WEEK TWO
Day Five
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Philippians 2:7
LEADER GUIDE QUESTIONS
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Know: Read Philippians 2:5-8
Note: Read slowly, carefully marking keywords.
Christ Jesus, form of God, equal with God, likeness of men, He humbled himself, death of the cross.
Observation:
What is the substance of salvation?
What is reconciliation?
Why did we need saving?
How did Jesus humble himself?
What: After reading today’s lesson, what changed about your understanding of reconciliation?
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8
Why did Jesus die?
In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve ate from the wrong tree, they hid in the bushes from the Lord's presence.
Have you ever wondered why? What were they afraid of?
Before they were deceived and disobeyed, they had complete freedom to enjoy the garden and were the recipients of the Lord’s love and joy. They had unhindered access to all the blessings of God, but with thier one choice, they were afraid of Him.
Had God changed? Had God ceased to love? Had God, who created them with such tenderness and given them everything, do an about-face and become a temperamental judge? Could thier actions alter His being? How would Adam and Eve so quickly conclude that God would hurt them?
Adam did not have the power to change God. Humans do not have the power to change who God is. The character of God is not fickle, unstable, or dependent on us based on our behavior. God is love. He was, and is, and always will be love. God is steadfast and faithful; He overflows with grace and mercy. God is not the one who changed when Adam and Eve disobeyed. Adam changed and what he felt, He projected onto God and created a god based on fear.
He believed he needed to hide from a divine being who was as unstable as he.
This is what sin does.
Sin distorts the love of God. It distorts our minds until we can no longer see the Father’s face; His face is full of joy. Sin distorts joy and turns His face into an angry one, stern and unapproachable. Sin darkens our imagination and creates an alien God who rejects and calls us to account for our misbehavior. We begin to believe that as long as we check all the boxes of religion, He is pleased with us. If we fail, we either hide or have to crawl back into favor.
We believe that we have to do everything right for God to give us any blessing, so we either become religious zealots or we die on the sword of trying and failing.
Humanity is lost in the darkness of a fallen belief system, anxiety, and unfaithfulness. Out of this darkness led to the pain humanity began to inflict on one another. We could not see one another through the lens of love but one of distortion.
When God created Eve, it was not because Adam was lonely. Adam had everything he needed- except someone to pour his love into as God had done for him. After the fall, thier desire for one another became one of competition and to rule over one another. Humanity began to move away from thier intended design- union with God.
Jesus came as God- fully man and fully God. Jesus was and always was equal with God. Paul was not saying in verse six that Jesus stopped being divine and then went back after thirty three years. Paul was saying that Jesus was already existed before he became a human. The decision to become a human, and to take the road of obedience- the obedience decided on before the fall, the obedience to redeem mankind was a decision that only a Divine being could do.
Jesus retained equality with God. The point of the cross was not about Jesus suffering punishment for God’s anger toward Adam. Jesus wasn’t the pinata that took the wrath of God but still kept us guilty and owing him our lives.
The point of the cross was that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.” (2 Cor 5:19)
The cross was the Father’s forgiveness in action. It was a decision that the triune God made to enter into our estrangement and penetrate what held humanity in captivity- sin. Reconciliation is about the Father sending His own Son into our darkness. It was about Jesus identifying with us. He experienced our brokenness, darkness, and pain, taking it upon himself and giving us all of Him- His Spirit- so we would identify with Him. The Spirit bridged the gap between the Father and our blindness, and Jesus embraced it as his own. The righteousness of God was to set right the broken state of our twisted minds so that we would know His love.
Reconciliation is forgiveness determined to undo our blindness. It was an agreement made by the Father, Son, and Spirit. They never acted independently of one another- they were all in one another, working together to redeem us back to themselves.
What are we saved from?
When we talk about salvation, Paul says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people because all sinned.” Romans 5:12
The result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience was sin and death. Adam’s transgression opened the door to sin and death through sin.
Because of Adam, humanity ended up condemned to die. To be dead in sin is to be without Christ. Our problem is not what we have. It’s what we lack- the life of God.
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men… ” Rom 5:18
What we inherited was a death sentence. Adam’s sin put you on death row. Imagine being born into slavery, and your master was a tyrant named sin. You cannot escape on your own. The only way to get out is death. “Death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned.” Rom 5:14
To be made a sinner is to be made a slave. “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.”(Romans 5:19)
“You were slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:17)
We are not born rebels. Instead, you were born in captivity. Sin and disobedience are the fruit of distrust. Adam and Eve did not believe God and chose the path of independence. Since then, humans have been operating from a baseline of self-trust (what the Bible calls walking after the flesh), resulting in sin.
What is sin?
In the letter to the Romans, “sin” is used only two times as a verb; all the other times, it is used as a noun.
The definition of sin as a verb is not “rule-breaking” or “acting immorally” as much as it is walking by sight and leaning on your abilities and understanding. It is trusting in yourself and living without regard for the things of God. The devil does not mind if you are a reckless law-breaker or a religious law-keeper. As long as you are walking after the flesh, you are going to fall short of the life God has for you.
“What then? Shall we sin (continue sinning) because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!” (Romans 6:15)
The definition of sin the noun is: “without a share in/ missing the mark.”
There are two ways to describe sin as a noun.
If you rake all your sins, trespasses, offenses, and mistakes into a big stinky pile, what you have is a noun: your sin.
It is personified. Romans 6:6 says, “the body of sin.” Sin is described as an organized power that acts through the body. Romans 6:12 says, “Not letting sin reign in our mortal bodies.”
The first time sin is mentioned in Genesis 4:7,” And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” It personified sin like an animal- crouching with a desire for you.
Sin is more than an act we do. For the unbeliever, sin is a slaveholder. “Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin” (Gal 3:22)
For the believer, it is an external, personified force with no power over you, except for two ways:
The law “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”(1 Cor 15:56) Romans 6:14” For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Deceitful Desires. “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”(Hebrews 3:13) Sin is trying to deceive you into believing that you are still a slave to sin and that God is opposed to you. Sin is what's opposed to you.
What makes you a sinner?
If a prisoner acts like a prisoner, we don’t say, “They had a prisoner gene.” A person born a prisoner doesn't know any other way to act. He doesn’t know what life is like outside of that. A slave acts like a slave because that is all they know. We act like sinners because that is how the world teaches us to act. “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, my flesh.” (Romans 7:18) “My flesh is incapable of living the spiritual life I desire.” (Romans 7:18)
What is your greatest need?
To be forgiven for being born or to be free?
“I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin… who will set me free from this body of death?”(Rom 7:14,24)
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)
Jesus came to set the captives free from the captivity of sin and death.
How are you saved?
Enter Grace: the power of God to do for us what we were unable to do.“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Paul was clear- we are saved by grace alone. Not by works, both works and grace, or even by our faith. We are not saved by tears, prayer, fasting, or money. To be saved by anything other than grace would have made Jesus’ mission an utter failure and no need to come. To be saved by grace and kept by works would have meant his work wasn’t finished because it would be up to us to maintain our salvation.
What is faith?
It is a positive response to something God has done. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
Some believe you are saved by faith. The problem is that you can’t manufacture faith. Jesus is the fountainhead of faith. Faith comes by hearing by the Word. Hearing about Jesus, seeing Him, and experiencing what He did stirs us to believe. Hearing about God’s love makes you believe it, and that’s when the desire comes in. Faith is not us making it happen. Faith does not compel God to act- like a genie in a bottle. Faith is the revelation of God’s unconditional love.