Aim to understand God’s plan for Jesus & to understand what Jesus achieved
Aim
* to understand God’s plan for Jesus
* to understand what Jesus achieved
Materials
* Outline of the Principle Level 4. chapter 13 – Jesus in the History of Restoration
* visual aids
* children’s worksheets
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Jesus’ 1st Course
3. Jesus’ 2nd Course
4. Jesus’ 3rd Course
5. Activity – worksheet
6. Conclusion
7. Prayer
1) Introduction
Because Adam and Eve fell, Satan has dominated this world. Jesus came as the second Adam to win over Satan and establish the Kingdom of God. God’s plan for Jesus was that he be accepted by the Jewish people as the Messiah. Then the Roman Empire would have followed Jesus and this would have spread to the whole world. To do this Jesus followed the model courses of Jacob and Moses.
But, just as the Israelites under Moses lost their faith, so did the Jews at the time of Jesus. As a result, Jesus, like Moses, had to go through three courses.
2) Jesus’ 1st Course
Jesus came as the Messiah, but the Jewish people had to make a foundation to receive him, otherwise the Satanic world could destroy him. This meant making a Foundation of Faith and Substance.
Foundation of Faith – There needs to be a central person who can show complete faith and obedience towards God and bring the people to the Messiah. This was John the Baptist
1. Central Person – John the Baptist
* At the time of Moses the Israelites repeatedly fell into faithlessness. God sent many prophets, especially Elijah, to teach the Israelites to keep faith. But not even Elijah could succeed. However,
God said he would send Elijah again to prepare people to receive the Messiah. John the Baptist was the Elijah
2. Offering – an ascetic life
John lived an ascetic life in the wilderness. He prayed, fasted, and lived on locusts and honey. It was an exemplary life of faith.
3. Time Period – 400 years
A 400 year period of preparation established a faithful people
Foundation of Substance
1. Abel position – John the Baptist
2. Cain position – people of Israel
This is a condition where someone in the Cain position has to believe, serve and obey someone in the Abel position. In this way the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature would have been achieved. John stood in the Abel position and the Jewish people in the Cain position. All they had to do was accept John as God’s messenger. They showed this through their great respect for him. Some even thought he might be the Messiah. Together this would make a foundation in the society to receive Jesus.
Foundation for the Messiah
Both a foundation of faith and substance were made. The problem was that John failed to understand his mission. He was the second coming of Elijah. Jesus said he was, but John said he wasn’t. It confused the Jewish leaders. They trusted John’s words more than Jesus. This blocked the people from coming to Jesus. The foundation to receive the Messiah was lost. As a result, the first course failed.
3) Jesus’ 2nd Course
* Who could to make a new F/F and F/S now that John had failed? Jesus himself had do it, in the position of John the Baptist, not as the Messiah. Jesus shouldn’t have had to make the foundation of faith, but he had no alternative, because the whole foundation to receive him was lost.
The Foundation of Faith
1. Central Person – Jesus
2. Offering – He fasted and had to overcome three temptations.
3. Time Period – 40 days
* What were the three temptations?
1) Satan said, “Turn stones to bread.” Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”
2) Satan said, “Throw yourself off the temple.” Jesus said, “You shall not tempt the lord God.”
3) Satan said, “All this I will give,fall down, worship me. Jesus said, “You shall worship God, only
* Jesus successfully laid the F/F by overcoming the three temptations.
The Foundation of Substance
1. Abel position – Jesus
2. Cain position – people of Israel
* The whole purpose of the F/S is to get Cain (Israel) to follow Abel (Jesus). All the Jewish people had to believe, serve and obey Jesus. In this way the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature would have been achieved. Then Jesus could move from the position of John the Baptist to the position of the Messiah
* What did Jesus do to lay the F/S? He did two things to get Israel to follow him:
a) He taught God’s word. Jesus revealed new truth to inspire people & show he was chosen by God.
b) He performed miracles. This was to testify that he was the Messiah
* Jesus desperately wanted people to accept him, but how did the they react? The Jewish people’s attitude went from ignorance to disbelief, to distrust and criticism, to fear, to wanting to stone him, and finally they crucified him. The Jewish leaders called him a sinner. Like the Israelites during Moses time, they became faithless. Satan attacked Jesus through the Jewish leaders. His own disciples became faithless and finally one of his closest followers, Judas Iscariot, betrayed him.
* What was the result of Jesus attempts to lay a Foundation of Substance? Rather than Cain (Israel) following Abel(Jesus), Cain killed Abel again. The second course also ended in failure.
4) Jesus’ 3rd Course
God allowed Satan to crucify Jesus, to pay the price for the people’s failure to believe. It was also a condition to save all mankind. Jesus forgave his enemies as he was dying on the cross. If he had cursed them, everything would have been lost. Satan used his power to kill Jesus’ physical body, but God used His power to resurrect Jesus’ spirit.
The Foundation of Faith
1. Central Person – Resurrected Jesus
2. Offering – Appearing to disciples.
3. Time Period – 40 days
* As the resurrected Jesus, he was the central person to lay the F/F. He did this by appearing before his disciples for 40 days, educating them and restoring their faith.
The Foundation of Substance
1. Abel position – Resurrected Jesus
2. Cain position – Jesus’ disciples
* Next he needed to make a F/S. His disciples (Cain), had to unite with Jesus (Abel). This time they believed in him completely and were ready to follow him. With this successful foundation, Jesus could move to the position of the spiritual Messiah By believing in Jesus all people could be saved spiritually. He opened a place in spirit world free from Satan.
* But this was not enough. Because Satan took Jesus physical body, it means our physical body is not free from Satan’s influence, even with great faith in Jesus. A new Messiah must come who can defeat Satan and restore mankind both spiritually and physically.
5) Activities
– complete worksheets
6) Conclusion
To conclude ask each person what they could learn from today’s lesson. Refer to the lesson aims:
* to understand God’s plans for Jesus
– God’s original plan was that John the Baptist became Jesus’ closest disciple. Through John the Jewish people would have recognized Jesus and his message would have spread through the Roman Empire to the whole world.
* to understand what Jesus achieved
– Because Jesus willingly gave his life, God gave him the power to appear spiritually to his followers for 40 days. This time they completely united with him. Finally the F/F and F/S were successfully made. It meant that anyone who believes in and follows Jesus can receive spiritual salvation and go to paradise in spirit world. But all believers physical bodies are not free from Satan’s influence. That is why a new Messiah must come to give complete salvation. For the last 2,000 years Christianity has spread throughout the world and become the largest religion in the world.
7) Prayer
