Faith and Grace: The Life we were Meant to Live with God.
1. Fruitful Life of Blessing with God: Rest and Provision of Grace.
Genesis 2:1-3,8-9a. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
Hebrews 2:3a-4; 9-10. For we who have believed enter that rest…. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” … 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Matthew 11:28-30. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Psalm 23:1-3. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
2. Fully Alive in God: Living Souls in bodies of Flesh.
Genesis 2:4-7. These are the generations (of the family) of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature (literally, a living “soul”).
Jeremiah 2:13: for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
John 7:38-39a: Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
3. Freedom of Faith: Choosing to Obey God and Live.
Genesis 2:9, 16-18, 22-25. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.16 And the Lord God commandedthe man, saying, “You may surely eat of every treeof the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evilyou shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
18. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Hebrews 10:38-39. but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Hebrews 11:8-10. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
ADDition: 1.Fruitful Life of Blessing with God: Rest and Grace:
Q1. How would you describe the life God wants to share with you as a place of peaceful rest and gracious provision?
What would your life look like if you lived in God’s peaceful rest and gracious provision now?
What does it mean to experience God’s “blessing” and “rest”?
What does it mean to experience God’s grace and provision?
Do you want to share this kind of life with God? Why?
Q2. Why is the Lord God’s spiritual life (breath) the only thing that makes our souls come alive so that we truly live? Why will nothing else feed our souls with life?
Have you ever felt the need for God’s spiritual life? Is this something you want? Why?
What happens when our starving “flesh” attempt to find satisfaction in earthly things of this world, such as food, drink, or bodily actions? Can these replace “spiritual water” from God?
Do you want to be both bodily and spiritually alive? Why?
Q3. Why does the Lord God want us to obey His Word of Command? Why are we truly “free” when we live by faith—obeying and trusting God as our Lord?
What will happen if we reject God as our Lord and choose to live as our own Lords in life? How will this affect our relationship with God?
What do you think about this statement?: “I have the right to do whatever I want. If I think something is good or bad, that is my choice. I don’t need God to tell me what to do.” Circle who is this person’s leader and Lord: God Self
What will happen if we live with “Self” as your own Lord?
QA. Would you rather live in a world full of God’s blessing of Rest and Grace with God as the Lord or in a God-less world of random circumstances with your Self as the Lord? Why?
Do you want to live in Self-toil apart from God or Faith in dependent relationship with God?
[ ] Will you refuse a life with God full of his grace and rest, isolating yourself from His Will to live life on your own terms?
[ ] Or, will you return to the life God meant you to have, living with God in his grace and blessing by trusting him alone in faith?