Link to buy the book Sharper Then A Two-Edged Sword
I am going
to cover Chapter 5, The Nature of God, from Andrew Wommack’s book Sharper
Then A Two-Edged Sword over two weeks, rather then just this
week. Once I finished writing it I
realized that this post would be too much information to take in at one
time. So today we will do questions 1
through 4 of the workbook, and next week we will do questions 5 through 7. I hope that you enjoy this weeks Bible Study.
Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down
from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:17
And this is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent.
John 17:3
Question 1: Can you recall a time in your life when
someone got the wrong impression of you?
How did it affect your relationship with that person?
- I would like all of you to think about the
question and answer it to yourself.
-
We have all had something like this happen to
us at some point in our lives.
It leaves us with that sick in your stomach
feeling. You want to repair what has been
done, but you don’t know how. Sometimes
we can be hurt or angry that we have been misunderstood.
- In similar ways I think this happens with God
also. Especially when we are reading the
Old Testament.
- If you are just to look at specific incidents
you might get the wrong impression of God, such as God flooding the world in
Noah’s time
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a
flood of waters upon the earth,
to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under
heaven;
and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Gen
6:17
or God killing the first born of the
Egyptians when Moses
asked Pharaoh to let his people go
And it came to
pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the
captive that was in
the
dungeon; and
all the firstborn of cattle.
Exodus 12:29
- You might actually that God is cruel and
unfeeling, but this would not be the full picture of God.
Question
2: Is the God in the Old Testament
different as the God in the New Testament?
Did he change?
- God has always been the same God. He has never changed, we are the only ones
who have changed.
- Jesus tells us,
For I am
the LORD, I change not;
Mal 3:6
Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Hebrews 13:8
- He has only changed how he deals with us
between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
- Like a child he threatened punishment to
teach people, he was acting like a parent acts, he was acting out of love.
- In the Old Testament God dealt with people
under the laws given to Moses, but once Jesus came (God in human form) ( he was
born, died on the cross to save us, and rose from the dead to sit in Heaven) God
was able to interact with people through the Holy Spirit. He could interact with us directly.
- Once we were filled with the Holy Spirit, God
was able to deal directly with us with Grace and Mercy.
For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but
have everlasting life.
John 3:16
- God loved us so much that he sent Jesus so
that our sins could be forgiven and we could have everlasting life. Under the laws we could never be perfect
enough, but through the Grace of Jesus we have received forgiveness.
Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins,
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 1:3
O give thanks unto
the LORD; for he is good:
for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 136
- I
believe that Psalms 136 really says it all God is good, and his mercy endures
forever. What a beautiful gift he has
given us.
Question 3:
What is the difference between
the old covenant and the new covenant?
- The
old covenant want the law. People had to
be good, that had to fight being evil, and God needed to show them that there
were consequences to not following the law.
- Under
the old law people go to heaven by works, but it was impossible to be good
enough.
- We
are human beings. We might try our best,
but we can not achieve perfection, which left all people separated from
God.
- Under
the new covenant, when Jesus died on the cross for us, we received grace for
all of our sins. The whole world
received grace for their sins. All
people for all time received forgiveness for their sins. Once we accept Jesus we are forgiven. That is such a blessing that we were given.
- When
we accept Christ we receive the Holy Spirit, and we are made righteous.
For he hath made
him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.
2 Corinthians 5:21
- That was such
good news for mankind. This is the new
covenant.
- The old covenant
is below. God did not know us, because
we were separated from him by the original sin in Eden.
But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto
him:
neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually
discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14
- What we can see is that the old covenant and the
new covenant are not compatible. You
can not be partially saved by your good
works and then have Jesus do the rest.
Good works will not save you, because we can never be perfect enough,
try as we may, we are human beings. We
can only be saved through the blood of Jesus.
Question 4: Why
did God give the law to the Jews?
- The law are the rules given by God to Moses in
the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament.
- The Ten Commandments are a part of this, and I
say just a part, because God gave Moses over 600 laws, and they were very
specific, even as to who could enter the tabernacle of God, and what they had
to wear. God at that time actually lived
with the Jews, and no one was allowed to enter the tabernacle when God was there. Anyway, that Bible Study is for another time,
I just thought that it was an interesting tidbit of information. I was reading the Bible last year when we
went to Israel, and that was one of the things that stuck when I was reading
Leviticus.
- God has always been a merciful God. He showed mercy to Cain when he killed Able.
And the LORD said unto him,
Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain,
vengeance shall be taken on him
sevenfold. And the LORD set a
mark upon Cain, lest any
finding him should kill him.
Genesis 4:15
- Not only did God
let Cain live even though he murdered his brother because of jealousy, but he
also protected him from anyone else killing him. I believe that showed mercy.
- The Jews lived
under God’s grace before the law was given.
It was about 2000 years from the time Adam and Eve sinned and were
forced to leave the Garden of Eden until the time that Moses received the law.
- The first person
stoned to death after the law was given was a man collecting sticks on the
Sabbath, this may seem harsh to us today, but people were not to work on the Sabbath, and this was considered
work. Once God gave the laws he wanted
people to follow them.
Num
15:32 And while the children of
Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the
sabbath day.
Num 15:33 And they that found him
gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
Num 15:34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be
done to him.
Num 15:35 And the LORD said unto Moses,
The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with
stones without the camp.
Num 15:36 And all the congregation
brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the
LORD commanded Moses.
- This is the Lord
at work. He took an active involvement
in dealing with people, but he did not speak or interact with people directly
before Jesus.
- The law had two
purposes: to show God’s standards of
perfection, and to show that people can never achieve those standards. He was showing the Jews not to be self
righteous, because no matter how good you are, you will never achieve
perfection.
- Only through the
grace of Jesus, can our sins be forgiven.
- People can not
save themselves.
Gal 5:2 Behold,
I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit
you nothing.
Gal 5:3 For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised,
that he is a debtor
to do the whole law.
Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
- The only hope
for salvation is through Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:8
This is the end of today's Bible Study. I would love to hear your thoughts and
questions on this Bible Study. Please
comment below with anything that you think of .
