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Marine Biology Seashore Session 2018

Friday – Is There a God?

Saturday – Can God’s WORD be Trusted?

Sunday – Did the Resurrection Really Happen?

Monday – Who is Jesus Really?

Tuesday – Am I Really Saved?

Wednesday – How Does a Person Live for Christ in this Fallen World?

Friday Is There a God? How did everything get here? Where did life come from? Is Darwinian evolution true? Are all living things descended from one cell? Do organisms mutate into totally new organisms?

These are questions most people think about sometime during their lives. The public-school system and public universities promote that they know for sure the answers to these questions. But do they really know the answers or are they “pushing” ______, (a religion)? 1. Atheist Charles Darwin writes The Origin of the Species Through Natural Selection in 1859. Proposes all life evolved from a ______organism, because cells were thought to be just bags of chemicals.

2. Atheist Aleksandr Oparin proposes in 1924 that life on Earth developed through a gradual chemical evolution of carbon-based molecules in the Earth's ______soup. He writes The Origin of Life in 1938.

3. Atheist John Burdon Sanderson Haldane proposes in 1929 that the first cells would have formed by ______synthesis in the oceans – “primordial soup.”

4. Atheists Harold Urey and Stanley Miller assemble a model testing Oparin & Haldane’s theory at the University of Chicago in 1953.

5. Sidney Walter Fox, a Jew, duplicates Miller & Urey’s experiments and adjusts ingredients to produce 12 essential amino acids. *But later in life, admits that this could not be the way life formed on the planet, for no ______or ______could be formed by this system. *A result of a personal conversation during dinner at SIU-C in 1990. He also admitted that He thought God made life in some way that is unknown to science.

Scientific problems with this religion. 1. ______(Abiogenesis) has been scientifically proven to be false! Louis Pasteur, a Christian, proved in the 1880’s that Darwin’s idea that life could have just erupted from ______chemicals was not true. Nearly all Biology textbooks today state that the theory of Spontaneous Generation or Abiogenesis is ______.

In nearly all Biology textbooks, the authors state that it did happen ______– the origin of life on this planet.

Darwin’s “religion” consists of two gods: 1. The god of ______

The god of Time in this religion states, “If enough time is given, ______can happen!” That is why supporters of this religion insist that the earth is billions of years old. How do you test this? 4

The only test available is ______dating, invented by the Curies. Using the radioactive decay rates of known radioisotopes, the Curies stated that it may be possible to obtain an idea of the date of a specimen or rock. But to be accurate, ______must be used, as in any scientific inquiry, to make sure that the dates would be accurate. Controls are used to establish a baseline to compare the results of the testing. Having a control group rules out any environmental variables from affecting the conclusion of the experiment. Today, we know that ______factors do alter the radioactive decay rates of specimens.

Rock from cooled lava flows Rocks from the cooled lava known to have occurred dome of Mount St. Helens between 1949 and 1975 were (which at the time were about sent to several standard labs to 10 years old) were sent to a be dated - without telling the reputable lab to be dated - labs where the rocks had come without telling the lab where from or that the actual age of the rocks had come from. The the rocks was already known. lab (using K-Ar) dating The labs (using K-Ar) dating returned results ranging returned results ranging from from <0.27 million years old to 3.5 ± 0.34 ± 0.06 million years old to .2 million years old! 2.8 ± 0.6 million years old! Dr. Andrew Snelling, Creation Keith Swensen, Creation, ex nihilo, December 1999 - June - August 2001, Vol. 23 February 2000, Vol. 22 No. 1, No. 3, p.23-25 p.18-21

Shells from living snails were carbon dated as being 27,000 “One part of the Vollosovitch years old. (Science Vol. 224, mammoth carbon dated at 1984 p. 58-61) 29,500 years old and another part at 44,000 yrs old.” (Troy L. Pewe, Quaternary A freshly killed seal was Stratigraphic Nomenclature carbon dated as having died in Unglaciated Central

1300 years ago! Alaska, Geological Survey (Antarctic Journal vol. 6 Professional Paper 862) Sept-Oct. 1971 p. 211)

2. The god of ______. Darwinian Evolution is defined as random chance mutations adding new genetic information to the genome that benefits the organism. “Genes, the carriers of inheritable characteristics, are also the source of the random variation upon which natural selection operates…Once in a while a mutation may be beneficial to an organism.” Biology, Miller & Levine, Prentice Hall.

There are ______! Yet, that is what is relied upon to produce all of the organisms on this planet, living and extinct. The first cell formed, and a random mutation occurred ______new DNA and genes to the genome. This resulted in the organisms ______into various classes, phyla, kingdoms, etc. Darwin believed that scientists would find billions of fossils connecting all of these organisms through these transitions. This is called Darwin’s ______.

But after ______years of searching for these billions of transition fossils, hardly any have been discovered, and what has been found does not support the theory. “The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils.” Stephen J. Gould. Evolution’s Erratic Pace. “Natural History, vol. 86, no.5, May 1977, page 14. “We are now about 120 years after Darwin and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species but the situation hasn’t change much. The record of evolution is still surprisingly jerky and, ironically, we have even fewer examples of evolutionary transition than we had in Darwin’s time.” David Raup. Director of the Field Museum of Natural History as quoted in David Nobel’s Understanding the Times. Atheist George Wald, wrote, “Spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible. Yet here we are, as a result. I believe in spontaneous generation.” The Origin of Life. What is the alternative? Intelligent Design or a ______. But they do not want to go there, even though the ______points directly in that direction! DNA is a ______. It is found in all living things. Sidney Fox said that it could not be formed in a primordial soup. Yet, it is the basis for life. How is DNA evidence of a Creator? It is a language. Languages always must form from ______. An intelligence must design it and an intelligence must be able to ______it. Atheist Francis Crick wrote, “An honest man, armed with all of the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.” Life Itself: It’s Origin and Nature. Christian Louis Pasteur stated, “Darwin did not base his ideas on experimental proof. Charles Darwin’s writing’s owed too much to imagination and too little to hard scientific facts.”

If there is a design, there is a designer. If there is a plan, there is a planner. If there is a creation, there is a Creator. Psalm 19:1-3 (ESV) The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Job 12:7-10 (ESV) "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

Discussion Questions: 1. What impacted you the most from this lesson and why? 2. Look at nature. Does it look like it came about by random chances, or do you see a design? Should this influence your opinion? 3. Why do you think Dr. Sidney Fox’s or Louis Pasteur’s comments on the origin of life are not included in science textbooks or T.V. shows? 4. Miller and Urey found a few essential amino acids in their “soup.” But they also manufactured formaldehyde, cyanide, and other poisonous materials. Why are these facts left out of the science textbooks?

Saturday Can God’s Word be Trusted? Is it inaccurate and foolhardy to place our trust and faith in the Word of God? How accurate is our Bible? Has the Word of God changed?

Let’s examine quickly, what evidence states that the Word of God is the same and does not change.

First of all, let’s examine our bestselling Bibles today. According to Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) in April of 2017, the five bestselling versions of the Bible are: 1. New International Version (NIV) 2. New Living Translation (NLT) 3. King James Version (KJV) 4. New King James Version (NKJV) 5. English Standard Version (ESV)

A question I used to often hear asked is, “If the Bible is the Word of God, how come there are so many versions of if?”

The answer has to do with how these translations were made and what their purpose was.

The NIV and the NLT are both written in a style called a ______-____- ______style. Instead of the translators taking each word of the ancient texts and looking for a modern equivalent, they looked at sections of text and tried to think of what God was trying to say. Because of this, it is true that there is some paraphrasing in these texts. Also, the reading levels are different.

In the KJV, NKJV, ESV, and the New American Standard Version (NASB), the translators used all available ancient texts and then took each word in Hebrew, Chaldean, or Greek and used the most accurate modern word in its place. This style of translating is called a ______-____-______rendition.

But are these word-for-word translations accurate?

There exists more ancient manuscripts for the Word of God than for any other work in ancient literature! The science of archaeology has discovered thousands of parchments of books from the New Testament. The oldest parchment found to date of the New Testament is called the ______.

It is a fragment of the Gospel of ______and is written on both sides. Thus, it is a codex or book and not a scroll. It records on one side John 18:31-33 and on the other side are verses 37-38.

Most scholars date this fragment to around ______A.D. (John could have still been alive when this was copied.)

What is amazing is how well this fits with the NASB! This and other fragments continue to provide evidence that the word-for-word translations that we have today are ______.

The greatest support that the word of God has not changed are the ______Scrolls.

“The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest manuscript find of all time. Discovered between 1947 and 1956, the Dead Sea Scrolls comprise some 800 documents but in many tens of thousands of fragments. The Scrolls date from around 250 B.C. to 68 A.D. and were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; they contain Biblical and apocryphal works, prayers and legal texts and sectarian documents. BAS.”

If one examines the Old Testament books from this collection, one will discover that they are the same texts we have today in a ______-____-______translation such as the NASB. The only changes are in the spelling of certain places and certain names. The ______is exactly the same!

Some have studied the accuracy of these works and have concluded that there is less than a ____% variance in these when compared to the NASB.

In 1970, at En-Gedi, near the Dead Sea, archaeologists discovered an old synagogue that still contained some ancient Old Testament scrolls. These scrolls were slightly burned and in bad condition, but with modern technology, they have been restored. Scientists discovered that these are a copy of the Torah.

The En-Gedi Scrolls coincide perfectly with our Bible today and the ancient Masoretic Texts from which our Bibles were made. Dating to around _____ A.D., they are the oldest copies of the Torah outside of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

What’s incredible about these chapters, according to archaeologist Emanuel Tov, is that they are virtually identical to the medieval Masoretic Text, written hundreds of years later. The En-Gedi scroll even duplicates the exact

paragraph breaks seen later in the medieval Hebrew. The only difference between the two is that ancient Hebrew had no vowels, so these were added in the Middle Ages. http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=5423

Have you ever heard of the ______Scrolls? They are two small scrolls found in 1979 by a teen working for Dr. Gabriel Barkay in Jerusalem. This teen was cleaning an ancient Jewish tomb and discovered these two small scrolls. They and the tomb date back to around ______B.C.

THAT IS 2,600 YEARS AGO!

That would be around the time of the prophet ______.

These two scrolls contain the written words of the Priestly Blessing found in the Torah which reads:

“The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.”

Since the wording on these scrolls is exactly what we have today in our word-for- word texts, we can trust that God’s Word today is the same and has survived ______throughout time.

This should not surprise the true Christian who holds that the Word of God is inspired, unchanging, and given to us from God Himself through several authors whom the Spirit of God inspired.

Look at what God told us in His Word concerning His Word:

Isaiah 40:8 (ESV) The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

1 Peter 1:24-25 (ESV) The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

Matt 24:35 (ESV) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Discussion Questions: 1. What impacted you the most from this lesson tonight? Why do you say so? 2. If the Word of God has not been altered as some critics say, what does that mean about everything found in it? 3. If God Himself promises that His Word does not change, why do people teach and believe that it has been changed? 4. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain all the books of the Bible except Esther. They also show that these books all were written hundreds of years before Jesus walked the Earth. What does this fact tell you about the prophecies concerning the Messiah found in the Old Testament? Easter Sunday 13

Did the Resurrection Really Happen? Many people deny that Jesus ever rose from the dead. They don’t deny that he did live during the time of the Roman Empire during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, because the historical Jesus is so well documented by both Christian and non- Christian writers. So there is no dispute there. The dispute begins with his death and includes his resurrection.

If Jesus did not die and rise again as the Bible records, Christianity is dead. For these two items are what the whole of Christianity is based. If Jesus did not die for the sins of mankind, nor if he rose again, there is no reason at all to believe him to be the Son of God and Savior of fallen man. Christians are the most deceived people whom have ever existed.

BUT…

If Jesus did die as the writers of the Gospels declared and if he rose to life again, then he is who he said he is and Christianity is true. That being the case, we are left with one major decision…What are we going to do about it?

Today, we shall examine evidence to see if Jesus did die at the hands of the Romans by crucifixion and did actually rise again.

Kings and rulers have tried for 2000 years to destroy Christianity and have failed. The one basic fact that Christianity is built upon is this, Did Jesus actually rise from the dead? If anyone can prove that Jesus did not, then they can destroy Christianity, because that is the foundation of this relationship.

Note I say relationship and not religion. Christianity is not a religion. Unlike like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age, etc., which are religions, Christianity is a personal relationship with the living God. It is not marked by rituals, sacrifices, or giving alms like other religions.

We will examine different theories and debate them by the use of actual evidence.

Independent [Non-Christian] Citations of Jesus’ Death by Crucifixion.

Tacitus The Annals 15.44 [115 A.D.] [Nero, on the Christians] “Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.”

Mara Bar-Serapion The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. [Speaking about Christians and what the Jews did to Jesus] “The murder of their Wise King…”

Lucian of Samosata The Death of Peregrine [approx. 150 A.D.] “The Christian, you know, worship a man to this day – the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account.”

The Talmud The Sanhedrin 43a [approx. 190 A.D.] “On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged.” [Being hung on a tree was an ancient way of referring to crucifixion.]

Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews Book 18, Chapter 3.3 [1st Cen. A.D.] “Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

Phelgon 100 A.D. Quoted by Origen in "Against Celsus", Book 2, chapter 33. "And with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place…”

John Dominic Crossan Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, pg 145 [1991] “That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”

The Claims to Have Seen the Risen Jesus

Direct Witnesses

Peter John James Andrew Philip Thomas Bartholomew Matthew James the son of Alphaeus Simon the Zealot Judas the son of James. Paul Cleopas Mary Magdalene Joanna Salome Mary the mother of James Mary the mother of Jesus James, the brother of Jesus Simon, the brother of Jesus Judah, the brother of Jesus [Jude] Joses, the brother of Jesus Joseph called Barsabbas [Justus] Matthias And over 500 others attested to this statement. (I Cor. 15:6)

The Claims to Have Seen the Risen Jesus

Indirect Biblical Witnesses

Silas Indirect Post-Biblical Barnabas Ignatius Luke Polycarp Timothy Justin Titus Irenaeus

Cornelius Tertullian Dionysius Origen

Epaphras Cyprian Epaphroditus

Epenetus Erastus Eubulus Eunice Euodias Eutychus Gaius The Jailer of Philippi Jason Julia Junia Justus Linus Lucas

The Disciples Stole the Body and Lied About it

Problems with this theory:

1. The disciples were tortured to renounce their claim, but they died willingly and refused to renounce that they had seen the risen Lord.

2. This theory does NOT support the dramatic change in Paul’s (Saul’s) conversion.

3. This theory does NOT support the dramatic change in James, the brother of Jesus who was such a skeptic before the resurrection.

Someone Else Stole the Body

Problems with this theory: 1. The disciples were tortured to renounce their claim, but they died willingly and refused to renounce that they had seen the risen Lord.

2. This theory does NOT support the dramatic change in Paul’s (Saul’s) conversion.

3. This theory does NOT support the dramatic change in James, the brother of Jesus who was such a skeptic before the resurrection.

4. This does nothing to explain the hundreds of eyewitness accounts that claimed to have seen Jesus alive.

The Disciples Went to the Wrong Tomb

A few skeptical archaeologists are putting forth this theory. They state that the Romans buried Jesus, not his followers. These Romans would be so busy burying people that they were crucifying that they would have easily forgotten which tomb that they specifically placed Jesus’ body in.

Problems with this theory:

1. History does not record a vast number of crucifixions occurring at the time of this Passover.

2. Pilate gave specific orders that the tomb of Jesus was to be officially sealed. To disregard this order and place a seal on any other tomb would be punishable by death.

3. Even the Jewish leaders, who were behind Jesus’ death, did not claim this!

4. The disciples were convinced not by the empty tomb but by the appearance of Jesus.

5. Paul was converted, not by the empty tomb, but by the appearance of Jesus.

6. James was converted, not by the empty tomb, but by the appearance of Jesus.

7. There are no ancient sources that state or claim that the disciples went to the wrong tomb.

8. Joseph would know where his tomb was located.

Jesus Did Not Die, He Only Appeared to be Dead

Problems with this theory:

1. Does not explain Paul’s conversion. The supernatural experience changed his life.

2. The Roman centurion in charge of the crucifixion knew death. It was his career. He attested to Pilate that Jesus was indeed very dead.

3. The stabbing of Jesus to test for death by the soldier was to the heart, because it produced a flow of blood and water. The water would have been the pericardial fluid surrounding the heart. This fits anatomically.

4. Many doctors and medical examiners have tested the crucifixion story as written in the Gospels and have published many papers on the Physical Death of Jesus. They conclude that He did indeed die. (Some reports): a. JAMA. March 21, 1986-Vol. 255, No.11. b. Journal of Miss. St. Med. Assoc. Vol. 30, 1989. c. Med. Sci. Law. 10:14-26, 1970. d. Arizona Med. 22:183-187, 1965. e. American Heart Assoc. 66(3):434-435, 1963. f. Bol. Assoc. Med. Puerto Rico 70 (3). 97-102, 1978. g. J. Med. Assoc. Alabama. 47: 8-10, 1978. h. American Heart Journal. 68(2): 286-287, 1964.

The Strauss Report published in 1879 points out that even if Jesus did not die, he was in no medical condition to walk around and visit people. In fact, he would not be able to walk at all.

Jesus Did Not Die, He Was Drugged

The problems with this theory:

1. The Romans carrying out the execution were present the entire time, allowing no chance of doctors drugging Jesus.

2. The Romans were experts in death. It would be hard to fool them in this matter.

3. This does NOT explain the stab test the soldier did.

4. Does not explain the Strauss Report of 1879. Jesus would not be able to walk around and visit after the experience.

In Grief, His Followers Were Hallucinating

The problems with this theory:

1. Hallucinations are not contagious.

2. Hallucinating does not explain the empty tomb.

3. It does not explain why Paul (Saul) would have converted, because he was not grieving.

4. James, not a follower but a despiser, would not have been in grief, thus this does not explain his conversion.

5. Over a period of 50 days, many people both singularly and in large groups testified that they saw the risen Lord, ate with Him, and touched Him.

The Gospels Accounts Vary and are Not Reliable

The problems with this theory:

1. 4 people can look at the same painting and come away with 4 different but true images.

2. Harmony is not how the Gospels are written. They are written as portraits – thus sequence is not important. Contradictions do NOT exist as each author uses distinct events to paint their points.

3. The Gospels were written with 4 different purposes: a. Matthew – 1. Written to the Jews that the Messiah had come 2. Gives a portrait of King Jesus, starting with the genealogy of the kings of Israel b. Mark – 1. Written to gentile readers because he explains Jewish customs and translates Aramaic words 2. Gives a portrait of a Servant Messiah, emphasizing more of what Jesus did than said c. Luke – 1. Written to Gentile readers 2. Gives a portrait of a Human Messiah. Who better to write the human side of Jesus than a doctor? 3. No kings are mentioned in the genealogy to show the human side of Jesus d. John – 1. Gives a portrait of the Deity of Jesus as God 2. Written to combat false doctrines concerning Jesus as both man and God 3. No birth story for God is eternal

What if There Was No Resurrection?

Paul covers this question in I Corinthians 15:13-19

1 Cor. 15:13-19 (ESV) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. [15] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul states 6 things that would result if Jesus was not raised from the dead. 1. Our message is in vain. 2. Our faith is in vain. 3. All Christians through the ages are liars. 4. All people are still bound and imprisoned in sin. 5. All dead Christians have perished forever. 6. Compared to other religions, Christians should be pitied as fools.

In short, if there is no resurrection, we live and die prisoners to sin. But Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. And this fact assures us of our own personal salvation. And from this fact, we who believe that He did rise again have been washed free from hatred, revenge, lust, resentment, and selfishness. Because of this fact, those who are born again can say: 1 Cor. 15:55 (ESV) "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

We now live forever with a new body, like His, for all eternity with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN! 23

Monday Who is Jesus? Probably the most powerful and concise description of who Jesus is comes to us from an anonymous Jewish writer from the 1st Century A.D. He wrote The Letter to the Hebrews. In the first three sentences of that book, we find an amazing description of who Jesus is. Let’s examine it. Hebrews 1:1-4 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. [3] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, [4] having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

1. The ______of God. Hebrews 1:2 (ESV) In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things.

That the Messiah would be the ______of God comes from a prophecy spoken by King David. Psalms 2:7 (ESV) I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8

ben” and it is the common word for a“ בֵּן The Hebrew word used here is the word person’s ______biological descendent. The Jews were taught that the Messiah would come from God the Father and be ______from Him. The writer of Hebrews uses the word υἱός huios, which is the masculine and means one “produced by a father biologically.” But God the Father is ______,

(John 4:24), and has no ______as the Son does. God could not have had a ______in the human means.

So how did God get a Son?

He is of the same ______as the Father. The same ______. And being he came from this essence, He was viewed by Jews as being the Son of God. (This is like a dad, producing a child in which the essence of DNA of the child came directly from Him.) But in this case, there was ____ other partner.

Jesus is also ______. Jesus makes this very clear in many of His teachings.

John 8:56-58 (ESV) Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad." [57] So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" [58] Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

Jesus is the eternal God. Notice how he responded to the Jewish leaders. Jesus identified himself as ______. This is the copulative verb To Be. This is the word from which we get the name of God YHWH, later translated Jehovah. Jesus is proclaiming very strongly that He is the ______of the Old Testament. Do you doubt that? If so, look at the next verse to see how the Jewish leaders responded: John 8:59 (ESV) So they picked up stones to throw at him…

Jesus is the eternal ______. He is YHWH, Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai, Adonai, etc. And the Jews knew that the Messiah would be the Son of God.

He was in existence before the ______and will continue into eternity. There will be more on this later. What does the title Son of God actually mean? John 1:14 (ESV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 3:16 (ESV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The term “Only Son” is the single word in Greek μονογενής monogenēs. The trouble with this word ______is that it does not have a single equivalent corresponding word in English. Monos is a word that means sole, alone, unique, ______. The word genes is from the Greek word ginomai, which is hard to explain in English, but is a verb meaning being, a kind of, a class of, of the ______. This means that Jesus is the sole or only type of ______. It doesn’t imply that Jesus is inferior to God, but that He is actually the ______as God. Since God is deity, then Jesus is just as complete as deity. He is the same. One Greek expert put it this way, “Jesus is made of the same ______as God.” They are exactly the same!

2. Jesus is the ______of All Things.

Hebrews 1:2 (ESV) Whom he appointed the heir of all things

Look back at Psalm 2:

Psalm 2:8 (ESV) Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

The writer is telling us ______that exists will ultimately come under the control of Jesus. We see that the Messiah will indeed become the heir from both Old Testament and New Testament writings. Psalm 2:8 (ESV) Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Romans 11:36 (ESV) For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Colossians 1:15 (ESV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Wait a moment! What is this about Jesus the “firstborn of all creation?” Didn’t we just determine that Jesus was not born and that he exists for all eternity? This seems to say that Jesus was created. In fact, some cults and false religions often use this verse and this phrase to insist that Jesus was created and is not totally God. How do we answer this? The solution is simple! Again, go back to the original language and see what word is being used for firstborn. It is the word πρωτότοκος prōtotokos and not protogenesis.

Protogenesis is the word meaning to give physical birth.

But that is not the word used here. Instead, we have the suffix term tokos, which comes from the Greek word tikto, which deals with the ______of the firstborn.

In both Jewish and Greek cultures, the firstborn was the ranking son who received the right of ______from his father. It was not necessarily the first one born, but the one who received the highest ______.

In Colossians 1:15, Christ is given the highest rank over all creation. It is not meaning that he was the first one born in creation. Instead, He is the one who gets the inheritance. Thus Jesus is the firstborn in the sense that He will ______all creation. 3. He ______the World. Heb 1:2 (ESV) he created the world

John 1:3 (ESV) All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:10 (ESV) He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Colossians 1:16 (ESV) For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Simply put, Jesus is the ______God.

4. The Radiance of the ______of God.

Heb 1:3 (ESV) He is the radiance of the glory of God

God radiates glory.

Exodus 34:29 (ESV) When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

Exodus 40:38 (KJV) For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Ezekiel 10:3-4 (ESV) Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the [Temple] house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. [4] And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.

This light and radiance is God’s ______and is called Shekinah glory. It literally means the visible and radiant sign of God’s presence. Jesus possessed it 28 too when he was transfigured in front of Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:2-9; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:29-36).

5. An Exact ______of His Nature.

Heb 1:3 (ESV) and the exact imprint of his nature,

Exact Imprint is the translation of the Greek word χαρακτήρ charakter. One can easily see our modern word ______comes from this Greek word. It means an engraving or an exact ______or copy of an image.

Simply put, it means that Jesus is the exact copy of the original image. He is the perfect imprint and the exact nature and ______of God.

John 14:6-11 (ESV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." [8] Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." [9] Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? [10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. [11] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Jesus said it plainly, He was the ______God.

6. He Upholds the Universe by the ______of His Word.

Heb 1:3 (ESV) he upholds the universe by the word of his power

Jesus ______the universe and all that is in it. It is all under His control. This is one of the most powerful ascriptions or acknowledgments to the divinity of Jesus as God.

It is fascinating and puzzling to scientists as to what power or energy holds matter together. In Colossians, Paul tells us who is the sustainer of all things. 29

Colossians 1:17 (ESV) And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

7. He Makes Purification for ______.

Heb 1:3 (ESV) making purification for sins

Blood was necessary for the forgiveness of sins.

Lev 17:11 (ESV) For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

Heb 9:22 (ESV) Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Christ is now our new High Priest and is the Lamb of God. He has offered His ______, which takes away the sins of the world.

Heb 9:13-14 (ESV) For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1 John 1:9 (ESV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

8. He is at the ______of the Majesty. He is actually sitting on the throne. Review Questions: 1. What impacted you the most from this lesson tonight? Why? 2. Read Colossians 1:15-20. Name any parallels you see in this text with what we covered tonight.

Tuesday Am I Really Saved?

John 3:16 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Luther called this verse the Bible in miniature. First, it begins with God so loved. Do we really comprehend and understand what this means? How many people think that God hates them? How many people think that God will only begin to love them if they become a Christian? Do you know that there is nothing you can do to make God love you more? The word “love” here is the Greek word ἀγαπάω agapaō which is love that is ______, despite disappointment and rejection. So God loves us even though we are undeserving. Next, notice who God loves – the ______. God gave his only Son. How many sons? Only _____! The word here for only one is the word μονογενής monogenēs, meaning one being. Jesus already existed, because He is God, but He became flesh and tabernacled with us. Many religions make Jesus into a man striving to become God, but John is so dedicated to point out to us Jesus ____ the only Son of God. John 20:31 (ESV) But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In the Greek language, the article “the” is before the title Son of God, indicating the ______Son of God! Now we come to a very important part of this verse and one that most people take incorrectly. John writes, that whoever believes in him. Here is the word believes. It is the word πιστεύω pisteuō. This is not a word defining “______-knowledge,” but “______in” and “______to.” Even James points out that just knowledge of God and Jesus is not enough. James 2:19 (ESV) You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

In fact, James 2:14-26 is a contrast between the two types of faith and belief in Jesus. 1. One is just ______of Jesus, knowing that He is God who died for all sinners and lives again. And as James so bluntly puts it, that type of faith and belief is dead and does not lead to salvation.

2. On the other hand, a committed ______and faith in Jesus as your Lord is what is required. And James goes on to point out that this type of belief results in the Spirit living inside of us and regenerating us into a new creation. Paul teaches the same method of salvation to the Ephesian church. Eph 2:8-10 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The word for “faith” used here is the Greek word πίστις pistis, a root word of the πιστεύω pisteuō. Again, this is not a word for “head-knowledge’ but for ______and ______in.

And notice too, we are ______saved by doing good deeds, we are saved to _____ good deeds. There is a difference in just ______about Jesus and accepting Him with saving faith. It is so sad that many people who think and believe that they are saved will face Jesus at the Judgement and fail to enter His Eternal Kingdom. Jesus even spoke of this…the saddest passage in the Bible: Matt 7:21-23 (ESV) Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

You are not saved by reciting some ______prayer or getting ______. You are saved by ______in Jesus to save you and ______your life to Him. Most people do this by prayer, but they are not magic words.

Salvation is also not a fire insurance policy to keep you out of Hell. It ______your life.

When we become saved, God places in us His ______, which begins to change us.

1 Cor 6:19-20 (ESV) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

If you are a true Christian, if you are saved, having the Holy Spirit live in your life ______you.

2 Cor 5:17 (ESV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Here is a test for you. If you can, look at your life before you think you were saved. What was your life like? Now look at your life after you became a Christian. Do you see changes? You should, because the Spirit of the Holy God now resides in you and that will change you.

If you are still doubting your salvation, read the book of ______. This book was written to help people know if they are saved.

1 John 5:13 (ESV) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

John gives four ______in this short book that should be present in your life if you are saved.

1. A true believer ______and pursues righteousness and not sin. 1 John 2:29 (ESV) If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 John 3:9-10 (ESV) No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

2. A true believer ______God and other believers. 1 John 4:7 (ESV) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

1 John 5:1 (ESV) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

3. True believers are in the process of ______the world. 1 John 5:4 (ESV) For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith.

4. True believers are in the process of overcoming ______. 1 John 5:18 (ESV) We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

Remember, even Christians struggle with the sinful nature and at times we do sin. But when we do sin, God has fixed it so that we can be seen as ______before Him by the action of what Jesus has done for us.

1 John 1:9 (ESV If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As Dr. Warren Wiersbe puts it: Christians are not people who are sinless but who do sin less.

Discussion Questions: 1. What impacted you the most from tonight’s lesson? 2. What do you think are the major reasons people do not accept God’s offer? 3. Are you saved? How do you know? 4. Tell someone your salvation story.

Wednesday How Does a Person Live for Christ in this Fallen World?

God created a perfect world with no death or illness. He put man in it and together man and Holy God lived in harmony.

Man then chose to disobey God and brought on a curse to the creation that included illness, death, predator verses prey relationships, hatred, jealousy, and more.

This was not God’s plan. He allowed man to choose between his own pursuits and living in a relationship with a Holy God. We chose poorly.

Since then, the earth began to age. People began to age, get sick, and die. Murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, and worse have now become the norm.

But God had a plan. As soon as man chose poorly and sinned, He put into place a plan to ______man and ______man to Himself.

The main problem to overcome was the fact that God is ______.

Today, we have lost much of the meaning of what that means. God is so holy He cannot have sin in His presence. He is so holy that He is just and pure. He is so holy that He is perfect in every way. He is so holy that He is the epitome of righteousness.

Man on the other hand, though once possessing these traits, ______them and became the exact opposite of God.

But God loved us so much that He wanted to redeem us to Himself.

The main problem was that man is full of _____. And the law God proclaimed about even committing one small sin was ______and eternal separation from God.

But God also vowed that sin could be covered (atoned for) by ______. He proclaimed:

Romans 6:23 (ESV) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Heb 9:22 (ESV) Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

We are saved by the blood of Jesus.

1 John 1:7 (ESV) 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 cleanses us from all sin.

But once saved, what are we to do?

1. We are saved to do good ______.

Eph 2:10 (ESV) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Gal 6:9-10 (ESV) And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

2. We are saved to ______God.

1 Chron 16:29-30 (ESV) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth…

John 4:23-24 (ESV) The Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

3. We are saved to ______with God.

Gal 5:25 (ESV) If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

1 John 1:3 (ESV) We proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

But what does it mean to walk in fellowship with God? How do we do that?

The word fellowship is the Greek word κοινωνία koinonia, which means to “______with” or “______with.”

Communication is a two-way street. It requires each participant to ______to the other and to ______to the other.

1. Listen to: This means we need to listen to God speak. How does God speak to us today? Through His ______.

Rev 3:20 (ESV) If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Romans 10:17 (ESV) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

2. Talk to: We commonly refer to this as ______.

Romans 12:12 (ESV) Be constant in prayer.

1 Thess 5:17 (ESV) Pray without ceasing

Eph 6:18 (ESV) Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

We need to communicate with God ______so that our relationship is strong. Just as a marriage is strengthened by frequent two-way communication between the 38 spouses, we can strengthen our relationship with God by reading His Word and praying often. After all, we Christians are the ______of Christ.

So what else are we to do with our lives?

4. We are saved to ______God. We are to serve God in all our endeavors.

As you ______with God, He will lead your mind into areas that He has designed you for. Follow those that God directs you to.

Proverbs 3:6 (ESV) In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

If you walk in close ______with Him, He will lead you where you are to go.

If you love horses, train in that way. If you love cooking, train in that way. If you love teaching, train in that way.

If He does not want you to go that direction in your life, He will ______the door. But when God shuts a door, He always opens a ______or another door.

Just be sure you are walking in close fellowship with Him and when you mess up and sin, confess and ______right away.

1 John 1:9 (ESV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Lastly, I want to warn you that there will be hard times that come upon you. A death of a friend A death of a family member The loss of a job Illness Depression Persecution

These are going to happen because we still live in a ______world of which Satan is the Prince of the Air.

When times like these come, a ______body can really help.

Ephesians 4:11-14 God’s Word Translation He also gave apostles, prophets, missionaries, as well as pastors and teachers as gifts [to his church]. Their purpose is to prepare God's people to serve and to build up the body of Christ. This is to continue until all of us are united in our faith and in our knowledge about God's Son, until we become mature, until we measure up to Christ, who is the standard. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed and carried about by all kinds of teachings that change like the wind. We will no longer be influenced by people who use cunning and clever strategies to lead us astray.

The key thing I want to leave you with in our lesson tonight is this:

Col 3:17 (ESV) And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Col 3:23-24 (ESV) Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Discussion Questions: 1. What impacted you the most from tonight’s lesson? Why? 2. What career are you leaning towards after school? How can you serve God doing that career? 3. What is your main struggle in living for Jesus?