Did you know that you have a ministry? Whether you are an ordained minister or not, regardless of your age, education, ethnicity or background, a ministry has been given to you, and for you. It is a ministry first and foremost for you to receive personally in your own life, and then it is a ministry to share with others. Many people do not realize that this ministry is for them, assuming that it is only for the super-spiritual or special holy men, but the Bible makes it clear that this ministry is for everyone.
Today in this study, we are going to be examining this ministry; what it is, how we receive it, and then how we are to share it, because even though the Bible says that it is ours, if we do not know that we have it or what it is, it doesn't do us any good.
You probably have heard it shouted from pulpit's before “The grass withers, the flower fades, but God's word is forever” – and while that proclamation is absolutely true, the manner in which it is typically spoken, is not. It is usually uttered in a negative way and with the implication of God's judgment. It may surprise you to learn then that the context in which these words were spoken in the Bible was not the judgment of God, but His promises of redemption and blessing. The enduring word of God is not one of condemnation, but words of restoration and salvation.
In this study today, we will see that what is truly center focus in the Bible is actually a desire of God to redeem and restore that which sin has so utterly corrupted. It is sin that God must judge, not necessarily man. God's true desire is to punish the sin but spare the sinner… just as our desire is to destroy a cancerous tumor, but spare the one that the cancer is destroying. So if you have been struggling with a wrong idea or belief about the nature and the character of God, then this study will give you a fresh revelation of His grace today.
When you hear the word “righteousness” what comes to mind? The Biblical definition of righteousness is “right-standing with God”. However for many people, the idea of attaining this right-standing righteousness conjures up ideas of piousness and a need to work to earn righteousness before approaching God.
You may be a person well established in the Gospel of Grace, but you might be surprised how this mentality of trying to earn righteousness filters into our lives, even on a subconscious level. There are many people in churches today, serving not out of an abundance of God's divine love and provision for them, but because they feel as though if they were not to, they would somehow lose spiritual points with God and fall out of favor with Him. But this idea exposes a lack of understanding regarding the righteousness of God, and so this what we will be studying today.
There's an old saying which says “Home is where the heart is”, and it is actually founded in scripture, Matthew 6:21 says that wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So, do you know where your treasure is today? The world offers us many choices, many roads for us to follow, many rainbows to chase after, but what will we find at the end of the rainbow? Will it be a pot of Gold, or a pot-hole for us to fall into?
The Bible tells us exactly where both our home and treasure can be found in no uncertain terms. This is what we will be studying today, and as we see the truth of scripture, our blessing will always be sure.
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.
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.