Tag Archives: new testament

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 Part 3

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God Was Never Silent

His Story from Malachi to Matthew – Part 3

This lesson begins with the Greek Empire as the new kingdom in control of the Jewish people and the Land of Promise. The prophet Daniel speaks of this when he interpreted the dream for King Nebuchadnezzar some 200+ years before Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia. Daniel also has a vision of his own (Daniel 8) in which God reveals to him how this up-and-coming Greek Empire will both protect and persecute the Jewish people. This was all a part of God’s plan to mold and shape His people and prepare them for the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

If there was a silver lining in the Greek rule it would have been the establishment of a common language known as “koine” and it will help to foster the spread of the Gospel in the New Testament. In addition, Alexander and his generals built several “Alexander” cities which became centers of Greek language, arts, and government.

Unfortunately, the religious persecution of later leaders in the Greek Empire became so severe that it caused the Jews to become discouraged, and many will lose their lives. God will raise up some strong leaders who became known as the Hasmoneans or Maccabees and they will revolt against Greek/Syrian Rule and win back their religious freedom and free themselves from persecution. Much of this information can be found in the Apocryphal writings of 1-4 Maccabees along with the Roman-Jewish historian named Josephus as Malachi was last Old Testament book which contains no information of this period of history.

It will be during this period that 3 significant Jewish groups will develop, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. They will be instrumental in providing spiritual guidance (though sometimes their own personal traditions/preferences) to the Jewish people and will also produce the Septuagint (The Greek translation of the Old Testament) which will serve as a “written” account of God as Creator of all things and how He blessed and guided His chosen people. This will lay the groundwork for an up-and-coming Roman Empire (Also spoken about by the prophet Daniel), who themselves will be instrumental in building roads and fostering a “sense of peace” (Pax Romana) allowing the world to witness the birth of the Savior of the world. Though an ungodly group of Gentiles who worshipped “multiple gods”, and far from “good”, they will be used by God Himself to accomplish His purposes and plans. But that will be a story for our next lesson.

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Part 3 – Why The Church 3.1

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Both the Gospels of Mattew and Luke provide a small glimpse (recorded in the first 3 chapters) into the birth and early years of the Life of Jesus and subsequently write about the miracles and teachings of Jesus until his death and resurrection takes place. The other 2 Gospel accounts of Mark (probably dictated by Peter) and John almost immediately begin with the public ministry of Jesus, and they also continue their writings up until the death and resurrection of Jesus.

I mention this to show that the majority of the Gospel accounts are written to lay the foundation that Jesus is the Son of God and by His authority the church was established. Jesus called twelve ordinary men from different backgrounds, occupations, and religious upbringings and began to teach them The Way. It was the Apostle John who wrote; “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” (I John 1:1-3)

In a teaching moment; Jesus asked his disciples, Who do the people say the Son of Man is? He received several different replies; some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asked the disciples; “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

This (Matthew 16:18) was the first mention of the word church and its basic meaning is the “called ones” which best defines what Jesus declared to Peter. The church in its purest sense is an organism and not an organization or a building. Over time, and even in the early days of the church as recorded in Acts, the need for structure and organization was necessary to help the church accomplish the mission or as some call it, “The Great Commission“. (Matthew 28:18-20). However, the church is and always will be “the called ones” for wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, He is in their midst. (Matthew 18:19-20).

This Lesson: “Why the Church – Part 1” is designed to show who the head of the church is which is Jesus Christ, how the church started and how that authority which was passed to the 12 Apostles to start the “Beginning of an Unfinished Work” made its splash on the world and continues until Jesus returns. (Acts 1:8)

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