Lesson 1-A: God is Calling Us
Purpose: to acquaint the disciple with God's holiness and the meaning of sin, to bring him to true repentance.
Objectives:
1. to help the disciple see God's holiness
2. to define sin
3. to define true repentance and bring the disciple to that point
4. to show that through true repentance and faith we become a child of God
Introduction: In the next few times we get together we are going
to look at who God is. We cannot define God completely, but
we can see what some of His attributes are. And as we get to know God,
we'll also learn more about ourselves and how we can
relate to Him.
Q. Do you understand what we mean by an attribute of God?
A. An attribute is a character trait. God's attributes are the character qualities He has chosen to reveal of Himself to man.
Read Isaiah 6:3
Q. What adjective is used to describe God here?
A. Holy
Q. What does holiness mean?
A. It means something special, sacred, unique,
or "set apart" from the imperfect, the highest standard of right and
good.
Q. Have you ever thought much about what God's
holiness means? Sometimes we put so much emphasis on Him as
a loving, close Father that we forget He is
also the almighty, perfect, holy Lord of Creation. What do you think the
attribute of God's holiness means?
A. God's holiness is not something we can fully
define. This attribute of God distinguishes Him from us in that He is
totally perfect, pure, and complete. The word
"holy" means separate. It connotes that God is separate from and
exalted above all His creatures.
Read Psalm 99:1-5
Q. What should our response be to God's holiness?
A. We should praise, worship, and exalt Him (vv. 3,5).
Let's look at some of the other implications God's holiness has for our lives.
Read Psalm 5:4-5
Q. Because of God's holiness, how does God feel about evil and sin?
A. He does not take pleasure in it. He hates it. He cannot allow evil in His presence.
Read Leviticus 20:26
Q. What does God's holiness demand on our part?
A. Holiness or perfection.
Q. This sounds like an awfully high standard. Why do you think God would demand holiness on our part?
A. He cannot allow evil in His presence because
it would defile His holy character; therefore, He cannot have
fellowship with us unless we too are holy.
Where does this leave man? Can we ever come into God's presence?
Let's look back to the time of creation to understand more about our present position.
Read Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7
Q. According to these verses what is God's relationship to man?
A. God is our Creator.
Q. If you create something, you have the right
to direct it as its owner. Does that mean that God rightfully owns us?
(Psalm 139:13-16).
A. Yes
Q. What does it mean to you that God is your owner?
A. God has the right to do whatever He wants
with you. This does not mean that God wants man to be a puppet. It
means that God wants man to live his life
in obedience to God's plan. After all, He made us and knows what will
ultimately be the best for us. The final authority
in man's life is not himself, but God.
Read Genesis 2:15-17
Q. What did God do to test man's obedience to His authority?
A. He told man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Q. What would happen if he disobeyed?
A. He would die.
Read Genesis 3:1-7
Q. When man ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what had he done?
A. Disobeyed God and rebelled against Him.
God had given man a perfect environment,
a perfect mate, and a perfect challenge or job. By yielding himself to
God's gracious control, man would have
had a life of intimate fellowship with God and a life of perfect peace
and
happiness. But man rebelled against God's
holiness, leadership, and provision and tried to become his own god.
Q. God said that Adam and Eve would die if they rebelled and ate from the tree. How did they die?
A. Adam and Eve
died spiritually at that moment: and, because of their sin, they would
now have to
face physical
death as well. Thus, their sin disrupted their perfect fellowship with
God and placed a
barrier between
God and themselves.
Q. Do men still
rebel against God? Can you think of any evidence of man's rebellion against
God in the
world today
(try thinking of some from the newspaper)? In your school? dorm? church?
In your own
life?
A. [Be sure it's
made clear in your discussion that men still sin and rebel against God.
Possibly share
some struggles
from your own life.]
Q. How are we to know what is right and wrong?
A. God's holiness
and righteousness set the standard of right and wrong. He has revealed
His will to us
throughout the
Scriptures, with the most explicit definition of sin being given in the
familiar ten
commandments
(Exodus 20). Jesus summarized this Law with the Law of Love (Matthew 22:37-40).
Q. What exactly is sin?
A. Sin is "missing
the mark" of God's standard of righteousness - either by violating His
Law or failing
to live up to
His standards of love and holiness.
Q. Why do you think men still sin and rebel against God?
A. [Make your own observations]
Let's turn to Psalm 51:5 to find out why.
Q. In what state is man born?
A. In sin.
After Adam's rebellion we all inherited
his disposition towards sin; thus, we continue to rebel against God,
to choose our will over God's will.
You remember we said that because of God's
holiness He could not accept sin in His presence and that because
man is sinful we cannot come into God's
presence. Therefore, God has taken the initiative to provide a way for
man to come to Him and to return control
of his life to Him - without violating His holiness.
Read 1 Peter 3:18
Q. What did Christ do to bring us to God?
A. He died for our sins.
Q. How many of our sins did He die for?
A. All of them, past, present, and future.
Q. How did Christ's death make it possible for sinful man to come before a holy God?
A. God satisfied
His holiness and justice by pouring out His wrath against our sin upon
Christ instead of
upon us. But
although He has paid the penalty of our sin through Christ and thus has
provided a pardon
for us, we will
continue to fall under His wrath unless we accept the pardon by meeting
certain
conditions.
Read Acts 3:19
Q. What must we do in order to be forgiven or pardoned for our sins?
A. Repent.
Q. What does it mean to repent?
A. The word means
to change one's mind. Thus, it expresses an attitude of a willingness to
change.
Repentance involves
a desire and willingness to turn away from sin to follow Christ [see optional
illustration
at the end of the lesson].
Read 2 Corinthians 7:9-10
Q. The sorrow of the Corinthians led to repentance, but is sorrow for sins the same as repentance?
A. No, sorrow
may be involved in repentance or lead to repentance; but a person could
be sorrowful
over his sin
without being willing to change (which is repentance).
Q. It isn't enough
just to be sorry for your sins; you have to be willing to turn away from
them to trust
Christ. Have
you ever been sorry for your sins without really intending to change your
ways? Do you
think you were
truly sorry then? truly repentant?
Q. Why is there no regret in true repentance? (vs. 10)
A. It leads to eternal salvation. (That is, to personal and eternal fellowship with God.)
Read Ephesians 2:8-9
Q. How are we saved?
A. Through faith.
Q. Can we save ourselves?
A. No, salvation comes only by grace as a free gift, not as a result of works.
Q. If man could save himself what would happen?
A. He would boast and not give God the honor and worship He is due.
Q. What is faith?
A. Resting completely
in the sufficiency of God's gracious redemption in Christ to save you from
sin
and to give
you the gift of eternal life without charge.
Q. On what do we base our faith in God?
A. The promises and facts of God's Word - faith is not a blind leap in the dark.
Q. What is the relationship between faith and repentance? (Mark 1:14,15).
A. First we have
a willingness to turn away from our sins (repentance), and then we trust
Christ to
accomplish for
us what we could not (faith). The result is our salvation.
God in His wisdom has offered the gift of
forgiveness and salvation only to those who trust Him. As long as a man
still has confidence in his ability to
make himself acceptable to God, he will continue trusting in himself and
will
not yield his will to God. But when he
admits there is nothing he can do but trust God to give him forgiveness
in
Christ, and when he is willing to turn
from his sins to follow Christ, then he comes to the point of true repentance
and faith. Thus, to become a Christian
and to receive salvation, we must truly repent of our sin and place our
faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our
Lord and Savior.
Q. Have you ever truly repented of your sins and trusted in Christ for your salvation?
Read Acts 3:19
Q. What did Peter say would be the result of genuine repentance and faith in the risen Christ?
A. A return or
conversion to God.
Assignment: Write down what you learn about God and yourself
from Isaiah 40.
Illustration of Conversion:
Dwight L. Moody gave a good illustration of
conversion from his own experience. Once he got on a train to return to
Chicago after a sales trip and fell asleep.
When he awoke he became aware that the stations being called were in
the wrong direction and that he was not on
the train for which he had purchased a ticket. He immediately felt deep
sorrow about his mistake. Soon the conductor
came to collect tickets and Moody offered to pay for the ride. While
that was evidence of a repentant attitude,
it was not conversion. However, when the train arrived at the next station,
Moody got off and boarded another train in
the opposite direction toward Chicago. That, said Moody, is conversion.
Illustration of Faith: (from Evangelism Explosion)
Point to an empty chair and ask your group
if they believe it would hold you. It is easy to say it will, but they
won't
really know until you sit in it and don't
fall through. Let the chair represent Jesus Christ. It's easy to say you
believe
He exists and that He can help you, but you
could still be trusting in your own works for your salvation - you're still
not sitting in the chair. But when you put
your trust in Christ for eternal life, it's like sitting in the chair.
You have to
take the risk and act on your belief. That
is when you have true faith.