Tag Archives: Jesus

Three Years That Changed the World Part 2 – Two People, Two Messages, One Truth

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Three Years That Changed The World

Lesson 2 – Two People, Two Messages, One Truth – John 1:19-37

This lesson begins with the introduction of John the Baptist and focuses on his ministry and purpose. That purpose was to preach repentance to the Jews and those who heard him, baptize them (a sign of an inward obedience to God), and prepare them for the coming Messiah, whom he will call “the Lamb of God, who comes to take away the sins of the world”.

There will be many who repent and do as John preached but there will be others (many of them are “religious leaders”) who will question John’s motives and authority but that will not deter John from completing his mission. That mission is to acknowledge Jesus as the Lamb of God, baptize Him and direct others to repent of their sin and follow Jesus which is precisely what he does.

The message of John and the message of Jesus were the same. John would point others to Jesus and Jesus will point them to salvation through His ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

It is because of sin that Jesus came, and sin is what separates us from God and needs to be dealt with if we ever want to spend time in His presence:

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23)

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10)

The lesson will conclude with John the Baptist transitioning his ministry and instruct those disciples who followed him to now follow Jesus. In our next lesson titled; “Come Follow Me” we will see how the 12 disciples (someday called the 12 Apostles) will leave everything to follow Jesus – stay tuned!

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Three Years That Changed the World Part 1 – When the Word Became Flesh

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Three Years That Changed The World

Lesson 1 – When The Word Became Flesh (John 1:1-18)

This new series of lessons (primarily focused on the Gospel of John) is about Jesus and His life on this earth – more specifically His three years of ministry and His ultimate death and resurrection. He will be born of a virgin (Mary), lead a sinless life, teach others to love God, to love one another, and to proclaim the good news that He is the Savior of the World! There will be those who believe in Him and those who reject him, but it doesn’t change the fact that He Is who He claimed to be – “God manifested in the flesh”.

This lesson begins with two significant events: the birth and ministry of John the Baptist and the birth and ministry of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Both individuals will be interconnected from their birth all the way to their death. One (John the Baptist) will point the way to Jesus and the other (Jesus) will point the way to salvation for he will declare; “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” – John 14:6.

Though not specifically stated in the Gospel of John, the author of the book is undisputedly the Apostle John (“One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him” John 13:23). Of the four Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), it will be John who will primarily focus on the Deity of Jesus Christ. As such, his first words are “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 nothing was made that was made”. (John 1:1-3)

John could write these words and testify of the deity of Jesus Christ, not just here but throughout the gospel of John and his other writings, and not just because he knew them to be true but because they are true. To believe in the deity of Jesus Christ is completely essential for he can be nothing less than God. This will be the focus of our first lesson; “When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. I hope you enjoy it!

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God Was Never Silent – His Story From Malachi to Matthew Part 4

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God Was Never Silent

His Story from Malachi to Matthew – Part 4

During the times of the Greek Empire – Rome was becoming a major power in the Western Mediterranean. To fully rid themselves of Greek rule, the Jews (still being led by Hasmonean descendants) sought the help of the Romans by pledging a mutual alliance of protection. Rome will subjugate Palestine in 63 B.C. and dominated this territory during the entire New Testament Period. The Romans allowed Palestine to be somewhat “self-ruled” – although they controlled the appointment of who was in charge. Thus, Judea became a Roman province of Syria – approximately 60 B.C.

The Roman Empire is the 4th Kingdom in the dream that Daniel interpreted for King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 so none of this was a surprise to God and something He was clearly orchestrating. This was all to bring about the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.

Through a series of events, a Roman leader will come to power and his name was Octavian, but he is better known as Caesar Augustus. He will be instrumental in establishing a “peace through strength” form of government which was commonly referred to as Pax Romana (Roman Peace). During his reign the Roman road system will be built throughout the empire to assist in troop movement and the easy flow of commerce across the lands. All of this will provide a means for the proclamation of the gospel to spread during the New Testament period.

It will be during the time of Caesar Augustus that the Messiah will be born in a lowly town called Bethlehem. Ironically, most of the priests will be oblivious to the signs of his birth and as we will see in our next study ( “Three Years That Changed the World”), many of the priests will openly reject Jesus and call for his crucifixion.

However, God always has a remnant and there will be those who will believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah and will follow him. It all starts with the birth of John the Baptist who was the one spoken of by the prophet Malachi. John the Baptist will turn many Jewish hearts back to God through the act of repentance and baptism with the intention of directing them to follow Jesus through faith that He is the promised Messiah. Next Mary (a virgin) will give birth to Jesus, the promised Messiah and this announcement is made, not to the priests in the synagogue, but to a group of shepherds who will come to the place Jesus was born and worship Him. This lesson will close out with a group of Magi’s who follow a star to Bethlehem and find the child there and choose to worship Him. Although our series concludes with the birth of the Messiah, His story doesn’t end there. He will lead a sinless life, teach others to love God and love one another, and proclaim the good news that He is the Savior of the World! There will be those who believe in Him and those who reject him, but it doesn’t change the fact that He Is who He claimed to be. (John 1:1-14). His story continues……..

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God Was Never Silent – His Story from Malachi to Matthew

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God Was Never Silent

His Story from Malachi to Matthew – Part 1

We sometimes ignore the events between the “Testaments” (Old and New) depending on the “religious” and denominational influences in our lives. In doing that we really miss out on what was going on in the Palestine region (The Land of Promise) as well as those who lived there after the Jewish exile to Babylon, and the subsequent Gentile rule of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans up to the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels. This period, referred to as The Times of the Gentiles by Daniel the prophet, is rich with the influence and purposes of God as He prepares the world for the birth of His Son through a virgin named Mary.

It’s not that God stopped working after Malachi penned his book and then all the sudden re-engaged with the Jews and the whole of mankind during the time of Matthew. On the contrary, God guided His people (the chosen ones – descendants of Abraham) even during some of the darkest days they ever faced. It all started with the Jewish exile to Babylon because of the disobedience of their leaders (starting with Solomon) and the people’s unwillingness to make permanent changes in their behavior toward God and their fellow man.

The Exile (Babylonian captivity) lasted 70 years, just as Jeremiah the prophet said it would. The Jews (as they became known, probably a shortened version of the tribe of Judah) were instructed to return from Babylon to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple and their city which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. It was God who prompted the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, the then ruler of the Persian Empire which (included Palestine) to allow the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple and the City of Jerusalem,

The Jews would be under the control of the Perian Empire and its rulers for approximately 2 centuries. During that time the Jews returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah and would rebuild the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, although not to the grandeur of the time of David and Solomon. During the post exile period (Times of the Gentiles), God also used the influences of the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi to influence the Jewish people and their leaders. Other prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel (who primarily prophesied during the exile) along with Isaiah provide hope for a future kingdom that they had yet to witness and participate in. This “hope” would one day become a reality, but it begins with the birth of the Messiah (Jesus Christ, The Son of God), along with His death on a cross that ushers in a Kingdom that is still at work. Although many rejected Him, Jesus established His church, and all believers await His return to establish His reign that will have no end! This first lesson is an overview of events from the time of the exile (Babylonian Captivity) up to and including the return to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The lesson will highlight the works of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and the early influences of Nehemiah as they work to rebuild the Temple. This will help lay a groundwork of an understanding of the Intertestamental Period from Malachi to Matthew.

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Part 1 – Why The Cross

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Simply put – because of sin (defined as complete rebellion against a perfect, righteous and holy God) our relationship with God was broken and in need of redemption. Because sin separated us from God, the only way we could be reconciled to Him was through the atoning death on the cross by the perfect sacrifice which was Jesus Christ (John 1:1-18). Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was our atonement (making us “at one” with God) and something only Jesus could do given He was God in human flesh. He was not made God – He is God.

There is great disagreement, even among the other 2 monotheistic (One God) religions (Islam and Judaism) that exist in our world as to how we are reconciled to God. Like Islam and Judaism, many other “religions” fall short on answering the question of how our sins are atoned for and in some “humanistic” religions they just ignore than sin even exists. I call these religions or belief systems:

Christianity is based on faith and belief in Jesus Christ. It was His death on the cross that paid our “ransom” and delivered us from death and eternal separation from God. This is accomplished not by something we do but something that was done. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” John 3:16-18. Christianity differs from all other religions and belief systems because:

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