The Hope of Jesus: Part 1
Last time, we studied what the Gospel writer Mark said the Gospel was all about. In Mark 1, he hits this nail on the head:
“The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God…”
And then 14 verses later, he lets Jesus Himself tell us what the Gospel is all about:
“‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!'”
This announcement came right after Jesus’ baptism in verses 4-8. The heavens were “torn open.” The impenetrable barrier between this reality and God’s reality was forever revealed to be open. The Kingdom of Heaven was now forever to be near. “Repent,” Jesus declared. Stop living so hopelessly. The Kingdom of Heaven is near. The Tree of Life is no longer barred by a flashing sword. We’re not stuck forever. We can change, and so can the world.
Repent! And start living like this is true!
“What really happened when God sent His Son,” I challenged us to think about the last time. And how can we share the good news in ways that make it really sound like good news and make people even in the marketplace want a piece of it, and that you aren’t embarrassed to actually articulate it?
That’s what we’ll look at in the next few installments of this series. We’ll do so by working our way through a hands-on study guide called “The Hope of Jesus.” It’s been used to bring scores of people to baptism, and to Christ. And it’s something that can be used very easily in a one-on-one settting.
The place to start is with your own understanding. Do you really understand who Jesus is, and what He’s done for me and you? This small group study series is designed to help you come to see who Jesus is, and what the Bible says He’s all about. And it will help you to effectively discover and learn how to communicate:
The real meaning of the incarnation of Christ — for you!
The real meaning of the death of Christ — for you!
The real meaning of the resurrection of Christ — for you!
The real meaning of the ascension of Christ — for you!
We’ve all heard about the “incarnation” of Christ. It’s understood to mean the “embodiment” of God.[1] The uncreated God becoming one with creation in the Womb of Mary. Creation was lit with a fire from within. A very part of it had become one with God. And it’s a life that was going to engulf all the rest of the creative order in its wake.
Think about it as the singularity of the next “Big Bang.”
Just as some quantum singularity exploded 13.8 billion years ago into what we know as the universe today, God’s life focused into an even more important singularity. Into the being and person the man known as Jesus Christ. And the Bible actually teaches that the life He became is going to give the same kind of nonperishable life to the whole universe (see Romans 8:21).
Did you know that?
And more importantly, can you get excited about it and teach it to others to win them over to letting Christ into their lives?
Study this opening session, and we’ll unpack it as we continue in the next installment of this series.
Study Session 1: The Incarnation of Christ — for you!
Goal: To help us understand the meaning of the incarnation of the Son of God, including how all humanity is included in that incarnation.
Discussion Points: Why did the Son of God become flesh? What kind of human nature did he take on? What was his human life like? Just what did he accomplish for us by becoming one of us? What does it mean that Jesus is the “mediator”?
Scriptures to consider:
Genesis 1:1-3 — Who is God, according to this Scripture? What is the first thing this Scripture tells you about God? What observations about God can you make from reading this Scripture?
John 1:1-3, 14 — How does this Scripture compare to the Scripture in Genesis? What does it tell you about God? How is it the same as in the first Scripture? How is it different?
Philippians 2:5-8 — What does this Scripture tell us about the “incarnation”?
Colossians 1:17 — Where were you during the incarnation of Christ?
Acts 17:28 — Where was creation during the incarnation of Christ? If you were “in” Christ during the incarnation, what implications does the incarnation have for you?
How might you have been included, cosmically, in the incarnation of Christ?
And what happened to all of creation as a result?
We’ll pick up on this cliffhanger in the next installment.
The incarnation of Jesus Christ—it’s more than just a dusty doctrine in a theological textbook. It reset the universe. And you were included in that incarnation, and share the next installment in this series— “The Life and Death of Jesus Christ—and how creation became reset in the amazing “do-over” God gave us in Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Lord.
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[1] incarnation (n.) c. 1300, “embodiment of God in the person of Christ,” from Old French incarnacion “the Incarnation” (12c.), from Late Latin incarnationem (nominative incarnatio), “act of being made flesh”
SOURCE: incarnation | Etymology of incarnation by etymonline