but it always left me feeling empty. There was a secret sadness, an internal pain that I could never quite fully define. I simply knew that there had to be more to life than what I was experiencing.
Furthermore, Jesus is also the strength of life. This means that Jesus is the source of effectual power that manifests, sustains and maintains life – we know this from Colossians 1:17. Yet this is more than just a grand theory or a pleasant idea for believers to ponder. This is in-essence, the key to unlocking true life in Christ. If we fail to understand the truth that Jesus is the center and supplier of life, then we will continue to life apart from that life, wondering and wandering from one thing to the next with no direction and no source. Is it possible for a believer to miss-out on the abundant life of Christ? Oh yes! So today, we will be studying in detail how to life in new life in Christ Jesus.
Are you under law or under grace today? Ask this question to a group of believers, and you would get a mixed-bag of answers. There is an impressive amount of confusion regarding such a fundamental part of our Christian walk, and God does not want us to be in confusion.
Today we will be studying the covenants which so many are confused about, and through the truth of scripture, we will answer the question of what covenant God has placed us under today, and we will not be in confusion any longer.
There are so many things in life vying for our attention. Every new product every new item carries with it a promise of making our lives better, easier and more fulfilling. However the excitement of that new thing is always short-lived – usurped when the next new thing comes along... electronics that were new last month are already obsolete this month. Nothing of this world ever lasts.
However there is one – one person – who can give us true fulfillment, not just a temporary satisfaction, but a permanent fulfillment that totally completes us in every way. Today we will be studying how this is so, and how to receive this provision of Jesus Christ into our lives, so that we will not be searching or be entangled by the things of this world any longer.
Have you ever thought that you needed to believe better in order to get something from God? Many believers (including myself in earlier years) have this idea that before we can receive from God we must believe perfectly – even though this idea is not what the Bible teaches.
For a long time now, the enemy has used this artificial faith/belief barrier to keep people from receiving all of what Jesus Christ has paid for us to have. So today we will be exposing this deceitful lie of the enemy in the light of God's grace, so that you can see there is nothing standing between you and God today, not even your own faith.