This weeks lesson is on God's Law (The Ten Commandments, Ex. 20), and what the law says about God's love for us under the law.  I thought I would post a great video on the matter, but I felt a few simple questions and answers along with supporting scripture might be better.  Take a quick moment to read this and I hope it helps you in your preparation for Sunday.

How does the Bible describe God's law?

God's commandments show us how to love and are not burdensome (1 John 5:3
). The apostle Paul said that love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:9-10
). Jesus Christ summarized the whole law as love for God and man (Matthew 22:37-40


). Christ also said those seeking eternal life should keep the Ten Commandments and He listed several of them as examples (Matthew 19:17-19

).

James called God's law a royal law and a law of liberty (James 2:8
, 12). The psalmist loved and meditated on God's law—it gave him wisdom and understanding—it was sweet to him (Psalm 119). The apostle Paul called it holy, just and good and spiritual (Romans 7:12
, 14). The heart of the New Covenant is that God's laws will be written on our hearts and minds (Hebrews 10:16
).

What happens when we disobey the law?

The Bible calls this sin (1 John 3:4
). As obedience brings blessings, disobedience naturally brings curses (Deuteronomy 28). All unhappiness, misery, anguish and woe have come from transgressing God's law. Sin leads to death and, sadly, we have all sinned (Romans 6:23
; 3:23). God hates sin so much that He made the penalty for sin death. But He loves us so much He let His Son pay that awesome penalty for us (John 3:16
).

What about grace?

Grace is undeserved favor that we receive from God, and it includes the gift of forgiveness. We deeply appreciate God's grace and forgiveness, made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Law and grace are both wonderful gifts of God. Law shows us the wretchedness of our putrid evil sins and points us to repentance and forgiveness through God's grace. Grace leads us to utter appreciation for our holy and merciful God and to a deepening desire to be like Him. How? By doing what He says—obeying His law of love in its full spirit and intent.

The Fall - Mark Driscoll Sermon

This sermon is from Mars Hill Church's sermon series "Doctrine". In it, Mark Driscoll preahes on Genesis 3:1-7, which is the text for this week's lesson in The Gospel Project.

I think there is much truth in his statement, "Some texts like this can become so overly familiar that we read them, put everything in its thelogical category, and then move on, as opposed to emotionally being devastated, as we should be."

I know I'm guilty of that with this passage. Hopefully this week's lesson will help us get beyond the surface of this familiar text.

Expanded Gospel Project Promo Video

We have already shared the first part of this video, which summarizes the story of the Bible illustrated by works of art. Now The Gospel Project has now posted an expanded version online.  Here it is, in case you're interested or want to share with anyone.

3-2-1

I came across this video today and wanted to share...

GOD is for GOD

In this weeks lesson, we will be discussing special revelation, God's revelation to us through the Scriptures.  The lesson shows us that God is the author of the Bible and the story he wrote is about Himself.  The purpose of God's revelation is to bring glory to Him.

This sermon by Matt Chandler, titled "God is for God", makes many of the same points as our study guide.  It's a little long, but it's a good listen.

In the Beginning...Grace

Leah found this sermon on Genesis 1 by Tullian Tchividjian, the pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian in Florida (and grandson of Billy Graham).  He makes many of the same points made in this week's Gospel Project lesson.  It's definitely worth a listen if you have time.

As he says in the intro, we often spend our time on Genesis 1 focusing on secondary things (at best).  For example, we focus on the heroes of the text (Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph) and what moral lessons we can learn from their examples.  But the "heroes" of Genesis aren't really heroes at all.  They fall, they fail, they lie, they make huge mistakes, they're selfish, they're egotistical, they're unreliable...

Genesis was not primarily written so that we would have a catalogue of heroes to emmulate.  It was primarily written to whet our appetite for another....for someone who will come and succeed where human "heroes" fail.  From beginning to end Genesis is a witness to a God who is full of grace...who gives, not because of our moral successes, but in spite of our moral failures. 



Ultimate Authority and the Suicide of Rebellion

The first section of this week's lesson from the Gospel Project carries the heading, "The God Who Speaks Has Authority".  This is a statement that few Christians would deny, but how does this truth affect our worldview and our day-to-day lives?  And why do we, though we profess this truth, continue to rebel against God's authority over our lives?

In 2010, Matt Chandler preached a series titled "Ultimate Authority".  This first message in the series has some great perspective on God's authority and our attitude toward His authority (and authority in general).

Ultimate Authority and the Suicide of Rebellion

It was helpful for me to follow along with the transcript of the sermon.