March 6, 2022 – John’s Writings – Responding to a Glorious God

Responding to a Glorious God

Ezra 1:5-11 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶ All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

⁷ Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. ⁸ Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

⁹ This was the inventory:

gold dishes	30
silver dishes	1,000
silver pans	29
10 gold bowls	30
matching silver bowls	410
other articles	1,000

¹¹ In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

How are the “family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites” described (verse 5)?

What did they prepare to do (verse 5)?

Who assisted them (verse 6)?

How did they assist them (verse 6)?

What did King Cyrus bring out (verse 7)?

Who were the articles “counted” out to (verse 8)?

How many articles were there (verse 11)?

What happened to the articles (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

John 1:14-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

What did “the Word” become (verse 14)?

Where did “the Word” make His dwelling (verse 14)?

What have “we” seen (verse 14)?

Who testified “concerning him” (verse 15)?

Why did John say that “He who comes after me has surpassed me” (verse 15)?

Where has the grace “we have all received” come from (verse 16)?

What was given through Moses (verse 17)?

Where did “grace and truth” come from (verse 17)?

Who has seen God (verse 18)?

What has the “one and only Son” made known (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

1 John 1:5-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

What is God (verse 5)?

How much darkness is in God (verse 5)?

When do we lie (verse 6)?

What do we have if we “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does the “blood of Jesus” purify us from sin if we walk in the light (verse 7)?

When do we “deceive ourselves” (verse 8)?

What happens if we “confess our sins” (verse 9)?

How can we “make him out to be a liar” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

Revelation 1:9-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

¹⁹ “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ²⁰ The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

How does John identify himself (verse 9)?

Why was John on the island of Patmos (verse 9)?

Where was John on the Lord’s Day (verse 10)?

What was John to write and send to the seven churches (verse 11)?

Why did John turn around (verse 12)?

Where was the one “like a son of man” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how does the description of the one “like a son of man” make you feel (verses 13, 14 and 15)?

What did He hold (verse 16)?

When did the one “like a son of man” place His right hand on John and say “do not be afraid” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why does the on “like a son of man” say “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” {verse 18)?

What is John to write (verse 19)?

What are the seven stars and the seven lampstands (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

In your opinion, what does the difference between the “house of the Lord in Jerusalem” that the people in Ezra 1:5-11 were going to build and the dwelling that John says “the Word” made among us in John 1:14-18 teach us about where and how we can have a relationship with God?   

In your opinion, what can we learn about following God from the fact that it was those whose hearts “God had moved” who were going to Jerusalem in Ezra 1:5-11 and those that “walk in the light, as he is in the light” who have fellowship with God in 1 John 1:5-10? 

In your opinion, what does the difference between a people gathering wealth to go to Jerusalem to build a house for the Lord in Ezra 1:5-11 to an inspiring and transformed Jesus standing in the midst of the churches with the angels in His hand in Revelation 1:9-20 help us understand about how to worship today?

In your opinion, how is the grace that John says comes, along with truth, through Jesus Christ in John 1:14-18 connected to the confession, forgiveness and purification he talks about in 1 John 1:5-10? 

In your opinion, what does Revelation 1:9-10 help us understand about the “glory of the one and only Son” that John said he had seen in John 1:14-18?

In your opinion, how does it make you feel to think about walking with Jesus in the light, as instructed by 1 John 1:5-10, when Jesus is the person who is described by John in Revelation 1:9-20, white hair, blazing eyes, bronze feet, double-edged sword from mouth and shining face? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how we, who have sin in our lives and who live in a world where there is suffering, should respond to the glory of God today?

In your opinion, how is God moving in your heart today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 27, 2022 – John’s Writings – A Kingdom with Joy

A Kingdom with Joy

Ezra 1:1-4 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

² “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. ⁴ And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

When did the Lord move the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia (verse 1)?

Why did the Lord move the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia (verse 1)?

What did Cyrus, king of Persia, do when the Lord moved his heart (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why did Cyrus say “the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth” (verse 2)?

What did Cyrus say the Lord had appointed him to do (verse 2)?

Who can “go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord” (verse 3)?

How does Cyrus bless those who go to Jerusalem to build the temple (verse 3)?

What are the people around those who are going to build the temple supposed to do (verse 4)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

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

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Who was “in the beginning . . . with God” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why does John stress that Jesus was “with God in the beginning” (verse 2)?

What was made through Him (verse 3)?

What was the life that was in Him (verse 4)?

Where does the light shine (verse 5)?

Why was John sent “as a witness to testify concerning that light” (verses 6 through 8)?

What does the “true light” do (verse 9)?

Who did not recognize the “true light” (verse 10)?

Who did not receive Him (verse 11)?

Who did He give “the right to become children of God” (verses 12 and 13)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

1 John 1:1-4 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.

Where was “that which” from (verse 1)?

What is John doing with “which we have . . . heard . . . seen with our eyes . . . looked at . . . touched” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, who is the “Word of life” (verse 1)?

How did John interact with the “life” that appeared (verse 2)?

Where was the “eternal life” (verse 2)?

Why did John proclaim what he saw and heard (verse 3)?

Who does John want to have fellowship with (verse 3)?

Who does John already have fellowship with (verse 3)?

Why does John write (verse 4)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

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.”

Who is the revelation from (verse 1)?

How was the revelation made known (verse 1)?

What did John testify to (verse 2)?

Why is the “one who reads aloud” and those who “hear it and take to heart what is written in it” blessed (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why does John address the letter to “the seven churches in the province of Asia” (verse 4)?

Who is the blessing of grace and peace from (verses 4 and 5)?

What has Jesus Christ made those He loves and has freed from sins by His blood to be (verses 5 and 6)?

Who will see Him (verse 7)?

Who will “mourn because of him” (verse 7)?

How does God describe Himself in verse 8?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

In your opinion, how is the call of Cyrus in Ezra 1:1-4 for those who want to participate to go to Jerusalem and build a temple similar to the invitation of Jesus in John 1:1-13 for people to receive Him and believe in His name and become “children of God” similar?   

In your opinion, how is the proclamation of Cyrus in Ezra 1:1-4 for people to go to Jerusalem and build a temple vastly different from John’s proclaiming what he has seen and heard in 1 John 1:1-4? 

In your opinion, why does John in his gospel (John 1:1-13) and in his letter (1 John 1:1-4) stress that Jesus was “in the beginning” and “from the beginning”?

In your opinion, how is the kingdom of God in Ezra 1:1-4 a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God portrayed in Revelation 1:1-8 (please consider the circumstances and the outcomes)? 

In your opinion, how is the invitation to the reader of John 1:1-13 and the invitation of the reader of Revelation 1:1-8 similar (please consider who the invitation is from and what the invitation is to)?

In your opinion, how does John’s description of Jesus in Revelation 1:1-8 fulfill his promise in 1 John 1:1-4? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how we who have our boots on the ground today can be freed from our pasts to become children of God in all circumstances?

In your opinion, how can we, who have moved from being just boots on the ground to a “kingdom and priests”, make “our joy complete”?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 20, 2022 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Blessed by Jesus

 Blessed by Jesus

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 - New International Version (NIV)

²² If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, ²³ you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

What kind of offense calls for death (verse 22)?

When must the body not be left on the pole (verse 23)?

What should happen on “that same day” (verse 23)?

Who is under God’s curse (verse 23)?

What must not be desecrated (verse 23)?

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

Mark 15:42-47 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴² It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

What day was it (verse 42)?

What time of the day was it (verse 42)?

Who was Joseph of Arimathea (verse 43)?

What was Joseph of Arimathea waiting for (verse 43)?

How did Joseph approach Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body (verse 43)?

In your opinion, why was Pilate surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead (verse 44)?

How did Pilate verify Jesus death (verse 44)?

When did Pilate give Jesus’ body to Joseph of Arimathea (verse 45)?

What did Joseph of Arimathea do with Jesus’s body (verse 46)?

Who saw where Jesus was laid (verse 47)?

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

In your opinion, what does Deuteronomy 21:22-23 help us understand about why Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate “as evening approached” in Mark 15:42-47?    

Acts 13:26-31 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. ²⁷ The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

Who was “this message of salvation” sent to (verse 26)?

In your opinion, why did “the people of Jerusalem and their rulers” not recognize Jesus (verse 27)?

What was fulfilled by the condemnation of Jesus (verse 27)?

What did they ask to be done to Jesus even “though they found no proper ground” for it (verse 28)?

When did they take Jesus from the cross and lay Him in a tomb (verse 29)?

What did God do (verse 30)?

When was Jesus seen by “those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem” (verse 31)?

What did “those who had traveled with him” become (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, how does Paul indicate in Acts 13:26-31 that the “people of Jerusalem and their rulers” were in violation of the instructions they received from Deuteronomy 21:22-23?

In your opinion, how is the surprise of Jesus quick death in Mark 15:42-47 transformed into hope through Paul’s testimony in Acts 13:26-31?

Galatians 3:10-14 – New International Version (NIV)

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 are those who “rely on the works of the law” under (verse 10)?

How will the righteous live (verse 11)?

What is the law not based on (verse 12)?

How did Christ redeem us “from the curse of the law” (verse 13)?

What is written (verse 13)?

How does “the blessing given to Abraham” come to the Gentiles (verse 14)?

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, how does the inheritance that must not be desecrated in Deuteronomy 12:22-23 compare with the blessing promised in Galatians 3:10-14? 

In your opinion, how can the bold actions of Joseph of Arimathea, who was waiting for the kingdom of God in Mark 15:42-47, be an inspiration for everyone that Galatians 3:10-14 says is “under a curse”?

In your opinion, how are those that Galatians 3:10-14 says are redeemed following the example of Jesus as described by Paul in Acts 13:26-31? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Mark, Acts and Galatians teach us about how the end of Jesus in the tomb was transformed into the beginning of Jesus and His people and now allows we who have been desecrated and cursed to move boldly into redemption and faith?

In your opinion, what does it mean to us to change from a people looking for an inheritance to a people blessed by Jesus and receiving the “promise of the Spirit”?