December 18, 2016 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Sabbath-Rest or Torment

Sabbath-Rest or Torment

Genesis 2:1-3 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

What was “completed in all their vast array” (verse 1)?

When had God “finished the work he had been doing” (verse 2)?

What did God do when He “finished the work he had been doing” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say that God made the seventh day holy (verse 3)?

Why did God bless the seventh day and make it holy (verse 3)?

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

John 7:14-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰ “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

Where did Jesus go “halfway through the festival” (verse 14)?

What did He do there (verse 14)?

Who was amazed (verse 15)?

In your opinion, who did Jesus’ teaching come from (verse 16)?

What will everyone who does the will of God find out (verse 17)?

What does someone who speaks on their own seek (verse 18)?

Who is “a man of truth” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “not one of you keeps the law” (verse 19)?

Who says that Jesus is demon-possessed (verse 20)?

How did Jesus amaze the crowd (verse 21)?

Who gave them circumcision (verse 22)?

What do they do on the Sabbath (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus use the circumcision on the Sabbath to justify healing on the Sabbath (verse 23)?

How does Jesus say judging should not be done (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, what does Jesus defense of healing on the Sabbath in John 7:14-24 help us to understand about what God intended when He made the Sabbath holy in Genesis 2:1-3?

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

¹ Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. ³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

In your opinion, what is the “promise of entering his rest” (verse 1)?

Why was the message “of no value to them” (verse 2)?

Who will enter the rest (verse 3)?

When were God’s works finished (verse 3)?

What did God do on the seventh day (verse 4)?

Where will some enter (verse 6)?

Who did God speak through “a long time later” (verse 7)?

What were people not to do “today, if you hear his voice” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says that God spoke “later about another day” (verse 8)?

Who is the Sabbath-rest for (verse 9)?

Who rests “from their works” (verse 10)?

What should we make every effort to do (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does the fact that Jesus said He healed on the Sabbath in John 7:14-24 help us to understand about the Sabbath-rest that Paul is talking about in Hebrews 4:1-11?

In your opinion, what does the fact that Genesis 2:1-3 shows God resting from His work and then blessing the Sabbath help us to understand about the Sabbath rest that Paul in Hebrews 4:1-11 says is for the people of God?

Revelation 14:6-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. ⁷ He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

⁸ A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

⁹ A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, ¹⁰ they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” ¹² This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Who did the angel “flying in midair” have the eternal gospel to proclaim to (verse 6)?

How should people respond to the “hour of his judgment” (verse 7)?

What does the second angel proclaim (verse 8)?

Who is the third angel talking about (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “drink the wine of God’s fury” (verse 10)?

For whom will there be “no rest day or night” (verse 11)?

Who is called to have “patient endurance” (verse 12)?

Who says “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (verse 13)?

What is the blessing that those “who die in the Lord from now on” will receive (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, how does John in Revelation 14:6-13 continue the discussion of the ones who don’t or do share the faith in Christ that Paul began in Hebrews 4:1-11?

In your opinion, how does John’s discussion of who receives torment and who receives rest in Revelation 14:6-13 help us to understand what Jesus meant in John 7:14-24 when He said to “stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly”?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the gospel the angel proclaimed to “every nation, tribe, language and people” in Revelation 14:6-13 was to worship God who “made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water” that Genesis 2:1-13 shows God blessing the seventh day because He was resting from creating?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Hebrews and Revelation help us understand about the holy rest that God has blessed?

In your opinion, how do these passages encourage us to choose rest in God and be patient in the torment of the world?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 11, 2016 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Deceit and Triumph

Deceit and Triumph

Genesis 3:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

How was the serpent different from any of the wild animals (verse 1)?

What did the serpent say to the woman (verse 1)?

How did the woman answer (verses 2 and 3)?

How does the serpent respond (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the serpent say “and you will be like God” (verse 5)?

What justification did the woman use to justify eating the fruit (verse 6)?

Where was her husband (verse 6)?

Why did they sew fig leaves together (verse 7)?

What did the man and his wife do when they heard the sound of God walking in the garden (verse 8)?

Why did the man say he hid (verse 10)?

What did the man say when God ask him if he ate fruit from the tree they were commanded not to eat from (verses 11 and 12)?

Who did the woman blame for her actions (verse 13)?

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

John 8:42-47 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Why did Jesus say that they would love Him (verse 42)?

Who sent Jesus (verse 42)?

In your opinion, what did Jesus mean when He said “you are unable to hear what I say” (verse 43)?

Who does Jesus say they belong to (verse 44)?

What does Jesus say the devil was from the beginning (verse 44)?

Why are lies the devil’s native language (verse 44)?

Why do they not believe Jesus (verse 45)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus ask them if they can prove him guilty of sin (verse 46)?

Who hears what God say (verse 47)?

Why don’t they hear what Jesus says (verse 47)?

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

In your opinion, what happened in Genesis 3:1-13 that would allow Jesus in John 8:42-47 to call the devil “a murderer from the beginning”?

2 Corinthians 11:1-15 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! ² I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. ³ But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

⁵ I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” ⁶ I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. ⁷ Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. ⁹ And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. ¹⁰ As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. ¹¹ Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

¹² And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. ¹³ For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

How does Paul hope the Corinthians will relate to him (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he tells the Corinthian Christians that he “promised you to one husband, to Christ” (verse 2)?

What did the “serpent’s cunning” do to Eve (verse 3)?

What was Paul’s fear that the “serpent’s cunning” would do to the Corinthian Christians (verse 3)?

What do the Corinthian Christians put up with easily enough (verse 4)?

Who does Paul not think he is inferior to (verse 5)?

What is Paul untrained as (verse 6)?

How did Paul preach the gospel to them (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says he “robbed other churches” (verse 8)?

Who supplied what Paul needed (verse 9)?

What does God know (verse 11)?

How will Paul “cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us” (verse 12)?

What are such people (verse 13)?

How does Satan masquerade (verse 14)?

What will Satan’s servants end be (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does Paul reveal to us in 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 about what the one Jesus calls the “father of lies” in John 8:42-47 wants to use his lies to accomplish?

In your opinion, how does the way that Satan approached Eve in Genesis 3:1-13 help to understand about the methods he might use to lead Christian’s minds from a “sincere and pure devotion to Christ” as Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11:1-15?

Revelation 12:7-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
    who accuses them before our God day and night,
    has been hurled down.
¹¹ They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens
    and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.”

Who was involved in the war that broke out in heaven (verse 7)?

Who was not strong enough and lost their place in heaven (verse 8)?

Who “leads the whole world astray” (verse 9)?

What has come (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the significance saying that Satan is “the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night” (verse 10)?

How did Christian brothers and sisters triumph over Satan (verse 11)?

Who is to rejoice (verse 12)?

Why is there woe to the earth and the sea (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 about how Satan might try to lead “the whole world astray” according to Revelation 12:7-12?

In your opinion, what does Revelation 12:7-12 reveal to us about the way that we can triumph over Satan and, as Jesus expresses it in John 8:42-47, belong to God?

In your opinion, how does the way that the serpent deceived Eve in Genesis 3:1-13 helps us to understand about how, as prophesied in Revelation 12:7-12, he will bring woe to the earth and sea in his fury?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, 2 Corinthians and Revelation help us understand about Satan and his methods and how to overcome?

In your opinion, how do these passages enable us to be prepared for those who masquerade as servants of righteousness?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 27, 2016 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – God’s Providence

God’s Providence

Genesis 22:1-14 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

What did God do “some time later” (verse 1)?

Where was Abraham to take his only son and offer him as a burnt offering (verse 2)?

When did Abraham set out for the place “God told him about” (verse 3)?

What did Abraham do when he saw the place in the distance (verses 4 & 5)?

In your opinion, why did Abraham place the wood for the burnt offering on his son Isaac (verse 6)?

What question did Isaac ask his father (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what did Abraham mean when he said “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (verse 8)?

What did Abraham do when they got to the site (verse 9)?

How close did he get to slaying Isaac (verse 10)?

Who called out to stop Abraham (verse 11)?

What did Abraham’s actions prove (verse 12)?

How was the ram caught (verse 13)?

What did Abraham call the place (verse 14)?

What is said “to this day” (verse 14)?

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

John 1:29-34 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

Who did John call the “Lamb of God” (verse 29)?

What did John say the “Lamb of God” takes away (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what did John mean when he said “a man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me” (verse 30)?

Why was John baptizing with water (verse 31)?

What did John testify (verse 32)?

How did John know that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (verse 33)?

Who does John testify that Jesus is (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, how is Jesus, as testified to in John 1:29-34, similar to the ram who was caught by the horns in Genesis 22:1-14?

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. ² And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? ³ For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. ⁴ So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

What kind of sexual immorality was reported to be among the Corinthians (verse 1)?

How did the Corinthians respond to this immorality (verse 2)?

How does Paul think they should have responded (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say he is with them “in spirit” (verse 3)?

What has Paul done “in the name of our Lord Jesus” (verse 3)?

When are they to “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord” (verses 4 & 5)?

What is not good (verse 6)?

Why does Paul want them to “get rid of the old yeast” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does the sacrifice of “Christ, our Passover lamb” make it possible for the Corinthians to “get rid of the old yeast” (verse 7)?

How did Paul invite them to keep the Festival (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, what does Paul’s discussion of “Christ, our Passover lamb” in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 help us to understand about how John the Baptist could say that Jesus “takes away the sins of the world” in John 1:29-34?

In your opinion, how is Abraham’s statement that “God himself will provide the lamb” in Genesis 22:1-14 proven to be true for the whole world by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8?

Revelation 5:6-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign on the earth.”

Who did John see “looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne” (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the Lamb has seven horns (verse 6)?

Who are the seven eyes (verse 6)?

What did the Lamb do (verse 7)?

Who had the harps and the “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (verse 8)?

Why is the Lamb “worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals” (verse 9)?

Who has the Lamb made into “a kingdom and priests to serve our God” (verses 9 & 10)?

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

In your opinion, what does John in Revelation 5:6-10 help us to understand about the Passover Lamb that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 has been sacrificed?

In your opinion, why is it significant that John sees the Spirit “come down and remain” with Jesus in John 1:29-34 and in Revelation 5:6-10 he sees that the Lamb has “seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth”?

In your opinion, what can we learn about the Lamb and “him who sat on the throne” in Revelation 5:6-10 from the willingness of Abraham to offer Isaac but God providing the ram in Genesis 22:1-14?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, 1 Corinthians and Revelation help us understand the Father’s tremendous gift of His Son, how to respond to that gift and what to look forward to?

In your opinion, what should these passages inspire in us today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)