Jesus the Christ: Kingship

1 Samuel 8 | The people of Israel do not want what is given to them, 8:7. God had given them all of the leadership that they needed through the Judges and the Lord’s words to them. They in turn ask for what they think to be more, but is actually something far less than the good that God had given them. And this theme runs rampant in our lives. We reject what God has given us because we think that what we want is something better. And we see a similar rejection to the one in 1 Sam. take place with Jesus and His Kingship.

The Jews might have been insulted to think that Jesus, a                                                      carpenter’s son, could be their promised King.

– Sign of mockery on the Cross
-“Are you king of the Jews?”

Jesus’ triumphal entry demonstrates His Kingship in a very powerfully humble way. John 12:12 people laid down palm branches. A symbol triumph from the time of the Maccabees. (Trent’s favorite book of the Bible) But, to juxtapose this Jesus rode in not on a powerful steed but on a donkey. A lowly donkey. Jesus knew what He came to do, but once again the people did not understand.

What is the Biblical idea of a kingdom? Not so much a geographic region as much as it is a sphere of the Royalty’s influence. Once again, a very encouraging thing to understand as we work to see the Lord’s relationship and interaction with us. As God is omnipotent all is within His sphere of influence.

Christ’s Kingdom: Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. What does that mean for us? (Share any stories from last week. Examples of building the Kingdom.)

Mark 1:15 – Kingdom of God is near.

Mark 15:2 – Jesus tells us that He is the King.

We can experience the power of His reign as we obey Him. When Christ                            comes again we will see the Kingdom in full power.

God & Jesus: An Intimate Relationship

A look at divine community.  John 1:1-3. Use this lesson as an opportunity to know better the way that the Father and the Son interact with each other and then how we can live better in community.

Evidences for plurality when speaking of God OT:

– Genesis 1:26 – Let us make man in our own image, after Our likeness
– Genesis 3:22 – “Like one of Us”
– Genesis 11:7 – “Let Us go down”
– Isaiah 6:8 – “Who will go for Us?”

These are all beautiful examples of the openness of communication that                              exists between the Father and the Son and the Spirit. For right now,                          however, we are only focusing on the Father and the Son. There is a                                    consent between the Trinity about the actions that are taken. Isaiah 6:8                             clearly points to the unity which exists in Their desire for the Father’s                               glory.

We can be most unified when we are in agreement about working together                          in order to bring God more glory.

Evidences for plurality of Persons in the NT:

–1 Corinthians 8:4-6 – One God, and recognition of the Lordship of Jesus.
– Ephesians 4:3-6 – Again, pointing to oneness.
– James 2:19 – Same as above
– John 6:27 – Seeing the Father is God
– Matthew 9:4 – Jesus possessed traits only existent in God
– Matthew 28:18-20 – God’s traits displayed in the Great Commission.

Seeing the unique roles that are filled by the different Persons of the                                    Trinity.

Timothy Keller quote about the Trinity. And how does this apply to us and our   community relationships with each other? Common Goal, breaking bread, prayer, etc.

God & His Nature: Love

Examining the relationship between God and Love

• Love of God – God’s desiring for us to be fulfilled in Him and for His glory to be pronounced loudly.
• 1 John 4:8 – God is love. This phrase is not reversible.
• One of the really amazing parts of love to me is how it is so intricately connected to His other attributes i.e. grace, mercy, kindness, justice.
• Understanding what love is and how God is love helps better know how to act and behave. As well as provides us with the security of knowing that God acts out of towards us.

Focus on 1 John 4:7-21: Love is a tremendous gift from God. Only in God                              does love truly exist.

The Ahavah Initiative

Something incredibly radical takes place here in verses 10&11. This is so radical because it changes the way we might understand love. Love is not a kind of human outpouring of affection to God. But love first comes from God to us, then we might pass true love to others. Because, and only because of the Lord’s love to us are we capable of loving others and Him.

One of the most frustrating parts of love is that it is best defined by listing its attributes. And we see these listed in 1 Corinthians 13. (Read) It is much like identifying a painting in a museum. It is recognized by its attributes, i.e. a frame, brush strokes, etc. Love is similar in that we can see something and go “Ah, that is love.” How do we know? Because it fits what the Lord says about love here, here, and here. This love that God possesses is shown to us most perfectly through the atonement of our sins, paid by the blood of Christ on the Cross.

Q.) How do we know if we have acted in a way of love towards other people?
Q.) How do we know God’s love for us?

King Solomon – The Wisest Man Who Ever Lived (minus Jesus)

Background: Solomon is now King of Israel as opposed to any of David’s other sons, as promised by the Lord. He has just recently been appointed King after Adonijah, David’s fourth and oldest living son, tried to take the throne. He then was married to Pharaoh’s daughter, forming an alliance with Egypt.

+ Summarize I Kings 3: 2-15 for the guys. Bear in mind that we have some ground to cover Scripturally in this bible study.

Everyone knows this story, but I want to point out the significance of Solomon asking for wisdom and being granted it for the basis of the study.

Discuss anything you would like from this passage.

For the remainder of the bible study, we will be doing a short word study on wisdom. What it means, what its application is, and debunking any assumptions about it. So Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. But what really is wisdom?

{The Origins of Wisdom} Read Proverbs 8: 22-31

Discuss any initial reactions.

Talking points:

• Wisdom here is portrayed as a woman. She was with the Lord in the beginning, and with her, God created everything. I think it is interesting to point out that the Lord was not wise, as in wise in character. But rather, He used wisdom. Wisdom is something to use, not to be. Wisdom is gained, not a part of someone. We will go deeper into that later.
• Talk about how daily wisdom was the Lord’s delight. What does that mean? How can using wisdom daily bring us joy?

{The Characteristics of Wisdom} Read Proverbs 8: 1-21

Discuss anything that stuck out to the guys. Probably spend the most time on this section, possibly going through it verse by verse to see what we can ascertain from this passage.

Main talking points:

• Verses 1-4 – Wisdom is made readily available to anyone. Anyone of us can search it out and find it if we want. It literally calls out to us in the streets.
• Verse 11 – Do we truly value wisdom as more precious than jewels? Do we understand the significance of being wise?
• Characteristics of Wisdom: Knowledge and Discretion are key. Hates Pride and Arrogance. Wisdom is powerful. Rulers and Kings rule by it. Those who seek will find it. Is essential to walking in righteousness.

{The Importance of Wisdom} Read Job 28: 20-28 

Discuss any initial reactions.

Talking points:

• Man has sought wisdom everywhere in the previous verses, but has not found it. Therefore, wisdom is not found in any place of this world or that man has made. Wisdom, the rhetorical answer here, is found in the Lord alone.
• Verses 25-26 – What does this tell us about wisdom? It is used to quell powerful forces. The rain and lightning are two extremely powerful forces of nature that man has never been able to control. But God did, with wisdom. Therefore, when things are out of control in our life, we can use wisdom.
• Verses 27-28 – The Lord tested wisdom as said above, and saw it as good. So why then did God draw the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? Discuss what this means.

{The Outcome of Wisdom} And finally, read 1 Kings 10:1-13 

Basically, talk about how wise Solomon must be for a Queen from a long way off to hear about his wisdom. Then see the two things the Queen notices from his wisdom.

Two Traits:

1. She sees how all the detail by which he keeps his house in order. In our lives, the outcome of us using wisdom should be order in our lives and a lack of chaos.
2. She sees how happy his subjects are. When we use wisdom correctly, we bring joy to those around us, and people are made happy by our actions in wisdom.

Moses – What Does it Take for us to Believe in God?

Numbers 20: 1-13

I want to begin by establishing Moses’ credibility before we look at his major downfall. Open up by reading these three verses.

Numbers 12:3 – “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.”

Exodus 33:11 – “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.”

Deuteronomy 34: 10-12 – “Since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord know face to face, for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against the Pharaoh, al his servants, and all his land, and for the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of Israel.”

What type of prophet was Moses? What can we say about Moses’ legacy?

Ok, now let’s dive into the text.

Read Numbers 20: 1-13. I would recommend having one guy read it out loud, then spend a couple minutes of silence thinking about the passage.

Talk about everyone’s initial reaction to God’s proclamation in verse 12. Do we think this is fair? Is this too strict? Is it just? Discuss.

Implications here: This is the beginning of the end for the Israelites in the wilderness. At this point, they had been in the wilderness for 37-40 years. Moses had been leading them all this time. Now, God is not allowing him to enter the Promised Land because of this mistake. One commentator put it this way:

“Here’s the mighty Moses, who confronted Pharaoh, arranged the Ten Plagues, split the Red Sea, brought the Torah down from Mount Sinai, and defended the people through trials and tribulations in the desert. Now he makes one little mistake, and God takes away his dream of entering Israel. The consequence seems inappropriately harsh!”

Alright, let’s backtrack a bit. Reread verses 3-5. Israel is complaining and grumbling again. Typical Israel. I searched “grumbled” on BibleGateway. This is what I found.

Exodus 15:24 
So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?

Exodus 16:2
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 17:3
But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Numbers 14:2
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!

Numbers 14:29
In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.

Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the LORD’s people,” they said.

Deuteronomy 1:27
You grumbled in your tents and said, “The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.

So basically, nothing new. I am sure Moses is sick of this by now. Now, let’s look at God’s specific response and instructions to Moses in verse 8. He said speak to the rock, not hit it.

Brainstorm and discuss some ideas as to why Moses hit the rock. Two big ones stick out to me initially:

Pride: read verse 10 and notice the words he uses “shall we bring forth water…?” Moses accredits the miracle to him, not the Lord.

Unbelief: verse 12 shows that Lord think that Moses did not believe in Him.

Dr. Constable – “Moses did more than God told him to do. He failed to believe that God’s way was best and took matters into his own hands. His motives may have been one or more of the following. He may have had a desire for the greater glory of God. He may have been proud or may have relied on his own ability to work miracles. We know he was impatient with the Israelites’ complaining and felt frustrated by their slowness to learn a lesson God had previously taught them (cf. Ps. 106:32-33). In any case he failed to accept God’s will as best, and this is unbelief.”

Let’s look at one more possibility. Read Exodus 17: 1-7. This is the exact same place as in Numbers. What conclusions can we draw from there? Discuss.

Conclusion: Warren Wiersbe – “Evidently Moses, in his frustration with the people, thought that he was the performer of the miracle rather than only God’s instrument. This is a common error in modern ministry, and it still produces great frustration: thinking that we need to be manufacturers rather than simply distributors of blessing to others.”

We see from verse 12 that the Lord declared that it was Moses’ unbelief that caused him to sin and suffer the consequence of not being allowed to enter the Promised Land. And this is after Moses had been besties with God for a long time. He talked with God face to face. He had a real, personal relationship with the Lord. If Moses did not have belief, what chance do we have?

This is where we can conclude with encouragement. Have some guys, hopefully all, discuss an event in their life where they saw God or had God move in extraordinary ways that they will remember as evidence for God’s provision. God is real. Hopefully there are some sweet stories. Boom shaka daka.