June 26, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Regret and Salvation

Regret and Salvation

Genesis 6:5-8 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

What did the Lord see (verse 5)?

What was “only evil all the time” (verse 5)?

Who did the Lord regret making (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why was the Lord going to wipe out the animals, the birds, and the creatures that move along the ground along with human beings (verse 7)?

Who found “favor in the eyes of the Lord” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 4:35-41 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ “That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Where did Jesus tell the disciples they needed to go (verse 35)?

Who did they leave behind (verse 36)?

What nearly swamped the boat (verse 37)?

Where was Jesus (verse 38)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples say “Teach, don’t you care if we drown” (verse 38)?

What happened when Jesus said “Quiet! Be still” (verse 39)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “do you still have no faith” (verse 40)?

How did the disciples react to Jesus (verse 41)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is Jesus saving the disciples from the storm in Mark 4:35-41 similar to the Lord saving Noah from the Flood in Genesis 6:5-8?

Hebrews 12:1-3 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Who surrounds us (verse 1)?

What does Paul say we should “throw off” (verse 1)?

How should we run “the race marked out for us” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why is Jesus called “the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (verse 2)?

Why did Jesus endure the cross and scorn its shame (verse 2)?

Who should we consider when we endure opposition from sinners and begin to grow weary (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does Jesus getting the disciples through the squall in Mark 4:35-41 help us to understand why Paul instructs us to fix our eyes on “Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” in Hebrews 12:1-3?

In your opinion, how is Paul’s recommendation in Hebrews 12:1-3 that we “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” appropriate when we consider the fact mentioned in Genesis 6:5-8 that the “thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time”?

1 Peter 3:17-22 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ “For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. ¹⁹ After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

In your opinion, why is it better “if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good that for doing evil” (verse 17)?

Why did Christ “suffer once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (verse 18)?

What happened to Christ when He was “put to death in the body” (verse 18)?

Who did Christ make a proclamation to (verse 19)?

How did God wait “while the ark was being built” (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say that the eight people “were saved through water” (verse 20)?

What does the water symbolize (verse 21)?

What is the baptism a pledge of (verse 21)?

How does baptism save (verse 21)?

Where has Jesus gone (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the “throwing off everything that hinders” and the running “with perseverance the race marked out for us” that Paul talks about in Hebrews 12:1-3 an appropriate follow up for the “pledge of a clear conscience toward God” that Peter says baptism is in 1 Peter 3:14-22?

In your opinion, what has taken Peter from being afraid of the squall and the terrified of Jesus in Mark 4:35-41 to being confident in the resurrection of Christ and His ascension into heaven in 1 Peter 3:14-22?

In your opinion, what does Noah, who found “favor in the eyes of the Lord” in Genesis 6:5-8 and then was saved from the flood of the water have in common with all those who have been baptized with water which saves through the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to Peter in 1 Peter 3:17-22?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Genesis, Mark, Hebrews and 1 Peter show us about ourselves today?

Next, back to Peter 4:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)