Who do you say that I am?
I AM the Bread of Life
Theme Verse: "Who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:15
Readings: Isaiah 55:1-2, Luke 11:3, Deuteronomy 8:3, John 6:25-63
Memory Verse: I AM the Bread of Life. John 6:35
What do you think Jesus was talking about in the Lord's Prayer when he told his disciples to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread"? Do you think he was talking about "wonder bread" or "whole wheat bread"? What do you think he meant by "daily bread"? What do you think he meant by calling himself the "Bread of Life"?
Introduction The Bible uses the term Bread to mean a lot of things. What do some of these verses mean? "Fed them on the bread of tears" (Psalm 80:5)
"They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence" (Proverbs 4:17).
"She does not eat the bread of idleness" (Proverbs 31:27).
"Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?
"Keep the Festival not with the old yeast of malice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth."(1 Corinthians 5:6-8 )
"Cast your bread upon the waters, and you will find it after many days" (Ecclesiastes 11:1)
What do modern politicians means by "bread and butter issues"?
Here bread refers to a quality and characteristic of the person's life and is symbolized as "Bread". It was what they took into their lives daily and "ate" it.
Many people, like those in Haiti have barely enough to eat to survive. Actual bread was a basic food for people. Sometimes it was made from yeast but the most basic bread was like a tortilla or chapatti made with hand-ground grain, water and oil and cooked on a kind of griddle daily. Cereal offerings of grain to God were often in the form of flat cakes of bread. Bread was considered the gift of God and the Israelites remembered that God had fed them with manna in the wilderness where they could not grow grain. Every time they celebrated the Passover of God rescuing them from slavery in Egypt they recalled both the hurriedly made flat bread, made without yeast, that they made and ate quickly just before they escaped as well as the manna God gave them later in the desert in the early morning.
Eating and Drinking Eating and drinking could be taken literally (Have a coke. Eat a donut.) or as an idiom (symbolic way of speaking). (There was a sentence like this in last week's Sport's section: "Saint's quarterback...drinks in the atmosphere after the Saints Super Bowl victory.") It could mean not only to eat and drink but to absorb, inhale, take into a person's mind/heart/spirit, that is your inner self and be the basis of living your life. What are you feeding your inner self? Is it anger, bitterness, greed. lust, doubt of God--spiritual junk food or even poison (like bitterness or hatred)? In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus talks about how ideas we "feed on" in our minds often become the cause of external actions or sins (like lust or anger). Or do we feed on and desire more of Jesus, his presence, strength, guidance in our inner selves, with thanksgiving. Do we feed on his word in Scripture, his present will for us? Jesus himself is also God's "Word made flesh". What we feed our bodies, minds and spirits has consequences. What are the consequences to too much junk food or feeding on anger? What does Jesus say are the consequences of feeding on him and his word?
Eating together ("break bread together") was a symbol of hospitality and created a special relationship and was part of forming a covenant (1 Kings 13:8f). In the New Testament it came to include also taking part in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper. (Acts 2:42,46). Eating together is still a very important symbol in the Near East today.
In Deuteronomy 8:3 God speaks to his people: "Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." God wants us to know that it is not enough to have our physical needs met but life--real life that God created us to have in fellowship with and obedience to him needs to be fed and nurtured on his WORD (both his Word in Scripture and his Word Jesus). This involves a choice. God has provided the means for this but we have to choose it--daily. We receive by asking and by faith--(we cannot manipulate God) receiving what God has made available.
What do you think Isaiah was talking about in Isaiah 55:1-2? "'Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.'" (Isaiah 55:1) A word received: I want to supply you with my new life. Turn to me for provision that will truly satisfy.
"'Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.'" (Isaiah 55:2) A word received: I want you to choose what will truly satisfy -- not the trivial stuff that is here today and gone tomorrow -- delight yourself in what I offer you.
John 6: 25-63 is where Jesus talks about himself as the Bread of Life. This is another "I AM" statement. In Exodus 3 that was the name God gave for himself to Moses. Remember how Jesus said, "Before Abraham was (was born) I AM"--identifying himself as one with God.(John 8:58 ) Look at the context of Jesus' names for himself in this chapter, "Bread of Life", "Living Bread", "the Bread which came down from God/Heaven." The context is the feeding of the 5,000 and the nearness of the feast of Pentecost. Jesus showed both his concern over the physical need for food, (bread), of the crowd but also showed how he was able to meet that need even when it seemed impossible. We too can trust Jesus to meet our needs when it seems impossible. We just need to bring our problem and our little "lunch" to Jesus and see what he will do. The nearness of a Passover reminded the crowds of the manna that God gave them and Jesus uses this to talk about who he is.
The crowd followed Jesus around the lake because they had eaten a free lunch/free bread. Jesus says, "Do not work for the food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." (6:27). Jesus is pointing them to their spiritual hunger--a hunger only he could satisfy. They had just seen a miracle but they "don't get it" and ask for a sign to prove who Jesus is---and talk about the manna God gave as "Bread from heaven". This gives Jesus the opening to say, "It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." (vs/32-35) They still don't get it and want the free bread, so Jesus says, "I AM the bread of life"(vs.51). "I AM the living bread that came down from heaven." "He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (vs.35)
The first step is to "believe in the one he (God) has sent."(vs.29). It is to believe Jesus is telling us the truth and to trust him and to entrust our lives to him. Then Jesus can give us--in himself--the "food that endures to eternal life"(vs.27). "He who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life."(vs.40). (Eternal life is not just life after death, it is a new life in Jesus now.
Then in verse 51 Jesus adds something new, "I AM the living bread which came down from heaven. If a man eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." When they said, how can he do this?. Jesus added, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you."(vs.53). "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." (vs.56) D. T. Niles of Ceylon said, "Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread."
This is hard to understand but remember what eating and drinking can mean. "Flesh" can mean either our physical bodies or the entire human being, the essence of a person. "Blood" in the Bible stands for life, the life of a person or animal. It was holy and not to be eaten. Jesus was referring first to giving his life on the cross for all people who would receive it and also referring to us receiving into ourselves, to live in us, Jesus' whole life and self. We renew this receiving of Jesus' life and self each time we obey Jesus ' invitation and command given at the last supper. "Take, eat" and "All of you drink of it, this is my blood of the covenant." Remember what Jesus said in John 15:4 about himself as the vine and we are the branches." "Remain in me and I will remain in you." When Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19) he meant a lot more than remembering something past like 9/11 or World War 2, though it includes that, it also means, like the Passover, that though Jesus "died once for all" we too can experience in the present the results of his life and death for us. (Greek word for this is anamnesis) as we receive Jesus in the bread and the wine. (We are NOT discussing what churches have argued about the bread and wine itself.) Look at what Jesus says at the close of this discussion in vs.61, 63. "Does this offend you?...The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life." Our focus needs to be on receiving Jesus anew in Holy Communion and trust his promises. "'Incline your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you -- the sure mercies of David.'" (Isaiah 55:3) A word received: Come to me; I AM the bread which came down from heaven. Eat of me and your soul will be satisfied. "'So he humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.'" (Deuteronomy 8:3). A word received: I want you to know what truly satisfies, and I want you to choose what will truly build you up. Feed yourself, delight yourself in my word.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 19, February 21, 2010
Who do you say that I am?
Friend
Theme Verse: "Who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:15
Readings: John 15:9-17; John 11:1-15, 33-38; Matthew 11:19; Exodus 33:10-11; Isaiah 41:8
Memory Verse: "There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24 His name is Jesus! (Pre-K to grade 3)
How would you describe what it means to have a friend? to be a friend? What does it mean to have Jesus as a friend?
First, let's look at some people in the Bible who were called friends of God. Abraham: King Jehoshaphat refers to Abraham as God's friend in his prayer to God for help. (2 Chronicles 20:7). In Isaiah 41:8 God speaks to the prophet Isaiah, "But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendents of Abraham, my friend." (Also James 2:23) Moses: "Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent of meeting, they all stood and worshipped each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." (Exodus 33:10-11) (See vs. 1-14 for more of the story.) Lazarus: In the story of the raising of Lazarus it is clear that he, Martha and Mary were friends of Jesus as well as his disciples. (John 11:1-15, 33-38) What was there about these people that God would call them friends?
Now look at God's original purpose in creating us human beings. Before people chose to follow their own desires (SIN) rather than obey God, Adam, Eve and God spent time together daily as friends. (Genesis 3:1-13)
"And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8) A word received: My heart's desire is to walk with you, to be a companion and a friend.
"Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?'" (Genesis 3:9) A word received: I called to him then and I call to you now. I desire to have you come to me.
In sending Jesus to pay the cost for our sins, He (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) made it possible for us to become children of God, to be friends of God, children of our Heavenly Father. God longs for us to turn to him, spend time with him, obey him and be his friends. The only way you can be friends with your Creator, who made you, is to do things his way--obey him, choose him. Once I read about the Bible being called the "Manufacturer's Handbook".
So what does it mean when Jesus is called "a friend of tax collectors (very corrupt) and sinners"? (Matthew 11:19) Jesus sought these people out and spent time with them because they knew they were sinners who needed help! The trouble with many of the religious leaders was that they didn't know their need of God, or their need for his forgiveness. Romans 5:6-11 tells us that God demonstrates his love for us "when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him, through the death of his Son" (vs.10) "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (vs.8).
In John 15:9-17, Jesus says something new to his disciples the night before he died on the cross. He not only gives them an example of how to be both servants and leaders but then he says this astonishing thing, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me but I chose you --to go and bear fruit." (vs.15-16).. We are called to be both servants to Jesus, our Lord, and friends. What would be the characteristics of this kind of friendship?
How does Jesus define friendship? "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love" (vs.9-10). What command? "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. " The word for LOVE all through this passage is agape, the kind of love God has for us--not indulgent or just a nice feeling but caring for us and doing whatever is best us for us. (Did you ever as a child resent someone telling you, "I did it for your own good" or "I did it because I love you.") We are to love each other they way Jesus loves us!!!
Jesus refers to his death on the cross for us, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends."(vs.15). Then comes the punch line, "You are my friends IF you do what I command."(vs.14). "Laying down our lives" for Jesus means doing what God wants us to do, perhaps something we might not want to do but we do it for him. Remember what we learned before, being a friend of the King is not just being buddies. We have the privilege of a close relationship but there are conditions--doing things his way. "Laying down your life for a friend" can be many things. It means serving the other person and sticking by them no matter what happens. What else do you think it can mean?
Being Jesus' friend and servant could be difficult and costly sometimes. Remember how Jesus told Peter after the Resurrection how Peter would someday die a martyr's death. (John 21:17-19) Jesus told Paul how many things he (Paul) would suffer for him as Paul followed him. (Acts9:15-16) Sometimes Jesus calls people to be far away from their families or to choose between family and friends and Jesus. It is not always easy but Jesus will always be there with you and help you. You will never be alone and you can know his joy (vs.11) in the midst of difficulties. See Memory Verse.
"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24) A word received: I AM that friend. Turn to me and receive my friendship. I will stick with you through everything.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you." (Isaiah 43:2a) A word received: I will stick with you through everything. I AM with you.
One of the risks of friendship is that sometimes a friend can let you down or betray you. That happened to Jesus with Judas, who betrayed Jesus with a kiss of friendship. But Jesus still reached out to him with the word "friend" (Luke 22:48).
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Proverbs 27:6) A word received: Judas betrayed me with a kiss; yet I called him "Friend." There is a risk in friendship -- only a friend can truly wound you, but life without friendship is a loss terrible to think about. Turn to me for guidance in your friendships. I want you to teach the children that not everyone who calls you "Friend," is a friend. Turn to me for guidance. Look to me when there are wounds in your friendships. (Matthew 26:49-50) Proverbs 27:6 warns that a friend might hurt you with a difficult truth but an enemy could gush all over you and then betray you. Jesus will never betray us but sometimes, like Peter we can get in a tight spot and pretend we don't know him. Think how that wounds Jesus heart!
Jesus promises those who choose to follow him that he will be with us always--even to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:20). "Surely I will be with you always, even to the ends of the earth(or the end of the world)"
"These things he said, and after that he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.'" (John 11:11) A word received: I wept for my friend Lazarus; I wept for my friends Mary and Martha. I weep for your sorrows and griefs. I AM a friend who sticks with you even when you think you are all alone. (John 11:35)
Friend
Theme Verse: "Who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:15
Readings: John 15:9-17; John 11:1-15, 33-38; Matthew 11:19; Exodus 33:10-11; Isaiah 41:8
Memory Verse: "There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24 His name is Jesus! (Pre-K to grade 3)
How would you describe what it means to have a friend? to be a friend? What does it mean to have Jesus as a friend?
First, let's look at some people in the Bible who were called friends of God. Abraham: King Jehoshaphat refers to Abraham as God's friend in his prayer to God for help. (2 Chronicles 20:7). In Isaiah 41:8 God speaks to the prophet Isaiah, "But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendents of Abraham, my friend." (Also James 2:23) Moses: "Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent of meeting, they all stood and worshipped each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." (Exodus 33:10-11) (See vs. 1-14 for more of the story.) Lazarus: In the story of the raising of Lazarus it is clear that he, Martha and Mary were friends of Jesus as well as his disciples. (John 11:1-15, 33-38) What was there about these people that God would call them friends?
Now look at God's original purpose in creating us human beings. Before people chose to follow their own desires (SIN) rather than obey God, Adam, Eve and God spent time together daily as friends. (Genesis 3:1-13)
"And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8) A word received: My heart's desire is to walk with you, to be a companion and a friend.
"Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?'" (Genesis 3:9) A word received: I called to him then and I call to you now. I desire to have you come to me.
In sending Jesus to pay the cost for our sins, He (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) made it possible for us to become children of God, to be friends of God, children of our Heavenly Father. God longs for us to turn to him, spend time with him, obey him and be his friends. The only way you can be friends with your Creator, who made you, is to do things his way--obey him, choose him. Once I read about the Bible being called the "Manufacturer's Handbook".
So what does it mean when Jesus is called "a friend of tax collectors (very corrupt) and sinners"? (Matthew 11:19) Jesus sought these people out and spent time with them because they knew they were sinners who needed help! The trouble with many of the religious leaders was that they didn't know their need of God, or their need for his forgiveness. Romans 5:6-11 tells us that God demonstrates his love for us "when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him, through the death of his Son" (vs.10) "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (vs.8).
In John 15:9-17, Jesus says something new to his disciples the night before he died on the cross. He not only gives them an example of how to be both servants and leaders but then he says this astonishing thing, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me but I chose you --to go and bear fruit." (vs.15-16).. We are called to be both servants to Jesus, our Lord, and friends. What would be the characteristics of this kind of friendship?
How does Jesus define friendship? "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love" (vs.9-10). What command? "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. " The word for LOVE all through this passage is agape, the kind of love God has for us--not indulgent or just a nice feeling but caring for us and doing whatever is best us for us. (Did you ever as a child resent someone telling you, "I did it for your own good" or "I did it because I love you.") We are to love each other they way Jesus loves us!!!
Jesus refers to his death on the cross for us, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends."(vs.15). Then comes the punch line, "You are my friends IF you do what I command."(vs.14). "Laying down our lives" for Jesus means doing what God wants us to do, perhaps something we might not want to do but we do it for him. Remember what we learned before, being a friend of the King is not just being buddies. We have the privilege of a close relationship but there are conditions--doing things his way. "Laying down your life for a friend" can be many things. It means serving the other person and sticking by them no matter what happens. What else do you think it can mean?
Being Jesus' friend and servant could be difficult and costly sometimes. Remember how Jesus told Peter after the Resurrection how Peter would someday die a martyr's death. (John 21:17-19) Jesus told Paul how many things he (Paul) would suffer for him as Paul followed him. (Acts9:15-16) Sometimes Jesus calls people to be far away from their families or to choose between family and friends and Jesus. It is not always easy but Jesus will always be there with you and help you. You will never be alone and you can know his joy (vs.11) in the midst of difficulties. See Memory Verse.
"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24) A word received: I AM that friend. Turn to me and receive my friendship. I will stick with you through everything.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you." (Isaiah 43:2a) A word received: I will stick with you through everything. I AM with you.
One of the risks of friendship is that sometimes a friend can let you down or betray you. That happened to Jesus with Judas, who betrayed Jesus with a kiss of friendship. But Jesus still reached out to him with the word "friend" (Luke 22:48).
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Proverbs 27:6) A word received: Judas betrayed me with a kiss; yet I called him "Friend." There is a risk in friendship -- only a friend can truly wound you, but life without friendship is a loss terrible to think about. Turn to me for guidance in your friendships. I want you to teach the children that not everyone who calls you "Friend," is a friend. Turn to me for guidance. Look to me when there are wounds in your friendships. (Matthew 26:49-50) Proverbs 27:6 warns that a friend might hurt you with a difficult truth but an enemy could gush all over you and then betray you. Jesus will never betray us but sometimes, like Peter we can get in a tight spot and pretend we don't know him. Think how that wounds Jesus heart!
Jesus promises those who choose to follow him that he will be with us always--even to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:20). "Surely I will be with you always, even to the ends of the earth(or the end of the world)"
"These things he said, and after that he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.'" (John 11:11) A word received: I wept for my friend Lazarus; I wept for my friends Mary and Martha. I weep for your sorrows and griefs. I AM a friend who sticks with you even when you think you are all alone. (John 11:35)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 18, February 7, 2010
Who do you say that I am?
Son of God
Theme Verse: "Who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:15
Readings: 2 Samuel 7:13-14, Mark 1:10-11, Matthew 17:5, John 3:17-18, John 10:22-37, Romans 8:14-16, John 1`:10-13, Philippians 2:6-11
Optional: Exodus 4:22, Luke 2:49
Memory Verse: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" Mark 9:7
As we saw last week the titles "Son of Man" and "Son of God" are commonly used by Christians to say in a short hand way our belief that Jesus of Nazareth was not only the promised "anointed" one/Messiah but both fully man (human being) from his birth in Bethlehem and fully God from all eternity. There have always been heresies (false teachings) trying to simplify this mystery by dropping one or the other of Jesus' two natures.
As we saw last week, the word "son" has several meanings in the Bible and so do "son of man" and "son of God". However Jesus is the only one who is the heavenly "Son of Man" referred to in Daniel and the "one and only" unique "Son of God". (It may be helpful to review the uses of the word "son" from last week.)
Perhaps the best explanation of HOW this took place is in Philippians 2:6-11 (probably an early Christian hymn). It says that God the Son (who is one God with Father and Holy Spirit) "emptied himself" of the powers of God that did not fit with being a real man--like being able to be everywhere at the same time--and humbled himself to put on our human nature "made in human likeness" and was "obedient even to death-even death on a cross!" Remember how Jesus said, "I lay down my life...No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." (John 10:17-18 ) His resurrection body was familiar yet different and when he returned to heaven he again took up those powers of being God again. Now he can be with everyone of us wherever we are. During his earthly life, God the Father guided Jesus, as he wants to guide us, by the Holy Spirit. The difference is "For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God; to him God gives the Spirit without limit." (John 3:34) He obeyed God even though he was tempted just as we are!
Jesus occasionally uses both titles to describe himself. Jesus is careful to say "one and only Son" to distinguish between himself and other ways of using "son of God" (John 3:13-18 ). The words "only begotten" are to show that Jesus the Son was not a creature/creation but the Creator. But "begotten" does not mean that he had a beginning in time (creature) OR was the child of a father physically as we are and as the pagan gods were always being described as behaving. In understanding the unity of God an important verse is "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Remember how Jesus said, "The Father is in me and I am in the Father." (John 19:38 ) and "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30).
In the Old Testament "son of God" could refer to the King or his son who was in line for the throne. (2 Samuel7:13-14). God speaking to King David about his son Solomon who would be king someday said, "He is the one who will build a house for my Name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he will be my son." God has just called David his servant (vs.5,8 ) and then calls the future king his son! The King of Israel was considered both. Jesus, the Son of God, and descendent of David, is the King whose Kingdom will last forever.
Sometimes "son of god" was considered a royal title in the ancient Middle East, moving from Egypt and the east to the Greek and Roman Empires. Example: Alexander the Great was called "son of Ammon" and "son of Zeus". Octavian referred to himself as "God", "divine son". This usage included the word "Lord" and caused many to be killed when they called Jesus "Lord" and refused to call the Roman Emperor "Lord" and worship him. Sometimes outstanding people and craft guilds saw themselves under the patronage of various gods and called themselves "sons" or "children" of that pagan god. (Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, p.l.961)
A nation could be called that. God calls Israel "my son" (Exodus 4:22). "The LORD says, 'Israel is my firstborn son." In Isaiah 1:2 God says, "I reared children and brought them up but they have rebelled against me."
Remember what we learned last week, that "son" or "child" can sometimes carry the idea of a similar character or behavior, a special relationship and one who is obedient to the father.
Part one: Jesus as "Son of God"
At Jesus' Baptism, God the Father speaks from heaven about Jesus as His Son. "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'" (Mark 1:10-11) Again at the Transfiguration when Peter and John were present, "a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!'" (Matthew 17:5) Even as a boy of twelve, Jesus had a special sense of God as his Father. (This is not a common way God was referred to in the Old Testament When Mary and Joseph found him in the temple after a three day search, Jesus said to them, "Didn't you know that I had to be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49)
It is interesting that when Satan was tempting Jesus (God allowed this testing to prepare Jesus for what was ahead) he kept saying, "IF you are the Son of God", prove it by doing what I say. Jesus rejected that temptation and answered in terms of what God had said. The Son was obeying his Father. One of the ways that Satan tempts us is to put a twist on what is true.
Jesus usually referred to himself as "Son of Man" and referred to God as his Father, his Abba (an intimate family term like Dad or Daddy). In John 10 he speaks of God as his Father and then uses the term "I am God's Son" (John 10:36). He also says, "I and the Father are one."(vs.30) This is going way beyond what is meant by the King being God's son. Jesus also said, "Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles that you may learn and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father." Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. John 10:38-39)
Now look at John 3:16-18 about God sending his "one and only Son" into the world, not to condemn it but to save it. What Jesus is saying here is that he is the unique Son of God who was "with God" and "was God" before he was sent into the world. He has a unique and eternal (no beginning) relationship with the Father--they are one. In John 8:58, Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I Am." Jesus is also like the Father. He told his disciples, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:6-7, 9b) He also has a relationship of obedience to the Father. "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself, he can only do what he sees the Father doing because whatever the Father does the Son also does". (John 5:19) Jesus ties this unique oneness with the Father to the "Son of Man" (see Daniel). "He has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the "Son of Man". (John 5:26-27)
Jesus has always been the Son of God but it was clearly revealed to us by his resurrection. He was "declared to be the Son of God with power...by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:4)
Part two: Through faith in Jesus we can become 'sons/children of God'.
" He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband's will, but born of God."(John 1:10-13)
Not only did Jesus call God his Father, (not common in the Old Testament) he taught his disciples to call God "Father" and not just as a solitary relationship but as "our Father".(Luke 11:2, 13) God adopts those who receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord (Romans 8:15) and we become part of God's family- the "household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). Jesus is Head of the church, his Body, his Family. God wants us to have the relationship with him as Father and child. He wants us to become like his Son Jesus and he wants us to obey him and do His will as Jesus did. He does this through the Holy Spirit.
Isn't it amazing that the Holy, righteous, all powerful God who made the universe not only loved us enough to send Jesus to rescue us from sin, wants to have us become his children!!! "Behold what manner of love is this, that we should be called children of God."(1 John3:1) There is nothing automatic about it---we have to choose to respond to God's invitation and keep on choosing Jesus and the Father.
Now reflect and respond to the Words the Lord has given the teachers about being children/sons and daughters of God.
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know him." (1 John 3:1) A word received: I came to show my father's love for you.
"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2) A word received: I have given you a Spirit of adoption so that you can know me as your father.
"And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." (1 John 3:3) A word received: I AM calling you to purity of heart so that you can see and know my father. (See Matthew 5:8 )
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." (Romans 8:14) A word received: I want you to be led by my Holy Spirit.
"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" (Romans 8:15) A word received: "Abba, Father" is not just a cute title -- it is a relationship I want you to have with my father.
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26) A word received: I want you to come to maturity of faith. I want you to be sons of my father in word and deed.
"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Galatians 4:6) A word received: Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit -- the portion of an eldest son. I want you to have that same fervent desire -- the desire to be my son and receive that "double portion" as Elisha did. (See 2 Kings 2:9)
Ideas for little children's lesson
1. Remind them that the words "son" and "Son" can mean several different things: It can describe a person's character and behavior (like sons of thunder or son of peace). It points to a relationship and it indicates who or what a person obeys. Or it (son of man) can just mean a human being.
2. One of the ways Christians use "Son of Man" and "Son of God" is to point to Jesus as both a fully human being and also fully God (in one Being with God the Father).
3. Remind them that God is a Spirit and can be everywhere at the same time--with Natasha in Schenectady and with her cousins in Brazil and the Philippines. Jesus couldn't do that when he lived on earth but he can now.
4.Just as "Son of Man" in Daniel points to a king in heaven who is also a man like us, so Son of God points to Jesus having a special- "one and only" relationship with God. He has God's character, a unique relationship and was totally obedient and in agreement with God the Father while he lived on earth. Remember Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9-10. Jesus proved this not only by his miracles but by his resurrection from the dead--and ascending back to heaven.
5. God wants to adopt you and me as his children (sons--and daughters). John 1:12 says of Jesus, "Yet to all who have received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."
Jesus taught us that we can call God "our Father" if we belong to Jesus. That makes us part of his family, the church. God the Father, our "Abba" (Daddy) wants us to have a personal relationship with him, to become like his Son Jesus in our characters and behaviors, and to obey him. We will need the Spirit of God/the Spirit of Jesus to be able to do this.
6. Use words received adapted to the children.
Son of God
Theme Verse: "Who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:15
Readings: 2 Samuel 7:13-14, Mark 1:10-11, Matthew 17:5, John 3:17-18, John 10:22-37, Romans 8:14-16, John 1`:10-13, Philippians 2:6-11
Optional: Exodus 4:22, Luke 2:49
Memory Verse: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" Mark 9:7
As we saw last week the titles "Son of Man" and "Son of God" are commonly used by Christians to say in a short hand way our belief that Jesus of Nazareth was not only the promised "anointed" one/Messiah but both fully man (human being) from his birth in Bethlehem and fully God from all eternity. There have always been heresies (false teachings) trying to simplify this mystery by dropping one or the other of Jesus' two natures.
As we saw last week, the word "son" has several meanings in the Bible and so do "son of man" and "son of God". However Jesus is the only one who is the heavenly "Son of Man" referred to in Daniel and the "one and only" unique "Son of God". (It may be helpful to review the uses of the word "son" from last week.)
Perhaps the best explanation of HOW this took place is in Philippians 2:6-11 (probably an early Christian hymn). It says that God the Son (who is one God with Father and Holy Spirit) "emptied himself" of the powers of God that did not fit with being a real man--like being able to be everywhere at the same time--and humbled himself to put on our human nature "made in human likeness" and was "obedient even to death-even death on a cross!" Remember how Jesus said, "I lay down my life...No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." (John 10:17-18 ) His resurrection body was familiar yet different and when he returned to heaven he again took up those powers of being God again. Now he can be with everyone of us wherever we are. During his earthly life, God the Father guided Jesus, as he wants to guide us, by the Holy Spirit. The difference is "For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God; to him God gives the Spirit without limit." (John 3:34) He obeyed God even though he was tempted just as we are!
Jesus occasionally uses both titles to describe himself. Jesus is careful to say "one and only Son" to distinguish between himself and other ways of using "son of God" (John 3:13-18 ). The words "only begotten" are to show that Jesus the Son was not a creature/creation but the Creator. But "begotten" does not mean that he had a beginning in time (creature) OR was the child of a father physically as we are and as the pagan gods were always being described as behaving. In understanding the unity of God an important verse is "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Remember how Jesus said, "The Father is in me and I am in the Father." (John 19:38 ) and "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30).
In the Old Testament "son of God" could refer to the King or his son who was in line for the throne. (2 Samuel7:13-14). God speaking to King David about his son Solomon who would be king someday said, "He is the one who will build a house for my Name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he will be my son." God has just called David his servant (vs.5,8 ) and then calls the future king his son! The King of Israel was considered both. Jesus, the Son of God, and descendent of David, is the King whose Kingdom will last forever.
Sometimes "son of god" was considered a royal title in the ancient Middle East, moving from Egypt and the east to the Greek and Roman Empires. Example: Alexander the Great was called "son of Ammon" and "son of Zeus". Octavian referred to himself as "God", "divine son". This usage included the word "Lord" and caused many to be killed when they called Jesus "Lord" and refused to call the Roman Emperor "Lord" and worship him. Sometimes outstanding people and craft guilds saw themselves under the patronage of various gods and called themselves "sons" or "children" of that pagan god. (Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, p.l.961)
A nation could be called that. God calls Israel "my son" (Exodus 4:22). "The LORD says, 'Israel is my firstborn son." In Isaiah 1:2 God says, "I reared children and brought them up but they have rebelled against me."
Remember what we learned last week, that "son" or "child" can sometimes carry the idea of a similar character or behavior, a special relationship and one who is obedient to the father.
Part one: Jesus as "Son of God"
At Jesus' Baptism, God the Father speaks from heaven about Jesus as His Son. "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'" (Mark 1:10-11) Again at the Transfiguration when Peter and John were present, "a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!'" (Matthew 17:5) Even as a boy of twelve, Jesus had a special sense of God as his Father. (This is not a common way God was referred to in the Old Testament When Mary and Joseph found him in the temple after a three day search, Jesus said to them, "Didn't you know that I had to be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49)
It is interesting that when Satan was tempting Jesus (God allowed this testing to prepare Jesus for what was ahead) he kept saying, "IF you are the Son of God", prove it by doing what I say. Jesus rejected that temptation and answered in terms of what God had said. The Son was obeying his Father. One of the ways that Satan tempts us is to put a twist on what is true.
Jesus usually referred to himself as "Son of Man" and referred to God as his Father, his Abba (an intimate family term like Dad or Daddy). In John 10 he speaks of God as his Father and then uses the term "I am God's Son" (John 10:36). He also says, "I and the Father are one."(vs.30) This is going way beyond what is meant by the King being God's son. Jesus also said, "Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles that you may learn and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father." Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. John 10:38-39)
Now look at John 3:16-18 about God sending his "one and only Son" into the world, not to condemn it but to save it. What Jesus is saying here is that he is the unique Son of God who was "with God" and "was God" before he was sent into the world. He has a unique and eternal (no beginning) relationship with the Father--they are one. In John 8:58, Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I Am." Jesus is also like the Father. He told his disciples, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:6-7, 9b) He also has a relationship of obedience to the Father. "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself, he can only do what he sees the Father doing because whatever the Father does the Son also does". (John 5:19) Jesus ties this unique oneness with the Father to the "Son of Man" (see Daniel). "He has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the "Son of Man". (John 5:26-27)
Jesus has always been the Son of God but it was clearly revealed to us by his resurrection. He was "declared to be the Son of God with power...by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:4)
Part two: Through faith in Jesus we can become 'sons/children of God'.
" He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband's will, but born of God."(John 1:10-13)
Not only did Jesus call God his Father, (not common in the Old Testament) he taught his disciples to call God "Father" and not just as a solitary relationship but as "our Father".(Luke 11:2, 13) God adopts those who receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord (Romans 8:15) and we become part of God's family- the "household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). Jesus is Head of the church, his Body, his Family. God wants us to have the relationship with him as Father and child. He wants us to become like his Son Jesus and he wants us to obey him and do His will as Jesus did. He does this through the Holy Spirit.
Isn't it amazing that the Holy, righteous, all powerful God who made the universe not only loved us enough to send Jesus to rescue us from sin, wants to have us become his children!!! "Behold what manner of love is this, that we should be called children of God."(1 John3:1) There is nothing automatic about it---we have to choose to respond to God's invitation and keep on choosing Jesus and the Father.
Now reflect and respond to the Words the Lord has given the teachers about being children/sons and daughters of God.
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know him." (1 John 3:1) A word received: I came to show my father's love for you.
"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2) A word received: I have given you a Spirit of adoption so that you can know me as your father.
"And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." (1 John 3:3) A word received: I AM calling you to purity of heart so that you can see and know my father. (See Matthew 5:8 )
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." (Romans 8:14) A word received: I want you to be led by my Holy Spirit.
"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" (Romans 8:15) A word received: "Abba, Father" is not just a cute title -- it is a relationship I want you to have with my father.
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26) A word received: I want you to come to maturity of faith. I want you to be sons of my father in word and deed.
"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Galatians 4:6) A word received: Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit -- the portion of an eldest son. I want you to have that same fervent desire -- the desire to be my son and receive that "double portion" as Elisha did. (See 2 Kings 2:9)
Ideas for little children's lesson
1. Remind them that the words "son" and "Son" can mean several different things: It can describe a person's character and behavior (like sons of thunder or son of peace). It points to a relationship and it indicates who or what a person obeys. Or it (son of man) can just mean a human being.
2. One of the ways Christians use "Son of Man" and "Son of God" is to point to Jesus as both a fully human being and also fully God (in one Being with God the Father).
3. Remind them that God is a Spirit and can be everywhere at the same time--with Natasha in Schenectady and with her cousins in Brazil and the Philippines. Jesus couldn't do that when he lived on earth but he can now.
4.Just as "Son of Man" in Daniel points to a king in heaven who is also a man like us, so Son of God points to Jesus having a special- "one and only" relationship with God. He has God's character, a unique relationship and was totally obedient and in agreement with God the Father while he lived on earth. Remember Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9-10. Jesus proved this not only by his miracles but by his resurrection from the dead--and ascending back to heaven.
5. God wants to adopt you and me as his children (sons--and daughters). John 1:12 says of Jesus, "Yet to all who have received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."
Jesus taught us that we can call God "our Father" if we belong to Jesus. That makes us part of his family, the church. God the Father, our "Abba" (Daddy) wants us to have a personal relationship with him, to become like his Son Jesus in our characters and behaviors, and to obey him. We will need the Spirit of God/the Spirit of Jesus to be able to do this.
6. Use words received adapted to the children.
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