The Son of God Among Us . . . OR . . . Seeing God Up Close

Sabbath School Class—Life as Discovery and Hope
July 26, 2008
Larry R Evans, D.Min.

Quiz for Reflection

1. “Who was Jesus?” and “Who are we?” are unrelated questions? True or False?

2. The miracles of Jesus were not critical to the fulfillment of His mission on earth. True or False?

3. Jesus had political power and influence while living among us. True or False?

4. The miracles done by Jesus demonstrated that “doing” was superior to “being.” True or False?

5. Our attitude towards others is a revelation of who we are. True or False?

6. In the mind of Jesus, leaders who made mistakes were hypocrites and should not be trusted with the spiritual welfare of others. True or False?

7. Hypocrites are hurt the most by their own hypocrisy. True or False?

8. “When people refuse to listen, they are not rejecting us personally; they are rejecting Jesus.” True or False?

Reflective Review

This is not a lesson study about theory. This is all about seeing God as though He were living with us. It is seeing God close up as he lived in a sinful environment just as we do today. His “worldview” differed from ours and because of that He reacted in uncommon ways. He was not always understood even by those who professed to follow Him. Because He saw things differently He responded differently to those around Him including those who cursed and betrayed Him. Note what Miroslav Kĭs wrote, “Jesus focuses His attention and His care on human beings before He reacts to their ways. He studies and identifies with their needs before responding to them and before dismantling their strange and harmful coping mechanisms. The Master does not begin with seeing them as drunkards or criminals. Rather, He first regards them as people who resort to drinking, who develop addictions, who act violently, and in the process hurt themselves as well as others.” (Miroslav Kĭs in Follow Me, p.30) Furthermore, “. . . Jesus did not fit. He had no skills to outsmart, outwit, or manipulate His way through the ‘real world.’ Nor did He resort to lies as a means to produce good, to cheating for gain, to compromise when justice hung in the balance. Mary and Joseph had not raised Him streetwise. They had directed His mind toward wisdom from above—wisdom that ‘is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity’ (James 3:17).” (Ibid, p.28)

As we study this lesson let’s keep in mind the context of the quarter’s emphasis. We are attempting to gain insights into some of the greatest missionaries known and how they went about their mission. This lesson is no exception. I would encourage you to ask yourself, “Is my world view the same as Jesus’? and “Would it be more profitable for me to work on changing my world view before I attempt to change my behavioral patterns?”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Preparing a People

[ There will be no additional study notes this week.] October 10, 2009 Larry R Evans Reflective Introduction It has been said that “A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.” (Marcus Aurelius Antonius). Think about that a moment in the context of our lesson for this week. God in His infinite wisdom knew precisely what unbridled human nature is capable of doing. With this large desert-wandering congregation now freed from slavery, He sought to establish a sense of community among His people—a kind of community that would stick together in the coming promised land. Wolves would arise among the sheep. He knew that. He anticipated this happening so rules were created to protect the sheep though even then His rules were open to abuse. The family unit was the foundation for this new community yet it was the very object of attack. Infidelity and distrust within the family happened and still happens today. Is there any hope? The lesson today is f...
Read more

Who Was Jesus?

Sabbath School Class—Life as Discovery and Hope April 5, 2008 Larry R Evans Due to travel and various appointments there will be no additional class notes this week. See Reflective Review below. Quiz for Reflection 1. The disciples, as students of Scripture, recognized that Elijah was to return. [Mt 16:13-15; 1 Ki 18:16-46; Mal 4:5,6] True or False? 2. Prophetically speaking, Christ was Elijah. [Mal 4:5,6; Jn 1:19-23; Mk 1:2-8] True or False? 3. The Bible teaches supernaturalism—a foundational presupposition of biblical faith. [Mt 1:20,21; 1 Cor 15:13; 1 Thess 4:13-18] True or False? 4. Emphasizing the historical aspects of one’s faith is a 20 th century phenomena. [Deut 6:4-12; 1 Cor 11:23-26] True or False? 5. Coming to Jesus is a personal decision and not a theological one. [Mt 11:28; 16:13-20] True or False? 6. It is more difficult to accept Jesus today as the Messiah than it was in His own day? True or...
Read more

“Jesus and the Johannine Letters” OR How to Respond in Times of a Church Crisis

[Due to other responsibilities there will no additional study notes this week] July 4, 2009 Larry R Evans Introductory Reflections We now begin a series of studies of 1,2 and 3John. We will discover how the Apostle’s close relationship with Jesus for 3 ½ years gave him the necessary footing to withstand Satan’s onslaught of the truth that Jesus came to establish. Later on the Apostle Paul would say of his time “the secret power of lawlessness” (NIV) or “the mystery of iniquity” (KJV) was already at work! (2 Thess. 2: 7. We will gain valuable insights into what our response should be today in light of Satan’s persistent effort to dilute and confuse the truth even by those who profess to believe. (1 Jn. 1:6,8,10). The circumstances or heresy may be different but the principles for us to follow remain. Three vital responses need to be considered: How will we personally respond to the sacrifice of Christ for us?; When facing a church crisis what attitude and what ki...
Read more