Galatians 4:3 tells us that before Christ came “we were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.” When Adam and Eve walked away from God’s rule to seek knowledge apart from relationship with God, they spiritually died and became subject to the basic spiritual principles of this world which amount to survival of the fittest. Before we came to Christ, we lived like orphans. We were locked into survival mode like children with no parents, slaves to the fear of man and subject to “empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world” (Colossians 2:8). To restore…
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Puzzle Piece 4: Jesus, Our Bridegroom
When God delivered Israel from slavery, he led them to the wilderness where he made an everlasting covenant with them. God describes his covenant with Israel as a marriage. In Jeremiah 2:2 God says of those early days, “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown” (NIV). God commanded Israel to celebrate the anniversary of their deliverance each year with a festival, called Passover, and the anniversary of when they entered into covenant with God in the wilderness at the festival of weeks, also known as Pentecost. Each of God’s appointed festivals points…
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Puzzle Piece 3: Jesus, the Word of God
Note to Parents: At the end of the small group guide (linked below and on the Discipleship Book page), you will find a fun, interactive family lesson enabling you to teach your children what you’re learning about your identity in Christ each week. The gospel of John opens with the declaration that Jesus existed before the world and spoke it into being as the very Word of God. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that…
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Puzzle Piece 2: Jesus, Our Redeemer
When God’s perfect creation was marred by sin, God set in motion a plan to redeem it. Isaiah 61 describes Jesus’ assignment as God’s chosen Redeemer. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed” (Isaiah 61:1). Who are the captives and from what prison are they set free? In Genesis 3:13 the Lord asked Eve why she ate the fruit that was forbidden, and she replied, “The serpent deceived me.” The word for deceive in…
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Puzzle Piece 1: Jesus, the New Adam
When God created the earth, he put into place a physical principle of seed-bearing plants whose seeds reproduce that plant. It’s also the principle of reaping what you sow. If I open a zucchini and plant the seeds it contains into the ground, I will get more zucchini plants and annoy my neighbors all summer by trying to pawn off on them a mountain of zucchini. This principle of reproduction also applies to people since the Bible uses the word seed to refer to reproduction in people. Just like heat and water activate seeds, the DNA “seeds” we inherit from our parents can be activated to express certain characteristics present…
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Introduction: Building Your Identity in Christ
Who are you? Do you know? The only way to know who you were created to be is to know your Creator and learn what he says about you. The devil and the world will speak a false identity to make you conform to the world. But God, the source of truth, reveals your true identity. Your identity is not your assignment – what you were created to do – but rather who you are to God. It cannot be found in your work, although your work will flow from your true identity because it shapes your values and desires. Your identity is found through relationship to God, specifically who…