FALL 2013: Personal Study Guide ESV

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FALL 2013: Personal Study Guide ESVEd Stetzer General EditorTrevin Wax Managing Editor

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118 Personal Study Guide | Fall 2013

13Session 13

“Sic semper tyrannis!” Crying out these words, the assassin John Wilkes Booth leaped from President Lincoln’s box onto the stage at Ford’s Theater. Though often mistranslated as “Death to tyrants,” the phrase actually means, “Thus always to tyrants.”

Mankind has a natural resistance to all authority, but especially to tyranny—the unjust exercise of a sovereign. We shudder in horror at the atrocities of Pharaoh, Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot.

We hate tyranny, and yet each of us has been subjected to the cruelest of tyrants. We have lived under the oppressive reign of death, and there is no hiding from its universal and pitiless grasp. Death is coming for us all, even those who have been adopted into the divine family.

But there is hope, for a day is coming when death too shall die. The Bible describes this glorious victory accomplished by Christ’s death and resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, which states, “ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:55-57).

One day death will die and we will experience a completely restored existence no longer subject to the tyranny of death or disease or despair or the Devil. We will instead be freed to worship as servants, sons and daughters of our sovereign Savior who died so that we might live.

Forever RestoredThe Death of a Tyrant

Pause and Reflect – Are you fearful of death? Christ died to set us free from this fear (Heb. 2:15). If you are fearful of that day, spend some time thinking and praying about the gospel and considering the roots of your fear.

– How does a fear of death paralyze a believer? How might finding greater freedom from this fear compel and empower us for the sake of the kingdom?

Session 13: Ready Your Heart

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119Session 13

Revelation 22:3: “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.”

When I was in college, a guest speaker came to my school and preached. Although I had no love for the Lord during those years, I had grown up going to church and had some limited interest in spiritual things. Within a few minutes of beginning his sermon, I heard something that absolutely blew me away. He claimed not to have sinned in the past 15 years.

Hopefully none of us suffer the same delusion, but imagine it for a second. What if you could go an entire decade without sinning? What if you could go an entire year? I’d be happy to go just one day!

How amazing is it to consider the truth that one day we will sin no more? One day our restoration will be complete, and no more will we be afflicted by our pride, lust, sloth, greed, and anger. This is a truth worth pondering and marveling.

When Jesus says, “The former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4), He will not be talking only about war and suffering but also the root causes of those things. There will be no more adultery or pornography, for there will be no more lust or oppression. There will be no more murder, for their will be no envy or hatred or rage. God’s children will be fully free from sin.

The curse of sin will one day be removed, and we will know a sinless day that will reach into an era of endless sinless days. What a glorious thought!

Forever RestoredRemoval of All Curses

Pause and Reflect – Is there one particular sin that you are most excited to see removed from your life finally and fully? If so, what is it?

– What steps can you take even now to put that sin to death by the grace-motivated enabling of the Holy Spirit?

Session 13: Ready Your Heart


Forever RestoredGlorification

Almost everyone agrees that the world as it is today is not as it should be. But people have major disagreements about how to make right what is wrong in the world.

The politician’s cure is rather simple: more or less government. Perhaps our hope is to be found in time-traveling scientists and skateboards, or maybe the world is beyond cure and drifting toward an age of apocalyptic zombies. Maybe our redemption is in the military or in scientific advancements. Maybe more taxes or tanks or theorems will save the day.

How would you respond to the question “What is wrong with this world?” If you were asked how it could or will be restored, how would you answer?

In this session, we will see that final restoration is a physical and spiritual reality to be accomplished in the future but with real and immediate implications even now. According to the hope of the gospel, we will be restored physically and no longer subject to sickness, disease, and death. Not only that, but we will be restored spiritually—fully and finally free from the presence of sin. Also, we will see how these glorious truths inform our responsibility to work today with tomorrow’s hope in our hearts.

Voices from Church History“The Redemption is not only for mankind, it is for the universe, for the material earth; everything that sin and the devil have touched and marred has been completely redeemed by Jesus Christ. There is a day coming when the Redemption will be actually manifested, when there will be ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ with a new humanity upon it.” 1

–Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

Session 13: Group Time

121Session 13

1. We will be restored physically (1 Cor. 15:35-49).

Nothing in this world is imperishable. That’s a strange thought. Have you ever cleaned out your pantry and noticed the number of “non-perishable” canned goods that have expired? Apparently the description non-perishable isn’t really true. Take a drive through your local dump and observe the treasures of yesterday neglected, discarded, and relegated to today’s trash.

In this present world, we have never tasted true imperishability. We can come close, but eventually the elements always have their way and time takes its toll. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in our bodies. We can exercise all we want, but we are winding down. You have a finite number of breaths, and you are now minutes closer to your last than you were when you first started reading this. Our bodies are stamped with an expiration date. But one day that won’t be the case.

What comes to mind when you think of the eternal state? Why do some view it as immaterial (non-physical)?

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.


Many Christians don’t think of our eternal hope as being physical. Some tend to think of disembodied souls floating on clouds and strumming heavenly harps. So prevalent has this picture been among Christians that our greater culture has simply absorbed it as the Christian perspective. Consider this quote on a Starbucks cup from Joel Stein, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times: “Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but heaven has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than hell.” 2

We often talk about the joys of going to heaven. Some of our hymns celebrate our escape from earth. This picture is not incorrect, but it is certainly incomplete. Heaven is a great and glorious place, but it is not the Christian’s final destination. It is a temporary layover on the journey to an even greater place prepared for those who believe—the new heavens and new earth we will inhabit after our bodily resurrection.

This is the Christian hope—not that this world and our bodies would be destroyed but that they would be restored, spiritually as well as physically. The beauty of restoration is that those of us who bear the image of our Savior will have physical, resurrected bodies and live on a physical, restored earth.

What are some ways Christians downplay the importance of bodily resurrection? How does Paul’s teaching in this passage stress the importance of resurrection?

As we look at passages dealing with this physical restoration, such as 1 Corinthians 15, a few principles emerge. Here are just a few thoughts to consider regarding the doctrine of resurrection:• All will be resurrected. God’s children will be raised to experience perpetual pleasure;

those who have not trusted Christ will be raised to experience perpetual punishment.• Resurrection is a harvest gleaned from the firstfruits of Christ’s own resurrection.

We will be raised because Christ was raised. He is the beginning, the foundation, for all future resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20).

• Resurrection involves full physical restoration. Bodies now mortal, corruptible, fragile, and frail will no longer be subject to death or disease. Believers will enjoy perfect physical restoration.

In what ways is our mission influenced by the truth that God will heal us physically, not just spiritually? How should physical resurrection affect the way we treat our bodies?

123Session 13

2. We will be restored spiritually (1 Cor. 15:50-57).

As a child growing up on the Gulf Coast, I was fascinated by hurricanes. I once foolishly decided to see how far I could throw a football with 75 mph winds at my back.

After a hurricane passes, assessing the damage begins. Trees ripped from their roots, houses flooded, roofs ruined, windows shattered by toys left in the yard. The power of the storm is over, but its effects are still present.

This image helps us understand our struggle with the residue of sin. Though freed from the power of sin, believers are still assaulted by its daily presence. Though rescued from the reign of sin, we’re still subject to its residue. The ruin and rubble of sin still haunts us. But one day this will be no more. One day the presence and practice of sin will be completely and utterly foreign to the children of God. One day we will be fully restored.

The Bible speaks about deliverance from the power of sin (accomplished at conversion) and the presence of sin (accomplished in the consummation). How would you distinguish between the power and presence of sin? Why is it important that we do so?

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”55 “O death, where is your victory?O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you see how the apostle Paul linked sin and death at the end of this passage? The effects of human rebellion are spiritual and physical in nature. The good news is the effects of Christ’s redemption are both spiritual and physical in nature too!


At the cross, the power of sin was broken; believers are no longer under its tyrannical dominion. We were forever freed from condemnation (Rom. 8:1) and the weight of our trespasses (Col. 2:13-15). However, like the ruin after a storm, we are still left with the residual effects associated with the old nature, against which we still struggle. But one day that will no longer be the case. We will be freed from even the potential and possibility of sin.

What does it mean for you (if you trust Christ) that in heaven you will experience absolute and enduring freedom from even the possibility of sin?

3. We work toward restoration in the present (1 Cor. 15:58).

The owner of the house I rent had a housecleaning service come by monthly. But on the scheduled cleaning days, I would try to tidy up. Funny, isn’t it? Knowing the house was going to be cleaned led me to start cleaning.

This illustrates the way the future restoration affects how we live now. This creation subjected to futility will be fully renewed, restored, renovated. Yet this truth should not cause us to sit back and rest but rather to labor. This is why Paul ended his lengthy treatise on the resurrection this way:

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

How we live now matters for eternity. Unfortunately, some Christians have taken the good truth of salvation and twisted it into a license for laziness. If God is going to restore this world, why bother? If full and absolute restoration will only be accomplished in the end, then what’s the point of doing anything now? We ask these questions with the same sincerity of the person who thinks, Why wash my car today if it might rain tomorrow?

The questions are logical but not biblical. In fact, for Paul, it was the final restoration in the future that gave him confidence, freedom, and power to labor in the present.

The church is called to mirror this confidence and conviction. Far from freeing us from our responsibility to be agents of change in this world, the reality of the future presses upon us even more heavily.

Voices from Church History“Man is to receive the kingdom. Christians are to proclaim the kingdom. But only God brings the kingdom to its reality and final consummation.” 3

–Herschel Hobbs (1907-1995)

125Session 13

How should the eternal consequences of our actions motivate us to be certain of our relationship to Jesus Christ?

The magician Penn Jillette, an atheist, once shared a story about a believer who humbly engaged him and gave him a Bible. As Penn described this event, he drifted into a discussion of proselytizing. His conclusion was profound. Paraphrased, he said, “How much do you have to hate somebody not to tell them how to have eternal life.” Bracing words, aren’t they? What is it that keeps us from being more concerned for our friends, families, neighbors, and the nations?

Not only does the truth of future restoration compel us to share the gospel verbally, it also leads us to display the gospel in all areas of life. It’s no coincidence that Paul’s exhortation in verse 58 is followed by the call for generosity and personal sacrifice. The gospel affects the people of God holistically. Not only our mouths, but our minds, hands, wallets, houses, cars, and everything else are tools as our hearts are compelled by Christ.

One of the most consistent themes of the Bible is a call for justice—for the people of God to care for the oppressed, impoverished, and downtrodden. Our mission to this world is to see people repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This includes a loud and clear articulation of the gospel, but it also includes a humble and loving demonstration of the implications of the gospel in how we live our lives in love toward this world.

Christians are commanded to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done. Will we ask and yet not labor for it? God will one day make fully right what is now wrong. And even now we labor toward that goal as co-laborers, commissioned by God.

What are good works that demonstrate the truth of future restoration? What can you do even now to display the gospel with your life?

ConclusionAs Christians, we are absolutely convinced of the brokenness of this fallen world but

also of the future restoration to be accomplished at Christ’s return. But such knowledge of the future neither excuses nor implies laziness on our parts. Rather, we are empowered by these truths to go forth in the power of the Spirit and the proclamation of the gospel for the good of our fellow creatures and this fragile creation and the glory of our faithful Creator.

Voices from the Church“God’s recreation of his wonderful world, which began with the resurrection of Jesus and continues mysteriously as God’s people live in the risen Christ and in the power of his Spirit, means that what we do in Christ and by the Spirit in the present is not wasted.” 4

–N. T. Wright


1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

How should the hope of our final restoration affect our lives now? While there are some who say that being too heavenly minded might make us of no earthly good, the apostle Paul reasoned precisely the opposite. For him, the future heavenly inheritance of our resurrection and earth’s restoration are not truths to cause us to avoid or neglect the present but rather the ground of confidence for our engaging the present age.

Look around you each day. The people whom you see will be subject to perpetual pleasure or pain. Our indifference to this reality is a difficult critique on our alleged love. If we fail to share the gospel regularly, what does this imply about what we really believe? What does this imply about what we really love?

Or consider the physical needs of those around us. We have tons of wise platitudes about how and when to give, but are they merely masks to cover our greed or apathy?

The coming consummation is no excuse to neglect the spiritual and physical needs of the world around us but rather Spirit-empowered fuel to propel us on the mission. May we be the kind of people who are of great earthly good precisely because we are so heavenly minded.

Forever RestoredLabor Not in Vain

Pause and Reflect – Recently, where have you neglected opportunities to engage others with the good news of the kingdom? What opportunities do you have currently to express the truths of the kingdom, either verbally or otherwise?

– Ask God to reveal any roots of indifference, apathy, lust, greed, etc. that prevent you from engaging in the mission. Spend time confessing and repenting, and consider how you might pursue greater fidelity to this call.

Session 13: Respond in Your Life


To download this quarter’s recommended playlist of songs, go to LifeWayWorship.com/GospelProject.Get the following collection of great songs and artists:

“We Were Made for You”—Aaron Gillespie

“You Hold Me Now”—Hillsong Live

“Be Still My Soul”—Katie Gustafson

“God of the Ages”—Charles Billingsley

“All I Have Is Christ”—Sovereign Grace Music

“Beautiful the Blood”—Fee

“Crown Him (Majesty)”—Chris Tomlin

“How Rich a Treasure We Possess”—Matt Boswell

“Freedom Reigns”—Jesus Culture

“All I Ask”—Meredith Andrews

“I Have a Hope”—Tommy Walker

If you are planning worship services based upon The Gospel Project content, go to LifeWayWorship.com/GospelProjectWorship and download related charts, audio files, tracks, and more!

PlayLIST

129

GoaLTo provide biblical theology within a systematic framework over the course of three years through frequent retellings of the overarching story line of Scripture (in two formats: God-Man-Christ-Response / Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration).

PLaN oVERVIEW

Year 1

Fall 2012 The God Who Speaks (Doctrine of Revelation)

Winter 2012-13 God’s Story (Part 1): The Old Testament (Christ-Centered Bible Overview)

Spring 2013 God’s Story (Part 2): The New Testament (Christ-Centered Bible Overview)

Summer 2013 The God Who Is (Doctrine of God Viewed Through His Triune Work for Us)

Year 2

Fall 2013 Bearing God’s Image (Doctrine of Humanity)

Coming Next Quarter

Winter 2013-14 A God-Centered Worldview (Worldview and Apologetics)

Spring 2014 Atonement Thread (Tracing the Bible’s Story Through the Lens of Atonement)

Summer 2014 God’s Way (A Journey Through the Ten Commandments)

Year 3

Fall 2014 The Story of God’s Kingdom (Bible Overview Through the Lens of Kingdom)

Winter 2014-15 Bowing Before the Idol-Conqueror (Doctrines of Sin and Salvation)

Spring 2015 On Mission with and for Our Missionary God (Doctrine of Church)

Summer 2015 Spiritual Disciplines for the Gospel-Centered Life

Scope and Sequence

The Gospel Project®Adult Personal Study Guide ESVVolume 2, Number 1 Fall 2013

Eric GeigerVice President, Church Resources

Ed StetzerGeneral Editor

Trevin WaxManaging Editor

Philip NationDirector, Adult Ministry Publishing

Faith WhatleyDirector, Adult Ministry

Send questions/comments to: Managing Editor, The Gospel Project: Adult Personal Study Guide, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0102; or make comments on the Web at www.lifeway.com.

Printed in the United States of America

The Gospel Project®: Adult Personal Study Guide ESV (ISSN pending; Item 005573553) is published quarterly by LifeWay Christian Resources, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234, Thom S. Rainer, President. © 2013 LifeWay Christian Resources.

For ordering or inquiries, visit www.lifeway.com, or write LifeWay Church Resources Customer Service, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0113. For subscriptions or subscription address changes, e-mail [email protected], fax (615) 251-5818, or write to the above address. For bulk shipments mailed quarterly to one address, e-mail [email protected], fax (615) 251-5933, or write to the above address.

We believe that the Bible has God for its author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. To review LifeWay’s doctrinal guideline, please visit www.lifeway.com/doctrinalguideline.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Geoff Ashley, who also wrote session 1, is the Discipleship Resource Pastor for The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. He received a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2009 and has been on staff at The Village since 2006, overseeing the development of theological resources.

ABout the WRiteR

NoteS1. Oswald Chambers, quoted in The Quotable Oswald Chambers, comp. and ed. David McCasland (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 2008), 226.

2. Joel Stein, “A little bit of heaven on Earth,” Los Angeles Times [online], 21 December 2007 [cited 24 January 2013]. Available from the Internet: www.latimes.com.

3. Herschel H. Hobbs, The Baptist Faith and Message (Nashville: Convention Press, 1971), 86.

4. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 208-209.

Documents

FALL 2013: Personal Study Guide ESV