Salvation, Lesson 1: About Jesus and Salvation

How to Use These Notes

 These notes are meant for two audiences.  If you are planning to join the conference call on Tuesday (Oct 20, 2015, 7 p.m.: 907-276-1095 or 1-866-298-1095), please read these notes and reflect on them to best prepare you for the conversation.

If you cannot join the phone call, use these notes to join the online learning community through this blog.  Simply post your comments through the "Comment" function at the bottom of the page.  As you are posting, please remember to deal with one another, "² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  (Ephesians 4:2-3)

If you are a video person, this same content is available in video format here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjiSa3QMVd8 

Your Hopes for this Bible Study.

Why are you taking a look at this Bible study?  Everyone will have there own reasons, of course, but I hope you will begin by thinking about your own motivations for being here.  It is always good to examine what is going on in our own hearts.  This self-awareness helps us to become more aware of what God is doing in us and around us, and also helps us to relate to God and to others more honestly and more effectively.

Throughout this study I will also invite you to share your thoughts by posting them on one of our two comment sites.  It is part of the mystery of God that the Holy Spirit can join us together to build community if we are open to it.  The Bible speaks of this special “community” that the Spirit forms with a Greek word that does not translate well into English.  The word is koinonia.  It is an experience of communion (or connection) between God and the people gathered together.  Indeed, Jesus famously said:

     Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.    (Matthew 18:20)

This teaching was important to the early church and remains important today.  There are a number of New Testament scriptures that reflect the importance of Christian community.  Here is one from the apostle Paul:

     God is faithful; by him you were called into the koinonia of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

            (1 Corinthians 1:9)

I have never been a part of that kind of Christian fellowship through an online format.  So, for me at least, this is a bit of an experiment.  Can we make connections online that are meaningful enough to allow the Holy Spirit to form Christian community out of them?  I suspect we can, although we may discover that we need to adjust how we do things along the way.  Since this is all a grand experiment, we will be learning how to do it as we go.  But to form meaningful community, we do need to share our thoughts, and the thoughts we share need to come from the heart.[1]

So, one of the assumptions of this study is that whether we are gathered together in the same room or gathered together electronically, we can still connect from the heart.  In that way we can be gathered together in Christ’s name.  It is important not to lose track of that reality.  Christians have always proclaimed that God is in heaven, but also that God is everywhere all the time.  We will be exploring more later about why this is so important, but for now let us simply celebrate the joy of being able to connect as God’s people in God’s presence.  I suggest that we begin with the following two-part exercise:

First, celebrate that you are in God’s presence, and that all of us are connected by God’s presence.  You might do that by beginning with a short prayer, followed by reading the following Psalm and sitting with it for a few moments:

Psalm 139:1-18

¹ O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
³ You search out my path and my lying down,
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is so high that I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light around me become night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
¹⁵     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
¹⁷ How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end—I am still with you.

Second, take a moment to think about why you are here, and then post a brief description of your reasons in the comments.  After that, please continue with the lesson.  Please note that I will also post my reasons for this organizing this class in the notes section. 

The two options for sharing comments are these web sites:

http://poyonsalvation.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pbyukonstudies?fref=nf

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Introducing the Need for Salvation

Read Genesis 2:15-17

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Read Genesis 3:1-24—The First Sin and its Punishment

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; ⁵ for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,^[a] knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

⁸ They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” ¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you among all animals
    and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to the man he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
    and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰ The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ²¹ And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

This famous biblical reading is one of the defining scripture passages for Jews and Christians.  Some of us take this passage literally, believing these events literally happened.  Others of us believe God inspired this as a teaching in order for us learn something fundamentally true, even though these exact events probably did not happen.  This is important because it makes clear that people can believe in science, including evolution, and still be biblically guided Christians, while other Christians may think science has this one wrong. Either way, we all believe God inspired this teaching about the nature of our relationship with God, with each other and with the land.  

Salvation is About Restoring all Creation, Including Humans, to Right Relationships

Notice how the relationships changed from Chapter 2 and the beginning of Chapter 3 to the end.

1.     Our readings begin with a description of God’s will (what the New Testament will call The Kingdom of God) for life on earth.

Chapter 2:15  The humans are to live in the garden.  Most scholars believe the Garden stands for God’s creation, with all things living well and in right relationships.  The humans thrive, too, and can eat freely from all the plants except one.  The humans are instructed “till (In Old Testament Hebrew this same word can mean to treat, or care for) the land and keep (or protect) it.”  In turn, the land provides plenty of food for the people—a good relationship.  Similarly, we see that God walks with the humans in the garden, showing an amazing closeness and intimacy between human beings and God.

2.     By disobeying God all relationships are damaged.

a.     With the Devil—Most biblical scholars see the serpent as presence of the Devil.

                                      i.     God is now at odds with the serpent.

                                    ii.     Adam and Eve’s offspring are now at odds with the serpent.

b.     Relationships between husband and wife, and later, between all human beings.

                                      i.     The end of Chapter 2 describes Adam and Eve living well together, ending loneliness.  In Chapter 3 this harmony is damaged, and as later generations are born (the next few chapters), they also find injustice and oppression across all human relationships.

c.     Relationships between Adam, his offspring, and the land, as well as the rest of God’s creation, are damaged. 

d.     Relationships between God and the humans are damaged. 

                                      i.     They no longer walk in intimacy with God, and they are cast out of Eden.

                                    ii.     Now the earth is no longer the place where everything fits God’s will like it does in heaven.  In New Testement terms, the people will now need the prayer Jesus taught us, “…Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

e.     Sickness and Death (as described in Genesis 2:17, above,) are now reality.  Without salvation, death has the potential to separate us from God forever.

3.     God’s salvation is needed to save us from all five of these relational sicknesses.  Take a few moments to think about your own need for salvation in each of these areas.

a.     From the Devil
Jesus called the Devil a murderer and the father of all lies (John 8:44). 

It has been said that we are too quick to face temptations because of what we most desire to be true (our appetites or greed) and what we most fear to be true. 

When have you found that your hungers or desires put you into temptation?
When have you found that your fears or anxieties put you into temptation?

Jesus said that failing to deal well with anger puts our hearts in the same need of salvation as murder (Mt 5:21-22).  Anger is usually about responding to our fears—either what we fear for ourselves or for others.

When has someone taken out their anger or aggression on you?
When have you taken out your anger or aggression on others?

For your own thoughts: in light of this, what kind of salvation do you need?

b.     Healing of Relationships between Human Beings: in the Family, or in Society

What prayers of concern do you lift up for yourself or your family?

What prayers of concern do you lift up for your community?

What prayers of concern do you lift up for the societies of the world?

c.     Healing of the Relationships between Humanity and God’s Creation.

A number of scripture passages tell us that when humanity most strays from God’s ways, the rest of creation is affected and begins to affect humanity (Genesis 6-7, Job 12:7-10, Joel, Romans 8:19-22, many places in Psalms, etc.).

Where do you see signs that God’s creation is suffering right now?

What are your prayers for God’s creation?

d.     Healing of Relationships between people and God.

As in all of these five areas of salvation, there is a personal side to this and a social side.  We need personal salvation—God’s love received personally, and a personal relationship with God.  However, we are called to be a part of the family of God—not lone rangers of spirituality.  Beyond that, we are to carry the good news of salvation to all, because all need it and long for it.

How is your relationship with God?

Where is your koinonia community (sometimes called soul friends)?

How are we Christians doing in spreading the good news?

e.     Healing our givenness to sickness and death.

How worried are you about your own health, or your own mortality?

Is there anyone you are particularly concerned about regarding their health, their mortality, or their grieving?

4.     The salvation of Jesus Christ addresses all of these needs for salvation.  We will be looking at these different areas of salvation a bit at a time in each lesson.  Today’s lesson is just meant to serve as an overview.  In Jesus Christ God gave the fullness of salvation!     

For today, let me end by pointing out how the four Gospels of the Bible introduced Jesus’ salvation.  We can get a first taste of what each gospel writer chose to use as an introuduction to Jesus and his salvation by looking in at each gospel in two places.  First in the very first chapter of their writing they had to set the stage for the whole gospel of Jesus.  Then, they made some very specific choices about how to describe Jesus’ first actions in his adult ministry.  By looking there, even in this first lesson, we can begin to see the depth and the breadth of the salvation of Jesus Christ.  Take a look:

a.     Matthew

                                      i.     Chapter 1:  Jesus’ genealogy shows that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy
                   of the expected Savior/Messiah.

                                    ii.     Jesus’ adult ministry debut (Chapter 4:17):  Jesus said this:
     Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
     (Notice the connection to restoring what was lost by being cast out of the
     Garden of Eden!)

b.     Mark

                                      i.     Chapter 1: John the Baptist prophesied the coming of Jesus, then saw the Trinity at Jesus’ baptism (Father, Son and Spirit), all bearing witness to Jesus.

                                    ii.     Jesus’ adult ministry debut (Chapter 1:14): Jesus said this:
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.

c.     Luke

                                      i.     Chapter 1: the prophecy to Mary and Elizabeth and the miraculous birth,
                  marking Jesus as the Savior. 

                                    ii.     Jesus’ adult ministry debut (Lk 4:16-19)—
  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
     ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
         because he has anointed me
             to bring good news to the poor.
     He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
         and recovery of sight to the blind,
             to let the oppressed go free,
    ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

[This Isaiah reading proclaims salvation for the poor, sick, oppressed, for
economic injustice, for those out of favor with God, and for the land (that’s also in the year of the Lord’s favor, as we shall see in later lessons.)]

d.     John

                                      i.     Chapter 1: Begins with a hymn poetically describing Jesus as Word, as light in
                 the  darkness, as one with Creator, incarnate in the flesh, with the
                 power  to cause those who believe to become children of God,
                 surpassing the law and the prophets, full of grace and truth.

                                    ii.     Jesus’ Adult Ministry Debut:  Jesus miraculously turned water to wine at a

wedding.  This allowed the poorest of people to provide hospitality and receive honor instead of shame.  It also demonstrates, rather than states in words, that The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand—where there is no shame or loss of status, or damage in relationships because we don’t have enough or are not good enough, and where there is hospitality for all, because God provides what we cannot.

Last Thoughts

One of the things that prompted me to put this study together was a statement by one person.  He said, “Salvation is about going to heaven when I die.  I get that.  But right now I have some more immediate things to deal with.”

Clearly, salvation is about a lot more than what happens when we die.  It is about that, too, of course, but there is so much more.  So, with that in mind, I want to end with this quote from the apostle Paul.  In Ephesians 3, Paul explains how God has so blessed him with meaningful life and ministry, even though he was guilty of great sin.  He then goes on to say this:

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,^{[ 15} from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶ I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This is a good prayer to end this lesson with.  We can think about all of this, and it is important that we do.  But when we begin to actually experience the grace of God that we are talking about, the love of God that surpasses knowledge. 

Salvation is not about being smarter than the average person so we can “believe right.”  It is about opening ourselves to God for something beyond knowledge.  The old English root word that we now call “believe” originally meant to “belove.”  It is about where we put our trust as we live out our lives, because of this beloved relationship.  It is my hope that these conversations will open us, with all the saints, to the breadth and length and height and depth of the salvation of Jesus Christ.

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[1] Sharing, by the way, is one of the major biblical concepts for Christian community and the way of the world that God is bringing about.  The Bible calls this way The Kingdom of God.