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- Herausgeber: IVP Bible Studies
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Serie: LifeGuide Bible Studies
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012
His majesty will fill your thoughts. His love will soften your heart. His holiness will purify your life. When you meet God, you will be changed. Meet him now as J. I. Packer, author of the bestselling Christian classic, Knowing God, leads you through twelve session LifeGuide® Bible Study key passages from the Old and New Testaments. These inductive Bible studies will engage your heart and mind. And enlarge your vision of the God you worship and serve. Now available in IVP's revised LifeGuide Bible Study format, Meeting God features questions for starting group discussions and for personal reflection, as well as a new "Now or Later" section following each session. For over three decades LifeGuide Bible Studies have provided solid biblical content and raised thought-provoking questions—making for a one-of-a-kind Bible study experience for individuals and groups. This series has more than 130 titles on Old and New Testament books, character studies, and topical studies. PDF download with a single-user license; available from InterVarsity Press and other resellers.
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Meeting God
12 STUDIES FOR INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS
Contents
Getting the Most Out of Meeting God
Since Jesus Christ captured me over forty years ago, I have been what is called an evangelical Christian. Moving in evangelical circles as I do, I am often troubled with what I find. While my fellow believers are constantly seeking to advance in godliness, they show little direct interest in God himself. When they study Scripture, only the principles of daily personal godliness get their attention; their heavenly Father does not. It is as if they should concentrate on the ethics and dynamics of marriage and fail to spend time with their spouse!
There is something narcissistic and, to tell the truth, nutty in being more concerned about godliness than about God. As it would not be nice to care more for our marriage than for the partner we have promised to love, honor and cherish, so it is not nice to care more for our religion than for the God whom we are called to praise and please every day of our lives. These studies are meant to help us refocus so that we learn to look for God every time we read the Bible.
When approaching any biblical passage, I have found it good to ask first what it shows me about God, second what it shows me about human life here and hereafter, and only then, as my third question, what it says to me about my life today
A few things should be said to prepare us for these studies. Though they are inductive in form, they take for granted some biblical perspectives that are so big and basic that you could work through the whole series and never notice them. First, we know about God through his own self-revelation in the Bible. All human ideas, both traditional and contemporary, about God’s will, works and ways must be ruthlessly brought into line with what Scripture says. We need to remember that idolatry—forming unbiblical notions of God, and so worshiping unrealities—is the sin that Scripture denounces most frequently.
Second, we know God definitively through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate. God the Father is Jesus-like. He who sees Jesus sees the Father fully reflected (see John 14:9). As God incarnate, Jesus is God for man and man for God. As our Prophet, Priest and King (Teacher, Savior, Lord), he brings God’s eternal truth, pardoning mercy and royal protection to us. And as the One who was crucified, raised and enthroned for us, he brings us to God (see 1 Peter 3:18). He is the eternal Son through whom the Father created and sustains his world (Colossians 1:15-17). He is, and always was, the One through whom all life (conscious existence) and all light (knowledge of reality) are given to the human race (John 1:4). All God’s mercy and truth were mediated through him from the beginning—even before his incarnation—and it is right to see him in all Old Testament passages that present God’s revelation and grace.
Third, the true God whom Christians know is tripersonal: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three coequal, coeternal persons exist within the unity of one God, who is thus both he and they. As with all other aspects of the mystery of God, we know from Scripture that this is so, though it is beyond us to conceive how it can be so. But since when have our minds been the measure of God’s greatness? Scripture tells us that the three who are one function as a perfect team in the divine works of creation, providence and salvation.
Redemption was arranged by the Father, accomplished by the Son and is applied by the Spirit, whom the Father and the Son together sent into the world for that purpose. The Father wills that we honor the Son; the Son wills that we honor the Father; the Spirit works to bring us to the place where in faith, love and prayerful obedience we honor both and celebrate in worship the grace and power that flow to us from all three. This God-centered, Christ-centered, Spirit-centered, Trinity-centered perspective is constant in the New Testament. Likewise, all that is said of God in the Old Testament should be set within this frame. The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, always was Father, Son and Holy Spirit, although this triunity was not revealed till the Son became flesh.
Fourth, when all is said and done, our Creator is bound to surpass our comprehension. Though our knowledge of him may be true as far as it goes, it will necessarily be incomplete. This being so, it is difficult to avoid well-intentioned error and one-sidedness when thinking of God. Therefore, those who embark on this study would be wise to have handy at least one book that presents the Christian view of God to use as a reference point for balance and breadth. My own Knowing God and Bruce Milne’s Know the Truth might be helpful here, and so might C. Samuel Storms’s The Grandeur of God.
One more point before you get going. I must acknowledge the fine work of Jack Kuhatschek, my editor, on this guide. He has been a virtual coauthor whose creative efforts have, I believe, helped to make this a far better piece. And the subsequent work of Dale and Sandy Larsen has improved it again for this revised edition.
This study guide is divided into twelve forty-five minute studies. Each one focuses on a different passage of Scripture that reveals some facet of God’s nature and character. It is my prayer that by studying these passages you will gain a deeper knowledge of the God we worship and serve.
Suggestions for Individual Study
1. As you begin each study, pray that God will speak to you through his Word.
2. Read the introduction to the study and respond to the personal reflection question or exercise. This is designed to help you focus on God and on the theme of the study.
3. Each study deals with a particular passage—so that you can delve into the author’s meaning in that context. Read and reread the passage to be studied. The questions are written using the language of the New International Version, so you may wish to use that version of the Bible. The New Revised Standard Version is also recommended.
4. This is an inductive Bible study, designed to help you discover for yourself what Scripture is saying. The study includes three types of questions. Observation questions ask about the basic facts: who, what, when, where and how. Interpretation questions delve into the meaning of the passage. Application questions help you discover the implications of the text for growing in Christ. These three keys unlock the treasures of Scripture.
Write your answers to the questions in the spaces provided or in a personal journal. Writing can bring clarity and deeper understanding of yourself and of God’s Word.
5. It might be good to have a Bible dictionary handy. Use it to look up any unfamiliar words, names or places.
6. Use the prayer suggestion to guide you in thanking God for what you have learned and to pray about the applications that have come to mind.
7. You may want to go on to the suggestion under “Now or Later,” or you may want to use that idea for your next study.
Suggestions for Members of a Group Study
1. Come to the study prepared. Follow the suggestions for individual study mentioned above. You will find that careful preparation will greatly enrich your time spent in group discussion.
2. Be willing to participate in the discussion. The leader of your group will not be lecturing. Instead, he or she will be encouraging the members of the group to discuss what they have learned. The leader will be asking the questions that are found in this guide.
3. Stick to the topic being discussed. Your answers should be based on the verses which are the focus of the discussion and not on outside authorities such as commentaries or speakers. These studies focus on a particular passage of Scripture. Only rarely should you refer to other portions of the Bible. This allows for everyone to participate in indepth study on equal ground.
4. Be sensitive to the other members of the group. Listen attentively when they describe what they have learned. You may be surprised by their insights! Each question assumes a variety of answers. Many questions do not have “right” answers, particularly questions that aim at meaning or application. Instead the questions push us to explore the passage more thoroughly.
When possible, link what you say to the comments of others. Also, be affirming whenever you can. This will encourage some of the more hesitant members of the group to participate.
5. Be careful not to dominate the discussion. We are sometimes so eager to express our thoughts that we leave too little opportunity for others to respond. By all means participate! But allow others to also.
6. Expect God to teach you through the passage being discussed and through the other members of the group. Pray that you will have an enjoyable and profitable time together, but also that as a result of the study you will find ways that you can take action individually and/or as a group.
7. Remember that anything said in the group is considered confidential and should not be discussed outside the group unless specific permission is given to do so.
8. If you are the group leader, you will find additional suggestions at the back of the guide.
1
Who Is God?
Acts 17:16-34
Some people think of God as the impersonal soul of the universe or as the sum total of everything that is. Others like to believe he is a kindly grandfather in the sky, always available to grant requests. Still others see God as an absentee landlord who created the world and then went off to a celestial Acapulco. There is no universally agreed on definition of “God,” and ideas about him vary from person to person.
GROUP DISCUSSION. Identify false gods that people worship today. Come up with as many answers as possible in five minutes. Then work together to try to group your “gods” into categories. What sorts of behaviors might spring from worshiping each type of “god”?
PERSONAL REFLECTION
