Please join us as we discover how God Uses Everyday Things, Even a Pool Table, To Teach Us About Him.
Supporting Scriptures for "Do You Believe?" Genesis 2:16-17 John 11:17-27
We have begun to discover the key to the mystery of death and life through God's plan of offering eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. God (represented by the white cue ball) had a plan when He created Adam and his wife (represented by the solid "1" and "2" ball). God knew that Adam and his wife would become striped by sin (represented by the striped "9" and "10" balls) when they fell to the temptation of the serpant (represented by the black "8" ball). Therefore, God planned to become a man Himself through the lineage of Adam and Eve and was born among men as Jesus (represented by the red "3" ball). But even though Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and performed miracle after miracle, some people believed and some people did not believe.
Let's listen to what Jesus said to Martha just before He raised Lazarus from the dead, just one of Jesus' minor miracles. After all, Lazarus had only been in the tomb for four days and, as Martha reminded Jesus, he would be pretty stinky by this time.
Jesus said to martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish." Then Jesus asked Martha,
"Do you believe this Martha?"
Hold on a minute!!!! Let's back the verse up!!!! Wasn't Jesus talking to Martha? Then why is Jesus talking to her grammatically in the third person? Jesus is talking about "Those who believe" and "They are given" so that Jesus was not including Martha as a "those" or a "they." She had to make a decision in order to become a "those" or a "they."
God always asks us to make a decision. he gives us the choice. Isn't that how it all started? God gave Adam a choice in the garden. God said, "Eat the fruit and you will die." "Turn away from the fruit and you will live."
Jesus is therefore beginning to solve our mystery of death and life by telling us that if we believe in Him, we will live again even though we die.
But the key to the mystery is whether or not we believe so that Jesus asks,"
"Do you believe this Martha?"
Now let's ask ourselves the same question except let's fill in our own name.
"Do you believe this _____________?"
"DO YOU BELIEVE?"
STUDY QUESTIONS:
Question 1
From the following verses, what results from our choice of believing God and turning to Him?
Romans 6:16 - "Don't you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive His approval."
Isaiah 55:7 - "Let the people turn from their wicked deeds. Let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
Acts 3:19 - "Now turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins."
Acts 2:38 - "Peter replied, "Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Question 2
What will result from our choice of not believing God and not turning to Him?
Romans 2:5-6 - "But no, you won't listen. So you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin. For there is going to come a day of judgment when God, the just judge of all the world, will judge all people according to what they have done."
Luke 13:2-3 - "'Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?' Jesus asked. 'Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God.'"
Question 3
In Deuteronomy 30:15-19, what are the various choices God asked the Israelites to choose between?
Deuteronomy 30:15-19 - ""now listen! Today I am giving you a choice beteen prosperity and disaster, between life and death. I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to keep His commands, laws, and regulations by walking in His ways. If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!"
Question 4
From Deuteronomy 30:20, what would the Israelites have to choose to experience prosperity, life, and God's blessings?
Deuteronomy 30:20 - "Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey Him and commit yourself to Him, for He is your life. Then you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
Question 5
Eternal life is contrasted with itself in the Bible. How do the following verses describe the two aspects of eternal life?
Daniel 12:2 - "Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
Matthew 25:46 - "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."
John 5:28-29 - "Don't be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment."
Question 6
Jesus claimed that eternal life comes through belief in Him. Does 1 John 5:9-13 support or refute Jesus' claim?
What can we know for sure if we believe in Jesus, the Son of God?
1 John 5:9-13 - "Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about His Son. All who believe in the Son of God know that this is true. Those who don't believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don't believe what God has testified about His Son. And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have His Son does not have life. I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life."
Question 7
What does the Good News tell us?
Romans 1:16-17 - "For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes - Jews first and also Gentiles. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person his life.'"
Question 8
What is our assurance if we believe in God?
Romans 4:24-25 - "It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God."
Question 9
Answer Jesus' question in John 16:31.
John 16:31 - "Jesus asked, 'Do you finally believe?'"
