Saturday, February 11, 2017

February 19, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – An Invitation to the Promised Land


An Invitation to the Promised Land

Genesis 12:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

Where is Abram to go (verse 1)?

What will God make Abram into (verse 2)?

Who will God bless (verse 3)?

In your opinion, how will “all peoples on earth” be blessed through Abram (verse 3)?

How old was Abram when he set out (verse 4)?

Who did Abram take with him (verse 5)?

Who was “in the land” (verse 6)?

How did Abram react when the Lord told him “to your offspring I will give this land” (verse 7)?

What did Abram do after he “pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east” (verse 8)?

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

John 14:15-24 - New International Version (NIV)
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

In your opinion, what will we do if we love Jesus (verse 15)?
What will the advocate the Father gives us do (verse 16)?
Why can the world not accept the advocate (verse 17)?
Where will the advocate live and be (verse 17)?
What will Jesus do (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “because I live, you also will live” (verse 19)?
When will “you realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (verse 20)?
Who loves Jesus (verse 21)?
What did Judas (not Judas Iscariot) ask (verse 22)?
Where will the Father and Jesus make their home (verse 23)?
Who will not obey Jesus’ teaching (verse 24)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Abram’s response to God’s command in Genesis 12:1-8 illustrate how we are to respond according to Jesus in John 14:15-24?

Galatians 3:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

What was portrayed before the eyes of the Galatians (verse 1)?
How many things does Paul want to learn from the Galatians (verse 2)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he asks if the Galatians had begun by the means of the Spirit and are trying to finish by means of the flesh (verse 3)?
In your opinion, does God give His Spirit by works of the law or by believing (verse 5)?
Why was righteousness credited to Abraham (verse 6)?
Who are those who have faith (verse 7)?
What did the Scripture foresee (verse 8)?
Who is blessed (verse 9)?
Who is under a curse (verse 10)?
How will the righteous live (verse 11)?
What does the law say (verse 12)?
How did Christ redeem us “from the curse of the law” (verse 13)?
How do we receive the “promise of the Spirit” (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does Paul in Galatians 3:1-14 help us understand about the commands that Jesus tells us we must keep in John 14:15-24?

In your opinion, how does Abram leaving the land that he was familiar with and going to the place that God showed him in Genesis 12:1-8 demonstrate the faith that Paul illustrates in Galatians 3:1-14?

Revelation 22:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever
The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

What did the angel show John (verse 1)?
When does the tree of life yield its fruit (verse 2)?
What are the leaves of the tree of life for (verse 2)?
What is “no longer” (verse 3)?
Where is the throne of God and of the Lamb (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why is it important that God’s servants will see His face (verse 4)?
Why is there no more need for light from a lamp or from the sun (verse 5)?
When will the things take place (verse 6)?
Who is blessed (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does Galatians 3:1-14 help us to understand about why there is no curse in the heavenly city as portrayed in Revelation 22:1-7?
In your opinion, how is Jesus’ promise in John 14:15-24 that He and the Father would dwell with those who love Him and obey His teaching fulfilled in Revelation 22:1-7?

In your opinion, how does Abram’s faith leading him to follow God’s instruction and travel to the Promised Land in Genesis 12:1-8 help us understand about how we get to the heavenly city of Revelation 22:1-7?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Galatians and Revelation help us understand about obedience to Jesus’ commands versus works of the law?
In your opinion, how do these passages help us understand faith and living in the Spirit?                            


(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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