ADVENT BIBLE STUDY
Week 3: LOVE
Day 2: The Outrageous Love of God
via TJC
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
John 3:16-17 (WEB)
Nicodemus was “a Pharisee… a ruler of the Jews”. Even as a strict follower of the Law, this man knew that Jesus was more than special. Approaching Jesus under the cover of darkness, Nicodemus sought to know more, and the Lord obliges him by cutting to the chase. He tells Nicodemus in no uncertain terms that the secret to eternal life is to be “born again”. Then, in vs. 16 & 17 (today’s text) Jesus reveals the very meaning of our existence…
I am personally in awe of the power contained in these few words. But what I believe truly draws us to these words is the irony of the Great Creator standing before mere mortals, loving us more than we could love ourselves, and offering himself in our place as payment for our sins and, of course, returning to us the birthright which we had willingly sold to Satan.
So as we look at these words (scriptures), how do they apply and “speak to us”?
Daily Battle Order - QUIET TIME CHALLENGE
During this Advent, we are using parts of the Every Man a Warrior Method for Bible Study.
With this method, we engage the scriptural verses by answering a number of questions.
Try and “put it all together” today, focusing on all of the questions below.
Find a Quiet Place.
Pray to Jesus Christ and ask for his presence guiding you in your studies.
Read Romans 5;1-11 and ask yourself the questions below!
ASK THESE QUESTIONS: my answers included for example.
Is there:
A command to obey? Not really. This is your decision… because it is predicated on love. God calls us to faith in Christ (“whoever believes”).
A promise to claim? Absolutely! Believe and receive… eternal life with our Lord!
A sin to avoid? Interesting question. The idea here is to attain the righteousness of Christ through faith in Him. Until we stand with Him in Heaven, we won’t totally avoid sinning. However, the change of allegiance will equip us to avoid sin as much as we can by walking our path with Jesus… Here and now.
An application to make? Of course.
1 Love: God loves us more than we love Him. He gave up something we would not have given up - His only son. It was the only way to pay the cost for our enormous burden of sin.
2 Believe: The word used here is actually the same word as faith. By placing our faith (belief) in Christ, we are escaping the judgment that we deserve… our sin debt is paid in full!
All this was done so that God could be our forever Lord and companion. We escape condemnation and death and at the same time we secure a future with Him in Paradise!
Something new about God? He cares enough about us and loves us enough to send His Son to save us from our sins if we believe in Him.
John 3:16 tells us the true purpose of the first AND second coming, or Advent, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Kingdom Man: Love it, believe it, live it!
Write your answers down in a journal or a note on your phone. Share them with a friend, or with us at the Joshua Commission (simply reply to this email). This really helps to lock in what God has shown you in your time with Him.
ABOUT EVERY MAN A WARRIOR
Every Man A Warrior is a discipleship Bible study that “Helps Men Succeed in Life". It helps them win the battles they fight every day. Since 2011, 50,000 men in 40 countries and in 18 languages have been impacted by the Every Man A Warrior curriculum. The Every Man A Warrior ministry joined Trans World Radio (TWR) in 2017 in order to take discipleship around the world. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EMAW and learn about how you can implement this training series in your men’s group. TJC will be helping several groups to start in January. If you would like to be part of learning this process that has impacted so many of us at the Joshua Commission, sign up here.
If you want to understand more Click here to read: THE ABC'S of the EMAW QUIET TIME BIBLE STUDY.
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