Lenox Federated Church - Firm Foundations, Creation to Christ

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Firm Foundations

Creation to Christ

Lesson 44 - Jesus Loved the Children and

Taught the Rich Young Ruler

Questions for the LFC Firm Foundations Coordinator may be emailed to firmfoundations@lenoxchurch.org

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REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. Who has the power to give and to take life? God does.

2. Will all people be raised from the dead and judged by God? Yes, all people, whether they believe God’s words or not, will one day be raised from the dead and judged by God.

3. Why didn’t Lazarus have to wait until the final day to be raised? Because Jesus was there, and He is God. He created all things, so He is able to give life to the dead.

4. What did Jesus mean when He said that those who believe in Him will never die? Jesus meant that they will never be separated from God in the fire of everlasting punishment.

5. Did Jesus know before He got to Bethany that Lazarus had died? Yes, He is God. He knows everything.

6. Why did Jesus plan to raise Lazarus back to life? To demonstrate His power so that people would see how great and mighty God really is.

7. Why did Jesus cry? Because He was sad to see the problems which sin and death have caused all people, and He identified with the grief of the people.

8. Why weren’t the priests and Pharisees happy to see Jesus performing these great miracles? They were afraid the people might make Jesus king and that the Romans would blame the Jewish leaders and remove them from their position of power and wealth.

9. Who was leading these men? Satan.

10. Why does Satan want to make people believe in reincarnation? He wants them to think that they will not have to suffer judgment for their sins and eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire.

A well-dressed young businessman entered the waiting room of a prestigious corporate office. He presented his card to the receptionist who graciously offered him coffee and asked him to have a seat while she checked to see if the president would speak with him. After a while, he was ushered into the president’s office and allowed to discuss business with him. The president was cordial and listened to the young man, but after a short time the visit was politely terminated. As the young man walked out the door of the president’s office, he was almost knocked over by a little boy coming in. The little fellow stopped briefly to apologize and then ran on into his dad’s office where he was immediately received by his father’s welcoming hug. As the young businessman sadly exited the waiting room, the secretary put her head into the president’s office and said with a grin, “I see that your next client made it in okay!” “He’s the kind I want,” said the president, still hugging his son. “He came to see me. The other guy just wanted to impress me with what he thought he could do.”

The disciples did not think that Jesus would want to take the time to show love and care for little children.

Jesus loves children. He wants them to believe His Word and trust in Him, too.

- All of us are born sinners and are under the power of Satan and death.

- The only way any of us, young or old, can be rescued is by putting our trust in Jesus as our Savior.

Those who are unwilling to come to God and trust in Him like a little child will not enter Heaven.

- Consider:

A little baby just rests in your arms. He’s not afraid of being dropped. He trusts you to hold him and take care of him. When you were a baby, you didn’t even ask your parents questions. You just believed whatever they told you. You didn’t try to figure things out for yourself. But, as you grew older, you became more independent. Certainly, we should become responsible as adults. But God did not design us to be independent of Him. He made man in His image, to know, love, and obey Him. As sinners, we cannot do that. We are separated from God by our sins .We are naturally independent and self-centered. Somehow, we think that if there is any change to take place in our lives, it is up to us to do all the work. That is not the message of the Gospel. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He said that we must be born again. Just as it is impossible for anyone to bring about his own physical birth, so it is impossible for us to bring about our own spiritual birth.

God alone is able to give us new life; He alone can save us from the penalty of our sins. That is why He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world.

Because we are so independent and want to be in control of everything that happens to us, we may find it very difficult to accept the simplicity of the Gospel. That is why Jesus said we must come to Him in childlike dependence. Many people will go to Hell because they simply will not trust God and His Word. But when anyone humbles himself and believes God’s Word like a little child, God saves that person from the control of Satan, sin, and death.

This young man thought that he could please God and gain entrance to God’s kingdom by his own goodness and obedience to God’s laws.

- He thought that, by doing good things, he could be good enough to deserve eternal life.

- This is why he asked Jesus what he had to do to earn everlasting life.

- Recall:

This young man was like Cain. Cain thought that, by bringing the things which he had grown to God, he could obtain God’s favor. But did God accept Cain because of the things which he brought? No!

This young man did not understand that no man had ever been good enough to please God.

- He didn’t realize that God is the only one who is good.

- He thought that he was good, and he thought that Jesus was just another good man like himself.

- Even though he did not realize that Jesus was God, he called Jesus good.

- When Jesus answered him, He wasn’t denying that He Himself was good or that He was God.

- But Jesus wanted the young man to realize that no ordinary man is good.

If this young man believed that Jesus was good, then he should also have realized that Jesus was God, for the only one who is good is God.

This young man did not realize:

- That he was born a sinner

- That he was born under Satan’s control

- Therefore, he could never perfectly obey God’s laws and so please God. God says that there is not one person on earth who is good and does what is right in His sight. No one, except Jesus, has perfectly obeyed God’s laws. This man thought he had kept the Ten Commandments perfectly because he had obeyed them outwardly. But even if he did obey the laws of God outwardly, he had not obeyed them in his heart. Jesus had already taught the meaning of the Law by explaining that:

- If a person hates another in his heart, he has committed murder.

- If a man looks at a woman and desires her, he has committed adultery in God’s sight.

God doesn’t judge a person according to his outward acts alone. In Hebrews 4:12, we are told that God knows a person’s inner thoughts, attitudes, and desires.

- If a person plans to take something which belongs to someone else, he has stolen.

- If an adult or a child outwardly submits to someone’s authority but is angry in his heart or obeys grudgingly, he has sinned before God. God did not give His laws to Israel because He thought that they could obey them. Rather, God gave the Ten Commandments to prove to them and to us that all have sinned and come short of God’s standard of goodness.

- Illustration:

This is just a story to illustrate what the Bible teaches about this subject. The people in a little town decided to hold a special contest to see if anyone could jump across the narrow spot in the stream that flowed alongside the town. Many people trained for weeks. The children practiced their running jumps at school. Some of them were very good jumpers. A few of the adults were very serious about training and worked out every day developing their jumping muscles under the guidance of a trainer. Even some of the elderly people thought they might like to try. They enjoyed getting together and cheering each other as they practiced their jumps. When the big day came, a starting place was marked on one side of the stream and a landing place was marked on the other side. All those who had trained, young and old, came. Many other people also decided at the last minute to try the jump just for fun.

But the stream was quite wide, even at the narrowest place. One after another, the jumpers made their running start, jumped, and fell in the water, far short of the other side. Young and old, trained and untrained, those who were trying hard and those who just did it for the fun of it—all of them missed the mark on the other side.

- Consider:

This is how it is with God’s laws. Even those who try very hard are not able to obey them perfectly as God demands. We have all failed to reach God’s standard of goodness and perfection.

You may think that you are a good person and that you do not deserve to go to Hell. Nevertheless, you, too, have failed to do what God requires. It is impossible for us to please God by our own efforts because we are born descendants of Adam and are separated from God.

- God looks at our hearts and sees the wickedness.

- We can never earn God’s favor by our own efforts.

“Then Jesus beholding him loved him....”

Jesus loved this young man even though the man was proud and did not see himself as a sinner as God saw him. God loves each of us, even though He knows that we are sinners. He does not want us to be separated from Him forever.

Jesus told this wealthy man to sell all of his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor.

- Jesus knew that the man was covetous and loved his riches more than he loved his fellowman.

- Jesus was trying to show him that he had broken God’s law which says that we must love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.

- Jesus wanted him to admit that he was a sinner and needed a Savior.

Jesus also told him that he should leave his home and follow Jesus, because Jesus is God.

- Jesus knew that this man loved his wealth more than he loved God.

- The first great commandment of God says that we must love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, and that we must not put anything or anyone in the place of God. Jesus was trying to help this young man realize that he had put his wealth in the place of God.

- He had broken God’s laws, and therefore, he was a condemned sinner in the sight of God.

- Jesus wanted him to realize that he could not be accepted by God for the things he did. He was already dead to God and rejected by Him.

No one has given God the place in his life which God should have. The payment for this is death, separation from God in the place of punishment.

- God will not overlook the payment for our sin.

- He will never forgive us unless the full payment for sin has been made.

Is there any way that our sin can be paid for so that we can be saved from the everlasting fire?

Yes, there is! That is what Jesus came to do!

This rich young ruler had made his choice.

- He chose his riches, which he could only enjoy in this life, and he turned away from life forever with God.

- He was sad because, although he wanted eternal life, he loved his money more than he loved God or people.

- He did not want to do what Jesus told him. Maybe you are like this young man and think that the most important thing in life is to get rich.

When you die, however, you will not be able to take any of your wealth with you. The rich and the poor are the same in the sight of God. The important thing to God is not our material possessions, but whether we are ready to listen to His words and believe Him.

Do you remember our reading from God’s Word how Jesus had fed five thousand men with five loaves and two small fish? Following this, the people came looking for Jesus, hoping to get some more food.

Do you remember what Jesus said to them?

QUESTIONS:

1. Did Jesus care for children?

2. Do children need to be rescued from the power of Satan, sin, and death?

3. What did Jesus mean when He said that we must become as little children if we are to enter His kingdom?

4. How did the young man who came to Jesus think he would please God and get into Heaven?

5. Was Jesus saying that He isn’t good and that He is not God when He said to the rich young man, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone”?

6. What did Jesus want this young man to understand?

7. Why did this young man go away sad?

8. Did Jesus say it is sinful to be rich?

9. What is far more important than working for the riches of this world?

Suggested Daily Bible Readings:

Day 216: Isaiah, Chapters 5 and 6

Day 217: Isaiah, Chapters 7 and 8

Day 218: Isaiah, Chapters 9 and 10

Day 219: Isaiah, Chapters 11 and 12

Day 220: Isaiah, Chapters 52 and 53