Easter

Easter Sunday: Christ and God Are OneLesson w/answers

On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the biggest holiday of the year – the celebration of Christ rising from the grave. Without His Death on the Cross how hopeless our existence would be, with His Resurrection how glorious our future is. In past years, we’ve studied the resurrection and the events that surround Christ’s death and resurrection. This year, let’s look at another aspect often misunderstood – that indeed Jesus was God and is God and His death and resurrection have always been part of God’s plan for our salvation before He created anything.

Bible

I often think that folks believe that God did His best to get the Jews to live a righteous life and follow God as their king. When the Jewish people failed, God’s next plan was to get Mary, a virgin, pregnant through the Holy Spirit; and Jesus was born. Following His birth Jesus did all that prophecy foretold, and then went to the cross to die for us. On the third day God raised him back to life and today Christ sits at God’s right hand. While all this is true, sort of, the real truth is God has always been the only Savior of humankind and knew that He would have to be before He created anything. This means God made a premeditated decision to manifest Himself in human form and suffer and die for us as a part of His eternal plan. How awesome. Let’s look then at the scripture that shows us this and that points to Jesus being God, and in fact we’ll learn that it was Christ who created us, Christ came and suffered and died for us, and Christ is who God has appointed as King and Judge over us.

Jesus is God, Jesus is the Messiah – Christ Jesus and God are one. Jesus created us. All of these are true, here’s how we know it: Beside each scripture reference, jot down a brief summary of what it’s telling us about these statements.

  1. John 1:1
    1. ANSWER: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  2. John 8:58-59
    1. ANSWER: 58"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" 59At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
  3. Exodus 3:14-15
    1. ANSWER: 14God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation."
  4. John 17:5
    1. ANSWER: 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
  5. Isaiah 42:8
    1. ANSWER: 8"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols."
  6. Isaiah 43:10-11
    1. ANSWER: 10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.""
  7. Isaiah 44:6
    1. ANSWER: 6 "This is what the LORD says, Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: ‘I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.’"
  8. John 1:14
    1. ANSWER: 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
  9. Colossians 1:15-20
    1. ANSWER: 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
  10. Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:21-23
    1. ANSWER 1: 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
    2. ANSWER 2: 21"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel", which means, "God with us."
  11. Isaiah 9:6 and Micah 5:2
    1. ANSWER 1: 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
    2. ANSWER 2: 2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
  12. Luke 2:4-7, 10-11
    1. ANSWER: 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn...10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
  13. John 10:30-33
    1. ANSWER: 30"I and the Father are one." 31Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" 33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
  14. Hebrews 1:3-4
    1. ANSWER: 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
  15. Colossians 2:9-12
    1. ANSWER: 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
  16. John 8:24
    1. ANSWER: 24"I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins"”
  17. John 20:27-29
    1. ANSWER: 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
  18. Revelation 1:7-8, 17-18
    1. ANSWER: 7Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."... 17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

Let us celebrate His resurrection and keep our eyes open for the signs of His coming. Today we are two thousand years closer to His coming, let us live and act as the people of God, anxiously awaiting the return of our Savior. Knowing that if our death precedes His coming again we will pass from death into life and be immediately in His presence. As He told us, God is the God of the living, not the dead. Praise Him for his great love and sacrifice for us.

God Bless you all during the Easter Season.

In Christ,

Wes

[2008]

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