Scripture Memorization
Philippians 2:12-13
OPENING PRAYER (5 to 10 minutes)
GROUP BUILDING (10 minutes)
Since we’re going to spend quite a bit of time today talking about what it means to be a person, I thought we’d learn some stuff about the people in this room. I’m going to give you each a piece of paper. On it, I’m going to ask you to write the answers to five questions. Then, I’m going to collect them and ask the group the same questions, and they’ll have to guess who answered in which way.
The Five:
1. In which city were you born?
2. What is your favorite television show?
3. What is your favorite restaurant?
4. Who is your favorite singer?
5. What kind of car does your mom drive?
(After you collect the papers, simply as the group in this format: Which one of us was born in Barcelona, Spain? Which one of us loves to watch Sesame Street?, etc. You’ll learn more about each kid and get them thinking about people, which is central to this lesson.)
GETTING STARTED (7 minutes)
General Discussion:
• If you had to name three people, besides biblical people, who were the best people ever to live, who would you choose? Why?
• If you had to name three people in history who were the worst human beings ever, who would you pick? Why?
• Do you believe that people are basically good or basically bad? Why?
• Do you believe that people become good and bad based on life’s circumstances, or are they “born with it?”
DIGGING IN (30 minutos)
We’re going to be talking about sin and salvation today. We’ve been exploring the book of Acts, and other Scripture, discovering theological truth. We’ve talked about who God is, what the Church is supposed to be, etc. Today we’re going to talk about what it means to be a person – one God intended us to be.
Often, salvation is discussed based on what God has done to save us. We’ll touch on that. But there’s much more to the biblical definition of salvation than Jesus dying on the cross.
Everyone turn to Acts 26. In this passage, Paul is giving the testimony of his own conversion to King Agrippa. He is telling about how, on the road to Damascus, the Lord appears to him.
Read Acts 26:15-18
Verses 16-18 are Jesus’ words to Paul. They include several contrasts concerning the state of humanity and what God has in mind for humanity.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are some of these contrasts? (Darkness/light, Satan/God)
2. What do you think it means for man to be in darkness? What would it look like if man were in the light?
3. What are some visible evidences in our world of Satan’s rule? What about God’s rule?
It is clear from this text, and the mission that God is sending Paul on, that humanity is not all He wants them to be. But what is mankind supposed to be like? For this answer, we need to go way back to the very beginning. Turn to the first book of the Bible, Genesis.
Read Genesis 1:26-31 and Genesis 2:15-25 22 (have two students read one passage)
Discussion Questions:
1. Let’s start basic. Where do the Scriptures say man came from? (From God)
2. According to Genesis 1, in what image was man created? (In the image of God, the Trinity)
3. What value does man come with if he is made in God’s image?
4. What does God think about His creation of mankind in Genesis 1:31?
The Bible is pretty clear that, in the beginning of things, God creates man and “it was very good.” We have an inherent goodness to us based on the fact that God made us. Don’t forget that. You’re not an accident. You are valued. You have inherited that from the Maker of the universe. You are His reflection; His image. We started as innocent.
But, as we know, this does not persist. Man sins. The fall of mankind is recorded in Genesis 3. Woman eats the fruit of the forbidden tree and man follows suit. Sin enters the world.
Read Romans 5:12
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you think sin has changed humanity? How has it interfered with our original purpose?
2. Death is the just product of sin. How does it make you feel to know that we were never meant to die?
A long string of sinning began. It started in the Garden, and hasn’t stopped since. But don’t lose sight of the truth – we weren’t created to sin. That’s not man’s original shape and purpose.
The New Testament sets up another contrast, much like Paul’s contrasts in Acts 26. The contrast is Old Self vs. New Self.
Read Ephesians 4:20-24; Colossians 3:9-10, and Romans 6:6-11(have three students read one passage)
Discussion Questions:
1. In these passages, what is the Old Self? (The sinful self, the pre-Jesus self)
2. In these passages, what is the New Self? (The saved being, after Christ)
3. What is the passage way between our Old Self and New Self? (Death to our sinful nature)
4. Who has paved the way for this transformation? How? (Christ, through His physical death and resurrection)
It’s kind of crazy. The work of salvation is not meant to save us from who we are – it’s to make us into who we were always meant to be! Did you hear that? Christ’s work was not meant to make us LESS human, but MORE – the humans God intended us to be – who live in concert with Him and have fellowship with our Maker. But it doesn’t stop there. There’s a constant process which follows our salvation that theologians call “sanctification.”
Read Philippians 2:12-13 and Romans 6:19-22 (have two students read one passage)
Sanctification is the process of us becoming more and more what we’re supposed to be. According to Philippians, this object of God’s affection – His catalyst for helping others know Him. And according to Romans 6, this ongoing transformation – a product of Christ’s redemptive work – results in our own eternal life (see verse 22).
MAKING IT REAL (10 minutes)
General Discussion:
• How is this view of sin and salvation different from what you’ve usually heard?
• How does thinking in terms of becoming “more human” sound to you? Does it sound silly? Confusing? Wrong? Why?
• How much do you think you live like the person God intended you to be?
We all fight our Old Self. There’s a struggle between who we’re meant to be and who God made us to be. How do we every really become who we were designed to become?
Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Discussion Questions:
1. Verse 26 says that we are NOT what things? (Wise, strong, etc.)
2. Verse 29 says we should not boast. Why do you think that is?
3. The first part of verse 30 declares who deserves the credit for our salvation and strength. Who is that? (Jesus)
“It is because of Him” that we are saved, that we are in Christ, that we can have redemption, that we can be holy. We shouldn’t boast because there is NO WAY we can do that on our own.
Left on our own, we sin, we eat the fruit, we look lustfully, we cheat and steal and lie and covet. We were meant to be good, but messed all that up a long time ago. But God didn’t give up on us! He saved us, and has given us a way to be who He wanted us to be – but that is only through the goodness of Christ. Christ is the ultimate human, in every sense of the word.
Earlier we pointed out that through Adam’s sin we have all become a part of this sinful, fallen world. But Romans doesn’t stop there. I’d like to close out this lesson by pointing you once again toward Jesus, our motivation and inspiration – our very strength and hope to live out our purpose.
(Read to your group Romans 5:12-19. Urge them to think deeply about the words you read. How does it change things? How should it impact their thoughts and actions? How does it change their very definition of a person? As an option, simply have them kneel and close their eyes as you read this passage.)
CLOSING PRAYER (5 minutes)
Pray that your group would understand what it means to be human. Thank God for the salvation that comes from Christ. Pray for strength to live out your faith, your very sanctification, through the power and grace of Jesus.