Week 7 - FROM SELF TO CHRIST
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.
FROM DEATH TO LIFE - Regeneration
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.
FROM GUILTY TO INNOCENT - Justification
On our own, we are guilty sinners, who have rebelled against God’s authority and broken God’s law. We stand condemned and deserve death. Jesus, however, took personal responsibility for both our obedience to God’s law and our disobedience of God’s law. He did this by living the life we should have and dying the death we would have. Now through faith in Jesus' death and resurrection, when God looks at us He sees His Son. And because Jesus is righteous, God sees us as righteous. God has acquitted us of our guilt and declared us innocent in Christ.
FROM ENEMY TO FAMILY - Reconciliation and Adoption
Though we were God’s enemies because of our sinful rebellion, God has reconciled us to Himself as His friends and has adopted us as His very own children through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. He has also given us the Holy Spirit to assure us of His Fatherly love, especially when life is difficult.
FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM - Redemption or Ransoming
We were in bondage to sin, Satan and the fear of dying. Jesus, however, purchased our freedom with His own blood. He personally paid our ransom and we have been redeemed. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).
FROM INFANCY TO MATURITY - Sanctification
When we come to Jesus Christ, we are just infants in the faith. From this beginning of knowing God as our Father and His forgiveness, we grow strong in the Word and so overcome Satan and eventually become parents of other believers. God uses His Word and His Spirit, along with our commitment to grow, to help us become more and more like Christ.
And now …
FROM SELF TO CHRIST - Remaining in Christ
Ask God to speak to you as you read His Word.
2 Corinthians 12:1-11 (NIV)
1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
Have someone retell this passage in their own words.
A few notes may help …
So-called “super-apostles” were attacking Paul’s apostolic authority, so he reluctantly defended himself and his ministry.
I know a man in Christ - Because Paul doesn’t want to call attention to himself, he refers to himself in the third person.
Third heaven - In the ancient world, people referred to the sky and earth’s atmosphere as the first heaven, outer space, the planets and stars as the second heaven, and the dwelling place of God as the third heaven.
Paradise - This is the very center of the third heaven where God’s deceased people dwell with Him, awaiting the Return of Jesus and the Resurrection of the Dead (see Luke 23:42-43).
Thorn in my flesh - We’re not sure what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was. It could have been a physical ailment (like bad eyesight - see Galatians 4:14-16), a combative opponent (like Alexander, the metalworker - see 2 Timothy 4:14, Numbers 33:55) or a persistent spiritual temptation. Paul probably remains vague to help everyone personally relate to his struggle.
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
Instead of boasting about these amazing revelations and spiritual experiences, what does Paul boast about? Why?
When does God’s grace powerfully work in us? When we are personally strong or personally weak? Why?
If when I am weak, then I am strong is true, is the opposite true too—when I am strong, then I am weak? Why or why not?
By Grace
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
FOUNDATIONS began with From Adam to Christ. This is a change in our spiritual IDENTITY. By grace, God breaks our union with Adam and unites us with Christ. This is the gift of eternal SALVATION.
The change From Self to Christ is a change in our spiritual MATURITY. Once again, by grace, we learn to rely on God and not ourselves. This is the gift of life TRANSFORMATION.
Both our SALVATION and TRANSFORMATION are gifts of God’s grace. Because …
God’s grace isn’t just pardon for sin; it’s also power for living.
2 Timothy 2:1
And you, my child, be empowered by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
How, then, can we mature From Self to Christ empowered by God’s grace?
By Remaining
John 15:1-5 (NIV)
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Does a branch bear fruit to remain in the vine? Or does a branch remain in the vine to bear fruit? What’s the difference?
What fruit is Jesus talking about?
By Denying
Luke 9:23 (NIV)
Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Why must we deny ourselves (King Me) to follow King Jesus?
By Relying
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (NLT)
8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
When we rely on ourselves instead of God, who gets the credit for our lives? And who gets burnt out?
What taught the Apostle Paul to stop relying on himself and to start relying on God both here in 2 Corinthians 4 and again in 2 Corinthians 12 (see above)?
How does hardship teach us to rely on God and not ourselves?
How does hardship prune us so that we are even more fruitful?
What’s your reaction to this quote?
Billy Graham
When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.
Is Christian maturity about becoming less dependent on God or more dependent on God? Are you?
By Faith
Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
God’s power at work in us is so personal that it’s the very Person of Jesus Christ.
If we have died with Christ and He now lives in us, does that mean Jesus takes possession of our lives (our thoughts, our wills, our choices), making us passive in life?
Or does Jesus call us to actively and expectantly depend on His presence within us to empower us for His Kingdom and glory?
How is an “active and expectant dependence” a good description of living by faith?
What do you need to actively and expectantly depend on Jesus for right now?
The Selfer’s Prayer
When you became a follower of Jesus, you prayed the sinner’s prayer, right? But have you prayed the “selfer’s” prayer, asking God to teach you to rely only on Him and not on yourself? Why not pray it right now?
Lord, I confess that I have lived my life relying on my own resources. This is evident in my life by ______ (fill in the blank). And the results have been ______ (fill in the blank). Forgive me for relying on myself. Now teach me to rely only on You and Your resources. Help me live my life by remaining in Christ and being a branch constantly connected to the Vine. By an active and expectant dependency on the power of your grace, I deny King Me and surrender to King Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Foundational Truth
Here’s the FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH we discovered today:
God never intended for us to live the Christian life in our own strength. Instead, He calls us to stay connected with Jesus so we do everything through His strength. Then what we could never do on our own, we do through our relationship with Jesus.
Theologically, this is called Remaining in Christ. Remaining in Christ is far from a passive life. It’s an active and expectant life of dependence (faith) on the presence and power of Jesus within us.
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?
FOLLOW-UP BIBLE READINGS
Here are the Bible passages you are encouraged to read this coming week:
BUDDY SYSTEM
Connect with your buddy this week and ask each other these questions:
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?