WINTER 2011-12 Bible Studies for Life Herschel THE HOBBS COMMENTARY O400 CELEBRATING F T H E K J V
Ross H. McLaren Content Editor Christina Zimmerman Editorial Project Leader Brent Bruce Lead Graphic Designer Alan Raughton Lead Adult Ministry Specialist David Apple Adult Ministry Specialist Send questions/comments to Editor, The Herschel Hobbs Commentary One LifeWay Plaza Nashville, TN 37234-0175 Or make comments on the web at www.lifeway.com Management Personnel Bret Robbe, Director Leadership and Adult Publishing Ron Brown, Ken Braddy, Debbie Johnson Managing Directors Leadership and Adult Publishing David Francis, Director Sunday School Bill Craig, Director Leadership and Adult Ministry Gary H. Hauk, Director, Publishing LifeWay Church Resources ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We believe the Bible has God for its author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. The 2000 statement of The Baptist Faith and Message is our doctrinal guideline. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Scripture quotations identified as CEV are from the Contemporary English Version. Copyright American Bible Society 1991, 1992. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Copyright 2007 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Passages marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. Quotations marked NEB are from The New English Bible. Copyright The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permission. Quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. Quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982. Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Reprinted with permission. Quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Quotations marked REB are from The Revised English Bible. Copyright Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, 1989. Reprinted by permission. The Herschel Hobbs Commentary (ISSN 1550-719X; Item 005075032), Bible Studies for Life, is published quarterly by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, Tennessee 37234; Thom S. Rainer, President, LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention; Copyright 2011 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. All rights reserved. Single subscription to individual address, $22.35 per year. If you need help with an order, WRITE LifeWay Church Resources Customer Service, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, Tennessee 37234-0113; For subscriptions or subscription changes, FAX (615) 251-5818 or E-MAIL subscribe @lifeway.com. For bulk shipments mailed quarterly to one address, FAX (615) 251-5933, E-MAIL orderentry@lifeway.com., or write to the above address. Please allow six to eight weeks for arrival of first issue. Printed in the United States of America. COVER: Westminster Abbey, London, England. The present Gothic style church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is the traditional place of coronation and burial for English monarchs. Seventeen monarchs along with missionaries, statesmen, philosophers, scientists, literary giants, and others of the great of the great are buried here. The Abbey briefly held the status of a cathedral from 1546 to 1556. Until the 19th century, Westminster was the third seat of learning in England, after Oxford and Cambridge. The first third of the King James Bible s Old Testament and the second half of the New Testament were translated here by two companies. In the 20th century, the New English Bible was also put together here. Photo credit: Westminster Abbey, by Dr. Ross H. McLaren, 2011. Used by permission. ii
Contents Celebrating 400 Years of the KJV Where Can I Learn More About the King James Version?.........................5 God s Greatest Gift...10 December 4 Recognize God s Gift [Evangelism Lesson] (John 1:1-4,10-18)... 11 December 11 Receive God s Gift (Matt. 1:18-20,24-25; Luke 1:28-31,34-38)...20 December 18 Respond to God s Gift (Matt. 2:1-15)...29 December 25 Rejoice in God s Gift (Luke 2:8-20)... 39 Going Right in a Culture Gone Wrong...49 January 1 Thriving in a Fast-Food Culture (Prov. 23:20-21; Dan. 1:8,11-16 Rom. 13:12-14). 50 January 8 Seeking Purity in a Sensual Culture (Eph. 5:1-5,8-12,15-16)...59 January 15 Caring in an Expendable Culture [Sanctity of Human Life Lesson] (Ps. 139:1-6,13-18)...68 January 22 Loving in a Divided Culture (Acts 10:9-15,22-23,28-29a,34-36)...77 January 29 Giving in a Greedy Culture (Deut. 15:7-11; 24:10-15,17-18)...87 Christ the Center...96 February 5 February 12 February 19 February 26 Center of Everything (Col. 1:9-23)...97 Center of My Church (Col. 1:24 2:7)...107 Center of My Belief (Col. 2:8-23)... 117 Center of My Life (Col. 3:5-10,14-15,17-21; 4:5-6)...127 Preview of Next Quarter s Studies...137 4
Week of December 4 Recognize God s Gift Background Passage: John 1:1-18 Focal Passages: John 1:1-4,10-18 What This Lesson Is About: This lesson is about the identity of Christ. It emphasizes the fact that God s greatest gift is more than a baby. How This Lesson Can Impact Your Life: This lesson can help adults understand and value the complete story of Jesus. This is a GROW lesson. This is the EVANGELISM lesson for this quarter. John s Use of Believe John often used the word believe (pisteuo) in referring to the human response to Jesus Christ. The word has several levels of meaning. Sometimes it refers to facts that we accept as true. At its deepest level, however, believe is more than a set of facts we accept to be true. John emphasized the personal trust and commitment of faith. This is the kind of believing that saves. Search the Scriptures The Word of God was in the beginning and was with God and was God. He was God s agent in creation. He brought true life and light to the world, but the world rejected Him. Some, however, received Him and became children of God. The eternal Word became a human being in whom God dwelt with people and through whom God revealed Himself and saved those who believed. 11
Recognize God s Gift Jesus Is Completely God (John 1:1-4) What three affirmations are made about the Word in verse 1? Why does verse 3 repeat part of verse 1? What was the role of the Word in creation? What false ideas about Christ are refuted in these verses? In what sense is Christ the source and giver of life? Verses 1-4: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. The Greek of John s Gospel is simple and straightforward. New students of the New Testament Greek like to read John because of this fact. Yet this simple Greek has deep and profound meaning. John 1:1-3 is an excellent example of simple language with profound meaning. Only two verbs are used: a form of the verb to be (was, en) and the verb meaning come to be (were made, egeneto). Only three nouns appear (beginning, Word, God). The meaning of these words and their interrelations has great significance. In the beginning calls to mind the opening words of Genesis 1:1. However, these words in John 1:1 go back before the creation. A literal translation would be, When the beginning began, the Word was already there. The word was refers to a state of being. It is a different word than that used of John the Baptist in verse 6. In verse 6 the word literally means came to be. The Word did not come to be; He was in the beginning. Came to be is used in verse 14 when the eternal Word became (HCSB) flesh. The birth of Jesus marked the beginning of His earthly life but not His beginning. The Word was preexistent. The preexistence of Christ is taught here and elsewhere in John and in the New Testament. Jesus, for example, told His enemies, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. They replied, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Then Jesus said, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:56-58; see also John 17:6; Phil. 2:6-7; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:2). The second of three affirmations in verse 1 is found in the words the Word was with God. The word with describes closeness to God. With is the preposition pros, which can mean with or 12
Week of December 4 toward. Pros shows not only that the Word was in the presence of God but also that there existed a kind of interactive reciprocity between the Word and God. 1 This affirmation needs to be interpreted with the third affirmation, the word was God. This third affirmation affirms that the Word shared the same divine nature as God. Yet when read with the second affirmation we learn that the Word is all God but not all of God. Leon Morris wrote of this crucial point: He says The Word was God, not, God was the Word. The latter would have meant that God and the Word were the same. It would have pointed to an identity. But John is leaving open the possibility that there may be more to God than the Word (clearly he thought of the Father as God, and his later references indicate a similar status for the Spirit). But when he thinks of the Word he lays it down unequivocally that nothing less than God will do for our understanding of the Word. 2 How can the Word be all God, but not all of God? No human analogy perfectly illustrates this mystery, but some are helpful. We live on a bay of a larger body of water in Old Hickory Lake, near Nashville, Tennessee. The bay is part of the lake, but not the whole lake. Verse 2 repeats the second affirmation. This shows the importance of recognizing not only that the eternal Word is God, but that He is also with God. One of the false teachings of Christian history denies that the one God revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit. One form of this doctrine claimed that God was one of these at a time. He was Father. Then He became a person in Jesus the Son. Finally He became the Spirit. The fallacy in this is seen in those passages where more than one person of the Godhead is present at the same time. The baptism of Jesus is one example. The Christian doctrines of incarnation and Trinity are closely related. God is one, but He is Father, Son, and Spirit. This is also how we have experienced Him. As The Baptist Faith and Message, 2000 states, The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. 3 Another example of Father, Son, and Spirit at work was in the creation. Genesis 1:2 pictures the Spirit as active in creation, and John 1:3 shows that the Son or Word of God also was active in creation. The Word was not among those things created by God. 13
Recognize God s Gift Rather, all things were made ( created, HCSB) by ( through, HCSB) him; and without him was not anything made that was made. Leon Morris favored the translation of the preposition dia as through rather than by. This way of putting it safeguards the truth that the Father is the source of all that is. The relation of the first two Persons of the Trinity in the work of creation is of interest. There is a careful differentiation of the parts played by the Father and the Son in 1 Cor. 8:6. Creation was not the solitary act of either. Both were at work (and for that matter, still are; cf. 5:17,19). The Father created, but He did it through the Word. 4 During the early Christian centuries a man named Arius taught that Jesus was the Son of God but that He was a created being. This view was rejected. The Word was not created; He is the Creator. Thus John 1:1-3 reveals that the preexistent Word of God is all God, although so are the Father and the Spirit. Down through history many people and groups have denied that Jesus is the divine Son of God. Some of these, like His enemies who sent Him to the cross, accused Jesus of blasphemy because He claimed to be God s Son. Others admit that Jesus was a good man perhaps even a great man, teacher, or prophet; but they deny the New Testament view of Jesus. One popular claim is that Jesus was only a teacher of how to live a good life and His followers turned Him into a divine being. Those who believe the New Testament believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God. Everyone is interested in life. The word life in the Gospel of John is often linked with the name of Jesus. John used the term 36 times. Life in John usually refers to eternal life, which comes through Jesus Christ. Life does not exist on its own but is the gift of God in Christ. In him was life. Jesus came to bring real life, abundant life (10:10), and eternal life (3:16). Life and light are closely related in John s Gospel: The life was the light of men. Jesus said, I am the light of the world (8:12). Light enlightens by revealing what the darkness seeks to conceal. It exposes sin and evil. Thus it both reveals God and redeems from the darkness of sin. Christmas is a time to worship the Son of God who came from preexistent glory to save sinful humanity. What are some lasting lessons of John 1:1-4? 1. The Word of God was preexistent. 2. The Word is all God, but not all of God. 14
Week of December 4 3. The Word was the divine agent in creation. 4. The Word of God is the source of life and light. Jesus Is Completely Man (John 1:10-11,14-15) What s in verses 5-9? How did John use the word world? What ironic tragedy is in verses 10-11? How does verse 14 affirm that Jesus is the God-man? Verses 10-11,14-15: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.... 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. The word world occurs three times in verse 10. He was in the world when He became flesh and dwelt among humans (v. 14). The world was made by him repeats the theme of verse 3. The world knew him not reflects the irony that the world of sinful humanity rejected the salvation and life offered by the Son of God. John often used the word world in his Gospel. Although at times in the Bible the word refers to the good earth, John always used it to refer to people. The Word came to offer life to sinful humanity, but the people did not know Him. His own appears twice in verse 11. The first is neuter, referring to the world of people whom He created and endowed with the gift of life. The second is masculine, referring to His own people, the Jews. The people of the world He had created did not know Him. Even harder to explain, He came to the people prepared to receive Him, and they received him not. Verse 14 is the key verse in John 1:1-18 and a key verse in the New Testament. Verse 14 describes the reality, glory, and purpose of the incarnation of the Son of God. It is John s account of the Christmas story. At a specific time in human history the eternal Word of God became flesh (HCSB). Verse 15 builds on verses 6-8 by referring to the testimony of John the Baptist. When John the Baptist referred to he that cometh 15
Recognize God s Gift after me, he was referring to the sequence of earthly time. John the Baptist was born before Jesus and began his ministry first. John the Baptist, however, emphasized that Jesus was preferred before him because he [Jesus] was before him. Jesus was preferred before John in rank and dignity (see 1:27), and the Word was before John in time because the Word is eternal. In the early Christian centuries, false teachers called gnostics threatened Christianity. Although gnosticism came into its own after New Testament times, some of its influences developed earlier. The gnostics denied that anything physical could be good or of God. Thus they denied such doctrines as the creation, the incarnation, the atonement, and the resurrection. John 1:14 is about the incarnation. The gnostics denied that Jesus was truly human. Some said that He only appeared to be human. The word flesh was especially distasteful to the gnostics. Yet the inspired writer John used that word to describe what the eternal Word became. He could have used human, but he used a word that stressed the reality of the Word s earthly life. Of course, the Word continued to be God (as v. 14 and v. 18 make clear); but He became the incarnate Word. He was fully human and fully divine. The word dwelt often was used of pitching a tent. During the wilderness period of Israel s history, God s presence dwelt with them in the tent of the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34-35 speaks of the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle. Now John and the other apostles bore witness to His glory we beheld his glory. At Christmas we focus on the glory in the way Jesus came to earth as the God-man, but we don t leave Him in the manger. Only begotten translates monogenes. This word has been crucial in decisions about the meaning of the incarnation. Some have taken begotten to mean that the Son of God is not eternal but was begotten by God. Others point out that the word means only or unique. In verses 1-3 John made clear that the Word was eternal with the Father and always was God. The word Son as applied to Jesus stresses the Hebraic view of the likeness of a son to his father. Jesus said, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father (14:9). Grace is a key word in verses 14-18. The apostles testified that the incarnate Word was full of grace and truth. The word grace in the New Testament refers to the unmerited favor of God extended to sinful people. The word truth shows that He is the real thing. 16
Week of December 4 What are some lasting lessons in John 1:10-11,14-15? 1. Jesus offered Himself for sinful humanity; but people, even His own people, reject Him. 2. Receiving Jesus involves personal trust and commitment. 3. Those who believe in Jesus experience a new birth and become God s children. 4. At a specific time, the eternal Word became a human person of flesh and blood. 5. Those who saw the incarnate Word as He was testified that He brought grace and truth. 6. God most fully revealed Himself in His only Son. Jesus is Completely Necessary (John 1:12-13,16-18) How do people become children of God? What does it mean to believe on his name? How does verse 13 teach what is in John 3:1-8? How do these verses present Jesus as the God-man? Why is grace used so often? How does verse 18 provide a fitting end to the prologue? Verses 12-13: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Not everyone refused Him. Some received him. To them gave he power to become the sons of God. He gave them the right to be children of God (HCSB). The Greek word for children is tekna. Some people speak of all people as children of God. The Bible reserves this title for those who believe in Christ. All people are potentially children of God, but only those who receive Him are born of the Spirit into the family of God. Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God s children (1 John 3:1, HCSB). Those who received Christ are described as those that believe on his name. This is the second use of the verb believe (pisteuo) in John s Gospel. The first was in verse 7, which described the purpose of the witness of John the Baptist to the Light: that all men through him might believe. Name in biblical use referred to the person himself and his character. In the Old Testament, receiving a new name signified a change in character. His name refers to Jesus and all He stood for. 17
Recognize God s Gift Verse 12 says that those who believe in Jesus receive power or the right (HCSB) to be God s children. Verse 13 states that this experience of becoming children of God is a birth of God. Those who believe become God s children not through any of the ways of physical birth; they are born... of God. They were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man ( born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband s will, NIV). Verse 13 thus speaks of the same new birth described in John 3:1-8. Jesus emphasized to Nicodemus that this is a new life made possible only by the Spirit of God. People can no more transform their lives than they can return to their mother s womb and be born again. Only God can give new life. Verses:16-18: And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at anytime; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Moses was a revered person to religious Jews. Through him God gave the law. The law revealed the holiness of God and the holiness He expected of His people. But the people failed to obey the law. However, it prepared the way for the new covenant Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Verse 17 is the first mention of Jesus Christ in John s Gospel. He is the eternal Word who became flesh, dwelt among men, and brought grace and truth. Verse 18 is another important verse. It begins with the Old Testament warning that no one can see God and live (Ex. 33:20,23). Moses talked with God face to face (Deut. 5:4; 34:10); however, the New Testament makes clear that not even Moses saw God in the full sense. Jesus Christ made God known as fully as humans can know the eternal God. In the bosom of the Father shows the close, intimate relationship between God and His only Son. He (the Son) hath declared ( revealed, HCSB; made him known, NIV) him (God the Father). The point in verse 18 is that God has revealed Himself most fully in the eternal Word who became flesh, God s only Son. Two of Jesus titles emphasize that God revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. Son is one of those words. The Son of God was not an offspring of God; the word Son to the Jews meant likeness to the Father. 18
Week of December 4 God spoke His clearest word through His Son Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son (Heb. 1:1-2, HCSB). John s emphasis is on the revelation through the eternal Word who became flesh. We communicate using words. God revealed Himself through the Word. How do we know what God is like? We read what the Gospels tell us about Jesus His coming, ministry, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection. Sometimes a person will say, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God because He s so like God. John would have turned it around, I believe that God is like He is because that is how He revealed Himself in Jesus. What are a couple of lasting lessons in John 1:12-13,16-18? 1. Faith in Christ is necessary for salvation. 2. Saved people become children of God. Spiritual Transformations The eternal Word was with God and was God. He came to bring life and light. Many rejected Him, but believers became God s children through the new birth. The eternal Word became flesh to reveal God and offer His grace. Have you opened the door of your heart to Jesus? If Jesus dwells in your heart by faith, what new commitments are you making this Christmas season? Prayer of Commitment: Lord, help me to see You not merely as a baby in a manger, but as the Lord of my life. Amen. 1 Gerald L. Borchert, John 1 11, in The New American Commentary, vol. 25A [Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996], 103. 2 Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, in The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971], 78. 3 The Baptist Faith and Message, 2000, Article II. 4 Morris, The Gospel According to John, 80. 19