November 13, 2016 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – From Darkness to Perfect Light

From Darkness to Perfect Light

Genesis 1:2-5 – New International Version (NIV)

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

What was the earth (verse 2)?

What was “over the surface of the deep” (verse 2)?

Where was the Spirit of God (verse 2)?

Who said “let there be light” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why was the light “good” (verse 4)?

What was the evening and the morning (verse 5)?

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

John 3:16-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Why did God give “his one and only Son” (verse 16)?

Who will not perish (verse 16)?

Why did God “send his Son into the world” (verse 17)?

Who is not condemned (verse 18)?

Why are those who do not believe condemned (verse 18)?

Where has light come (verse 19)?

Why do people love the darkness (verse 19)?

Who hates the light (verse 20)?

Why won’t those who hate the light come into the light (verse 20)?

Who comes into the light (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how does John 3:16-21 help us understand why God said that the light was good in Genesis 1:2-5?

Ephesians 5:8-20 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “you once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (verse 8)?

What does the fruit of the light consist in (verse 9)?

How should we treat “fruitless deeds of darkness” (verse 11)?

What does Paul say about what “the disobedient do in secret” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say that “everything exposed by the light becomes visible” (verse 13)?

What does everything that is illuminated become (verse 13)?

Who will shine on the sleeper who wakes up and rises from the dead (verse 14)?

How should we be careful to live (verse 15)?

Why should we make the most of every opportunity (verse 16)?

What should we understand (verse 17)?

What leads to debauchery (verse 18)?

How do we speak to each other when we are filled with the Spirit (verses 18 and 19)?

What should we always give thanks to God the Father for (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about the people Paul said are now “light in the Lord” although they “were once darkness” in Ephesians from John, who said “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” in John 3:16-21?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion of the fruit of the light and the fruitless deeds of darkness in Ephesians 5:8-20 help us understand why God in Genesis 1:2-5 considered the light good?

Revelation 21:22-27 – New International Version (NIV)

²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Why is there no temple in the city (verse 22)?

What gives the city light (verse 23)?

Who is the lamp for that light (verse 23)?

Who will walk in the light of the city (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what is the significance of “on no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there” (verse 25)?

What glory and honor will be “brought into it” (verse 26)?

What will never enter the city (verse 27)?

Who will enter the city (verse 27)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn if we consider Paul’s statement In Ephesians 5:5-20 “For you were once darkness” and John’s statement in Revelation 21:22-27 that “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” both to be true?

What does John’s discussion in John 3:16-21 about who is condemned and who is not condemned teach us about the ones who in Revelation 21:22-27 John says will enter the Holy City that came down from heaven because their “names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”?

In your opinion, what does it mean that in Genesis 1:2-5 the first thing created was light and it was separated from the darkness and then in Revelation 21:22-27 we find out that there will no longer be darkness?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Ephesians and Revelation help us understand about light and darkness and how to live today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 13, 2016 – Letters From Home – Love and Life

Love and Life

Revelation 2:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

Who is John instructed to write to (verse 1)?

In your opinion, who is it “who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what can you say about the church in Ephesus based on verses 2 and 3?

What has the church in Ephesus forsaken (verse 4)?

What is the church in Ephesus to consider (verse 5)?

After the church in Ephesus repents, what is it to do (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say “if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (verse 5)?

Whose practices does the church in Ephesus hate (verse 6)?

Who is supposed to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (verse 7)?

Where is the “tree of life” that the “one who is victorious” is to have the right to eat from (verse 8)?

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

Ephesians 1:15-23 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

What had Paul heard about the Ephesians (verse 15)?

How did Paul respond to what he had heard (verse 16)?

Why did Paul want “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father” to give the Ephesians “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he prays that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (verse 18)?

Why did Paul want “the eyes of your heart” to be enlightened (verse 18)?

What is God’s “incomparably great power” the same as (verses 19 and 20)?

Where did God raise Christ from (verse 20)?

Where did God raise Christ to (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that Christ is “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (verse 21)?

What has God placed “under his feet” (verse 22)?

What is “his body” (verses 22 and 23)?

In your opinion, what does it mean when Paul says “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what happened in the church in Ephesus 1:15-23 that it goes from Paul hearing about and giving thanks for “your love for all God’s people” to Jesus telling them in Revelations 2:1-7 that “you have forsaken the love you had at first”?

John 3:16-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Why did God give “his one and only Son” (verse 16)?

What will those who believe in “his one and only Son” have (verse 16)?

What did God “not send his Son into the world” to do (verse 17)?

How did God plan to save the world (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why is “whoever believes in him” not condemned (verse 18)?

Why do those who do not believe stand “condemned already” (verse 18)?

What is the verdict (verse 19)?

Why do those who do evil refuse to come into the light (verse 20)?

Why does “whoever lives by the truth” come into the light (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does it mean to you that Jesus said in John 3:16-21 that “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” when later Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-10 that “Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath”?

In your opinion, how can we reconcile Jesus statement in John 3:16-21 that “whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” with the warning to those at the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 that “I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first”?

Revelation 22:1-5 – 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 ² 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. ³ 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. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ 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.”

How does John describe the “river of the water of life” that the angel shows him (verse 1)?

In your opinion, how can the “tree of life” stand on “each side of the river” (verse 2)?

When does the “tree of life” bear “crops of fruit” (verse 2)?

What are the “leaves of the tree” for (verse 2)?

What will no longer be (verse 3)?

Where will the “throne of God and of the Lamb” be (verse 3)?

What will “his servants” see (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why will there “be no more night” (verse 5)?

Why will they “not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun” (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, how is the promise of Jesus in John 3:16-21 that “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light” given a more rich meaning when John is told by the angel in Revelation 22:1-5 that “they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light”?

In your opinion, how does Revelation 22:1-5 help us to understand better the things that Paul prayed for in Ephesians 1:15-23 that 1:4-8 show that “you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe”?

In your opinion, how is the description of the tree of life in Revelation 22:1-5 a wonderful hope for those who Jesus tells in Revelation 2:1-7 that if they repent and do what they did at first and are “victorious” they will get to “eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God”?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Revelation, Ephesians and John show us about ourselves today?

Next, back to Revelation 2:8 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)