(Somebody Special, Someone Valuable - Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5)
Introduction
Jesus is God’s Son, but God loves us so much He sent Him to save the world – that’s me, that’s you, and everyone else. God didn’t create us and then abandon us to sink or swim. He involves Himself in our lives as much as we let Him.
I used to think of God as some powerful judge who sat up in the heaven, waiting for me to make a mistake, so He could lower the boom on me.
Personal Question:
- Do you ever feel that way about God?
- Describe how you see Him.
No matter how we picture God, the New Testament shows us a loving Father – one who wants us to succeed. It shows us a God who loves us and wants to save us, both from the world and from ourselves. He’s given us a way out of the messes we’ve made of our lives. That way is Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Lord, please show me what You are really like through Your Son Jesus.
Read John 1: 1-2.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
The Bible gives us many different names for Jesus, and in the verse, John calls Him the Word.
1. This scripture tells us that Jesus (the Word) was__________________________________
Before He came to earth, Jesus lived with His Father in heaven.
Read Hebrews 1:3.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.
The Bible also calls Jesus the Son or the Son of God.
2. Who is Jesus exactly like?
3. What does Jesus do?
Jesus holds all things together. That’s a very important job. Where would any of us be, if there weren’t someone holding everything together? That’s a powerful Savior, isn’t it?
Yet, Jesus gave up His position in heaven and came to earth to be born into very poor circumstances.
Read Luke 1:26-38.
26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth… 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph…30The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, 33and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.’ 34‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ 35The angel answered, ‘the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God…37For nothing is impossible with God.’
4. Who came to Mary?
5. What did Gabriel tell her?
6. What was Mary’s question?
7. How did Gabriel answer her in verse 37?
Nothing is impossible with God. Always remember that. Nothing is impossible with God. I was living in Europe when the Berlin Wall came down. No one in the West expected it to fall even days before it happened. Then one day, it just came down. God had moved in answer to the prayers of the Christians on the other side. Nothing is impossible with God.
Here is another example of how nothing is impossible with God. Bonnie, a friend of mine, took her two children and ran away from her abusive husband, Ted, who was threatening to kill her. She moved in with her parents, got a part-time job and started back to school. Every morning she left the children at the babysitter’s house.
Ted hired a private detective and found out where she was. One day he arrived in town determined to take the children back with him. Guess what happened. The day Ted arrived at the babysitter’s, the children were with Bonnie. But what makes this story so special is that this day was the only day of the whole year that Bonnie was off from both school and work. If Ted had arrived on any other day, he would have been able to get the children, but not that day. That was no coincidence. That was God working. When you belong to Him, nothing – nothing is impossible.
Personal Question:
- Can anyone share about a time when God performed a miracle just for you?
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the country of Israel. The bible tells us very little about His childhood. He probably lived a life much like any member of a peasant family in that country. When He was 30 years old, He began traveling around the countryside, telling people about God’s love and showing God’s power and His compassion.
Read Matthew 4:23-24.
23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about His spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.
8. What do we see Jesus doing in these verses?
Read Luke 4:40-41.
40At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them. 41Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!....’
9. What were some of the miracles Jesus did?
All the time He lived on earth Jesus continued to do miracles: He healed people, raised others from the dead, fed multitudes, walked on water, calmed the sea, and told people what they were thinking. He did this because He wanted to show God’s compassion for them and to prove that He really was the Son of God. But He never forgot that He had come to earth with an even more important job.
Read Luke 4:42-43.
42At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. 43But He said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent!’
10. Why did Jesus say He had been sent?
Jesus’ good news was that the kingdom of God was available to His followers, and that everyone – you and I – could be reconciled to God if we repented and believed in Jesus Christ.
Wouldn’t you think that someone who had such news would be welcomed everywhere? Well, that’s not what happened. Although Jesus did good and taught how easy it is to be forgiven by God, most people continued in their old ways. In the end, even most of Jesus’ closest followers deserted Him. He was sentenced to death and died a painful death on a cross. For three days it looked as though Jesus’ whole life was in vain. Then on the third day, when some of His followers went to His tomb, they found the huge stone that had sealed it, rolled away, and two angels appeared.
Read Luke 24:5-7.
5...“Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 7‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”
11. What happened to Jesus?
Read Ephesians 1:20-22.
20….God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything in the church,
12. Where is Jesus today?
13. What is His position?
Read II Timothy 1:10.
10…Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
14. What had Jesus done?
Read Romans 8:34.
34…Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
15. What is Jesus doing for us today?
Interceding means praying. Right now, Jesus is praying for us. Isn’t that wonderful? Not only did Jesus die for us, but even after He returned to heaven, He continues to pray for us. I find great comfort in the fact that Jesus prays for me. I don’t always have the right words, but Jesus does.
Personal Questions
- How does it make you feel to know that Jesus is praying for you right now?
- If you’d like to, why don’t you thank Him?
In the next chapter we’re going to see how Jesus continues to work in people’s lived today.
Scriptures to Memorize
…Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. II Timothy 1:10
Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34
(Somebody Special, Someone Valuable - Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5)
Answers
- Was with God and is God and has been with God since the beginning.
- God
- He sustains all things by His powerful word.
- The angel Gabriel
- That she would have a child.
- “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
- “Nothing is impossible with God.”
- Preaching the good news, healing every disease and sickness
- Healings and casting out demons
- To preach the good news.
- He had been raised from the dead.
- Seated at the right hand of God.
- Above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and title
- Destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel
- Interceding for us.
All scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International Version
(unless otherwise indicated)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, New International Bible Society
Copyright © 1992 by JoAnne Sekowsky