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Stonecroft - What is God like? Guide Book - Lesson #5
(To be translated into various African languages) Who can Know God? Purpose of the Lesson This lesson gives an opportunity to receive Christ. (Have enough Would You Believe It? booklets to give to those who need more information concerning their salvation or who ask how to become a Christian. Read it together with them, giving them an opportunity to pray as suggested. This would also help those who have doubts about their salvation). Prayer Almighty God, we want to learn more about You. Help us to understand the things we read. We are awed by the fact that You are High above all Your creation, but You still want to have fellowship with us! We pray in Jesus’ name, amen. Guide’s Comments There is only one more session in this study and we have only begun to learn who God is and what He is like. God is much greater than we can ever imagine. All our lives, we will be learning more and more about the wonders of God. For a quick review, answer the next questions which cover what we have learned so far. How do we know there is a living God?. . . . . (discuss) The Bible says God is, He always has been, and always will be. All of creation tells us that God exists. Our own spirits testify to the fact that a personal, loving, faithful, sovereign God made us and we are accountable to Him. Where is God?. . . . . (discuss) God is everywhere. He fills all of Earth, heaven, and space. He is even beyond space because He made it all. When asked why there is only one God, a child gave this answer, “Because God fills every place. There is no room for another one.” How do we know that God wants us to know Him? . . . . . (discuss) God told us about Himself in the book He has written, the Bible. Since the beginning of time, God has been revealing what He is like to people. God has demonstrated His love and mercy to us in many different ways throughout our lives, even though we often fail to recognize that things happen as they do because God is working for us. We have learned about the nature and attributes of God, but we are aware of the fact that to really know all about God is beyond our understanding.
To know a lot about God is not knowing Him. What does Jeremiah 29:13 say is the way to gain a deeper knowledge of God? . . . . . (search with all your heart) If a person’s idea of God is shallow, the person’s life is shallow. If someone's attitude about God is deep, his or her Christian life is deep. Our lesson asks the question, “Who can know God?” And again, we find the answers in our Bible readings.
How did you apply or put into practice the verse you chose? . . . . . Did it affect week? Tell us what happened. . . . .
Real knowledge of God comes not only from study and research, but from experience and years of living in harmony with the Spirit of God. But if we do not have Christ in our lives, we cannot understand the things of the Spirit.
Jesus was telling them that He is the way to know what God is like. He is also the way to come to God. He is the way to heaven. He is the only way that leads to eternal life. We can follow Him and know that He will lead us in the right way. When Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life, He was saying He is the truth about God. If we know Jesus, we know what God is like because Jesus is the exact expression of the invisible God. God is light. Read John 1:5 . . . . . When we are without God, we are in the dark. Sin holds us in bondage. We are sinners by birth and by choice. We are trying to reach the holy God who made us. We fall short, we cannot make it, and we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). We need help from a source outside of ourselves if we are to become clean so that we can relate to God, who is perfect.
Many people make the mistake of trying to please God by trying to be good. They try to do enough good things to outweigh the bad. That is the wrong direction. People can
never earn their way to heaven or be good enough to enter on
their own. Read Romans 3:23 again . . . . .
Now turn to Acts 4:12 . . . . .
Have you reached out to receive what
God wants to give you? Did you pray This would be a good opportunity to utilize the Would You Believe It? booklet if there is anyone in your group who has not received Christ.
Ask for volunteers to briefly tell about the time they accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and how it has changed their lives. If no one shares, briefly share your testimony with the group
When we receive Jesus, God gives us eternal life. Our new life is in His Son, Jesus. We are now God’s children and God is our Father. We have been born into His holy family! Our Creator has become “our perfect
parent— God has chosen us to be His children and has given us all the rights and privileges of those who are rightly related to Him. God has chosen you! Read about it in your Bible or Africa Bible Verse Handbook Ephesians 1:3-6 . . . . . Do we value our position as a child of God? Have we thanked Him for choosing us? God is now our Heavenly Father. We show Him that we love Him by obeying Him and striving to please Him in all that we do. We not only have a new relationship with God as our Father, but we have a new relationship with the rest of the world. Every believer is either our brother or sister and everyone else is an individual God wants in His family. We are to share our faith with them as obedient children of God. We have established the fact that God is the Creator. He is eternal—He always was and always will be. He has all power. He came to earth as a man and is now in heaven. God provided a Savior through Jesus Christ. Christ’s death on the cross wiped out the debt held against us and set us free. God did this by making an exchange. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:21 to identify the exchange, “[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” What was the exchange? . . . . . (Our sinful life for His righteous life.) Jesus had no sin of His own. But He took our sin and, in exchange, He gave us His righteousness. Now, from God’s point of view, we have the righteousness, goodness, and purity of Jesus. We know we do not possess those qualities in ourselves. But God sees us “in Christ” because of this great exchange! We are in Christ and when God looks at us, He sees Christ’s righteousness. God gives us the life of Christ when we believe. Read Philippians 3:8-9 . . . . . What a wonderful gift God has given us! Sometimes prayer is a very private experience, but other times we want to share the blessing with others. If you would like to share your prayer with us, we have time to hear it before we finish our study. . . . .
Closing Prayer Father in Heaven, we thank You for Your gift of salvation. Thank You for making it possible for us to receive all the blessings You have for Your children. As we study our last lesson, help us learn how to live to please You. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
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What is God Like? Series for translation
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