Beginning with Belief
Genesis 15:1-6 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 After this, the word of the Lord came
to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what
can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will
inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And
Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my
household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came
to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and
blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he
said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord,
and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Why was Abraham (called Abram here) not to “be
afraid” (verse 1)?
Why
did Abraham say “what can you give me” (verse 2)?
Who did Abraham say would be his heir (verse 3)?
Who did God say would be Abraham’s heir (verse 4)?
How many offspring did the Lord say Abraham
would have (verse 5)?
What did Abraham do (verse 6)?
What was credited to Abraham (verse 6)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does this passage help us define
belief and faith?
Matthew 1:1-2 – New International Version (NIV)
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the
Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of
Judah and his brothers,
Who
does Matthew say “Jesus the Messiah” is the son of (verse 1)?
Who
does Matthew say is the “son of Abraham” (verse 1)?
Who
does Matthew say Abraham is “the father of” (verse 2)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In
your opinion, how does this passage help us define belief and faith?
In
your opinion, what did Abram, who God later renamed Abraham, do in Genesis
15:1-6 that put him in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-2?
Romans
4:13-25 - New
International Version (NIV)
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received
the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the
righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who
depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is
worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where
there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by
grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to
those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is
the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made
you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in
whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into
being things that were not.
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the
father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your
offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced
the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years
old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not
waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was
strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being
fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This
is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The
words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but
also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in
him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He
was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification.
Through what did Abraham receive the “promise that
he would be heir of the world” (verse 13)?
When would “faith mean nothing” (verse 14)?
What does the law bring (verse 15)?
How does the promise come (verse 16)?
Who is
Abraham the father of (verse 16)?
Who “gives
life to the dead and calls into being things that were not” (verse 17)?
How did
Abraham become “the father of many nations” (verse 18)?
What did
Abraham do that did not weaken his faith (verse 19)?
Where was
Abraham strengthened (verse 20)?
What was
Abraham “fully persuaded” of (verse 21)?
Who were
the words “it was credited to him” written for (verses 22 through 24)?
Why was “Jesus
our Lord” raised to life (verses 25 and 26)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, how does this passage help us define
belief and faith?
In your opinion, what does Romans 4:13-25
reveal about how a Gentile today can benefit from being like Abram in Genesis
15:1-6?
In your opinion, how does Romans 4:13-25
add to the family tree of Matthew 1:1-2?
Hebrews 11:8-16 – New International Version (NIV)
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later
receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not
know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in
the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in
tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same
promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the
city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And
by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear
children because she considered him faithful who had made the
promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as
dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as
countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They
did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them
from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on
earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are
looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been
thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to
return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better
country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called
their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Where
did Abraham go “even though he did not know where he was going” (verse 8)?
How
did Abraham make “his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign
country” (verse 9)?
Who
were heirs of the same promise as Abraham (verse 9)?
Who is the “architect and builder” of
the city that Abraham was looking forward to (verse 10)?
How was Sarah “enabled to bear
children” (verse 11)?
How many descendants came from the man
who was “as good as dead” (verse 12)?
What were “foreigners and strangers on
earth” still living by (verse 13)?
What kind of country were the people who
lived by faith looking for (verses 14 through 16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does this passage help
us define belief and faith?
In your opinion, how
does the belief of Abram in Genesis 15:1-6 bear fruit in Hebrews 11:8-16?
In your opinion, how does the faith of
Abraham as documented in Hebrews 11:8-16 help us understand the significance in
his inclusion of the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-2?
In your opinion, how is the belief, hope
and faith of Abraham described in Romans 4:13-25 the foundation for being a
stranger on the earth and “looking for a country of their own” of Hebrews
11:8-16?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Isaiah, Matthew, Romans and Hebrews teach us about the importance of
belief and faith to Christians?
In your opinion, what does our belief and faith help
us hope for today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment