Getting the Bible from Beginning to End – Part 15
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In our Online Ministry Bible study today we are continuing our discussion on Understanding the Bible from beginning to end. So far in our study on getting the Bible from beginning to end we have developed the following ideas:
God is the Eternal King. He is an infinite, unchangeable, Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love.
From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory.
God’s Kingdom is everlasting. From His throne, through His Son, His eternal Word, God created, upholds, and governs all that exists: the heavenly places, the angelic hosts, the universe, the earth, every living thing and human beings. God created all things very good.
Satan, originally a great good angel rebelled against God, taking a host of angels with him. He was cast out of God’s presence, and, as a usurper of God’s rule established a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth.
God created mankind in His image, male and female, for relationship with himself, and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin and God’s judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic host gained access to God’s good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam’s original sin Human beings are born in sin, subject to God’s judgment of death, and captive to Satan’s kingdom of darkness.
God did not abandon His rule over the earth, which He continues to uphold by His providence. In order to bring redemption, God established covenants, which revealed His grace to sinful people. In covenant with Abraham, God bound Himself to His people Israel, promising to deliver them from bondage to sin and Satan and to bless all the nations through them.
As King, God later redeemed His people by His mighty acts from bondage in Egypt and established His covenant through Moses, revealing His perfect will and our obligation to fulfill it. The law’s purpose is to order our fallen race and to make us conscious of our moral responsibility.
By the work of God’s Spirit, it convicts us of our sin and God’s righteous judgment against us and brings us to Christ alone for salvation.
When Israel rejected God’s rule over her as King, God established the monarchy in Israel and made an unconditional covenant with David, promising that his heir would restore God’s kingdom reign over His people as Messiah forever.
In the fullness of time, God honored His covenants with Israel and His prophetic promises of salvation by sending His only Son, Jesus, into the world. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, as fully God and fully human in one person, He is humanity as God intended us to be.
Today we are going to touch briefly on the ministry of Jesus and the inaugurating of the Kingdom. For a more detailed teaching on the Kingdom of God, the ministry of Jesus, and the Now and Not Yet, I would recommend that you check out the teachings I did on the Kingdom of God which are available at www.keysvineyard.com. The teachings are available in video or audio on the listen page.
Jesus was anointed as God’s Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit
Luke 3:21-22 (NIV)
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened
22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 4:16-21 (NIV)
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Inaugurating God’s kingdom reign on earth
Mark 1:14-15 (NIV)
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Luke 17:20-21 (NIV)
20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
Overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation
Luke 4:1-13 (NIV)
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” 9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.
10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Here is where the first Adam blew it. What you need to note is that the temptations are the same. These are the three things the enemy always uses to tempt us.
1 John 2:16 (KJV)
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Lust of the flesh – good for food – stones to bread
Lust of the eyes – pleasing to the eyes – all that you see
Lust of the flesh – you can be like God – If you are the Son of God
Unlike the first Adam, Jesus the second Adam defeated temptation
Preaching the good news of salvation
Luke 4:43 (NIV)
43 But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
Healing the sick
Luke 4:40 (NIV)
40 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
Casting out demons
Luke 4:41 (NIV)
41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
And raising the dead
Luke 7:14-17 (NIV)
14 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Gathering His disciples
Mark 1:16-17 (NIV)
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
He reconstituted God’s people
Mark 3:13-15 (NIV)
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve–designating them apostles–that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
As His church
Matthew 16:18 (NIV)
18 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.
To be the instrument of His kingdom
Luke 9:1-2 (NIV)
1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 10:1-17 (NIV)
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. 16 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
We are now to be the instruments of His Kingdom. We are to go and do the stuff. Preaching the Gospel, praying for the sick and the oppressed, demonstrating the love of God to a lost and hurting world. We are to be in the harvest as we wait for the return of the Lord. We are to be His ambassadors telling people that God is not holding people’s sin against them, but providing a way of redemption in Christ. This is the life and adventure He has called us to. There is no greater calling, no greater way to live than to live for the Lord as an instrument of His kingdom.
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Category: Studying the Bible
