Hey, when God lays something on your heart, you have to share it. :)
Technically, the lesson is called "Sharing our Ups and Downs." No clue who produced the original lesson. I only use the book for topic and verses. :)
Sharing is kind of fun sometimes. I don’t like sharing my
clothes or my stuff (depending on what it is) with people, but there are other
things that I really do enjoy sharing.
Like what?
- Experiences
- Time
- Life
- Devotions & What I am Learning in God’s Word
- A bad day
In way or another we probably all like sharing something.
The last couple of weeks we have been talking about salvation and how Christ
died on the cross for our sins so that we can have a personal relationship with
Him. {Side note - I haven't posted those Sunday school lessons yet…Coming soon!}
An essential to having a good relationship is having
something in common with someone else, right? Like {my co-Sunday School teacher} and I have things in
common (like marriage, growing up together, working with teens, teaching in a Christian school and Sunday school together, we both love shopping, etc) and that helps our friendship.
What do we have in common with God that allows us to have a
good relationship with Him?
I mean, let’s think about this… He is God. He created the
universe. He is omniscient – He knows everything. He is omnipotent – He has
power over everything. He is omnipresent – He is everywhere, all the time. I
cannot do any of those things. God and I don’t share those things in common.
God is perfect. He has never sinned. No matter how hard I
try, I will never been perfect or sinless. God is righteous. Not only has he
never sinned, He cannot tolerate sin. He can forgive mankind of their sins. I
can forgive someone of an offense against me, but I cannot forgive them of all
of their sins. Let alone eternally forgive every crime against God that they have committed in their past, present, or future.
If I do not have these things in common with God… how can I
have a relationship with Him?
When Jesus died on the cross, he was thirty-three years old.
He had spent thirty-three years living on earth. He knew what it was like to be
hungry, or thirsty, tired, happy or sad. He knew physical pain. He had
shed tears. He had laughed. He had family and friends. He wore clothes and shoes. He experienced temptations to sin. He knew what it was like
to be offended, lied to, cheated on, hurt, teased, picked on, left out,
forgotten, and ignored.
So… Not only did He do something for us, He did something to be
like us. To understand what we go through on a daily basis, so that He would
have something in common with us. Something so that He could have a
relationship with us.
Hebrews 2:14-18 illustrates this point.
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of
angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made
like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being
tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
If you don’t mind… I would like to be honest and say that those verses are really wordy and a little confusing if you just read them straight through. So I would like to discuss them, just so we can have a clearer understanding.
Side Note: When you come across verses like this, take a moment to stop and think about them. What are they really trying to say? Write it down, paraphrased into your own words. You aren’t changing God’s Word if you are trying to understand it. If you don’t know what a word means, look it up in the dictionary. Ask a parent or a teacher to explain it to you. Sometimes we are tempted to just skip over something because it isn’t easy, but I promise that the Bible is so rewarding if you seek to understand it.
14-15 God became like
us, so that he could destroy the power of death (Satan), and to deliver those
who fear/serve death. Or God came to destroy Satan and forgive men of their
sins.
16 Verily
(meaning - Seriously, or “for real”) He could have been like the angels, but instead he
decided to become like the children of Abraham… humans.
17 Why? It was
most beneficial for him to be like a man so that basically, He could have a
better relationship with man.
18 Why? Because if
He has been through what we go through, then He better help us.
Doesn’t that make so much sense? God became a man so we
could have a better relationship with Him because He understands the
temptations that we go through every day. He experienced them too.
Wow! God is pursuing me. That just makes me stop and think.
Sometimes I get so caught up in the fact that God came to earth 2000 years ago
just so He could die on a cross, rise from the dead, and forgive sins. And yes,
my sins are forgiven eternally. But I think that I am sometimes stuck on earth,
forced to struggle through the muck and mire of the world, still struggling
with sin, waiting to die and go home to heaven.
But that isn’t it! God did die on the cross, rise from the
dead, and forgive sins, but He also knows and He understands. He has been there
too. And if you think of how much worse it must have been for Him! Christ was
perfect. He lived in a perfect Heaven, created a perfect Earth. Then to come
here, live here for 33 years, see His perfect creation corrupted by sin and face the temptations that we
face. Perhaps even more… because He was perfect. It must have been so much harder and so much heavier of a burden for Him,
than I will ever have to bear.
He could have turned around, refused the cross, thrown away
the plan. He could have left us here. Let us deal with our temptations and sin
alone.
But He didn’t. God wants to have a relationship with us. He gave
up everything to have a relationship with us. He is pursuing us. That is too
amazing to ignore. How can I shake off someone who wants to have a relationship
with me that badly??
If a girlfriend wanted to be friends with you that badly,
how would you respond? If a boy chased after you like that, wouldn’t it get
your attention?
Now that God has your attention, it’s time to turn to Him
and have that relationship with Him. But without throwing out pat answers and quotes
from other people… What does it mean to have a relationship with Jesus Christ?
The thing that I love about the book of Hebrews is that it
connects the Bible. It’s the final puzzle pieces. It’s like a commentary on the
Old Testament, explaining how Jesus Christ fits into the Law and traditions of
the past. The author spends the entire book explaining how and why this
miracle-working God of the Old Testament would come down from heaven to forgive
sins. Then if that weren’t enough, Hebrews 11 gives us all of these people who
chose to have a relationship with God without ever hearing the name of Jesus
Christ.
Then chapter 12 tells us what it means to have a
relationship with Christ.
1 Wherefore
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. 3 For
consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
So according to Hebrews 12, this is how we have a relationship with Christ...
- Lay aside the sin and weight that holds you back. Let go of the stuff that makes having a relationship with Christ hard.
- Don’t give up. “Run with patience” – keep trying. Yes, we are going to mess up. Yes it is going to be hard and challenging, but…
- Look to Jesus. Follow His example. He has been through the things that you and I have been through. He knows what it is like. He knows how hard the temptations are, but we can trust Him, rely on Him, look to Him, and have a relationship with Him to get through.
This week, I challenge you to read through the book of
Hebrews. As you go, write down what a verse means in your own words
like we did today. Figure out what sin is holding you back and let it go. Get
it out of your life.
God has done so much to pursue us. If He has your attention,
start that relationship with Him.
Photo Credit: http://addmytag.tumblr.com/about
No comments:
Post a Comment