Bible Study Course
The Gospel of Peace
The Gospel of Peace
Welcome to the Gospel of Peace! This series of study classes is designed to help you determine for yourself the message of truth in God’s Word. We consider this of ultimate importance, because the Bible claims to provide a way in which normal people like you and me can find everlasting life! Can that be true? Or is it just a misunderstanding? Find out for yourself!
Course syllabus:
Classes last 1.5-2 hrs with all scriptures read. For a shorter class of 1-1.5 hrs, just use the underlined ones.
Who’s Who, What’s What? (Focus on Concepts and Characters)
01 I Am the Lord and There Is No Other
Who is God, What can we learn about his Character?
Isaiah 45; Exodus 3; Romans 11; Deuteronomy 6; Exodus 33-34; John 4; 1 John 4
02 Son of God and Son of Man
Who is Jesus Christ and what did he achieve?
Isaiah 53; Luke 1 & 2; Psalm 22; Matthew 26 & 27; John 1 & 3 & 10 & 17; Philippians 2
03 For Dust Thou Art…
What is man? What is a soul? Where does sin come from?
Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:4-7,20-24; Genesis 3; Ezekiel 18:1-4; Psalm 104:29-30
Genesis 6:5-8; Mark 7:14-23; Psalm 119:9-16; James 1:1-18; Romans 7
04 We Will All Be Changed
What are Heaven and Hell? Is there an afterlife? If so, who experiences it, how and why?
Psalm 115:12-18; Matthew 18:1-14; Job 11:1-9; Matthew 11:16-26; Jeremiah 7:30-34;
Matthew 10:28-39; Acts 2:22-35; John 5:19-30; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28 & 35-58
05Crouching at Your Door
Who tempted Christ in the wilderness? Who or what is the devil?
Matthew 3 & 4; John 3; James 1; Hebrews 4; Matthew 16; John 6; Luke 22; Hebrews 2
06He Took Up Our Infirmities
The Gospel Message Concerning Demons
Isaiah 53; Matthew8-12; Mark 5
Classes last 1.5-2 hrs with all scriptures read. For a shorter class of 1-1.5 hrs, just use the underlined ones.
Timeline of God’s Plan (Focus on Biblical Timeline)
07In the Image of God (Adam)
The Creation, Fall of Man, Flood
Genesis 1-46-9
08Heirs According to the Promise (Abraham)
Israel God’s Chosen Nation; Covenant with Abraham; Spiritual Israel
Genesis 12 & 15 & 172122; Romans 4; Galatians 3
09The Letter and the Spirit (Moses)
Law to Moses; The completed Law in Christ; The Law in our discipleship
Exodus 313-1419-20; Matthew 5:1-16; Matthew 5:17-48, Matthew 622
10God’s Chosen PeopleIsrael(David)
Israel the Monarchy, David the Good King, Division; Captivity; Prophecy
1 Samuel 8 &15-16; 2 Samuel 7; Psalm 23 119;Ecclesiastes 5;Jeremiah 25; Isaiah 9; Ezekiel 37
11This is My Beloved Son: Hear Him!(Jesus Christ)
Teaching, Parables and Miracles of Jesus Christ; Crucifixion and Resurrection
Matthew 3 & 5 &8 & 13; John 9;Matthew 26-28
12Temple of the Living God (The PresentChurch)
Practices of the 1st Century Church; How to emulate/find true Christianity
Acts 2:14-21 &2:22-47; Acts 8 & 9;1 Corinthians 11; 2 Corinthians 6; 1 Timothy 3-4
13I Am Making All Things New (The FutureKingdom)
Signs of Christ’s Return; The Kingdom of God; The End
Matthew 24:1-14 & 24:15-35 & 24:36-51;1 Corinthians 15; Romans 2; Isaiah 11 & 35 & 65; Revelation 2021 & 22
What About Me? (Focus on Discipleship design)
14Living with God
Personal aspects: What is the disciple’s attitude/lifestyle before God?
Genesis 1; Matthew 22; Micah 6; Genesis 3; Philippians 2; Romans 11; Genesis 4
Acts 2; Romans 6; 2 Corinthians 6; Matthew 9; 1 Thessalonians 5; James 1; 1 Timothy 4
15The Bride of Christ
Communal aspects: Living together as a Church; New Citizenship status
Hebrews 10; 1 Corinthians 11; John 13; Philippians 2; Revelation 19
2 Corinthians 6; Romans 13; Ephesians 2; 1 Peter 2; Hebrews 11
16I Believe
Faith, Works and Grace;What I Believe; Preparation for baptism
Hebrews 11; James 2; Matthew 7; Ephesians 2; Isaiah 59
1
I Am the Lord and There is No Other
The Gospel of Peace: Session 01
Who’s Who, What’s What?
(Focus on Concepts and Characters)
I Am the Lord and There Is No Other
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
What information can we compile from the Bible about who God is and what His character is like? Here is some essential Bible reading on the subject:
ISAIAH 45
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. 8 "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it. 9 "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands'? 10 Woe to him who says to his father, 'What have you begotten?' or to his mother, 'What have you brought to birth?'
11 "This is what the LORD says- the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? 12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. 13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty."14 This is what the LORD says: "The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans- they will come over to you and will be yours;they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, 'Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.' "
15 Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God and Savior of Israel. 16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together. 17 But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.
18 For this is what the LORD says- he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited- he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob's descendants, 'Seek me in vain.' I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right. 20 "Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. 21 Declare what is to be, present it- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. (Isaiah 45:5-20)
EXODUS 3
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up."
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."
5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-a land flowing with milk and honey.'
ROMANS 11
11 I say then, have they [the Jews] stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
16For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 20Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
DEUTERONOMY 6
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
EXODUS 33-34
7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." 14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" 17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." 21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
1 The LORD said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain."
4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 "O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."
(see also Jeremiah 31:29-30)
JOHN 4
19"Sir," the woman said [to Jesus], "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."