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Roads Day 9 How Much Is Enough: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out How Much Is Enough?

The Questions

1) What does John mean about Jesus being the light in the midst of darkness?

2) What is John saying when he writes that Jesus is the Word who became flesh?

3) What is the importance of Jesus bringing grace and truth (verse 17)?

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”) 16 Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, 17 for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side — he has revealed him.

Original Intent

1) What does John mean about Jesus being the light in the midst of darkness?John’s gospel about Jesus’ life and ministry is written toward a Greek-thinking culture, Hellenized Jews and Gentile Greeks, driven by intellect and reason.  John’s goal is to capture for them the true identity of Christ as the one and only Son of God.  He opens his gospel account with the tangible metaphor of Jesus being the light in the darkness.  He uses the image to contrast that Jesus is different and stands out from all other sources of light; to acknowledge the real battle between spiritual darkness and spiritual light; and to say that Jesus is the one and only true light, unlike any other man.

2) What is John saying when he writes that Jesus is the Word who became flesh?In Genesis 1, the world is brought into being through the power of God’s word, as every part of creation is spoken into existence.  John states that Jesus is, in fact, the source of those words of God and therefore was, and still is, God.  John wants his readers clearly understand that he is writing about someone who is much more than a mere man; instead, Jesus is God, who became flesh, in order to reveal Himself to the world.  Jesus’ coming in the flesh did not change his identity as God in any way, but served to reveal to humanity the invisible God they had been unable to approach and see up until that time.

3) What is the importance of Jesus bringing grace and truth (verse 17)?
John writes to the people first about Moses bringing the law to God’s people.  Transitioning, he tells them that something even greater has arrived.  He makes the statement that, “…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” (verse 17).  For the Jews reading his words, John addresses how Jesus gives grace, emphasizing that grace is critical in even being able to follow the Law.  This was a critical point because for centuries the Jews had been trying to follow the Law in their own strength as a means for salvation.  But Jesus brings grace to fill the gap between our inability to follow God’s perfect law and God’s righteousness.  For the Greeks reading his words, John tells them that Jesus is truth.  Not just a truth, but THE truth.  This would have been significant, and important, to the Greek people, as truth was an important pursuit to them culturally.

Everyday Application

1) What does John mean about Jesus being the light in the midst of darkness?Jesus is different than any other man.  First, we must be clear on that in our own thinking.  We should not make Jesus out to be any less than who He is.  Second, we should be careful in how we present Jesus to the world around us to clarify His uniqueness.  Jesus is altogether different from any other figure in any other religion.  There are many religions that will acknowledge Jesus as a good teacher or prophet, but that doesn’t go far enough.  He was, and is, the Son of God.  Anything that makes Him less than that doesn’t line up with the truth of Scripture.  We must stand firm in that truth.

2) What is John saying when he writes that Jesus is the Word who became flesh?We cannot waver on the truth that Jesus was fully God, yet became flesh to walk the earth.  We must share that same truth with others when we want them to learn more about Jesus.  That is what makes Him so distinct.  In Jesus’ humility, He loved us enough to dwell among us and make Himself like us by taking on a human form.  In the Old Testament period, God would dwell with His people in the Tabernacle and then in his holy Temple. The literal meaning of the Greek in this verse is that Jesus came “to tabernacle” with us. He did this to help us understand God’s true heart for His people and the efforts He was willing to make to reconcile us to Himself.

3) What is the importance of Jesus bringing grace and truth (verse 17)?
The teaching about Jesus being both grace and truth is as relevant in our world today as it was to John’s original audience.  In a modern world that can be harsh and can feel like nothing we do is ever good enough, the message of grace is a welcome relief.  Instead of constantly striving to do or be more, grace gives us the assurance that Jesus will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  He is our perfection.  In that, we can find rest and peace; this is a message that is needed by so many!  In a world where truth is relative, subjective, and shouldn’t be questioned, Jesus offers an absolute.  He removes the confusion of what is real and right.  He brings clarity.  Think of those in your life; who needs to hear the message of Jesus as grace?  Who needs to hear the message of Jesus as truth?  How can you share the hope that Jesus offers with those people in a way that is winsome and inviting?

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with How Much Is Enough?

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

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Creed Day 9 The Sinless Carpenter: Digging Deeper

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Creed Day 9 The Sinless Carpenter: Digging Deeper

Brie Brown

July 20, 2017

Beauty,Believe,Digging Deeper,Excuses,Faith,Fullness,God,Gospel,Grace,Hope,Jesus,Life,Love,Meaning,Power,Praise,Sacrifice,Safe,Security,Time

Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

This DD Connects With "The Sinless Carpenter"
Why Dig Deeper?

Read His Words Before Ours!

Colossians 1:15-20

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him
Read More Of His Words

The Original Intent

1) What does it mean that Christ was firstborn?  Does it mean He was created?

The idea that Christ was created, and that this verse, and others like it, speak of Christ in physical terms, is a heresy that has deceived many for thousands of years.

What Paul is getting at with the term “firstborn” is the rights and privileges of a firstborn son.  Christ has the right to rule, and He is set to inherit the whole earth. He is the firstborn of all creation, meaning He has all authority over it.

The Everyday Application

1) What does it mean that Christ was firstborn?  Does it mean He was created?

Praise God that He is firstborn from the dead! He was resurrected, which is a promise to believers that one day we will also be resurrected when Christ returns.

Praise Him that He holds all authority over creation, including the minute details of your everyday. 

That’s a God you can safely trust!

The Original Intent

2) What in this passage points to Christ’s deity?

Verse 16 says, “by Christ all things were created” while verse 17 says Christ “holds all things together”. Verse 19 says that all the fullness of God dwelled in Him. 

All of these point to the fact that Christ was indeed fully God.

The Everyday Application

2) What in this passage points to Christ’s deity?

Verse 16 tells us Christ is the image of the invisible God. He is the flesh-and-blood picture of what God the Father is like.

I’m so thankful God put His Son on earth to show us who He is.  

Lord, when I read about Jesus, let me see You in Him! Remind me again of the truth that You are not a “hands-off God”, but you’re intimately involved in my everyday moments!

The Original Intent

3) What in this passage points to Christ’s humanity?

Verse 22 speaks of Christ’s body of flesh, which He chose to “put on” when He came to earth.  Verse 20 speaks of His blood, and verses 18, 20, and 22 speak of his death.

Only a human could have flesh, shed blood, and die a physical death.

The Everyday Application

3) What in this passage points to Christ’s humanity?

The beauty of God’s plan is amazing. He knew only a human could die for humanity’s sins, but only God could live a perfect life and be the perfect sacrifice. 

Therefore, He planned to send His Son, as God, to be the God-man, fully God and fully human, to accomplish His purpose of paying for our sins and reconciling us to Himself.

The Original Intent

4) What is the point of this passage?  What does Paul want us to see about Christ?

Verse 18 gives us a clue to the point of this passage, “that in everything He might be preeminent.” 

Paul describes the deity of Christ, how He created and sustains the world, how everything was created for Him. (verse 16) He points out how Christ’s death has accomplished reconciliation with God and made peace. He also states that Christ is the head of the church. 

All of these amazing things about Christ show us how worthy He is of our praise, devotion, and focus.

The Everyday Application

4) What is the point of this passage?  What does Paul want us to see about Christ?

Paul was making his case to the Colossians that Christ was, and is, preeminent in all things. 

Do you recognize His preeminence in your life? 

Do your priorities display Christ is first, above all things for you? 

Do you recognize He holds all things together, not you? 

What do you need to rearrange to put Christ’s preeminence on display in your life?

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believe,creed,deity,faith,God,human,Jesus,Trinity
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Creed Day 8
Journey Study

Sin, which ruined all humanity across all time, came through one man, one act of disobedience. That’s pretty powerful! If sin from Adam destroyed humanity so thoroughly, Paul asks the rhetorical question “how much more will those who are of Christ….reign in life?!” Adam was human, but wrecked us.
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Creed Day 8 The Sinless Carpenter

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Creed Day 8 The Sinless Carpenter

Sara Colquhoun

July 19, 2017

Faith,Fear,Freedom,Generous,God,Gospel,Grace,Hope,Jesus,Life,Love,Power,Purpose,Relationship,Sacrifice,Transformation,Truth

Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 18:2
Isaiah 7:14
Matthew 1:18-23

Who Is Jesus?
Growing up around the church I was very familiar with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but the way the three related and worked together brought forth a sense of confusion to me. I knew the basic facts:

  1. Jesus was God
  2. Jesus died on the cross for our sins
  3. Jesus would come back again to take Christians to Heaven

I like to refer to that as the ‘flannel board’ Sunday school version that many of us were taught as children. But that only begins to scratch the surface of who Jesus really is and why God sent Him to Earth.

Jesus was 100% God, and no one who knew Him on earth would say He ever thought of Himself as just a “good man”. Jesus’s own claim to be God is what landed Him before Pilot with the sentence of crucifixion.

While Jesus had all rights and authorities of being God, having existed before time began as He in fact “was before all things, and by Him all things were made. Without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Jesus was also 100% human. I asked my mom a few months ago about how Jesus grew up. Do you think that He had to do chores? Did he have a bedtime? What about when he was a baby? Did he cry a lot?

My mom responded with a light-hearted laugh, “Of course He did chores, had a bedtime, and cried. He was human after all.”

I tend to forget that Jesus grew up just like you and I did. He had parents, and siblings, and one day a job as a carpenter. Can you only imagine how beautifully perfect His farmhouse tables would’ve been?

You see, Jesus only had 3 ½ years of actual ministry recorded in Scripture. We jump quickly from birth to ministry, with roughly 30 years in between, catching just tiny glimpses of who Jesus was as a child. We do know that as he got older, around the age of 12, he stayed behind in Jerusalem one year after the Passover, and when his parents returned they found him in the Temple, asking questions and giving His own answers, while those around Him stood amazed at His knowledge, understanding, and authority.

This was no ordinary man, this was God Almighty with skin on.

Jesus is the relatable God, the God who feels our feelings, weeps our tears, smells of our sweat, and aches with our physical weariness. He likely had a sunburn, got sick, lost His voice while teaching, and was exhausted from a long day. Jesus is the close-up, hold your hand, hug your shoulders, flesh, blood, teeth, freckles, and hair image of the invisible God.

Jesus is the picture of the God we cannot see.

How is He able to offer eternal life for every human being across all time?
Adam gave birth to death for all humanity. His seed was corrupt and he could only have children that belonged to and inherited death. Death had corrupted his soul just as if it were his DNA, and now all humanity would suffer the effects of sin, which is death and separation from God. As Paul says, “In Adam we all die…”

But Jesus Christ has the seed of eternal life, won through his resurrection from the dead, whereby defeating Death itself. Add in the fact that Christ’s seed is flawless because of His perfectly righteous life in the flesh. Jesus lived perfectly where Adam (and each of us) could only possibly sin. Christ can only give birth to life as no death is in Him.

Sin, which ruined all humanity across all time, came through one man, one act of disobedience. That’s pretty powerful!

If sin from Adam destroyed humanity so thoroughly, Paul asks the rhetorical question “how much more will those who are of Christ….reign in life?!”

Adam was human, but wrecked us.

Jesus is God of all, and by offering His righteousness, saves all who ask Him to be their Savior. His selflessness, in being without one ounce of sin, to die for each and every single one of us, sinners, has allowed those who choose to follow Him to not experience death, but only life.

Can we just stop there for a second?

There is no death as a follower of Jesus!

What is Jesus doing right now?
Seeing as though there is no death as a follower of Jesus, there is only life, when Jesus was raised to life and went back to Heaven His work didn’t stop there. He is actively fighting for us, while sitting, and sometimes standing, at the right hand of The Father.

Look at how Paul describes Stephen’s stoning in Acts 7:54-57 . Paul invites us into the moment where the Heavens are open and Jesus is standing there, advocating on our behalf. It wasn’t but moments later that Stephen closed his eyes on this Earth, and was welcomed into Heaven the next.

Jesus is actively waiting to return to bring the rest of His bride home; it’s our mission here on Earth to be ready for that moment. To be actively spending time with Him, getting to know Him, and being watchful to the things He shows us.

It excites me to know that though Jesus doesn’t know when His return will be (only God the Father knows), He is using us to draw broken hearts back to Himself. He will continue pursuing us until we meet face-to-face one day and He comes to take His people home!

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Creed Day 9
Digging Deeper

The beauty of God’s plan is amazing. He knew that only a human could die for our sins, but that only God could live a perfect life and be the perfect sacrifice. Therefore, He planned to send His son to be the God-man, fully God and fully human, to accomplish His purpose of paying for our sins and reconciling us to Himself.
Dig Deeper!

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Prayer is central to our ministry as believers in Jesus as we carry eachother’s burdens and intercede for one another. Our team is honored to share the work of praying alongside you!

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July 10th - July 28th, 2017 -- Journey Theme #19

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Passionate Day 10
I Thirst

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Isaiah 55:1-3
John 7:37-39
John 4:13-14
Psalm 69:19-21 

1500 years.
40 different authors.
3 different languages.
One cohesive theme:
The redemption of mankind.

2500 prophecies.
With over 300 fulfilled solely through the lineage, birth, life, and death of Christ.

Consider the mind-blowing comparisons in the reliability of these historic documents:
Julius Caesar has 10 surviving manuscripts to provide evidence of his authorship.
Ancient historian, Herodotus, has 8 surviving manuscripts proving his authorship.
Homer has 643 surviving manuscripts of his Iliad.
Based on these grounds, no one debates or argues that these men didn’t actually author the works that bear their name.

And then there’s the New Testament, which has an astounding 5,366 surviving manuscripts!
The Bible is more historically and archaeologically accurate than any other historical book.

God’s redemptive plan wasn’t an afterthought, wasn’t a #lastminuteidea.
Meticulously orchestrated.
Divinely designed.
Thoroughly reliable.
For our salvation….yours and mine. Today.

Today as we drive our cars, clean up after kids, have arguments with our spouses, shop, drink tea and coffee, post to Instagram, and worry about what our neighbors think, how healthy our lawn is, and what we will make for dinner.
In the middle of our everyday mess, Jesus comes to save.

At the cross, amidst all the other un-foldings of history and the culmination of God’s redemptive plan
to restore the relationship between Himself and us,
Jesus leaves us with a spoken word.
In the presence of hundreds of eyewitnesses, both Gentile and Jew,
Christ again points to the unequivocal truth that He was indeed the promised Messiah.
“I Thirst.”

Two words that simultaneously point to Christ’s divinity and His humanity.

Thirst.
A human need that fulfilled yet another divine prophecy.
“They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”
Psalm 69:21

A human need displaying that Jesus was truly the “with us” God.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:14-15

A human need reflecting a God-sized vacuum.
Beyond the initial pointing towards the prophetic fulfillment, the irony lies beneath the surface in Christ’s words.
The Living Water had Himself become thirsty…..

“Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again;
the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14
…because He’d been cut off from the Father.

“I Thirst.”
An emptiness and brokenness gripped these two words.
A separation existed, an impossible yawning chasm, between God the Father and God the Son
caused by Christ bearing the sin of the world.
And Jesus thirsted.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Psalm 63:1
These are King David’s words as he wrote about his passionate need for God.

Yes, I have no doubt at all that Christ was thirsty that day as he hung on the cross, that just a cool drink would have been a welcome relief.
But there was more going on than a parched throat and bloody cracked lips, his soul was withering.

Like yours and mine without the same sustenance of Living Water found in Jesus.

This messy, daily life we live?
The crazy schedules that toss us to and fro, the loneliness that seeps in, the emptiness that haunts the corners of our souls, the discord in relationships, the worries that crease our foreheads and hearts….
This is the dry and weary land where there is no water.
That Living Water?
It’s Available In The Middle of our Everyday!

And let the one who is thirsty come;
let the one who desires, take the water of life without price.
Revelation 22:17

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Isaiah 55:1

In Him is life in the middle of our death.
In Him is redemption in the middle of our brokenness.
In Him is hope in the middle of our unsolvable grief.
for He is the very Son of God.

He thirsted, so we would never have to.
He holds out truth; solid, reliable, authentic, time-tested truth.

Are you thirsty?

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

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