January 8, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Enmity and Life

Enmity and Life

Genesis 3:11-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

In your opinion, why would Jesus ask “have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from” (verse 11)?

How did the man answer (verse 12)?

How did the woman answer this question “what is this you have done” (verse 13)?

Why is the serpent to be cursed “above all livestock and all wild animals” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, since Genesis 2:7 says that God made the man from the dust, what does the fact that the serpent will “eat dust all the days of your life” mean (verse 14)?

What will God put between the woman and the serpent (verse 15)?

What will God put between the offspring of the serpent and the woman’s offspring (verse 15)?

What will the woman’s offspring do to the serpent (verse 15)?

What will the serpent do to the woman’s offspring (verse 15)?

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

John 13:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

What did Jesus know (verse 1)?

How did Jesus feel about “his own who were in the world” (verse 1)?

Who had prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “the Father had put all things under his power” (verse 3)?

When did Jesus take off His outer clothing and wrap a towel around His waist (verse 4)?

What did Jesus do (verse 5)?

Who ask “Lord, are you going to wash my feet” (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say “but later you will understand” (verse 7)?

How did Peter respond to Jesus (verse 8)?

What did Jesus tell Peter (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why would Peter want his hands and head also washed (verse 9)?

What do people who have had a bath need to wash to be clean (verse 10)?

Why did Jesus say that “not every one was clean” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how is Jesus kneeling to wash the dust off the feet of the disciples in John 13:1-11 not only a service to the disciples but a way to strike the serpent who is condemned to crawl in the dust in Genesis 3:11-15?

Hebrews 2:9-18 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰ In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. ¹¹ Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. ¹² He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
    in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

¹³ And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again he says,

“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Why is Jesus “crowned with glory and honor” (verse 9)?

What did Jesus taste for everyone (verse 9)?

What is Jesus to the sons and daughters that God is bringing to glory (verse 10)?

How are “the one who makes people holy” and “those who are made holy” related (verse 11)?

In your opinion, whose name is Jesus declaring to His brothers and sisters (verse 12)?

Who is with Jesus (verse 13)?

Why did Jesus share the humanity of the children (verse 14)?

Who holds the power of death (verse 14)?

What kind of slavery was Jesus freeing people from (verse 15)?

Who is Jesus helping (verse 16)?

Why did Jesus become fully human and a merciful and faithful high priest (verse 17)?

Why is Jesus able to help those who are tempted (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus washing the feet of the disciples in John 13:1-13 show that He understands the way that will “break the power of him who holds the power of death” as Paul puts it in Hebrews 2:9-18?

In your opinion, how is the serpent striking the heel of the offspring of the woman, and the offspring crushing his head in Genesis 3:11-15 beginning to be fulfilled by Jesus, in His death, breaking the “power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” as Paul explains in Hebrews 2:9-18?

Revelation 20:7-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

When will Satan be released from his prison (verse 7)?

Who will Satan go out to deceive (verse 8)?

How many will gather for battle (verse 8)?

Where will they go (verse 9)?

What will happen to them (verse 9)?

Where does the devil end up (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus defeat of Satan, which Paul shows beginning with the breaking of the power of death in Hebrews 2:9-18, find is completion in Revelation 20:7-10?

In your opinion, why does Jesus, who knows in John 13:1-11 that God has “put all things under his power” wait until Satan has gone out to deceive the world and brought world to attack the people of God in Revelation 20:7-10 before He utilizes the full extent of His power?

In your opinion, how is the serpent deceiving Adam and Eve before being punished in Genesis 3:11-15 similar to the events prophesied in Revelation 20:7-10?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Hebrews and Revelation help us understand about death and its place in the battle between Satan and Jesus?

In your opinion, how do these passages help us to join Jesus in singing praises to the Father and place our trust in Him, especially in a world filled with turmoil and death?                                                                          

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)