Week 2 - FROM DEATH TO LIFE
CONNECT
What are you thankful for?
What challenge are you facing?
Have there been any answers to prayer?
Pray for each other.
Did anything stand out to you from last week’s follow-up Bible readings?
How did your “I will …” statement from last week go?
How did your sharing goal from last week go?
How’s your memory work coming along?
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV-1984)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (she) is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!
DISCOVER
Let’s start with a review.
FROM ADAM TO CHRIST - Union with Christ
We were born into Adam. This means that whatever was true of Adam was true of us. But by grace through faith, we have been born again into Christ. This means that whatever is true of Jesus is now true of us. Therefore, we are no longer characterized by Adam’s sin and death but by Christ’s righteousness and life.
And now …
FROM DEATH TO LIFE - Regeneration
Ask God to speak to you as you read His Word.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (CSB)
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Have someone retell the passage in their own words.
What stands out to you in this passage?
What does this passage say about God (The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit)?
What does this passage say about people, including ourselves?
What does this passage say about the life God invites us to live?
Digging Deeper
Why were we dead?
Is this a physical death?
How can we be made alive?
Is this a physical life?
A New Beginning in Life
John 1:12-13 (NIV)
12 Yet to all who did receive [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 3:1-8 (NIV)
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Why do we need to be born again?
What role does the Holy Spirit play in our second birth?
How have you experienced this new birth?
A New Reality of Life
John 5:24 (NIV)
Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
John 11:25-26 (NIV)
25 Jesus said to [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
1 John 5:11-12 (NIV)
11 God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The word for life in these passages is the Greek word zoe. Another Greek word for life is bios. Bios refers to biological life or physical life. In Adam, we are physically alive (bios) and physically dying at the same time. Zoe, however, refers to spiritual life. Zoe is a whole new reality of life. In Christ, we are spiritually alive (zoe). Through our faith relationship with Jesus, we share in Jesus’ resurrection life and have life everlasting. Eternal life, then, doesn’t just start after we die. We have it already.
How would your perspective on life change if you knew you already had eternal life (zoe) here and now?
How would your perspective on death change if you knew you had eternal life (zoe) forever?
Just as we receive physical life (bios) by being physically born, we receive spiritual life (zoe) by being spiritually born again through faith in Jesus Christ.
A New Purpose for Life
2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV)
And [Christ] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
In our old way of life, who did we live for?
In our new way of life, who are we to live for?
A New Source of Life
Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NIV)
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)
“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD Almighty.
Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
1 John 5:3-4 (NIV)
3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
How can we live out our new purpose for life? In other words, how can we stop living for ourselves and start living for Jesus? Is it from our own inner resources of willpower and determination or from a deeper and new source? What is this new source?
How does one live from the source of our new birth, our new heart and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us?
Foundational Truth
Here’s the FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH we discovered today:
We were dead in Adam, but now we are alive in Christ. Because we share in Jesus’ resurrected life, we already have eternal life here and now. From our new birth, new heart and the presence of the Holy Spirit, we can stop living for ourselves and start living for Jesus.
Theologically, this is called Regeneration. Through the mysterious work of God’s Spirit, we have undergone a re-Genesis, a re-creation. We are now new creations in Christ and have crossed over from death to life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV-1984)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (she) is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!
LIVE
What truth have you discovered from today’s Bible passage(s) and conversation?
What would stop you from believing and obeying this truth?
How will you live out this truth this coming week? Finish this statement: “I will ….”
Who else needs to hear this truth? How could you share it with them?
When will we meet again?
Who will facilitate that meeting?
Pray for God’s help as you seek to follow Jesus this coming week.
FOLLOW-UP BIBLE READINGS
After each group meeting, there will be 3 Bible readings to help you dig a bit deeper into what we have discussed.
To help you connect with Jesus, we encourage you to use the Daily Connect connection prompts with the first two Bible readings and the Lord’s Prayer with the third Bible reading.
Here are the Bible passages you are encouraged to read this coming week:
BUDDY SYSTEM
It’s recommended that you set up a buddy system for ongoing encouragement and accountability. Buddy people up and have them contact each other for a midweek check-in. Think of this as a five-minute phone call, rather than an in-person sit-down meeting. Touch base and ask these questions of each other:
How are your readings going?
How’s your “I will …” statement coming along?
How’s your sharing goal coming along?
How can I pray for you?
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