Lesson 5 - Jesus, The Way to God

Church of Christ - Duluth

318 N. 18th Ave. E.

Duluth, MN  55812

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Evangelist:  Keiran Murphy

churchofchrist.duluth@gmail.com

By His death on the cross, Jesus made possible the forgiveness of our sins. When sins are forgiven we are no longer objects of God's wrath.  "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him".  Romans 5:9  But we need more than this.  We need the kind of close friendship that existed between God and Adam before the fall of man.

REQUIREMENTS OF A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP
If a close relationship is to exist between God and man, we must understand God and feel comfortable in approaching Him.  This is not easy.

God has unlimited power, unlimited wisdom and unlimited holiness.  He is the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things, and He knows all things.  He is a Spirit (John 4:24) and as spirit, He has no flesh and bones (Luke 24:39).  How can a mortal man ever hope to comprehend such a God?

Contemplating His nature, the Psalmist wrote: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high. I cannot attain it."  Psalm 139:6  But if we should succeed in comprehending Him, how could we ever approach Him?  When we stand before a human judge in court, we feel the need for a lawyer to represent us.  How much more before God?!

Job expressed this need in one of the earliest books of the Bible: "For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman (umpire) betwixt us, that might lay His hand on us both"  Job 9:32,33

Jesus is this daysman, or umpire.  "There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ."  I Timothy 2:5  He is qualified to 'lay His hand upon us both" because He is the Son of God (John 5:25) and also the Son of Man (John 5:27).

JESUS REVEALS GOD TO MAN
"No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." John 1:18  "For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."  Colossian. 2:9  Jesus is "the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person."  Hebrews 1:3

JESUS REPRESENTS MAN TO GOD
By becoming a man, the Son of God not only revealed Deity in tangible form, but He also became our brother so that He can represent us to God.

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  Hebrews 4:15, 16

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IN CHRIST
Through the good offices of Jesus, we are God's temple and priesthood: "You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5

We are God's children in Christ.  "In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith."  Galatians 3:26

When Christ is in us, we are in God.  Jesus prayed: "I in them and You in Me."  John 17:23  When we are in Christ, we are in God. "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  Colossians 3:3

GOD'S BLESSINGS FOR US ARE IN CHRIST
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."  Ephesians 1:3

"… He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love."  Ephesians 1:4

"... He has made us accepted in the Beloved."  Ephesians 1:6

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Ephesians 1:7

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is the guarantee of our inheritance."  Ephesians 1:13,14

It is only in and through Jesus that we have access to God in prayer.  He said to His disciples, "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you. should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."  John 15:16

In Christ, God grants eternal life.  "And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son"  1 John 5:12

JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY
"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (I John 5:12).

Jesus did not hesitate to claim that He was the only way to God: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the Iife.  No man comes to the Father except through Me."  John 14:6

This makes it essential that each of us be in Christ. Are you in Christ?

"Far as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."  Galatians 3:27

"He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son."  II John 9

May we assist you in being united with Christ?

Can you answer these questions about Jesus?

Please copy and paste these questions into an e-mail addressed to:  churchofchrist.duluth@gmail.com

Send us your answers, and we will be happy to give you a response.

Use quotations in the lesson or find verses in your own Bible from which to answer the following questions:

1.  Job felt the need of a ___________________ to place his hand upon both himself and God.  (Job 9:33)

2.  Jesus is the only begotten Son of _________.  (John 1:18)

3.  Jesus has been tempted as we are, yet without ______________.  (Hebrews 4:15)

4.  He who does not have the Son does not have ___________________.  (1John 5:12)

5.  No one comes to the ___________________ except through Jesus.  (John 14:6)

Some of the references in the following exercises are not found in the lesson.  From the verses indicated, list blessings to be obtained in and through Jesus Christ.

6.  We are ______________ in Him.  (Ephesians 1:4)

7.  We have _______________ though his blood, the _______________ of sins.  (Ephesians 1:7)

8.  In Him we are sealed with the ___________________.  (Ephesians 1:13)

9.  Through Christ, both Jew and Gentile have _________________ by one Spirit unto the Father.  (Ephesians 2:18)

10.  God reconciled us to Himself by ______________________ (II Corinthians 5:18)

11.  In Christ we are _________________ of God by faith.  (Galatians 3:26)

12.  Paul wanted the elect to have the _________________ which is in Christ Jesus.  (II Timothy 2:10)

13.  Eternal ________________ is in God's Son.  (I John 5:11)

What is Jesus called in the following passages?

14.  The one ________________ between God and man.  (I Timothy 2:5)

15.  A great _________________.  (Hebrews 4:14)

16.  The _____________________, and the ____________________, and the _____________________.  (John 14:6)

17.  He is our _______________________.  (Ephesians 2:14)

Feel Free to move on to Lesson 6.  Please include any other questions or concerns you might have in your e-mail.