God’s Grand Story NT Lesson 5

Paul How would you have reacted to a man who said he had a supernatural encounter with the risen Jesus and was now an authority on His message?

Would knowing Paul’s background as a persecutor of Christians affect how you perceived his new zeal? Why or why not?

Anyone can claim anything. But the person whose claims are backed up by a 180 degree life- change is difficult to ignore.

Saul/Paul, the champion of God’s grace, is exhibit A of what that amazing grace looks like in a life.

Paul wasn’t at all looking for Christ, or seeking to learn more about how to follow Him.

In fact, just the opposite is true—he hated Christ together with all His followers.

He was devoted to eradicating this new rebellious religion that went against his Jewish traditions,

. Paul is the poster child for the truth that salvation is God’s gracious, sovereign work.

Remember

Ephesians 2:1–2 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

And How about Romans 3:11-12

Romans 3:11–12 ESV

11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Paul is a wonderful example of Gods Soverign Grace in seeking out lost sinners to save!!!

We don’t initiate; as someone has wisely noted, “God is always previous.”

Read Philippians 1:21-24

Philippians 1:21–24 ESV

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

What does this passage tell us about Paul?

Pauls entire passion for Living is to share the hope he recieved through J.C.

What does it tell us about the value of knowing Jesus?

In the Upper Room (see John 17:3), Jesus defined eternal life, not as an abstract substance or a mysterious future state, but as knowing God and Jesus Christ—the one sent by God.

In other words, eternal life is intimacy with the Triune God!

It’s a personal relationship with the Almighty.

As with any relationship, the longer we interact with God, the more deeply we come to know Him and the more we understand about Him.

This was Paul’s experience in Phil. 2 He was consumed with a passion to know Christ better and better in fact this is what he wrote about in the next chapter of Philipians (see Philippians 3), and he was enthralled at the hope of one day seeing Jesus face to face.

Death wasn’t a scary, unwelcome thing for Paul, but the doorway to being with Christ in the ultimate way.

The Jewish Question

Read Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

What do you think it means to be crucified with Christ?

Somehow, in a spiritual yet very real way, faith in Jesus unites us with Him so completely that, in effect, what’s true of Him also becomes true of us.

We get credited by God with Jesus’ payment for sin, and His righteousness. We are described in the New Testament multiple times as being “in Him.” So in a theological sense, when Jesus died on the cross, we (i.e., our old selves) died too.

And when Jesus rose from the dead, we were resurrected with Him into a new life.

We have a baptismal service coming up in a couple of weeks How does Baptism picture this idea of being crucified with Christ?

To what degree can we expect our old selves to become irrelevant for Christ to live His life in us?

The Bible says that because of this truth, we should no longer live the way we used to live because—essentially and fundamentally—we are no longer the people we used to be.

The Christian life, then, is not a matter of us trying frantically (and futilely) to live as God commands, but rather us submitting to Jesus and trusting Him to live His life through us.

In the words of Galatians 2:20, “we live by faith in the son of God.”

Skip. …Read Romans 7:1-6, in which Paul compares our relationship with the law to the relationship between a woman and her husband—and what happens when one marriage partner dies. How does “dying” with Jesus free us from the demands of the law? In what sense is that legal covenant with God now fulfilled yet no longer effective? This passage gets to the heart of Paul’s thoughts on why when Jesus died, we died too and are no longer bound to the old covenant. Raised to new life, we are free to enter a new covenant with God.

The Body of Christ

Read 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

1 Corinthians 2:4–5 ESV

4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Why was it important for Paul to maintain this attitude?

Any speaker can tell you it’s always a temptation to try to impress, to wow, to be profound (or funny or whatever).

But when sharing the Word of God with the People of God, it is better to rely on the Spirit of God.

The way to be “successful” in speaking for God (whether you are sharing the gospel, preaching a sermon, teaching a class, guiding a small group discussion) is to take the initiative to speak God’s truth in the power of the Holy Spirit, and leave the results to God.

God is in charge of responses and outcomes. That is His part.

Our part is to humbly and faithfully and dependently declare His truth.

This was Paul’s view.

Listen to

Philippians 2:5–11“5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

In what ways can we express the attitude of Jesus portrayed in this passage?

How would it impact our church if we all had this attitude? How would it impact our community in Clear Lake?

SKIP>>>> For a fascinating parallel, read John 13:1-17 where Jesus takes off His robes and puts on the garments of a servant, washes the disciples’ feet, then puts on His normal robes again. (See the Day 2 devotional of Session 3). The symbolism in this act follows exactly the same trajectory as Jesus’ incarnation in Philippians 2:5-11.

Above All Powers Read Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17-21

Ephesians 1:17–21 ESV

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

What specific requests does he make in this prayer?

give the church a spirit of wisdom

give the church revelation of the Knowledge of God

that they would know the hope they have in J.C.

that they would know the riches of God and the greatness of His power working in their lives.

How do you think God would respond if you prayed this prayer daily for yourself? For others?

We pray for all sorts of things—as we should. But when Paul prays for the people under his spiritual care, he mostly prays for divine insight, the ability to see and understand deep spiritual realities.

This is a great model to follow.

All the great teaching in the world is useless...unless and until God removes the blinders from people’s hearts.

Paul is interested in a deeper kind of seeing—not just head-level grasping of truth, but a heart-level one.

And with that seeing, a dynamic, powerful ability to live out the truth of what God is showing us.

Read Ephesians 3:14–21“14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

According to Paul, to what degree can we be filled with the fullness of God?

vs. 19- ALL the fulness of God…

How can we experience that?

Paul prays that his Ephesian brothers and sisters might have divine enabling to know the love of Christ that is beyond knowing.

How’s that for a statement of the mysterious nature of the spiritual life is?

But Paul’s point seems to be that God’s love must be foundational.

The more we know—not just intellectually but experientially—Christ’s unconditional, sacrificial love for us, the freer we will be to love others, and the more motivated we will be to do so.

Fear and duty can never transform us. But love can. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 3:19).

We could paraphrase, “We don’t love until we first realize how much He loves us.”

The Next Generation

Who all did Paul mentor?

Timothy - Paul considered Timothy his "true son in the faith" (1 Timothy 1:2). He mentored Timothy extensively, guiding him in ministry and encouraging him to be strong in his faith (1 & 2 Timothy).

Titus - Paul mentored Titus and entrusted him with leading the church in Crete. (Titus 1:4).

Silas - A fellow missionary and close companion of Paul during his second missionary journey. (Acts 15:40-41).

Onesimus - A runaway slave who became a Christian through Paul’s ministry while Paul was imprisoned. (Philemon 1:10).

John Mark - Mark deserted Paul on this first missionary journey (Acts 13:13), but later recognized Mark’s value in ministry, showing a redemptive mentoring process (2 Timothy 4:11).

Why do you think Paul felt it important to mentor others?

To what degree do you feel the need to replicate yourself—or at least to pass down some of your wisdom and insight—in the lives of the next generation?

What are some ways to do that?

Jesus came ultimately to die for the sin of the world (John 1:29). But consider: that act only took one afternoon of His time on earth. Consider that for the entire three-year period leading up to that sacrifice of His life, He carefully and intentionally mentored 12 men.

He called them into relationship with Himself, (i.e., to follow Him).

In that invitation, He gave them the promise that He would make them “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).

In other words, if they followed, He would transform them. Eleven of them did follow, and they were changed. Just before He returned to heaven, Jesus then told these disciples to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).

In other words, “Go repeat this same process.”

This is why we mentor others, why we pour ourselves into others...because this is the model Jesus gave us. Discipleship is not a primarily a booklet or 10-week Bible study. It’s a life-on-life relationship. It reflects the truth that the Christian life is more caught than it is taught.