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REVIEW
QUESTIONS FROM LESSON 5
1.
Cain and Abel, and all of the descendants of Adam and
Eve, including us, were born outside of the Garden of
Eden. What is the significance of being born outside of
the Garden? We are all born separated from God, away
from the tree of life.
2.
When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, how does our
relationship to God change? Through Jesus Christ, we
are brought into oneness with God. We are now
members of His family. We have eternal life
through Jesus Christ.
3.
Abel brought a lamb to sacrifice to God. Why don’t we
need to bring a lamb as an offering to God? Jesus
Christ is our sacrificial Lamb. He gave Himself once for
all to God, as the perfect and complete offering for
sins.
4.
Cain’s descendants went their own way and not God’s
way. But what happened when Seth’s son, Enos,
was born? People began to call again on the name of
the Lord, as Abel had done.
5.
How do we call on the Lord? We pray to God in the
name of Jesus Christ.
6.
Why do we come to God in Jesus’ name? Because
it is only through the blood and death of Jesus Christ
that we are acceptable to God.
7.
How did God warn the people about the flood that He was
going to send? He warned them through Noah.
8.
Did Noah deserve to be saved from the flood? No, Noah
was a sinner, and deserved punishment like everyone
else.
9.
Do any of us deserve God’s love or forgiveness? No.
We receive His love and forgiveness only by His grace
through Jesus Christ.
10.
God gave Noah exact instructions for building the ark.
How does that remind us of our salvation in Jesus
Christ? Everything about our salvation is exactly
according to God’s plan. Every detail of Jesus’
birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection, was
foretold before it happened.
11.
The ark had only one door. How does this remind us of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the only way
through which a person can come to God and be
saved.
12.
When Noah and his family, and all of the animals were
safely inside the ark, God shut the door. How does this
remind us of our salvation in Christ? God
has shut His children inside our Ark of safety, Jesus
Christ. We are safe forever in Him.
13.
The people of Babel tried to reach up to Heaven by
building a tower. God would not accept their
self-centered efforts. What has God done to make a way
for us to go to Heaven? He sent His Son, Jesus
Christ, down to earth, to make a way for us to come to
God.
A.
Introduction
The
history of man is a history of rebellion against God.
-
The people of Noah’s day were so rebellious that God
sent a flood and destroyed all but Noah and his family.
-
After the flood, people continued in rebellion against
God.
-
God confused the languages of the proud builders of the
tower of Babel, so that they scattered over the earth.
-
To this day, the majority of people are still in
rebellion against God.
Yet,
down through the centuries, God has recorded the lives
of people who, though they were sinners, believed God.
-
Through these believers, God accomplished mighty things.
-
The earthly line of God’s promised Deliverer often
flowed through the lives of these individuals.
Abraham
was such a man.
He
grew up in the idolatrous culture of the area near
Babel, in a city called Ur of the Chaldes.
In
a time when men were worshipping idols and turning their
backs on the living and true God, God called Abraham.
-
Abraham’s own father was an idol worshiper.
-
God told Abraham to leave his own country and travel to
a place God would show him.
Then
God made to Abraham some of the most amazing promises of
Scripture.
B.
God gave promises to Abraham.
Jesus
Christ is the fulfillment of those promises.
Read
Genesis 12:1-3.
These
promises were amazing in themselves.
But
do you remember what made them even more unusual to
Abraham and his wife Sarah?
Yes,
although they were childless, God spoke of their
descendants. God promised:
-
To make of Abraham a great nation, to bless him and to
make his name great, and to make him a blessing to
others.
-
To bless those who helped Abraham, but to curse those
who mistreated him.
-
And, most importantly, in Abraham to bless all the
families of the earth.
That
great promise to bless all of the families on earth has
been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
-
Through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross, God has
made a way for all people, everywhere, to be forgiven
their sins and to become part of God’s family.
-
Thus God fulfilled His promise to Abraham to bless all
peoples on earth, including you and me.
-
We who have put our faith in Jesus Christ have been
given all of God’s spiritual blessings.
-
In Christ, God has provided for every spiritual need
here on earth and for all
eternity.
-
As we continue to study God’s Word, we will see more
and more the spiritual blessings God has given us in
Christ.
C.
Abraham believed and obeyed God.
Our
life in Christ is a life of believing and obeying
God.
Read
Genesis 12:4-5.
God’s
instructions were clear, but the destination was unknown
to Abraham.
Yet
Abraham went, because he trusted God.
In
the same way, we obey God because we have put our faith
in Christ.
-
We are saved by putting our faith in Jesus Christ and
His death for us on the cross.
-
And by faith, we live our lives here on earth.
God
directs us through His Word.
-
Because we believe God, we want to obey His Word.
-
We cannot see God, nor can we see heaven.
-
But in Christ, we have power to live by faith.
God
is trustworthy and will guide us every step of the way,
just as He guided Abraham.
D.
God counted Abraham’s faith as righteousness.
God
also counted us righteous when we put our faith in Jesus
Christ.
Even
though many years had passed since God first promised
descendants to Abraham, Abraham still did not have a
son.
Abraham
began to fear and to wonder how and when the promised
son would be born.
-
Abraham knew that according to the customs of his
people, if he did not have a son of his own, his
servant, Eliezer, would
become his rightful heir.
-
Abraham didn’t want this to happen.
-
He wanted a son of his own to be his heir.
God
knew Abraham’s fears, and He spoke to him to reassure
him.
Read
Genesis 15:1-6.
God
reminded Abraham of His promise, and Abraham believed
God. Abraham believed that God was going to send the
Deliverer through Abraham’s family line.
Look
at verse 6: “And he believed in the LORD; and He
accounted it to him for righteousness.”
In
the same way, when we put our trust in Jesus Christ, God
counts us righteous.
-
Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are accepted by God,
just as Abraham was.
-
God counted Abraham and us righteous because we have
believed God.
Like
Abraham, we cannot see everything now.
But
it is faith that pleases God.
After
Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples
and told Thomas, “. . . because you have seen Me,
you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).
In
this verse, God was talking about us!
We
are blessed because though we have not seen Jesus
Christ, we have believed in Him.
-
Consider:
Though
we cannot see gravity, we can see its effects—just
try jumping up without coming back down!
In
the same way, God promised to Abraham and to us things
that must be accepted by faith, not by sight.
God’s
promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We know that
He died, was buried, and rose again on our behalf. We
may not see ourselves as having the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, yet that is what God has said about all
of us who have put our faith in Him.
In
2 Corinthians 5:21, the Bible tells us, “For He
made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
This
promise of God—that we are righteous in His eyes
because of our faith in Jesus Christ—is even greater
than the law of gravity.
As
we continue to trust God, He honors our faith, and the
righteousness He has given us in Christ becomes more
and more a visible reality in our daily lives, as His
Holy Spirit works in and through us.
E.
Abraham and Sarah had a son, Ishmael, by Hagar.
God
restated His plans and promised earthly blessings for
Abraham’s descendants.
God’s
promise was very clear.
But
Sarah was getting old, and she decided to take matters
into her own hands.
Abraham
agreed to the idea.
Read
Genesis 16:1-3,16.
That
was not God’s plan!
-
Ishmael was not the child that God was referring to in
His promise.
-
God had planned something better.
Thirteen
years later, when Abraham was ninety years old, God came
and spoke again to Abraham.
But
this time, the promised blessings were different.
Read
Genesis 17:1-8.
The
previous promises concerned spiritual blessings, but this
promise concerned earthly blessings.
-
This promise was for Abraham’s earthly descendants,
who would come through the promised son.
-
These are the people who became the nation of Israel.
-
The promise of the land was for the Israelites, not for
believers in Jesus Christ.
-
Consider:
When
we read the Bible, it is important to understand the
whole context
of what we are reading. Who is the message written to?
Is it for a certain time, a certain group of people?
God
gave Abraham a sign which all of Abraham’s earthly
descendants were to make on their bodies.
Read
Genesis 17:9-11.
Again,
this was for Abraham’s earthly descendants.
-
Consider:
God
gave the promise of righteousness by faith before He
gave the command regarding circumcision. Remember, our
righteousness is by faith, not by any works we do
ourselves.
We
are Abraham’s spiritual descendants by faith.
If
we keep this distinction, we will be able to avoid
much confusion as we read God’s Word.
-
Consider:
God,
in His grace, holds out the same spiritual promises to
any Israelite or anyone else who puts his faith in
Jesus Christ. Salvation is offered to all who will
believe in Him.
F.
God again promised a son to Abraham, by Sarah, and God
fulfilled His promise by miraculously giving Isaac.
We,
too, are miraculously given spiritual birth through
Jesus Christ
God
now made it very plain that He was going to give Abraham
a child by Sarah.
Nothing
is impossible to God!
Read
Genesis 17:15-17.
Abraham
loved his son, Ishmael, and asked God to bless him,
too.
Read
Genesis 17:18.
-
God, indeed, promised to bless Ishmael.
-
But God’s spiritual promises of a
Deliverer were not to come through this natural child of
Abraham.
The
promises were to come through Sarah’s son, born not of
human will, but as the result of God’s promise.
Read
Genesis 17:19-21.
And
in due time, God gave Abraham and Sarah their promised
son.
Read
Genesis 21:1-5.
Abraham
was 100 and Sarah was 90 years old.
It
was impossible for them to have this child by their own
efforts.
In
the same way, our new birth in Christ is not a result of
our own efforts—it
is the gift of God’s grace.
Read
John 1:12-13.
G.
God dismissed Hagar and Ishmael—the Deliverer was to
come through Isaac, the son of promise.
We
inherit God’s promises through Jesus Christ, God’s
Deliverer for mankind.
Hagar
and Ishmael were still living with Abraham and Sarah
when Isaac was born.
Soon,
there was trouble between Ishmael and Isaac, and God
told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away.
Read
Genesis 21 :8-13.
Though
God gave many blessings to Ishmael, the spiritual
blessings came through Isaac.
-
Isaac was the son given by God’s promise.
-
Through Isaac’s line, God would send the Deliverer.
-
Consider:
The
Arabic peoples are the descendants of Ishmael, and the
Jews are the descendants of Isaac. Even today, the
descendants of Isaac and Ishmael are fighting one
another.
But
God, in His grace, welcomes Ishmael’s descendants
just as He welcomes Isaac’s descendants, if they
come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ, the only
Deliverer.
H.
God provided a ram in place of Isaac.
God
gave us Jesus Christ to die in our place.
Consider
how much Abraham must have loved Isaac.
-
Isaac was the son given through God’s promise.
-
The promises God had given Abraham were to be fulfilled
through Isaac.
But
God allowed Abraham to go through an incredible test of
faith.
Read
Genesis 22:1-3.
Abraham
simply obeyed God, believing that God could even bring his
son back to life.
Read
Genesis 22:9.
Isaac
was tied to the altar, about to die.
But
God intervened.
Read
Genesis 22:10-13.
What
a picture of our own helplessness before God!
-
Before we trusted in Jesus as our Savior, we, too, were
helpless, condemned to die.
-
All of us had broken God’s laws, and there was nothing
we could do to save ourselves.
-
But God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place.
The ram that God provided as a substitute for Isaac was
an acceptable sacrifice to God.
-
It was not injured or sick.
-
But though that ram took Isaac’s place, it could not
pay for sins.
Jesus
Christ was the perfect sacrifice.
-
He was without sin.
-
He was the perfect Lamb of God.
-
Though He had never sinned, He willingly took our sin
upon Himself
I.
Closing.
Can
you imagine the relief and thankfulness experienced by
Abraham and Isaac?
How
much more should we thank God for our Deliverer, Jesus
Christ!
Let’s
take time right now to thank God for our salvation in
Jesus Christ.
REVIEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
Why did God accept Abraham as if he were righteous?
2.
Why does God accept us as righteous people, even though
we are sinners?
3.
God made both spiritual and earthly promises to Abraham.
Which of those promises relate to us?
4.
Because God’s promise that Abraham and Sarah would
have a son did not immediately come true, what did Sarah
do?
5.
God made an earthly promise to Abraham regarding the
land of Israel. Do we as believers in Christ have a part
in this agreement?
6.
What was the physical sign of God’s covenant with
Abraham and all of his earthly descendants?
7.
Whose son did God say would be the fulfillment of His
promises regarding the Deliverer?
8.
How does Abraham’s offering of Isaac to God remind us
of our salvation through Jesus Christ?
9.
Who can take part in the spiritual promises offered
through the Deliverer, Jesus Christ?
Notes for
Disciples:
1)
Memorize John 6:29. Meditate on this verse, and ask the
Lord to teach you and to enable you to live out this
truth in your own life.
2)
As believers in Christ, we have many things to rejoice
about. Continue to make a “praise list.” Write down
some specific blessings that you have received as a
result of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross for
you.
3)
Continue to read the Gospel of John.