September 1, 2024 – Identity

Principle Topic – Created in God's Image and Identity

Focus Verses (KJV)- Genesis 1:26-31, 2:4-7 KJV

Focus Verses (NLT)- Genesis 1:26-31, 2:4-7 NLT

(Pop-up references come from courtesy of Faithlife Reftagger)

The Key Verse -

(In King James Version):

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
Genesis 1:27 KJV



(In New Living Translation):

What shall we learn from this lesson:

Our lesson for today is centered around the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible. It tells the story of Creation. Before God created living things, the earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the deep waters (Genesis 1:2 NLT). Imagine how dark that was.

Even when the power goes out, most of us still have some form of light even if it is just a flashlight. It is a mighty feat for us to create anything in total darkness. The Bible answers the concern about light in Heaven. The following verse gives us something to consider:

And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them, and they will reign forever and ever. Rev. 22:5 NASB

Are we the type of people that emit a godly aura? We should be if we are not. God created us in His image. Why is that statement important? From the start, that statement alone sets a high bar to which we should aspire. To be created in the image of almighty God tells us that we have a lot of potential to demonstrate to others the nature of God—His love, goodness, and compassion which indwells us.

We are not God but we have the Holy Spirit within us. He is not something we can just turn off ... He is a part of us; part of our identity. That means He is a part of who we are, how we act, what we say, and the aura that we emit.

Some of us spend our whole lives before we understand fully how we can use what God has already built into us.

As God spoke various parts of Creation into existence He saw that it was good. The question is if everything God created was so good how did the world get so infested with sin, war, and corruption?

The answer to that question can be summarized in one word: humanity. Man rebelled against the wishes of God all the way back to Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

If it had not been for God's love for humans there is a good chance we all would have been destroyed long ago. In fact, we were all destroyed at one time except for those in the family of Noah (Genesis 7:23 NLT). But God had mercy on us as a people and allowed us to continue to exist.

So far we have looked at only a few items in Genesis. There are many more such discussions in the book and well worth the effort to completely study the rest of the book of Genesis.

 

September 8, 2024 – Obedience

Principle Topic – Obedience Brings Rewards

Focus Verses (KJV)- Exodus 20:1-11 KJV

Focus Verses (NLT)- Exodus 20:1-11 NLT

(Pop-up references come from courtesy of Faithlife Reftagger)

The Key Verses -

(In King James Version):

"I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:2-3, KJV

(In New Living Translation):

What shall we learn from this lesson:

There are not many words in the Bible that can bring to mind the many images produced by the word obedience. This word has been an integral part of our lives every since we were born.

As we advanced in age there has been a long line of people who wanted us to obey and exhibit obedience, starting with our parents. Then, advancing to kindergarten, elementary school, high school, and beyond there is an endless line of those wanting us to show obedience to their instruction or commands.

When God gave the Israelites His 10 Commandments for them to follow there was no doubt that His instruction and commands were obviously the most important ones they had ever received.

This is because the Israelites had seen the power displayed by God. They didn't have to rely only on faith. God gave them tangible proof of His power.

God took one man, Moses, to go up against Pharaoh and his overwhelming army. Then, due to the many plagues God brought against them, Pharaoh released all the slaves (estimated to possibly be in the millions).

Bringing them out of slavery was something that God did not want the Israelites to forget. Therefore they have celebrated Passover or acknowledged it every year since they were released from bondage. However, for Christians, Passover is not celebrated as before because it was fulfilled by Christ - the sacrificial Lamb.

Now we celebrate the Lord's Supper in remembrance of Him. This meal, of wine and bread, is not something we do for Jesus; rather, it reminds us of what Jesus has done for us and will do for us in the future. For more insight on this statement read and study about the great wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9) which will, in many ways, replace the Lord's Supper.

Obedience shows God that we love Him and we trust Him which in turn activates His power in our lives. Paul is a perfect example of someone who started out disobeying the Lord. He did not come into his own as one of the most revered apostles of Christ until he obeyed the Lord.

 

 

 

September 15, 2024 – Forgiveness

Principle Topic – God's Forgiveness

Focus Verses (KJV)- Numbers 14:10-20 KJV

Focus Verses (NLT)- Numbers 14:10-20 NLT

(Pop-up references come from courtesy of Faithlife Reftagger)

The Key Verse -

(In King James Version):

"Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now." Numbers 14:19, KJV

The Key Verse -
(In New Living Translation):

What shall we learn from this lesson:

God chose the Israelites to be His special people through a promise He made to Abraham. God was so pleased with Abraham that He made a covenant with him that the number of his decendents would be so many as to be a great nation. God promised that his name will be great and he will be famous (Genesis 12:1-3).

Forgiving others is a tall order because that often involves forgiving someone who has hurt us by their words or deeds. We may say that we forgive someone but we could easily spend the rest of our lives remembering the act that has hurt us.

Perhaps someone has demeaned us in front of our friends or relatives; something that embarressed us in a way that we will never forget. All of us have experienced such an incident and if we were the one that initiated the embarresment it could follow us from that day on.

This opens up a different topic: how can we learn to forgive ourselves for something we have thought, or said, or done that went against a true friend. Forgiving ourselves is often a requirement of true forgiveness of the sin. How do we forgive ourselves of a sin.

Let's look at another example. Suppose one day, in a private conversation you said that you understand that a mutual friend was a loose woman back in her day. You realize later that this statement was an inditement against someone's character who was not there to defend herself. You regret it but the words cannot be taken back ... probably forever. But to keep the thoughts out of your mind of what was said, you must first forgive yourself.

 

 

 

 

For access to all chapters of the King James Version Bible in audio and visual formats, visit the Audio-Bible.com web site.

For other versions (NIV, New Living Translation, etc.) of the Bible in audio and visual formats, visit the World Wide Study Bible page of Christian Classics Eternal Library site. Also visit the New Living Translation web site.

Some information on this page may be referenced from the NLT Study Bible, the Standard Lesson Commentary, Precepts for Living, Commentary by David Guzik, and gotquestions.org. Frederick L. Marsh is the commentary author of the information contained in the Sunday school segment of this website. He is the author of the book: "The Book of the Holy Spirit: Joyful living." The opinions expressed in the Sunday school segment of this site are his alone.