Tonight, we will be discussing the blood of Jesus Christ. Our Forgiving Father allowed the blood of His only unique Son to be shed for us–but what does this do for us? What do we obtain through the blood of Jesus?
Consider Acts 2:22-47, Hebrews 9:11-14 and Ephesians 1:3-14. From these passages, what stands out to you about what we are given through the blood of Jesus the Christ?
Heb. 9:11-14 – Through the blood we receive eternal redemption, a one time sacrifice for everybody, (every single person and every single sin), cleanse, purify, purge our conscience, life of service to God. (Highlandville girls)
Yes! ETERNAL redemption, through a ONE TIME act. To what is this contrasted? Was there ever a time when numerous sacrifices were required?
Yes, the old law said that every year the sins had to be rolled over every year.
Yes! I had in mind the Old Law…the reminder of sins – Hebrews 10:3.
Multiple deaths contrasted to one…
It stands out to me that “In Him we have redemption through His blood the forgivness of sins acccording to the richness of his grace ” in Ephesians 1:7.: and hebrews 11:13-14
I love the phrase “the richness of his grace.” Can you find any other passages where God (or His actions) are described as rich/richness?
Proverbs 22:4
Good! Those who fear the Lord will be given riches, honor and life. I love Romans 11:33 – “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
We love Eph. 1:8 where it says to abound toward us (ESV – lavished)… we receive the blessings in abundance! (Highlandville girls)
That’s great! The blessings which God gives to us are a reflection of His character (Luke 11:13), so the lavish blessings He gives are part of Him. What are some of those blessings which we receive?
remission of sins, eternal life, getting to see God
Thanks for including “getting to see God” on your list. This is the greatest blessing of them all, yet we tend to overlook it. Look at Isaiah 6:1-6. What will it be like to be in the presence of the Lord??
It will be blinding and unlike anything any man has ever seen. Even Moses atop Mt Siani couldn’t look upon God’s face.
Great account to bring out! The people of Israel cried out for God to leave them alone–because of their sinfulness they didn’t want to be in the presence of God. I’m thankful that the blood of Christ purifies me, so I will be able to see God someday without fear! Can you think of a verse that teaches this?
Forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, patience, steadfast love, faithfulness, comfort, peace, joy, fellowship, the word, the Holy Spirit, the list is endless
STEADFAST love! What does the word steadfast mean? (I love this point, by the way)
Constant, loyal,committed,devoted.
Forgiveness being one… we discussed a lot tonight about that blessing and how thankful we are for it!
Can we talk for a minute about how we are to forgive others? What should our forgiveness look like, considering all that we have been forgiven? It’s hard to think about the forgiveness of God without dwelling on this for a little while.
Under react question #2 can you help me with the Greek words that you were looking for? James 1:5 God gives generously to all without reproach.
Hi Tracy! We actually discussed this last week during the chapter “Our Helpful Father.” Here is the link to the chatroom so you can see the answers!
http://rebekahcolley.com/chatroom-our-helpful-father/
James 1:5 God gives generously to all without reproach.
Can you help me with the Greek words that you were looking for from James 1:5? God gives generously to all without reproach.
Let me know if you can’t see the link below <3 Thanks for your good question!
I have refreshed the page but haven’t seen a link yet 🙂 I just realized where we are doing this as a group study with our wednesday night bible study with our monthly singing, this question was a week behind. So sorry!
http://rebekahcolley.com/chatroom-our-helpful-father/
What stands out to me is that Jesus paid a great price for us. He shed His blood for us so that we can obtain eternal life. All we have to do is follow Him to get this amazing gift of love!
Yes ma’am! Great answer. Eternal life certainly stands out. Let us think for a minute about what it means to have eternal life. Will those who do not obey God not have eternal life–will their souls disappear? Find some verses…everyone pitch in on this one!
Romans 6:23
Yes! Sin earns us death–that’s what God warned Adam and Eve in the garden. If we don’t receive the gift of God though, we will have a second death. Look at Matthew 10:28
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,”-Matthew 10:28
Having eternal life with God means that we are with Him forever. Non-ending.
The people who don’t follow God, Psalm 1 sys won’t even stand in the judgment.
John 3:16 says that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.
Yes ma’am! This is a great explanation of what it means to have eternal life in the John 3:16 way–it’s not just eternal existence, but an eternal abundant life with God. What about those who do not obey God? What about their souls? Look at John 5:28-29
They will spend an eternal life in hell.
No, they’re souls won’t go away. They’ll live forever in hell. If they just died it wouldn’t be much of a punishment. Living on in Hell never being able to see God is a MUCH greater punishment.
Good thought–remember though–the fact that souls live eternally goes much deeper than punishment. It has to do with who God is. We are made in the image of God, therefore, we are given an identity–a soul that will not ever end. A central part of the image of God is an everlasting soul! It’s a blessing, but we can certainly misuse it by choosing hell! Does that make sense?
I don’t think I’ve looked at eternity quite that way… That’s really cool, thank you!
You are welcome! It helps motivate me to walk with God–I don’t want to misuse the image He has given me <3
Jesus talks of everlasting punishment in Matthew 25:46 (HG)
Great verse! I love the way John 5:28-29 explains it–both the righteous and unrighteous will be resurrected from the dead, but the unrighteous will have a resurrection of judgement.
They’d be much better off not having eternal life. Matthew 5:29 and following is a good example of what we should be willing to sacrifice for eternal life with the Father rather than alternative.
Good point–and in comparison with God’s sacrifice–isn’t what we may have to give up for God extremely small?
yes, We have to give our lives up for Him which may seem like a large thing to do , but God killed His own Son so that the whole world could be saved.
You make such excellent points! When we realize that God gave His Son it puts the giving up of our life in perspective–it’s our “reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1). Just remember though, God allowed His Son to be killed, He didn’t kill Jesus Himself! Can you think of the verses that teach us who killed Jesus? (there are many people who had a part to play in this)
Acts 2:37
it’s so small, but sometimes it’s hard to see it that way. I listened to a sermon by Glenn Colley, for Digging Deep and he talked a lot about why we choose to sin even though we can clearly see the end result and have so many Biblical examples of peoples lives who went horribly wrong when they chose to follow sin to it’s conclusion. It’s scary how we can get our priorities mixed up so badly as to think that sin could possibly bring something good into our lives
Thank you for bringing out this point. We do get our priorities mixed up. I believe that selfishness is at the root of all of our sin–we are searching for happiness, and we look to something other than God to make us happy. The foundational way to stay away from sin is to be happy in God, love for God repels love for sin. How can we stay focused on running toward God?
If we are studying God’s word (like what you are helping us to do) we won’t get side-tracked .
I don’t think this is what you’re going for, but I think a big part of it is learning how to filter things… like what we read, what we watch, the music we listen to. we can become numb to the bad things in them and they can lead us away…
and then obviously a lot of study… how can we devote ourselves to a Father that we don’t know?
Hey, that is exactly the kind of answer I’m looking for! Thank you <3
We have to "lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us." I think we often underestimate the power that sin has to sidetrack us from "fixing our eyes on Jesus." Even if it isn't directly making us commit a sin–fixing our eyes on sin takes our eyes off of our Savior.
We have to go to church regularly and fellowship with our fellow christians.
Those who don’t obey God won’t have eternal life, and Psalm 1 says that they won’t even stand in the judgement.
Having eternal life with God is living with Him forever. Always with Him. No pain or sorrows will be in heaven with God. John 3:16 Says that who ever believes in Him will have eternal life.
Eph. 1:3-14 – We are blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing, we are adopted sons, redemption, forgiveness of sins, inheritance…
Very good list! This shows the variety of what we receive. While eternal life is at the top of the list, there are many blessings which correspond to this. Look at Luke 17:7-10. Isn’t it amazing that we are ADOPTED into God’s family? Do we even deserve to be His servants?
No, every time we sin it hurts Him and seperates us temporarily from Him
The wages of sin is death. Romans 3:23
We should be dead; I should be dead,
Physical and spiritual death is certainly what we all deserve, but we have such a LOVING Father–He has done all He can to deliver us from our spiritual death. When we realize our own sinfulness, we are able to realize the deep love of our Father! God gives us our self-worth through His everlasting love. Just as good earthly fathers long to forgive us when we make mistakes, so does our heavenly Father. Can you think of a verse that tells us this?
We thought of 1 John 3:8 – “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”
I love this verse!
Psalm 103:3
1 John1:9
You girls make this hour fly by! I’m always pleased with the directions our chats take–we answer the discussion question AND touch on many more subjects! Let us resolve this week to look at our Father as forgiving. Let us not run from Him with fear and shame, but let us draw near to Him with full assurance. I love you all and am praying for you! Message me or comment on here with any further questions. Love you!
Same to you Rebekah, I just have a couple quick questions. When is our mixed media due? Is there a link or something to find all the contests dates and entries?
Praying for you and thank you!
A couple quick questions. When is the next challenge due? Is there a link or something that has all the challenges , dates, and entries?