February 5, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Blood Shed in Sin and to Free From Sin

 Blood Shed in Sin and to Free From Sin

Genesis 4:2b-12 – New International Version (NIV)

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.   ³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

What did Abel and Cain do (verse 2)?

Who brought “some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord” (verse 3)?

What did Abel bring (verse 4)?

How did the Lord respond to Abel and his offering (verse 4)?

Why did Cain become angry with a downcast face (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did the Lord ask “why are you angry” (verse 6)?

What causes sin to be crouching at Cain’s door (verse 7)?

Why did Abel go into the field (verse 8)?

What did Cain do in the field (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did the Lord ask Cain “where is your brother Abel” (verse 9)?

How did Cain answer the Lord (verse 9)?

What cries out to the Lord from the ground (verse 10)?

What had the ground received from Cain’s hand (verse 11)?

Why will Cain become a “restless wanderer on the earth” (verse 12)?

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

John 14:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

In your opinion, why does Jesus follow the instruction to “do not let your hearts be troubled” with “believe also in me” (verse 1)?

What is in His Father’s house (verse 2)?

Where is Jesus going to take the disciples (and all who believe) (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “you know the way to the place where I am going” (verse 4)?

What does Thomas ask (verse 5)?

What does Jesus claim about Himself (verse 6)?

How does Jesus say we get to the Father (verse 6)?

Who do we know if we know Jesus (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, how does what Jesus shares in John 14:1-7 offer peace for all those, who like Cain from Genesis 4:2b-12 are restless wanderers of the earth?

Hebrews 11:1-4 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

What is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (verse 1)?

Why were the ancients commended (verse 2)?

How was the universe formed (verse 3)?

What did Abel bring to God (verse 4)?

Why was Abel commended as righteous (verse 4)?

In your opinion, how does Abel still speak, “even though he is dead” (verse 4)?

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

In your opinion, what does Jesus in His discussion of John 14:1-7 reveal that goes beyond what the ancients that Paul commends in Hebrews 11:1-4 could not have known?

In your opinion, how does the contrast of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:2b-12 help Paul explain faith in Hebrews 11:1-4?

Revelation 1:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

⁴ John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

⁷ “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
    and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Why did God give Jesus the revelation (verse 1)?

How did Jesus make the revelation known (verse 1)?

What did John testify to (verse 2)?

Why is the one who reads aloud or those who hear the “words of the prophecy” blessed (verse 3)?

Who is John writing to (verse 4)?

Who is the blessing of “grace and peace” from (verse 4)?

How is Jesus described (verse 5)?

What has Jesus done (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “a kingdom and priests” (verse 6)?

In your opinion, who is “coming with the clouds” (verse 7)?

Who will see Him (verse 7)?

Who will mourn (verse 7)?

Who is the “Alpha and the Omega” (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, how does Abel, who Paul says in Hebrews 11:1-4 “still speaks, even though he is dead” help us to understand how to be the “kingdom and priests” that John in Revelation 1:1-8 says that we who are freed from our sins by the blood of Jesus are made to be?

In your opinion, what does Revelation 1:1-8 help us understand about how Jesus could say in John 14:1-7 that He is “the way and the truth and the life” and that “no one comes to the Father except through me”?

In your opinion, how is the blood of Jesus that Revelation 1:1-8 says frees us from our sins the perfect response to the blood that Cain shed in Genesis 4:2b-12 that caused him to become a restless wanderer?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Hebrews and Revelation help us understand about living in grace and peace in a world of turmoil?

In your opinion, how do these passages help us to serve God as a kingdom and priests?                              

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 22, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Taking Hold of Eternal Life (Or Not)

Taking Hold of Eternal Life (Or Not)

Genesis 11:1-9 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

What did the “whole world” have (verse 1)?

Where did the people settle (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why did they use brick instead of stone (verse 3)?

Why were they going to make a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens (verse 4)?

What did the Lord do to see the city and the tower the people were building (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does God mean when He says “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (verse 6)?

How did the Lord interrupt the people’s plan (verse 7)?

When did they stop building the city (verse 8)?

Why was the city called Babel (verse 9)?

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

John 12:42-45 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴² Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Who believed in Jesus (verse 42)?

Why did they not “openly acknowledge their faith” (verse 42)?

What did they love more than “praise from God” (verse 43)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me” (verse 44)?

Who does the one who looks at Jesus see (verse 45)?

Why did Jesus come into the world (verse 46)?

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

In your opinion, what do the people who wanted a name for themselves in Genesis 11:1-9 have in common with the people who were afraid to acknowledge Jesus because the thought the Pharisees might put them out of the synagogue in John 12:42-45?

1 Timothy 6:6-16 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

What is great gain (verse 6)?

What will we take from the world (verse 7)?

How will Paul respond to having food and clothing (verse 8)?

Who falls “into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires” (verse 9)?

What is the “love of money” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says that who have wandered from the faith have “pierced themselves with many griefs” (verse 10)?

What did Paul instruct Timothy to pursue (verse 11)?

What was Timothy called to (verse 12)?

Who gives life to everything (verse 13)?

How long was Timothy to keep the command (verse 14)?

When will Jesus appear (verse 15)?

Who is immortal and lives in unapproachable light (verses 15 and 16)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the choice that the leaders who don’t openly acknowledge Jesus have in John 12:42-45 and the choice between loving money or pursuing godliness that Paul is discussing with Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:6-16?

In your opinion, what can Paul’s discussion in 1 Timothy 6:6-16 help us to understand about the decision to build a city and temple in Genesis 11:1-9?

Revelation 18:9-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. ¹⁰ Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    you mighty city of Babylon!
In one hour your doom has come!’

¹¹ “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore— ¹² cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; ¹³ cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.

¹⁴ “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ ¹⁵ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn ¹⁶ and cry out:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
    and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
¹⁷ In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’

“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. ¹⁸ When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ ¹⁹ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    where all who had ships on the sea
    became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’

²⁰ “Rejoice over her, you heavens!
    Rejoice, you people of God!
    Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
    with the judgment she imposed on you.”

How will the kings of the earth “who committed adultery with her” respond to the smoke of her burning (verse 9)?

How fast has Babylon’s doom come (verse 10)?

Why will the merchants of the earth “weep and morn over her” (verse 11)?

How would you sum up the cargos that are listed (verses 12 and 13)?

In your opinion, what do the merchants mean when they say “the fruit you longed for is gone from you” (verse 14)?

What terrifies the merchants who gained their wealth from Babylon (verse 15)?

How do the merchants describe the great city (verse 16)?

Where will the sea captains and all who earn their living from the sea stand (verse 17)?

What will they exclaim (verse 18)?

How did the city benefit “all who had ships on the sea” (verse 19)?

Who is to rejoice (verse 20)?

Why are they to rejoice (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what does Paul’s discussion in 1 Timothy 6:6-16 show us about the motivation of all those who are crying “Woe!” in Revelation 18:9-20?

In your opinion, how are the choices people made prior to the destruction of Babylon in Revelation 18:9-20 that lead them to cry “Woe!” or the choices people made prior to the destruction of Babylon that led them to be commanded to rejoice similar to the choice that the people of John 12:42-45 were making?

In your opinion, what is the significance of the people who were building the city and tower on the plain of Shinar to “make a name for” themselves being scattered over the face of the earth in Genesis 11:1-9 and that the people who shared the luxury or sold precious things to, or who transported the goods to Babylon (which is also on the plain of Shinar) standing far off when the cry “Woe” in Revelation 18:9-20?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, 1 Timothy and Revelation help us understand about choices and consequences?

In your opinion, how do these passages help us pursue godliness?                                                                 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 15, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Dust to Life

Dust to Life

Genesis 3:16-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

How will the woman give birth to children (verse 16)?

Who did Adam listen to (verse 16)?

What is cursed because of Adam (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why was the ground cursed instead of Adam (verse 17)?

How will Adam eat food (verse 17)?

What will the ground produce (verse 18)?

When will Adam stop eating by the sweat of his brow (verse 19)?

Where did Adam come from and where is he returning to (verse 19)?

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

John 3:31-36 - New International Version (NIV)

³¹ The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³ Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Who is above all (verse 31)?

In your opinion, what is meant by “from the earth” (verse 31)?

Where does the one who is above all come from (verse 31)?

What does the one who is above all testify to (verse 32)?

How can we certify that “God is truthful” (verses 32 and 33)?

Who speaks “the words of God” (verse 34)?

What does God give “without limit” (verse 34)?

Who has placed everything in the Son’s hands (verse 35)?

Who has eternal life (verse 36)?

Why will whoever rejects the Son “not see life” (verse 36)?

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

In your opinion, how is God’s punishment of Adam, “for dust you are and to dust you will return” in Genesis 3:16-19, referenced by then transformed by John in John 3:31-36?

1 Corinthians 15:45-54 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

What is written about the first man, Adam (verse 45)?

What is the last Adam (verse 45)?

When did the spiritual come (verse 46)?

What was the first man of (verse 47)?

What is the second man of (verse 47)?

In your opinion, who are “those who are of heaven” (verse 48)?

What will we bear (verse 49)?

Who cannot inherit the kingdom of God (verse 50)?

What will happen to all (verse 51)?

When will the dead be raised imperishable (verse 52)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to cloth the perishable with the imperishable (verse 53)?

What saying will come true when the mortal is clothed with immortality (verse 54)?

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

In your opinion, how does Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:45-54 further our understanding about the one who comes from earth and the One who comes from heaven that John talks about in John 3:31-36?

In your opinion, how can the one who came from dust and who is returning to dust according to Genesis 3:16-19 become imperishable according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:45-54?

Revelation 20:11-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

What did John see (verse 11)?

How did the earth and the heavens respond to “him” (verse 11)?

Who did John see “standing before the throne” (verse 12)?

How were the dead judged (verse 12)?

What gave up the dead that were in them (verse 13)?

Where are death and Hades thrown (verse 14)?

Who was not thrown into the lake of fire (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how does John’s vision in Revelation 20:11-15 vividly illustrate Paul’s statement in 1Corinthians 15:45-54 that “death has been swallowed up in victory”?

In your opinion, how does John in John 3:31-36 reveal how someone’s name is entered into the “book of life” he sees in the vision of Revelation 20:11-15?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the punishment that Adam and Eve received for eating the fruit in Genesis 3:16-19 and how the dead are judged and thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, 1 Corinthians and Revelation reveal to about being from dust and the earth but being given life and being clothed in immortality?

In your opinion, how do these passages help us to clearly see the most basic choice we have to make; do we believe or reject the Son of God?                                                                                                                    

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)