The Biggest Comeback in Human History

My lesson outline for tonight's small group bible study.

A. Two Questions    

1. Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were  to die today you would go to heaven, or is that something you would say you’re still working on?

1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you …, that you may know that you have eternal life.

2. Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My heaven?” What would you say?

The Gospel

A. Grace – The unmerited favor of God

1. Heaven is an absolutely free gift

Romans 6:23a “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”

2. It is not earned, deserved and cannot be purchased by us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

B. Man (male and female)

1. Man is a sinner (sins of commission & omission in thought, word and deed)

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Galatians 5:19-21 “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  idolatry, sorcery – drug abuse, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

 

2. Man cannot save himself

 

Romans 3:12 “They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable;
there is none who does good, no, not one.”

Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

No one can earn their way into heaven.

C. Attributes of God (the sovereign Creator of the everything)

1. God is merciful – therefore, He does not want to punish us

1 John 4:8b “God is love.”

God is merciful, loving, gracious and kind; also just, holy and righteous.

2. God is just – therefore must punish sin

Exodus 34:6-7 “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilt.”

Sin must be paid for.

D. Jesus Christ

1. Who Jesus is – the infinite God-Man – God incarnate

John 1:1-3, 14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

According to the Bible, Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Trinity, the Creator of the universe.

2. What He did - He died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place in heaven for us.

The Bible says that on Judgment Day, the books with every minutely detail of our life will be opened, and everybody will be judged according to the things recorded in the book. The sins in this book keep us from heaven.

Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

God placed all our sins on Jesus. He has laid to the account of Christ our guilt, our sin. When He died, He was buried in the grave for three days, but rose from the dead and went to heaven to prepare a place for us.

John 3:14-18 & 36 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Now He offers salvation and heaven – eternal life – to us as a gift. And this gift is received by faith. By His grace He freely offers to give to us this gift of Heaven. Faith is the key to opening the door to heaven.

E. Faith

1. What it is not.

a. Faith is not mere intellectual assent. Many people know of Jesus and believe that he actually lived, but they are not trusting Him to do anything for them. This is not faith.

b. It is not mere temporal faith, trusting in Christ for the temporal things in life, such as health, finances, protection, or guidance for this life, which is passing away.

2. What it is.

What the Bible means by “faith” is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life.

Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

People trust in one of two things – either in themselves or in Christ. Cease trusting in yourself and start trusting in Jesus Christ. Do not trust in your own good works to get you into heaven. Trust in Jesus Christ and receive the gift of eternal life. Transfer your trust from yourself to Christ.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The motive for living a godly life is not to get into heaven, but love of Jesus and gratitude for what Christ has given us.

1 John 5:10-13 “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

This is the biggest “Comeback” in human history. 

Trust and praise Jesus, our Savior and Lord.

Amen