PREPARE
Who is God? What is He like? How is the One True God we worship different from the gods of other religions? What difference does knowing God make in my life? How does knowing God affect my Identity?
Understanding who the True God is and what He is like is essential for understanding what it means to worship, love, and follow Him and for understanding who we are and what our true identity is. God reveals Himself to us through His Word, the Bible. Isn’t it amazing that the God of the universe has made a way for us to know Him intimately! That He has given us the true words of scripture to show us His character, His work in the world, and how He relates to His people?
Prepare for this week’s message by reading Psalm 86:15, Isaiah 40: 25-31, Romans 11:33-36, Colossians 1:15-20, Jude 24-25. Take some time to note what these verses reveal about God.
LISTEN
Verses: Prov 14:12; John 3:21, 8:31-33, 14:6, 17:17, 18:36-38; 2 Tim 3:16-17; and Heb 4:12-13
Main Point: Our identities have been shaped by principles that must be transformed by knowing God.
1. The Importance of Principles
2. The Source of Principles
3. The Transformation of Principles
REFLECT
1. What impacted you most from this week’s message? What challenged you or encouraged you? What did you learn about the character of God?
2. What are the principles that guide your life? Can you identify how you developed these principles? How do people know what is true and what is false?
3. Read Proverbs 14:12. What does this proverb tell us about human understanding? Are we able to know what is true and what is best apart from God? What is the result of human understanding apart from knowing God?
4. Read Genesis 1:1. What do we understand about God from the very first words in the Bible? Look at the first three words – “In the beginning God…” What fundamental principles can we gain from these words?
5. Read John 3:21, 8:31-33, 14:6, 18:36-38. In the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about truth in several places. What do these verses tell us about the nature of truth? What does it mean to know the truth? How does knowing God affect the principles that govern our lives?
6. Read John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and Hebrews 4:12-13. What do learn about the word of God in these passages? How does the Bible transform the principles that we build our identities on? How does the Bible affect the process of transformation (Submit, Sacrifice, and Substitute)?
7. Why is this transformation process especially difficult related to principles?
8. What is the best way for you to interact with the Bible for identity transformation? How often do you interact with the Bible in this way?
9. In the past, how has God used His word to change your principles?
ACT
- What is one specific thing you can do this week to put into practice what you learned in this message?
- How can you deepen your relationship with God and follow Him more closely this week?
- Who is someone you can share what you learned with?