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Getting the Bible from Beginning to End – Part 18

[ 0 ] September 24, 2008 | stephenlawes

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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:

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.

Jesus was anointed as God’s Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, inaugurating God’s kingdom reign on earth,
overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation,
preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick,
casting out demons and raising the dead. Gathering His disciples, He reconstituted God’s people as His Church to be the instrument of His kingdom.

After dying for the sins of the world, Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, fulfilling the covenant of blessing given to Abraham. In His sinless, perfect life Jesus met the demands of the law and in His atoning death on the cross He took God’s judgment for sin which we deserve as law breakers. By His death on the cross He also disarmed the demonic powers.

The covenant with David was fulfilled in Jesus’ birth from David’s house, His Messianic ministry, His glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascent into heaven and in His present rule at the right hand of the Father. As God’s Son and David’s heir, He is the eternal Messiah-King, advancing God’s reign throughout every generation and throughout the whole earth today.

We are continuing in our discussion on the amazing thread of redemption that weaves its way through the Bible from beginning to end. We blew it, but God has made a way for us in Christ. We have been talking about Jesus arrival onto the scene and how he fulfilled the covenants and promises in the Old Testament. We have discussed His willingness to go to the Cross on our behalf, and how He defeated death and rose again. We talked about His ascension into heaven where He now rules at the right hand of the Father. We are waiting for His return, but He has not left us alone. He sent another, the comforter, the Holy Spirit to be with us, lead us and guide us until His return.

The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church at Pentesoct in power,

Acts 1:8 (NIV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Baptizing believers into the Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:13 (NIV)
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

And releasing the gifts of the Spirit to them

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (NIV)
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

The Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us

John 14:16-17 (NIV)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

For spiritual worship

Romans 12:1 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.

Personal sanctification

Romans 8:3-4 (NIV)
3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Building up the church

1 Corinthians 14:12 (NIV)
12 So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:26 (NIV)
26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

Gifting us for ministry

Romans 12:4-6 (NIV)
4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.

And driving back the kingdom of Satan

Luke 11:20 (NIV)
20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

By the evangelization of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

And doing the works of Jesus

John 14:12-13 (NIV)
12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

Romans 15:18-19 (NIV)
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done– 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV)
20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

While we wait for Jesus to come back we have been commissioned to be ambassadors of the Good News. We are the army of God, engaging the enemy in battle by being word – workers. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish every area of ministry God gives us. We have been given the model for ministry to follow in Jesus. We are to redeem the time until His return by telling people of God’s amazing love for us. We are to tell them of the amazing plan of redemption that God has put in place for us. We are to tell a cynical world that there is hope for the world. His name is Jesus. It is not unfair of God that there is only one way for redemption, it is the amazing grace of God that there is any way at all.

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Getting the Bible from Beginning to End – Part 18 | Internet Pastor Online | Ministry of Encouragement

Getting the Bible from Beginning to End – Part 18

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