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WEEK FOUR

Day Five

DAILY SCRIPTURE

John 1:1-13

LEADER GUIDE QUESTIONS

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Know: Read John Chapter 11

Note: Mark keywords, including pronouns and phrases. (Mary, Lazarus, believe, rise, Son, life)

Ask questions: (Use tools such as interlinear bibles to search the original meaning of words- free tool here) For example:

• Who did Jesus raise?

• What I Am statement did Jesus make about Himself?

• When did Jesus go to His friends?

• Where did Jesus go at the end of Chapter 11?

• Why did Jesus need to find a safer place to stay?

• How did Jesus pray?

Observation: Read Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:4-6, Romans 6:3-6

What: What does today’s study reveal to you about the nature of God? What truth do I need to apply to my life today?

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” John 11:25

This story, strategically placed here, illustrates the Gospel- the purpose of Jesus’ death and what that means for us. Lazarus’ death and resurrection are a picture of our death and resurrection.

Romans 6:3-5 says this:

“ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

Co-Crucified:

At the cross, Jesus died our death. He stepped into the depth of our lack, inability, sin, sickness, and oppression and became that for us. He identified with us. Galatians 2:20 says:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

We were co-crucified with Jesus when He died on the cross. The penalty that the law demanded for sin was put on Jesus.

In the Old Testament, when Israel was under the law (Lev. 4:1–4), a sinner would bring a lamb without blemish as an offering for the forgiveness of sins. When the offerer brought the lamb before the priest, the priest would examine it to make sure that it was without blemish before accepting the offering.

The priest is a picture of God, and the lamb is a picture of Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb of God, who God provided to redeem us from our sins. We may receive forgiveness for all our sins by Jesus’ perfection, not our own.

After the priest examines the lamb and deems it worthy of being a sin offering, the offerer would place his hands on the head of the lamb. This symbolizes the transference of the offerer’s sin to the lamb in exchange for its perfection. Then offerer must kill the lamb. Jesus, who knew no sin, did no sin, and in Him was no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.

Co-Ressurected:

Ephesians 2:4-6 says:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus….”

When Jesus died and was buried, he was not just dead and silent. He was doing something powerful. First, He had to restore the authority Adam and Eve had abdicated from Satan. The keys of dominion Satan had offered to Jesus (the Temptation) had to be taken back by God himself to restore them to the rightful owners. Jesus also went to Heaven to sprinkle his blood on the mercy seat of the Ark in Heaven (the earthly Ark was a replica of the one God showed Moses in the mountain). That was the final payment for sin- no more were earthly sacrifices needed. Jesus completed the demand of atonement for sin.

When He resurrected, He did so vicariously for us. Through His resurrection, we have been given His authority. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, and we are seated together with Him. This means that what Jesus accomplished as the perfect man was done for us - past, present, and future. God has shared with us His glory. he crowned us with glory so that we would bring life everywhere we go.

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Romans 6:6

Our sinful nature was crucified with Christ. The old man died and no longer exists. What was resurrected was a new man. That new man was the nature of Jesus- alive within us. We do not have a dual nature. We do not have sin and righteousness battling within us. We have the nature of Jesus alone that lives inside of us. The old is gone- keep it dead. What you KNOW is everything. It is your key to freedom. If you believe you are a sinner, you will act like a sinner. The sinful nature is death- when you realize that Jesus buried it when He was buried, then you will keep it dead. Your old man was crucified with Christ. When you believe that when He resurrected, you were resurrected with Him, you will live in freedom, no longer bound by sin and bondage.

For further reading, I recommend Awake to Righteousness by Mark Greenwood.