Spring Training Study Three
G.O.S.P.E.L. Threads
Sufficiency of Christ
Jesus is God in the flesh, the long-awaited King who has come to live a perfect and powerful life, to die a sacrificial and substitutionary death, and to rise from the grave in victory over sin, Satan, and death. —David Platt
Table Discussion: What are some questions that keep us awake at night? At your tables come up with a list of questions.
The question in this study we will address is: How can a holy God save rebellious sinners who are due His judgment?
When we understand the first two threads of the gospel—The Character of God and The Sinfulness of Man—we no longer ask why God finds it difficult to forgive our sins. Instead, we start asking how God finds it possible to forgive our sins.
So how can God demonstrate His saving love when His just character necessitates condemning us?
God’s solution to the Dilemma
We live in a world filled with religious options, and many people believe that, in the end, all of them lead to the same place. No religion is superior or inferior to the others. However, we must evaluate
Who Jesus Is
Table Discussion: At your tables answer the question of who is Jesus? What would you tell someone who has never heard of Him? How would you describe Him?
- He was loving and kind.
- He championed the cause of the poor and the needy.
- He made friends with the neglected, the weak, and the downtrodden.
- He hung out with the despised and the rejected.
- He loved His enemies, and He taught others to do the same.
Jesus was always talking about
- I am the bread of life…
- I am the way, the truth and life…
- I am the light of the world…
- I am the living water…
- I am the good shepherd…
What Jesus has Done
- Jesus lived
You know that he (Jesus) appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin —1 John 3:5
Unlike us, Jesus never rebelled against God. He was tempted in all the same ways we are, yet He never gave in. He was “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
- Jesus died
Only Christ, God in the flesh, is able to pay the infinite price due men and women in their sin. Jesus is uniquely qualified to be our substitute because He is fully divine. Jesus spoke often about His death and the Gospels spend a disproportionate amount of time on the days leading up to His crucifixion. How is the death of Jesus good news? Death is the payment for sin (Romans 6:23), but Jesus had no sin.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. —1 Peter 2:24
Jesus died in our place for our sins.
- Jesus conquered
Jesus obeyed the Father all the way to the cross. The devil never gained a foothold on Him. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ where Christianity stands or falls. The resurrection was God’s public validation of Christ’s life and death. He was announcing to the world that Christ’s sinless life and sin-bearing death were acceptable. Without the resurrection, on the other hand, our entire belief system is meaningless.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time. —1 Corinthians 15:3-6
Weaving Thread Three: The Sufficiency of Christ
Take advantage of every opportunity you have to tell Jesus’
- Talking about Jesus’
Look for opportunities to share Jesus’ teachings.
Look for opportunities to highlight Jesus’ example.
Look for opportunities to communicate Jesus’ power.
Look for opportunities to acknowledge Jesus’ work in us.
Look for opportunities to point out Jesus’ identification with us.
Never stop emphasizing the gravity of sin.
Never stop talking about your gratitude for Christ.
Speak about difficulties with hope and about death with joy.
So how should Christ’s resurrection affect the way we view Him? First, Christ’s resurrection means that He is Lord over life and death. No one else can determine how long he lives, nor can he will himself back to life. But that’s exactly what Jesus did. —David Platt