1. Be Real
This week’s teaching, John 5:30-39, revealed how Jesus is God.
Other world religions and popular opinion would prefer for Jesus to be a good, moral teacher instead of God himself. For those who claim to be Christians, we can not forfeit the belief that Jesus is God and still remain true to our faith.
An authentic Christian faith begins when our questioning of Jesus as God gives way to a desire to know Jesus as God. Once we begin to know Jesus as God our lives will begin to look dramatically different than they did before.
To be certain, following Jesus as God will cost you anonymity, authority, preference, and comfort. And to be even more certain, it will be absolutely worth it.
2. Grow Together
Read this from the Bible together:
John 5:30-39
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
Some key statements and questions put forward that are important for us to talk about…
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” Jesus miraculously healed, forgave sins, raised people from the dead, and rose from the grave himself—and yet, he says he does nothing on his own or for his own sake. Does this sound like the kind of person you would want to be God?
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,” Can reading your Bible give you eternal life? What does that tell you about the differences between knowledge of God and knowing Jesus as God?
3. Next Steps
Do you believe Jesus is God? If not, why is that? If yes, can anyone tell that Jesus is your God by the way you live (the things you do and don’t do)?
What specific areas of your life are being lived as if they are under the authority of another god’s reign?” (Consider your sex life, the words you speak, the way you spend your money, the thoughts you entertain, the addictions you feed, the people or platforms you worship, etc.)?
Do you believe there should be a noticeable difference in the way you live if you claim Jesus is God? How can we be the kinds of people who live noticeable lives of worship to Jesus?
