Faith Women s Foundations Class A Woman s Relationship With God Class #1 Relationship With God and Personal Bible Study Student Notes I. Relationship With God A. What is a Relationship with God? From Milton Vincent s The Gospel Primer My God is unimaginably awesome in all of His perfections, absolutely righteous, holy, and just in all of His ways. He has also been unbelievable good and merciful to me as the Creator and Sustainer of life. This wonderful God is the most supremely worthy Object of admiration, honor, and delight in all of the universe. And He has created me with the intention that I might glorify Him by finding my soul s delight in Him and by living in joyful obedience to Him in all of my ways. Yet I could not have failed this great God more miserably than I have. Instead of giving thanks to Him and humbly submitting to His rule over my life, I have rebelled against Him and have actually sought to exalt myself above Him. Because of my arrogance, God has every right to damn me to the everlasting experience of His terrifying wrath in the Lake of Fire. Apart from Christ I am bound by the guilt of my sins and also bound by the power of sin, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. Apart from Christ, I am also utterly deserving of and destined for eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire, completely unable to save myself or even to make one iota of a contribution to my own salvation. However, what I could not do, God did and in doing it, He did it all, sending His own Son into the world to die on the cross for my sins, thereby showing me unfathomable love. God loves me so much that He was willing to suffer the loss of His Son, and even more amazingly, He was willing to allow his Son to suffer the loss of Him at the cross. Jesus loves me so much that He was willing to lay down His life for me. No one could ever love me more or better than Jesus. On the third day after Jesus s death, God raised Him from the dead, thereby announcing that His death was completely sufficient to atone for every sin that I have or will commit throughout my lifetime. God then exalted Christ to His own right hand, where Christ now reigns from on high, granting salvation and forgiveness to all who call on Him by faith. Now when my time came and I placed my faith in Jesus, God instantly granted me a great salvation. He forgave me all of my sins, past, present, and future. He made me His child, adopting me into His family. He gave me the gift of the Holy Spirit, who gives me God s power, who pours out God s love within my heart, and who tenderly communicates to my spirit that I am a child of God and an heir of eternal glory in heaven. 1. The God of the universe perfect, holy, and absolutely good created me to have a relationship with him that would bless my soul and give me unending. 1
2. According to scripture, I am in a with God when I trust that Jesus s death will be enough to pay for my sins, and I ask that he apply the forgiveness that His death provides to MY sins. B. Growing In Your Relationship With God (info from Kyle Strobel s book Formed for the Glory of God: Learning from the Spiritual Practices of Jonathan Edwards ) 1. Growing in your relationship with God is called. 2. We must remember on the Christian journey that is the goal. 3. It is crucial that we understand that the spiritual journey is not simply about learning about God to get smarter about Him. 4. As we use the tools that God gives us to pursue our relationship with God we place ourselves in a posture of dependence on God, which allows us to be able to more fully receive and to God s love. II. Spiritual Discipline #1: Personal Bible Study A. The primary tool we are given to use to help us grow in our relationship with God is the. B. Why Did God Give Us The Bible? 1. God says the Bible is the tool that He has given us that will allow us to know what He thinks and what He wants. 2
2. First, God gives us His Word in the Bible to help us know how to be in a personal with Him. 1 Peter 1:23 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 3. Secondly, God gives us His Word in the Bible to help us know how to in that relationship with Him. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. C. What is the Bible? 1. If we re going to study God s word to know how to live in relationship with Him, trusting Him and obeying Him absolutely, we have to know that the Scripture we are reading is God s words to us. 2. We believe that the Bible refers to the of the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Hebrews 1:1-2 1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. D. Characteristics of Scripture: (From Wayne Grudem s Systematic Theology) 1. God s Word in the Bible is. 2. God s Word in the Bible is. 3. God s Word in the Bible is. 3
4. God s Word in the Bible is. 5. God s Word in the Bible is. E. Who Should Study God s Word? Psalm 19:7-10 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 1. believers should faithfully study God s word. 2. God s Word promises to especially benefit the, or those who need instruction ((ALL OF US)). 3. There may be times that we need to refer to the works of to help us study Scripture in order to understand tough passages, explore new areas of Scripture that we don t understand, or supplement the study of Scriptures with their additional areas of expertise. F. When Should You Study Scripture? 1. It is important to discover a time in your schedule that will allow you to study and faithfully. Deut 6:4-9 says 4 Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 You shall 4
bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. G. How Should You Study God s Word? 1. The best way to study God s Word is to. 2. Beyond just getting started, the second most important aspect of studying God s Word is that you bring an attitude of and teachableness. 3. It is important that you spend time reading from the, not only reading books that were written about the Bible. 4. No matter what you decide to study it is important to use good principles of when studying Scripture. (summarized from Proper Biblical Interpretation by John MacArthur http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-55) It is important to study passages of Scripture in their proper Scriptural. We also need to make sure to study scripture in its proper, grammatical, and logical context. We should attempt to ascertain the meaning that God to convey in that particular passage of Scripture, apart from my or anyone else s thoughts about that topic. 2 Timothy 2:15 says that we should be diligent when we are handling God s word and to work hard to handle the Scriptures. It is important to take the Scriptures, without overly spiritualizing or allegorizing the text. 5
It is important to interpret Scripture in light of the of what Scripture says. You should be watching for any new-to-you revelation you can receive about God or His. Be watching for any that should be obeyed immediately. Watch for any that could be drawn to your specific situation from that passage of scripture. H. Some Tools That May Be Helpful 1. A Bible in a translation that is easy for you to. 2. 3. Lexicon or Bible 4. A Bible I. Steps to Doing a Book Study (from http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestudyresources/ss/biblestudy_8.htm) 1. Choose a of the Bible that you d like to study. 2. Read through the book in sitting (if possible) several times over the next several days. 3. Slow down and read the book, breaking down the text into paragraphs or sections. 4. Use any of the Bible Study listed above to delve into smaller passages more deeply. 6
5. Record things that you learn along with you need to make in your daily life based on what you ve learned in Scripture. J. Steps to Doing a Topical Study: 1. Choose the you d like to study. 2. Look up the, synonyms, antonyms, etc using a Lexicon or Bible Dictionary. 3. Look up the topic in a and read every verse listed in reference to the topic you re studying. 4. Look up and relative passages on the subject you re studying. 5. Utilize Bible study to more deeply understand passages that are not clear. 6. Observe ways that you can what you are learning. III. Summary The amazing thing is that we to have a relationship with God through the finished work of His son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. IV. Questions 7
Faith Women s Foundations Class A Woman s Relationship With God Class #1 Relationship With God and Personal Bible Study Application Questions We re going to take ten minutes to break into small groups of 4-5 ladies and discuss a couple questions. Introduce yourself as well as share one interesting thing about you. 1. In class today we discussed that It is important that we are seeking to see more of God s beauty every day, and, as that beauty is revealed, to allow ourselves to fall deeply in love with God. What are your thoughts about falling deeply in love with God? 2. Choose one of the following statements that you feel best characterizes your relationship with God: a. Interested in learning more about who He is b. Hostile to God in every way c. Distant friends with God d. Close friends but we go long periods of time without hanging out together e. Very close, we hang out together daily f. God is like my best friend and lover. We talk all day long and our conversations are woven throughout the events of my day. 3. What has your personal bible Study been like lately? Are there any ways you d like to see it change? 4. How do you prefer to study the Bible and why? 5. What are some of the Bible study habits you enjoy? 6. What are some Bible study habits you d like to grow in? 8
Faith Women s Foundations Class A Woman s Relationship With God Class #1 Relationship With God and Personal Bible Study Homework Challenge Study the book of I John this week (it s only five chapters) using some of the Bible study tools we discussed in this lesson. Look for examples of God s beauty or God s love in this book. In this book, how do you see humans responding to God s love and beauty? Be prepared to write down your observation during your personal Bible study and share them with us at the beginning of class next week. 9