Month: March 2021

What if you had so much debt that it was keeping you awake at night worrying about it?  It would be bearing down on you with the weight of the world, causing extreme anxiety and threating every aspect of your health.  Every one of your relationships would suffer and you wouldn’t be able to concentrate on your work.  In short, picture your entire world falling apart because of excessive debt.

Now, in the midst of that struggle when things seem to be at their worst and you think there is no way you can bear the weight, imagine that someone offers to forgive all of your debts and the only thing you have to do is accept their gift and return their love by loving them and loving others. 

You’ve probably figured out by now that the debt we’re talking about is not a financial obligation but the debt owed for our sinfulness.  And Easter is the time when we celebrate Jesus’ final victory over sin and death on our behalf.

But, because of how difficult it is for us to even think about it, we don’t frequently spend a lot of time on the tortuous pain Jesus had to endure on our behalf.  It was a gruesome death and a burden so heavy that even Jesus himself asked for it to be taken from him, which is referenced in our verse for the day from Luke 22:42:

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

It was far, far more than just the physical pain that caused Jesus to make that request.  The true suffering came because Jesus literally became the physical embodiment of our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).  All of the collective sin of all time was wrapped up the human form of Jesus at that moment and when he died, so did the debt owed in relation to that sin.  That’s what is meant when it is said that “Jesus died for our sins”.

The cup Jesus asked to be taken from him was “the cup of wrath” which is explained in the article linked here.  The “wrath” referenced here is the unimaginably massive amount of anger that God justifiably had (past tense) in relation to all collective sin from all time. 

To give you a sense of just how massive that would be, think about a time when you really lost your temper.  Your blood pressure was probably sky high and you may have been so mad that you couldn’t see straight.  Now multiply that intensity by all of the times in your life that you’ve lost your temper and then multiply it again by all of the people in the world who have ever lived and who ever will live.  That’s already a truly unimaginable amount of wrath but it pales in comparison to God’s wrath at all of our collective sin, which is many times more than that. 

But even in the face of such an enormous burden, Jesus still said “yet not my will, but Yours” and He died to take that wrath on Himself.  He loves us so deeply that the pain of being separated from us was far worse than the pain He endured by drinking the cup of wrath.  Blessed, blessed be the name of the Lord!

Questions:

1)      Have you ever paid off a financial debt that had been burdening you for a long time?  How did that make you feel?

2)      Although the debt that Jesus paid on our behalf was not financial in nature, do you think the idea of paying off a debt is an effective analogy for what He did for us?

3)      Even though Jesus’ love for us is incomprehensible and difficult to put into words, how would you describe it?

4)      How would you compare God’s love for us with a parent’s love for their child?

5)      What is one thing you might do this Easter weekend to honor the gift of eternal life we were given through Jesus’ sacrifice?

Last week we talked about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us so that we could have eternal life with Him in heaven. We also talked about the idea that, in exchange for His sacrifice, we are called to live with our whole heart for Jesus and that whole-heart living includes more prayer, Bible reading and loving those around us.

Another idea that does not get a lot of attention is the sabbath but, as we approach Easter in two weeks, one simple thing we may be able to do for God is to try making Sundays a true day of rest. God wants us to reserve this day because He knows we need rest and he wants us to focus on him for one full day out of the week.  And that brings us to today’s passage which is from Exodus 20:8-11:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Taking a Sabbath does not necessarily mean we need to be in prayer and reading scripture all day on Sundays but simply that we are called take a break from our normal weekly activities.

For some, this might mean not going into the office on Sunday or not returning work emails. Others may not even do work around the house. However you decide to observe the Sabbath is between you and God but the more you make it about Him, the more he’ll accept it as the gift that a true sabbath is supposed to be.

So, give it a try this week if you can. And maybe try asking your whole household to do the same. Doing it together may even make it a fun exercise where you have to plan ahead in order to honor God.

Questions

1. Do you agree that in our society the Sabbath doesn’t seem to have the same importance in relation to being a “good” Christian as prayer, Bible reading, and good works?  Why or why not?  
2. Do you believe it is harder or easier to observe the sabbath now vs. when the verses above were written?
3. What are some things we can do to increase the likelihood that we’ll be able to observe the sabbath more consistently?
4. What are some of the benefits that might result from observing the sabbath?

Last week, we talked about some of the things in our lives that might keep us from being as close to God as possible and we discussed the idea of “selling” those things to remove them from our lives.  That is a good foundation for our conversation today to help us prepare for Easter, which is three Sundays from now. 

Today’s verse is from Romans 10:9 and it says “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

To those not familiar with the story of Jesus or the broader story of the Bible, it may sound too simple to obtain salvation simply by declaring Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Shouldn’t it take more work than that?  Shouldn’t it be more involved or complicated?  In fact, there was a lot more to it and the Bible tells us the story.

The entire Bible can actually be summarized in a single sentence – The Bible is the story of God pursuing us.  It is all part of the same story and it all works together to complete God’s plan to bring us closer to Him.

God wants two things from us more than anything else: 1) He wants us to Love Him and love those around us while on earth and 2) He wants us to spend eternity with Him in heaven.  After trying many different approaches, God finally said something like this: “OK, let’s make this very simple.  If you declare your love for Me and have faith in My Son Jesus (who is really Me in human form), I’ll do the rest.  Then you will be saved and spend eternity with me in heaven.”

That’s a great plan but the price for our sin still had to be paid and the one who settled that debt had to experience the worst fate imaginable in order for that sin to be washed clean.  That is why God had to come to earth in the human form of Jesus and die on the cross.  Here is a post that explains the significance of Easter in more detail.

So, all of that is to say that Easter is the day we celebrate the final step in God’s long plan to defeat sin and death.  Jesus’ death and resurrection permanently and completely broke the chains of sin and set us free to have eternal life.  This reminds me of one of my favorite passages from 1 Corinthians 15:54-58:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Questions:

1. How does it make you feel to know that all you have to do is declare Jesus as you Lord & Savior to receive eternal salvation?
2. What does salvation mean to you and what is the value of salvation for you and your loved ones.
3. Do you agree with the idea that the story of the Bible can be boiled down to the simple idea of God pursuing us?  Why or why not?
4. Many believe that Easter is the most important date on the Christian calendar.  Do you agree?
5. The Corinthians passage above says that because Jesus won the victory for us that we should “always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord”.  When you think of giving yourself fully to the work of the Lord, what does that mean to you?

Members of our group have been through quite a bit over the past few months and the last two weeks we’ve had opportunities to celebrate and be grateful for the community of men we’re blessed with.  One of the greatest blessings we enjoy is that our lesson each week helps us focus our attention on God’s truth and, at least for an hour, away from the distractions that separate us from God.

But outside of our hour together, even the best of us struggles at times with misplaced attention and focus.  We often place too much attention on the things of this world and not enough on the things God wants for us.  People have been the same for thousands of years and Jesus knew this when he said:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34).

In the verses just prior to this one, starting in Luke 12:22, Jesus explains in detail why we should not worry or be anxious.  And then immediately before verse 34, He says that we should sell all of our possessions and give to the poor.

To be good Christians, do we really need to sell everything we own and give to the poor?  Since there are examples of Godly people in the Bible with wealth and possessions, the point may be that He wants our focus and, if our focus is not on Him, then we should get rid of whatever it is that is distracting us.

So, where is your treasure? Here is a test that may provide some answers — Are you overly worried and anxious?  If so, what are the primary sources of your anxiety?  For most of us, there is a good chance that the answer to that question also describes where we focus most of our time and energy (and build our treasure).  I think this is the primary message Jesus was trying to convey.  He wants our focus and if we are focused on other things, our minds will not be on Him.  He wants our whole heart which means He wants us to treasure our time with Him in prayer, reading the Bible, and following His commands.

Questions:

1. Do you agree that it is difficult to maintain our focus on God and His wishes for our life?  Why or why not?
2. What is something in your life that you need to “sell” because it is distracting your from God?
3. What are one or two treasures you would like to focus on growing in your life?
4. What are some of the benefits of focusing our hearts on Jesus and growing our heavenly treasures?