Saturday, April 29, 2017

Sustaining Love

May 7, 2017 Background Scripture: Jonah 1 Lesson Passage: Jonah 1:7 – 17 I am always curious as to what new thing the Lord will reveal to me as the Sunday School Lesson Series again include a study of the book of Jonah. No matter how much we think we know about a book or even a passage of scripture in the Bible, God always seem to remind me that His word is alive and yet unchanging. It is not so much the breadth of understanding that seems to change over time as much as the depth of it. This lesson continues this quarter’s theme of “God’s love” by inviting us to look at the first chapter of the book of Jonah through the lens of God’s love. First, God’s love for the Ninevites was shown when He sent a warning to them through His prophet. It is not God’s desire that any should perish but that all would come to the knowledge of salvation that is in Him alone. God sent a warning that they should turn from their behavior because He was offended by it and it would lead to their destruction if continued. Jonah did not harbor the same thoughts and feelings for the people of Nineveh as God and therefore Jonah ran away from the assignment God gave him. Jonah boarded a ship headed in the opposite direction to put more distance between Nineveh and him. Jonah’s decision imperiled the lives of the others on the ship because the ship was caught in the storm God sent against it. The storm led the other travelers to cry out to their gods for protection but it was to no avail. When they learned that their calamity was caused by Jonah’s disobedience to the God of the Hebrews, they feared God greatly because they witnessed the destructive power He had sent in the relentless storm. They reluctantly followed Jonah’s instructions to toss him overboard but not before they cried out to the God of the Hebrews for protection and for forgiveness for what they were about to do to Jonah. After they threw Jonah overboard and the storm ceased, then they understood that their gods were powerless and the God of the Hebrews was God. Because God had spared their lives, they offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to Him. The second noteworthy point to be seen through the lens of God’s love is that God used Jonah’s disobedience to make Himself known to a group of people who were worshiping other gods. Through this revelation, God showed His love to those who were once strangers and caused them to seek Him. Finally, Jonah in the sea was not the end of this passage of scripture. God showed His love to Jonah by preparing a great fish to swallow him and to keep him alive for three days and three nights. God’s message to the Ninevites through Jonah was a warning, which if heeded, would lead to Him sustaining the lives of the Ninevites. God’s revelation of Himself to the travelers on the ship brought them into the realm where they could experience His sustaining love. Finally, God’s preparation of the great fish was a demonstration of His sustaining love to Jonah by preserving his life in the depths of the sea for three days and nights. Robert C. Hudson March 27, 2017

Monday, April 24, 2017

Protecting Love

April 30, 2017 Background Scripture: John 10:1 – 15 Lesson Passage: John 10:1 – 15 The lessons this quarter have looked at different aspects of God’s love for mankind. Through the previous lessons, we have seen that the love of God knows no limits. There is no need for a child of God to feel insecure. Insecurity suggests that we don’t really trust God or we don’t know or understand the provisions He makes available for us. Everything God has declared about a relationship with Him supports reassurance. This extends from the moment we accept salvation through Jesus Christ, to the continuous process of delivering us from the power of sin over our lives, and finally into and throughout eternity. This relationship is described in the analogy of the shepherd and the sheep. Today’s lesson returns to the theme of the Lord as our shepherd. As stated in the previous lesson from Psalm 23, we readily identify with the life of David as the biographical background for this metaphor. Perhaps David had a role model he looked to for such an analogy. Jacob had described God as his shepherd almost a thousand years before David was born. As Jacob prepared to bless Joseph’s two sons in Egypt, he told Joseph that God had been his shepherd all of his life up to that day. This is believed to be the first occurrence in scripture of someone referring to the Lord as their shepherd. At the start of the text in our lesson today, Jesus gave his disciples a parable but the writer, John, said they did not understand what it meant. So Jesus explained that the parable spoke of the relationship between him and his followers. The parable talked about the relationship between a shepherd and his flock. The flock is familiar with their shepherd and they follow him as he leads the way. On the other hand, the flock does not know a stranger’s voice and they will not follow a stranger. Jesus proclaimed that he is the only avenue into God’s flock. He contrasted himself with others who had positioned themselves to be leaders over God’s people. Because they did not come through him, he said they came even as a thief would break into someone’s house. He said the devil comes as a thief with an agenda to kill, steal, and destroy. Likewise, Jesus explained that those who want to be leaders of the flock but have no love for the sheep will only do it in times of convenience. They will flee at the sight of danger. Jesus, on the other hand, is the good shepherd and he will not flee from something that comes to harm the flock. The good shepherd would give his life for the security of the flock because he is not a hired servant but the owner of the flock. The good shepherd loves his sheep. He knows each sheep personally and each sheep knows him. Each sheep experiences a personal relationship with the shepherd. They are not just one in the number. Satan and the demonic spirits that follow him seek to prey on the sheep. They try to scatter the flock so they can single out the weakest members as prey. The good shepherd owns the flock and he protects them—even with his life. Robert C. Hudson March 1, 2017

Monday, April 17, 2017

Reconciling Love

April 23, 2017 Background Scripture: Romans 5:1 – 11; 8:31 – 39 Lesson Passage: Romans 5:6 – 11; 8:31 – 39 God reaches out to disobedient people and extends His plan of salvation that was secured even while we were still His enemies. God does not offer a salvation that leaves us to fend for ourselves and to continue to live sinful and destructive lives. God offers a salvation that provides a future restoration of what He created in the Garden of Eden. God created man in His image and after His likeness to have communion with Him and reign over the physical world. Through Adam’s sin, man severed his relationship with God and lost his position. Even in the face of man’s open rebellion against God, God did not give up on man. His love for man is too great. God’s love for mankind is a reconciling love. God, within His character, would have done whatever was necessary to restore His relationship with man. This is what was done through the death of Jesus by crucifixion on a cross. Jesus’ death was by the most cruel and publically humiliating form of capital punishment ever devised by man. But God used crucifixion to break the power of sin over mankind. Man again has the ability to choose righteousness. Because of Jesus, man can choose to accept God’s unconditional love and submit himself to the lordship of Christ. The crafting of God’s plan of salvation did not depend on man’s input or ability. Every detail of the plan was created by God to fulfill His will for man. Man needs God’s life sustaining power and God desires man’s fellowship. The purpose of God’s love towards man is the reconciliation of the Divine-human bond. Once the bond is restored, it is an eternal relationship that cannot be severed by anything. God loved us enough for Jesus to die for us so we can be assured that with Jesus now living eternally, we are secure in salvation from all things. There is nothing in this world or the world to come that can destroy the bond of love that Jesus has secured for us. Neither physical things and creatures nor spiritual ones can destroy this divine love bond. This divine bond is continuously reconciling us. We have joy in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are not burdened by ordinances or laws that only frustrate us because of our flesh. Through submission to the will of God, we accept completely the forgiveness of our sin that only comes through Jesus. Through the intercession of Jesus, God gives us all things that He has promised. Through Jesus’ death He saved us and now through Jesus’ life He sustains us. No sin can destroy the work of Christ on Calvary because Jesus’ work on Calvary destroyed the power of sin and paid the penalty for our sins. God is the only judge that determines a person’s eternal state. No one else can condemn us—not even the accuser of the brethren, Satan. There is nothing we can do to repay God for what He has done for us nor is there anything we can do to make ourselves self-sufficient enough to please Him. God is pleased when we have faith in what He has already done. Reconciling love is not to be earned but received and appreciated. Once appropriated into our lives, there is nothing that can separate us from the reconciling love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Robert C. Hudson March 1, 2017

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Victorious Love

April 16, 2017 Background Scripture: John 19:38 – 42; 20:1 – 10; 1 Peter 1:3 – 9 Lesson Passage: John 20:1 – 10; 1 Peter 1:3 – 9 Jesus warned his disciples that he was going to leave them and they would be sadden by it but after a little while, he would return and they would be filled with joy. Like so many other things he taught them, they heard him but they weren’t too sure what to make of it. As a result, they became indifferent to many of his statements rather than ask for clarity. He told them that the time was imminent before he was arrested. After following him for three years they were understandably sad in anticipation of what it would all mean. Jesus’ disciples witnessed his arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death. All of his teaching must have seemed a distant past to them after this. In fact, two of his disciples reasoned that they had trusted Jesus to be the redeemer of Israel prior to his crucifixion. They pondered what all of this could mean. When Jesus was arrested and unfairly charged and turned over to the Romans, this was interpreted by many as the defeat of his movement. Finally, after three years, the Jewish leaders could get back to business as usual with no threat of intervention from the Roman authority hanging over their heads because of the civil unrest caused by such a movement. They were loosely in charge of the affairs of Israel again. The civil riots led by Barabbas were subdued and the religious upheavals caused by John the Baptist and Jesus were now in the past. But rumors were now spreading that the crucified Jesus would not stay dead. When news broke that Jesus was reportedly seen by several witnesses, it was difficult to comprehend and impossible to accept. Rumors were growing quickly that Jesus was indeed quite alive and being seen by many of his followers in different locations. Jesus’ followers were being infused with new hope and excitement. Jesus had not been defeated as thought by all—including his disciples. The third day after his arrest marked the beginning of the sightings. The prophet who had died on the cross on Friday had risen from the dead on the following Sunday. Jesus was victorious over his enemies and that included death. This revelation changed the way his followers looked at Jesus as well as how they looked at themselves. During the three years of ministry prior to his arrest, his disciples had seen enough to be convinced that as long as Jesus was alive, he could conquer anything including someone dying. Little did they know that he had the power to die and the power to rise from the dead. Jesus’ victory was not based on trying to stay alive so he could help others. He came into this world to offer his life as a ransom for sin. His resurrection from the dead gave his followers a new and living hope. Now his promises of eternal life to his followers could be more readily embraced. Jesus was again alive and would remain so throughout eternity. He is now available to help his followers at all times. Jesus loves his followers too much to leave them forever. His temporary absence was necessary to secure eternal life for all who put their trust in him. Nothing in life can defeat believers in Christ because of his victorious love for us. Robert C. Hudson March 1, 2017

Monday, April 3, 2017

Saving Love

April 9, 2017 Background Scripture: John 3:1 – 21 Lesson Passage: John 3:1 – 16 Last week’s lesson examined the second most recognized passage from the Bible. Today’s lesson centers around the most universally recognized biblical passage in the world. John 3:16 has been translated into over one thousand different languages. It is considered the briefest expression of the complete gospel message. Everything in the Bible before it leads up to it and everything in the Bible after it is an extension of it. It is the complete story of salvation in one verse. As we consider the pretext, there was no way Nicodemus could have known the impact his nighttime visit would have on succeeding generations. Much can be speculated as to why Nicodemus chose to approach Jesus at night rather than in the day. We will never know the reason but we will never forget the impact his visit had on him, others, and us. John 3:16 as a scripture is like Amazing Grace as a hymn. Christians take them both personally. But the story behind John 3:16—or in this case the story before it—is worth looking at again. Nicodemus went to Jesus at night with a confession about the belief held by him and his fellow leaders—presumably the Pharisees. They knew that Jesus was approved by God because of the miracles he performed. In spite of this, they still harbored a great deal of apprehension about openly following Jesus. Jesus began to address the questions before Nicodemus even asked any. The Jewish leaders could not see what was behind what Jesus was doing because they were spiritually dead. This was difficult to accept by people who believed their righteousness or right standing with God was based on their public behavior. They took great care in presenting a holy appearance and displaying what appeared to be good wholesome living. Their righteousness could be seen by all who observed them publically. However, Jesus’ message to Nicodemus was that their actions were insufficient for what God truly required. They needed to be totally changed from the inside and not focused just on their outward appearance and behavior. So dramatic is the needed change that it can only be compared to a baby being birthed into the world. But how can an adult re-experience being born? The birth we all know was a purely human phenomenon and it only produced after its kind. In other words, humans produce baby humans when they reproduce. The birth Jesus spoke of needed to be a spiritual birth. Just as human reproduction brings forth a human, the Spirit is required to reproduce spirit. With human birth, we are able to experience the physical world through our physical senses. Through spiritual birth, we are able to experience spiritual phenomenon through our spiritual senses. Through spiritual birth we enter the kingdom of God and then we are able to see some of the spiritual activity that is active around us. All who are part of the kingdom of God have eternal life. This new life comes through spiritual birth. Those who are not part of God’s kingdom because of lack of spiritual birth are doomed to be destroyed forever. Only those who seek God through Jesus Christ will be born again. Jesus is the only demonstration and proof of God’s saving love. Robert C. Hudson March 1, 2017