A Bible study guide to Loving, Knowing and Living Jesus Christ This study guide is aimed at helping us to passionately love God, to personally know God, and to practically live by God self who came to live in us. November 2016 Copyright: You have the right to print, copy, use and distribute this document as is. For electronic copies: www.loveknowlivejesus.com For questions, comments and correspondence: erich.fuls@gmail.com Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Page1 Dear follower of Jesus Christ Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:2 The Holy Spirit needs to train us in the full meaning and application of Christ is All and in all. I trust the Holy Spirit to work through the Scriptures in this Bible study guide, training us to live and work in step with Jesus in Person and Jesus himself in action, all to the glory of our Father God. Intimacy with Jesus himself ever being passionately in love with God Father, Son and Holy Spirit Nothing but Christ self Jesus himself is our Life and is our living through the Holy Spirit Surrendered to Jesus self presenting all of our life and living to Jesus who came to live in us Trusting Jesus himself trusting God self to fulfil all of His will and Word in our daily living Elevated to Christ self everything originated from Jesus, operated through Him, orientated to Him Portraying Jesus himself allowing Jesus to show His Being and doing through us to people around us. The phrase living Jesus Christ used in this Bible study guide means that through Christ we should be: (a) Living in intimate connection to God self; (b) Living by who God is; (c) Living by what God says; (d) Living by how God works; (e) Living by what and when God himself works; (f) Living by God self! May God cure us from all forms of self-based Christianity! Please Holy Spirit, bring us to live by Christ himself is our All, and is in all. The Holy Spirit is the Implementer of Jesus himself is the Way of all, is the Truth of all, and He is the Life of all. By faith living from and through Jesus self, who came to reside in us to be our Life and to ensure our Jesus level living. Holy Spirit please be our personal Guide on this most exciting journey of ever more loving, knowing, and living our Lord Jesus, to the glory of our Father God. Love and blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord, our Saviour, our Love, our Liberty, our Life, our All. To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. Romans 16:27 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God. Galatians 2:20 Christ, who is your life. Christ is All, and is in all. Colossians 3:4,11 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30; please note the past tense! To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. Colossians 1:27-28
Page2 Table of Contents 1) God s primary goals for us 4 2) Choosing to fully commit to loving, knowing and living Jesus 6 3) How can we personally meet, know and follow Jesus? 8 4) Holy, Almighty God is our Father; the Lord Jesus Christ is our Brother 11 5) It is all about Jesus! 12 6) Loving, knowing and living Jesus through close fellowship with Him 15 7) Loving, knowing and living Jesus Christ through the Bible 17 8) Let us fully set and keep our focus on Jesus! 25 9) Who is Jesus, the Son of God who in Person came to live here in us? 26 10) God is; the Lord Jesus is 27 11) Knowing Jesus Christ through the Gospel of John 29 12) Knowing Jesus Christ through the Book of Revelation 34 13) Jesus is God and Lord 36 14) Jesus is a Person 38 15) Jesus is One 39 16) Jesus is part of the Triune God 41 17) Jesus is Spirit 42 18) Jesus is Holy 43 19) Jesus is Sovereignly in control 48 20) Jesus is Self-sufficient and All-sufficient 50 21) Jesus is All-knowing and All-wise 51 22) Jesus is All-powerful and All-able 53 23) Jesus is Creator, Source and Sustainer 54 24) Jesus never changes 55 25) Jesus is Eternal 56 26) Jesus is The Word 57 27) Jesus is Present everywhere 59 28) Jesus is Incomparable and Incomprehensible 60 29) Jesus is Love and Loving 61 30) Jesus is Jealous 64 31) Jesus is Just and Fair 65 32) Jesus is Judge 66 Page 33) Jesus is Merciful and Compassionate 67 34) Jesus is full of Grace and Gracious 68
Page3 35) Jesus is Righteous 72 36) Jesus righteous wrath burns against sin 73 37) Jesus is Truth and Truthful 75 38) Jesus is Faithful 76 39) Jesus is Patient 77 40) Jesus is Good 78 41) Jesus is our Saviour 79 42) Jesus is Life 81 43) Jesus Christ in Person is our all of God 82 44) Jesus is the Gospel 85 45) Jesus works through Himself 87 46) How did Jesus live and work whilst He was on earth? 89 47) How did Father God prepare the way for Christ himself to be our God-Life? 91 48) I have died with Christ; Christ is alive in me 93 49) Why did Jesus Christ in Person come to live in us? 94 50) How can Christ here in us be allowed to live and work through us? 97 51) What and when does Jesus himself want to work through us? 100 52) The Holy Spirit works our knowing, loving and living Jesus Christ 101 53) True grace ensures our loving, knowing and living Jesus Christ 102 54) Praying and doing all in the name of Christ 103 55) Some key Scripture instructions about living by Christ who lives in us 104 56) How can you practically live through Jesus self, who resides in you? 107 57) True evangelism proclaims Jesus Christ is Eternal Life 108 58) Being and making disciples of Jesus 116 59) Discipleship = Being trained to live by Christ is All and is in all 117 60) Waiting for Lord Jesus always 119 61) God our Guide 121 62) Father God s shop window 122 63) True Christianity 123 64) Being the Church as Christ wants it and works it 124 65) Is your church human operated or Holy Spirit operated? 128 66) Leadership in God s Kingdom 131 67) Letting Christ be the All and in all of your money matters 133 68) Our God at a glance 134
Page4 1) God s primary goals for us This Bible study guide covers the three primary goals that God has for us. God s goals for us should be the highest priority for each one of us who call ourselves Christian. Our Father God s goals for us are all Jesus Christ based, and are Holy Spirit implemented in line with God s Word. 1. To love God. We get to enjoy and experience God self as we love Him above all and with our all, being wholly and passionately devoted to Jesus self. Mark 12:30; Psalm 73:25; John 17:26. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent s cunning, your minds may somehow be lead astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:34-35 I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Philippians 3:8-9 What are the meaning and application of these Scriptures? What should be our primary overall goal? 2. To know God. Appropriately knowing God is the foundation on which we are to stand, the foundation on which all of our living by God self is to be built. Our Father God wants us to rightly know Him through His Son, His Spirit and His Word. Job 42:5; Jeremiah 4:22, 9:23-24, 33:3; Hebrews 1:1-3; Matthew 11:25-27; John 1:1, 17:17; 2 Peter 1:2-4. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have send. John 17:3 The Son is the radiance of God s glory and the exact representation of his being. Hebrews 1:3 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. John 10:14; emphasis added What are the meaning and application of these Scriptures? Why is it most essential that we should appropriately know God?
Page5 3. To live God. Father God wants us to live by Jesus self is our new God Life and our new Godly living. Christ himself in Person and in action is what God made Christianity to be, what it must be! For this reason the Holy Spirit came: To ensure that Christ self will be our Life and our daily living. The glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 That they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. Colossians 2:2 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God. Galatians 2:20 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless, of course, you fail the test! - 2 Corinthians 13:5 Christ, who is your life. Colossians 3:4 To live is Christ. Philippians 1:21 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. John 14:6; emphasis added In order to live by Christ himself is our new God-Life, we need to be trained by the Holy Spirit to know and to live out the answers to these five basic Christianity questions: (1) Who is Jesus, the Son of God who in Person came to live here in us? (2) How did Father God prepare the way for Christ himself to be our God-Life? (3) Why did Jesus Christ in Person come to live in us? (4) How can Christ himself here in us be allowed to live and work through us? (5) What and when does Jesus himself want to work through us? Do you sufficiently know the answers to these Christianity determining questions? Which of them do you struggle to answer? Why? To be a Christian is to humbly live through Christ himself: In total dependence on the Holy Spirit, and in full adherence to the Holy Scriptures. As we live by grace, through faith, and in obedience, we live the life of Christ. The true Christian life is to be lived by faith from Christ, through Christ, and to Christ who Himself came to reside here in us to be our Life. The real Christian life is the Christ Life, lived through the Holy Spirit by faith in obedience to Christ is All and is in all. The meaning and application of Christianity is Christ himself is the all and in all of all in God s kingdom. Please Holy Spirit, teach us and transform us to live by Jesus self is our Eternal Life, is our All and in all. Father God does not want His children to merely live a changed life. Rather, God wants us to live an exchanged life! Through the cross and resurrection all of our wholly sinful self has been exchanged with all of holy Christ self. The very heart and soul of Christianity is to live true to I in Christ and Christ in me, as implemented by the Holy Spirit through faith. By grace we have been made ready to practically live by Jesus in Person and in action. Let us turn away from living for God by our religious self, fully turning to living by God self. Living by God self is the same as living by the Holy Spirit. Living by God self is equal to living by Christ is All and in all, ever living by not I, but Christ.
Page6 2) Choosing to fully commit to loving, knowing and living Jesus Christ All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 1:16-18, 3:11 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world. Ephesians 1:3-4 The Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. Revelation 13:8 But God s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 1 John 5:9 Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. - John 6:45 If anyone chooses to do God s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God. John 7:17, emphasis added Our Father God has only one story. Everything God has worked and is working is orchestrated to unfold the story of Jesus Christ. Whether it be creation, the Holy Spirit, Holy Scripture, the cross, Christians, the church, heaven all are meant to present and implement God s story of Jesus Christ. History is none other than His story of Christ. And we are called to be included in God s Jesus story by receiving, knowing and living Jesus self! However, if we do not purposefully choose to truly love, know and live Jesus, then we will exclude ourselves from sharing in God s infinite riches and glory. If we choose to commit our all to loving, knowing and living Jesus, then by grace through the Holy Spirit we will increasingly reap God-level riches and glory such as: 1. Abundantly enjoying and experiencing God in Person and in action, living by God self in practice. 2. Being truly set free from our captivity to sin, self, selfishness, religion and worldly ways. 3. Having Jesus-level love, joy, peace, wisdom, hope, wholeness, energy, fullness, and fulfilment. 4. Living by grace alone, in line with God s goals and God s divine workings for us and through us. 5. Faithfully allowing the establishment of God s sovereign reign on earth in us and through us. All of the divine blessings which our Father God has prepared for us can only be received and experienced through Christ self through the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore it is absolutely crucial that we should choose to focus our all on Jesus. Heart, mind, energy, time everything! firmly set on loving, knowing, and living Jesus Christ. Sufficiently meditate on Ephesians 1:3, 2:6-7; John 1:16-
Page7 18, 10:10, 14:6,20, 15:4-5; 1 John 5:11-12,20-21; Romans 5:10,17,11:36-12:2, 13:14; Galatians 2:20, 6:14-16 / 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, 13:4-5; Colossians 1:27-28, 3:3-4,11; Philippians 1:21, 3:7-11. We need to clearly understand that the course of our living and loving is determined by our daily choices. God designed us and allows us to make our own choices all the time. Choosing what food we like and choosing which clothes we want to put on. Choosing whom we want to associate with, and choosing what words we want to say. We get to choose how we want to spend our time, energy and money. Even in a bad situation we can still choose to have a good attitude! We have the choice whether we want to totally believe God, or not. We get to choose if we want to truly know and follow Christ, or not. We choose to be wholly and passionately devoted to Jesus self, or not. Faith in God is linked to the choice to believe God. Obedience to God hinges on the choice to obey God. Sin starts with the choice to sin; and keeping on sinning is due to the choice to do so. Committing our all to loving, knowing and living Jesus comes by choice. Sufficiently meditating on God s Word and fully taking it to heart and into our living will only happen if we choose to do it. Living by God s Word through faith in obedience can only happen through God s sovereign grace, but it will not come apart from our choice. Our commitments to God need to be sustained by a constant choice to keep it up. Half-hearted choices are meaningless and don t bear any lasting fruit. What do these Scriptures teach us about choosing to fully commit to loving, knowing and living Jesus Christ? Deuteronomy 30:19-20; John 14:6 Luke 10:38-42; 1 Corinthians 1:9 Joshua 24:15; Jeremiah 10:23; Mark 8:34-36 Your daily living is shaped by your choices. Are you ready to choose to fully commit to love Jesus, to know Jesus, and to live by Jesus himself? How are you going to implement your choice? So that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ. - Philippians 1:20-21
Page8 3) How can we personally meet, know and follow Jesus Christ? God is spirit, therefore He is invisible. Meeting and knowing God in Person happens at a spirit level. Not by human senses, but by spirit-to-spirit revelation through the eyes of faith. The Holy Spirit was sent by Father God to help us see His Son Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit was given to open our faitheyes to the truth of Jesus. Father God has given us his Holy Scriptures as a portrait of Jesus, to see Jesus. By grace through faith we can get to personally see and know Jesus himself because God presents Him to us in the Bible. Through the Holy Spirit and God s Word we can first hand and truthfully know the Person, purposes and practices of Jesus Christ. See John 15:26, 16:13-15; 1 John 2:27, 5:9-12; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; John 1:1, 14, 5:39-40, 6:45, 14:6; Revelation 19:10, 13. Jesus is known through intimacy with Him rather than information about Him. Jesus is not known by human reasoning, but only by Holy Spirit revelation ever within a loving personal relationship with Jesus. People who truly know Jesus know Him by heart! Jesus also reveals Himself through His creation, His church, His people, and His activities but these are always in line with the Bible. Jesus has already presented all of Himself to us. Now we need to choose to present all of ourselves to Jesus if we want to truly know and follow Him. We present all of ourselves to Jesus through faith, full repentance, and committing our all to love, to know, and to live Jesus. True repentance is to turn away from all our sin, all our self, all religiosity and all worldliness to Jesus self. Below are some God given instructions about knowing, following and living Jesus. We can only know, follow and live Jesus on God s terms! For each of the following Scriptures, please answer: What does God say about meeting, knowing, following and living Jesus himself? Acts 17:30-31, 26:18, 20 Deuteronomy 30:19-20; John 14:6 Matthew 4:17, 19, 10:37-39, 11:25-30, 16:24-26 Romans 3:9-28 1 Corinthians 15:2-4 Ephesians 2:1-10
Page9 Luke 9:23-25, 14:25-33 Mark 1:14-18 Jeremiah 10:23; Mark 8:34-36 The choice in front of you is now very clear. The grace based salvation invitation from God is this: Jesus calls you to choose between your own life and His Eternal Life. If you repent and forsake your own life, then by grace through faith you can have Christ himself as your new Eternal Life. You cannot have your own life and God s eternal Christ Life. You have to choose one, and then operate by what you have chosen: Your own life or God s Christ Life. Which one are you choosing? To be saved is to be born again, is to be divinely brought into Christ Jesus is your Eternal Life. You have to be birthed spiritually by God himself to be God s child. What do these Scriptures teach you about being born again through the Holy Spirit and receiving Christ himself as your Eternal Life? John 1:4, 12-13, 3:3-8 John 3:16-18; 14:6 John 11:25-27, 12:25-26 1 John 5:9-12, 20 How can you be sure that you are a child of God? The Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture will give you full assurance as you choose to fully embrace and to live by the grace of what God himself did and said. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18; Romans 8:15-17 John 6:37-40, 10:27-30 2 Timothy 1:8-12 Ephesians 1:3-14 Romans 10:8-13; 1 John 3:1
Page10 All born again children of Father God have received Christ self as their new Eternal Life. They then need to learn how to live by Jesus self is their new God Life. The Christ Life works totally different than a religiously good Christian life. Why? The new God Life operates by Jesus self is the Life, He is the Way of Life, and He is the Truth of Life. It is a God level Life that can only be lived by faith, lived from Jesus and through Jesus. Ever through the Holy Spirit who was given to God s children to train them to live by Christ self is their new Life. For starters they need to live by these key Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 1:9, Mark 12:30-31 1 John 5:9-12, 18-21 Luke 10:38-42 John 17:3, 26, 14:6, 12-15, 20, 15:1-12, 6:28-29 Galatians 2:19-21 (note verse 20!), 5:1, 13, 16-18, 22-25, 6:14-16 1 Corinthians 1:30, 2:2 Philippians 1:6, 20-21, 2:12-13, 3:3,7-11 Colossians 1:22, 25-29, 2:2-3, 6-15, 3:1-4, 9-11, 16-17 2 Corinthians 3:6, 4:7-11, 5:7, 14-18, 12:9-10, 13:4-5 Romans 5:10,17, 6:1-14,18, 7:4-6, 8:1-39, 11:36-12:3 (11:33-12:21), 13:14; 16:25; Jeremiah 10:23 Hebrews 4:9-11,16, 7:25, 10:38, 12:2,28, 13:20-21
Page11 4) Holy, Almighty God is our Father; the Lord Jesus Christ is our Brother Please sufficiently consult the Holy Spirit on these Scriptures: John 20:17; Hebrews 2:10-12; John 1:4,12-13, 14:6 / 1 John 3:1, 5:11-12, 20; John 3:3-8, 4:23-24, 6:37,40,45, 10:27-30, 11:25, 14:6, 20-24, 15:26, 16:27, 17:24-26, 20:17; Hebrews 12:5-11; Romans 8:15-17, 28-30; Galatians 3:26, 4:3-7; Matthew 6:9-10,31-33, 7:11, 11:27, 12:50; Luke 15:11-31; Ephesians 1:2-6,17-18, 2:6, 3:11-21. What is revealed about God / Jesus in these Scriptures? What does it mean? How do we live by this revelation about God / Jesus? Some thoughts to help us to understand and to live by this truth about God / Jesus Through the atoning sacrifice and blood of Jesus Christ all true believers have been Holy Spirit birthed as full-blooded children of the only God of heaven, universe and earth! No words can tell the wow, the wonder of having Holy God Almighty as our true Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ as our divine Brother What unfathomable wonder is this, the sovereign grace of God who lifted us from totally defiled and depraved sinners to holy, divinely birthed children of our Father God. Holy Spirit please work it that we will live in the full meaning and application of having the holy, almighty, eternal God of heaven, earth and universe as our loving Father. Please lead us to live in accordance to our divine lineage, in line with having been elevated to our Brother Jesus level. Since we have been birthed anew through God self, we have already been elevated in Christ to: (i) Living in God s love; (ii) Having His God-level Life; (iii) Having His God-level Being; (iv) Having His God-level living; and (v) Having His God-glory! Can any mind grasp this divine reality? Our God is a holy, perfect, complete Father. God s Fatherhood is ever and in everything perfect, complete, whole and pure. Our Father God knows how to raise His children perfectly in Christ! Our perfect Father s love, fellowship, counsel, keeping, guidance, disciplining, provision, protection, teaching, comforting, commitment, care and everything else of His divine Fatherhood are ever as perfect as it gets. May the Holy Spirit, our divine Counsellor, work it that our every thought, attitude and action will be shaped by the reality that Almighty God is our Father, Lord Jesus is our Brother. The Holy Spirit desires to use God s Word to conform our minds and moves to befit our elevation into God s Divine Family. Please Holy Spirit transform us to live in line with Almighty God is our Father: Divinely birthed by God self, having the same spiritual DNA as God! Birthed into Jesus self is our Life. Now let us learn to live by Jesus himself is our new divine Being and doing Will you please commit your all to love, know and live your Father God, your Brother Jesus?
Page12 5) It is all about Jesus! For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. So that in everything he might have the supremacy. Christ is all, and is in all. extracts from Colossians 1:16-17, 3:11 What are the meaning and application of these Scriptures? I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:13 What are the meaning and application of this Scripture? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. John 1:1-4 What are the meaning and application of this Scripture? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. John 14:6 What are the meaning and application of this Scripture? God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. And we are in him who is true even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. - extracts from 1 John 5:11, 20 What are the meaning and application of these Scriptures? The glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. In order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. extracts from Colossians 1:27-28, 2:2 What are the meaning and application of these Scriptures?
Page13 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God. Galatians 2:20 To live is Christ. Philippians 1:21 What are the meaning and application of these Scriptures? In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the universe. The Son is the radiance of God s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:2-3 Which he purposed in Christ. - to bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head, even Christ. extract from Ephesians 1:9-11, study 1:9-13 God exalted him in the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 What are the meaning and application of these Scriptures? What is the one all-covering Truth of the Scriptures in this section? What is the one all-covering Truth of all Scripture? It is all about Jesus! Father God says it is all about Jesus. If God said it, that settles it. Christianity in reality is Christ. All that now remains is for us to be aligned to that, and to live in line with that. These questions need to be prayerfully and seriously asked about everything of our daily living: Are our thinking and choosing in line with It is all about Jesus? Are our time, energy and money spending in line with It is all about Jesus? Are our talking, praying and loving in line with It is all about Jesus? Are our Bible studying, applying and teaching in line with It is all about Jesus? Are our gospel, evangelism, discipling, church and Christianity in line with It is all about Jesus? May the Holy Spirit grant us an honest assessment and truthful answer to each of these questions. Any no answers call for an urgent reformation! Every Christian and everything of Christianity need to be reformed by the Holy Spirit to It is all about Jesus. We are in dire need of a Jesus himself is All and in all revival! The church desperately needs a world-wide reformation from self-based Christianity to Jesus self. The Holy Spirit needs to reform us to Jesus self is our God Life and He is our Godly living. Meditate sufficiently on Revelation 1:8, 22:13; John 1:1-4, 11:25, 14:6, 14:12-15, 20, 15:4-5, 17:26; Colossians 1:27-28, 2:6-12, 3:3-4, 9-11; Ephesians 1:22-23; Philippians 1:21; 1 John 2:5-6, 5:11-12, 20-21; Romans 8:4-11, 13:14; 2 Corinthians 4:7-11, 13:4-5; Acts 17:24-28.
Page14 May we grasp that our Father God has one intention: Jesus Christ. May we understand that the Holy Spirit has only one implementation: Christ Jesus. May the Holy Spirit graciously work it that we in turn will have but one aim and one application: Jesus Christ. Our hearts, minds, choices, words, actions, time, possessions, money, relationships yes all! need to be set on Jesus himself. Privately we need to have all of our hearts, minds, choices, words and actions reformed to It is all about Jesus. Publically we need to have all of our relationships, possessions, occupations, churches and ministries reformed to It is all about Jesus. Just Jesus operating in God s way, truth and life of Jesus himself IS all, and He works all. All Jesus self loving, knowing, and living Jesus Christ. What in essence needs to be done to get us in line with our Father God s purpose and practice of It is all about Jesus? The Holy Spirit works these three things which are essential to ensure that Christ Jesus himself will be the all and in all of us, Christianity, church, and Christian ministry: A. Continuous repentance to Jesus self (= presenting everything of us to Jesus all the time) B. Committed relationship with Jesus (= focusing all on loving Jesus, living in unison with Jesus) C. Complete reliance on Jesus self, thus allowing Him to fulfil all of God s will, Word and work (= living from Jesus self and through Jesus self ever by grace through faith in obedience). Before we continue, we need to understand that no study guide can reform us to It is all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit must do it. He will do it by using His main reformation tool. What led to the church reformation in the middle ages? It was based on a return to God s Word! How will we be reformed to It is all about Jesus in this current age? Our reformation to Jesus is All and in all will have to be led by the Holy Spirit and fed by the Word of God. The centrality of God s Word in the work of the Holy Spirit makes it absolutely crucial that we should sufficiently meditate on all Scriptures presented in this BIBLE STUDY guide, ever confessing them and taking them fully to heart and life. The Bible is God s primary instrument to reveal Jesus and to reset our thinking, choosing and living to It is all about Jesus. All Jesus, who is the Living Word. Jesus as the Living Word came to live in us. He is our God-level enablement so that we can actually live in line with God s Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. - Colossians 3:16; emphasis added Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17; emphasis added For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. - Revelation 19:10 Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. - Colossians 2:2-3 Jesus replied, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. - Matthew 22:29; 1 Corinthians 1:24 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40; emphasis added Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. - John 6:45
Page15 6) Loving, knowing and living Jesus through close fellowship with him God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. - 1 Corinthians 1:9 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Psalm 63:1, 73:25 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me? declares the LORD. Jeremiah 29:13, 30:21 Loving, knowing and living Jesus Christ hinges on our personal devotion to Jesus. There is no other way to know God personally than through intimate fellowship with God, as worked by the Holy Spirit. The depth of divine revelations received about God depends on the depth of our relationship with God. We want to avoid at all cost the religious trap of only knowing God intellectually. Merely knowing God at a theological reasoning level or emotional hype level will never allow us to enjoy and experience God in Person. Therefore it is crucial that we should know how to live in intimate fellowship with God. Our Holy Spirit implemented relationship with God should include: (a) Fully setting our hearts and daily living to love, to know, and to live God through the Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture. The Holy Spirit reveals God to us, brings us to God, and keeps us in close connection with God. The Holy Spirit uses God s Word and work of Christ as the infallible and firm foundation on which all our engagements with God Father, Son and Spirit are built. (b) Our mutual relationship between God and us is wholly dependent on Jesus and based on Jesus. All of it is based and built on grace! By grace God connects us to Himself and works our close connection to Him. See John 14:6; Ephesians 3:12; Luke 10:38-42; 1 John 5:11, 20-21; Colossians 3:4,11; Jeremiah 24:7, 32:39; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Philippians 1:6,21, 2:13; Romans 11:36. (c) Evermore learning about God s love and ever living in God s love. God s love is the engine of our relationship with God. God s fellowship with us is fuelled by the Holy Spirit as He establishes us in God s love, ensures that we reciprocate God s love, and spreads God s love through us. Loving God through the Holy Spirit means loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, strength, possessions, time, money everything! Loving God includes presenting our all to Him and putting our full focus on Him. Loving God involves making our choices in line with His Word and will as we faithfully obey God. Loving God means making it our highest priority to love, to know, and to live God. Absolute devotion to God self is the essence of true Christianity. Ephesians 3:16-21; John 17:26; Jeremiah 24:7, 32:38-41; Romans 5:5, 8:4; Philippians 2:13 / Mark 12:30. (d) Prime and focus time spend with God. There is no substitute for quality time and quantity time spent together with God alone. Lovingly, attentively spend with God in the Word of God. Ever in fellowship with God based on absolute dependence, adoration, joyful assurance, and prayer. We should not be legalistic or ritualistic about how we spend time with God. As long as it is sufficient, set aside, God-focus time. In addition, let us not forget that we are in God s presence all the time. By faith we can switch to God anytime throughout the day.
Page16 (e) Constant, honest and open communication with God (called prayer). Loving communication with God is the sharing of our heart and mind with God. Prayer involves presenting our daily living to God as He presents His divine Life to us and through us. True communication includes listening and speaking. Mutual communication between God and us is based on love and is implemented by the Holy Spirit. Loving communion with God can involve the Word of God, prayer, singing, praise, meditation, worship, fellowship with believers, thoughts set on God, Godly teachings, reading Godly literature, writing to God, God s creation, relationships, and daily situations. (f) Trusting God totally. Our relationship with God must be built on complete and absolute trust. Wholly relying on God for everything all the time. Fully taking God at His Word. Staking all of us on all of Him. Trusting that the Holy Spirit will work our loving, knowing and living Christ Jesus. (g) Obedience to God. Our Holy Spirit generated obedience to God ensures that we operate in unison with God. Our Holy Spirit based obedience is the channel through which God s purposes are enacted for us and through us. Holy Spirit worked obedience through faith results in the application of Christ self is the All and in all of our living. Please take note that God s required level of obedience can only be achieved through the Holy Spirit by grace and faith! God came to live in us precisely because God s holy will and work can only be accomplished by God self. (h) Fully embracing the cross of Christ where we also died to sin, died to self, died to religion, and died to the world. Sin, self, religious fervour, and worldly ways always take us away from God. Therefore God has freed us from these fellowship spoiling evils by having crucified us in Christ. Living in true, Holy Spirit level fellowship with God requires a lifestyle of being dead to sin; of being dead to self; of being dead to religion/law; of being dead to worldliness and alive to Christ is all and is in all. Not sin, but Christ! Nothing of self, but all of Christ! Not law or religion, but Christ self! Not the world or its ways, but Christ self! Matthew 10:37-39; Mark 8:34-36; Galatians 2:20, 6:14-16; Romans 6:2-14, 7:4-6; Colossians 2:6-12, 3:3-4,11,17, 1:27-28. (i) Other elements of a prosperous, grace based relationship with God include total dependency, joyous expectation in God, humility, faithfulness, and thankfulness in all circumstances. (j) Every relationship between God and each of His individual children is unique. Let us not fall into the comparing and competing trap. Let us simply relax and enjoy our unique, Holy Spirit built and Holy Scripture based fellowship with God. Let us rest and rejoice in God s loving fellowship! Please write down how you are engaging with Jesus in your personal relationship with Him: What do you commit to put in place to improve your relationship with Jesus?
Page17 7) Loving, knowing and living Jesus Christ through the Bible A workman who correctly handles the word of truth. extract from 2 Timothy 2:15 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. John 14:6; emphasis added To present to you the word of God in its fullness. Colossians 1:25 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. - John 1:1, 14, 17 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:15-16; emphasis added Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. John 6:45 The Bible the infallible, divinely inspired Word of God is essential to loving God, knowing God, and living His God Life, all established through Jesus. The Bible teaches us who God is, what God purposes, what God worked and works, and how God works. We cannot truly know the answers to these or any other God aspects without immersing our hearts and minds in the Word of God. A central theme of the Old Testament is to expose our inherent rebellion against God, our utter depravity (sinfulness), and our total inability to do God s bidding. The Old Testament exposes our dire need for a Saviour Messiah in every regard and in every way. The New Testament in turn reveals to us how Father God rectified all and fulfils all through the Messiah, His Son Jesus Christ. The Word of God tells us all about God s Christ-is-All-and-in-all Agenda; and how God himself ensured the fulfilment of His Christ-is-All-and-in-all Agenda in all eternity and on earth. We MUST HAVE the right Christ based approach to God s Word if we want to know its true meaning and application! If we do not know how to correctly view all Scripture in the Light of Christ, then our Bible interpretation will be like trying to build a puzzle without having the right picture that fits the puzzle. In order to have the right view of God s Word, we first and foremost need to have the alldefining picture of Christ Jesus correctly imprinted in our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit. Whenever we engage with God s Word, we need to have on the reading glasses of Christ-is-All-andin-all to rightly view all Scripture in the Light and Life of Christ. From the onset we need to understand that Jesus himself is the Word and the Truth. Jesus himself is the overall context, content, and implement of the Word. Jesus himself is the Life, the heart, the depth, and the richness of the Word. Jesus is himself the way and the walk of the Word. The Bible is all about the Being and doing of Jesus self and how we are to relate to and to abide by His Being and His doing through the Holy Spirit. Our correct Christ based Word engagement will ensure that everything is Christ focused and Christ fulfilled as God has meant it to be, and made it to be. In line with the divine reality of Christ himself is the Alpha and Omega; the First and the Last; the Beginning and the End; the All and in all of God s divine Word and eternal Kingdom.
Page18 The Bible is the Holy Spirit s main instrument to instruct us in passionately loving Jesus, personally knowing Jesus, and practically living the divine Life of Christ. Therefore we first and foremost need to have the foundation of Jesus Christ laid in our Word engagements. We need to humbly and intimately seek God s counsel until we sufficiently understand that the fullness and fulfilment of God s Word is Jesus Christ himself. It is of crucial importance to appropriately abide by the fact that Jesus self is the Way of God s Word; Jesus self is the Truth of God s Word; and Jesus himself is the Life of God s Word. See John 14:6, 1:1,14-18; 1 Corinthians 2:2, 3:11; Colossians 2:2-3, 6-12, 3:11. The Holy Scriptures are divine Words which require a Divine Interpreter. The Bible is written in God s words, words which cannot be rightly understood by our own mental, linguistic or theological faculties (Isaiah 55:8-9 / John 1:1, 14:6). If the Holy Spirit the Author of God s Word does not translate God s Word for us, then none of us will ever be able to grasp the Christ-depth and the Christ-width of God s Word. Correctly seeing God s Word in an overall Christ-context can only come through Holy Spirit revelation (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:12-15). And God reserves His divine level revelations to those who are humbly, passionately, and lovingly sold out to His Son! Once Jesus self is the all and in all of our hearts, then will we receive heart-to-heart revelations about Christ self being the all and in all of all. The Holy Spirit opens up the divine fullness, the unlimited treasures of Christ self being the Way, Truth and Life of the Word to those who truly open their hearts to Jesus. Scripture comes to Life once we understand how Jesus himself is the Life, Truth and Way thereof! Major pitfalls to knowing and living the true Jesus level riches of the Bible are: (a) Taking a human reasoning approach to Scripture interpretation (= trying to figure God and His Word out via human intellectual capacities, mental observations and theological interpretations); (b) Taking a religious approach to Scripture implementation (= trying to fulfil God s Word via human effort and excellence). In stark contrast, a Holy Spirit operated approach to the Word of God is based on: (a) Intimate relationship with God through Christ, ever in full loving devotion to God himself; (b) Divine revelations from God through Jesus Christ, who Himself is the Word personified; and (c) Full reliance on God self to fulfil His purposes, promises, and commands through Christ by grace. The Bible is in essence a book of sovereign grace. If we do not understand true grace what it is, why it is necessary, and what it works then we will never be able to get to grips with God s Word. True sovereign grace works all of Jesus, which includes God himself fulfilling all of His Word through Christ. Faith is expecting God himself to fulfil His Word through Christ, inclusive of all that God requires. Uncompromising obedience to God s Word allows the Holy Spirit to fulfil His Word and will through Christ residing in us. In practice all of the Word, grace, faith, and obedience can only find their fullness and fulfilment in the Person of Jesus Christ. Living by grace means living by Jesus in Person and in action. The Holy Spirit was given to implement Jesus Christ is our All and in all. All Jesus, who is the Life of the Word and the living of the Word. By grace Jesus as the Living Word came to reside in us. By grace Jesus residing in us will himself also fulfil all that the Word requires of us. Meditate sufficiently on Romans 8:4-11, 13:14; Hebrews 13:20-21; John 1:1-4, 16-18, 6:28-29, 15:4-8, 14:6; Philippians 2:12-13; Matthew 5:17-20 / Romans 8:4; Ezekiel 36:27; Galatians 2:19-21.
Page19 Holy Spirit anointed engagements with God s Word will make us abide by: Firstly, the true meaning and application of God s Word can only be had within a loving devotion to Jesus himself. Secondly, the true meaning of the Word can only be understood within a correct Christ-is-All perspective. Thirdly, the real application of the Word can only be achieved within a Christ-works-all practice. Key Scriptures of Christ based Bible interpretation You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40, emphasis added And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:27, emphasis added In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - John 1:1 We should always keep in mind the following key Scriptures of Christ centred Bible interpretation whenever we engage with the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. They are key Scriptures because they help to unlock the other Scriptures for us. They give us access to the Christ-Glory of Scripture! They set us up for seeing Scripture in the proper Christ context, in the Light of Christ. What do these Scriptures teach us about the interpretation of the Word of God? John 1:1,14,17-18 John 5:39-40, 46 Isaiah 55:8-9; John 14:6 John 20:30-31 Luke 24:27, 31-32, 44-45 Revelation 1:8, 22:13
Page20 Revelation 19:10, 13 Colossians 3:11, 2:2-3 (see also Colossians 1:15-20) John 14:26, 15:26, 16:12-15 1 John 5:9-11 John 6:45, 63 Hebrews 1:2-3 2 Corinthians 1:20, 3:6, 3:14-4:7 (note verse 3:16 / Galatians 3:24) Colossians 1:9, 1:25-28, 2:2-3, 8 Matthew 11:25-30; 1 Corinthians 1:18 2:16 (note verses 1:19-20, 2:10-16), 3:11 Galatians 3:24; John 14:6 John 1:1,4, 8:12 How will you apply these key Scriptures to all your Bible interpreting, meditating, and teaching?
Page21 Key Scriptures of Christ based Bible implementation Apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God. Galatians 2:20 We should always keep in mind the following key Scriptures of Christ centred Bible implementation whenever we engage with the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. They are key Scriptures because they unlock the implementation of Scripture for us. They give us the practice of the Christ- Glory of the Word! They set us up to practically live by Jesus in action to live the Living Word by faith. Please sufficiently meditate on these Scriptures before answering this question about them: What do these Scriptures teach us about the implementation of the Word of God? Jeremiah 17:5; Isaiah 64:6; Habakkuk 2:13; Romans 3:9-18, 7:18, 8:5-8 John 6:28-29, 15:4-5, 14:6, 12-15; 2 Corinthians 1:20, 12:9, 13:4-5 Galatians 2:20; Romans 15:17-19 Ezekiel 36:25-27; Zechariah 4:6; John 6:63; Jeremiah 1:12 /Romans 8:4, 9-11; Matthew 5:17-20 Isaiah 55:8-9, 35:8 / John 14:6, 15:5
Page22 What do these Scriptures teach us about the implementation of the Word of God? 1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 1:27-29; 2 Corinthians 3:3-6, 5:7 Romans 11:36-12:3; Acts 17:24-25; Hebrews 4:9-11 Hebrews 10:38; 13:20-21; Philippians 1:6, 20-21, 2:12-13 How can all of Scripture be fulfilled in our daily living? How can we ensure that our Bible learning, Bible loving and Bible living are always Christ based? For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 The message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17; emphasis added Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16; emphasis added
Page23 How do you get God s Word of Christ into your heart, mind, mouth and actions? Making God s Word of Christ the fruit of your daily living is a growth process. In principle it works the same way as preparing a field, sowing the seed, and nurturing the plants until the harvest is gathered. Here is the Holy Spirit worked Scripture taking root and bearing fruit process: 1. The fertile field where the Word of God is sown is your close relationship with God. The Word is first and foremost for the heart! Comprehending the Word and applying it in your daily living comes through a heart-to-heart connection with God. Deuteronomy 30:20; Mark 12:30; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Luke 10:38-42; John 8:12, 15:4-5,7-11,15-16; Matthew 11:25-28. 2. Repent from an academic, human reasoning, religious and theological mindset as the basis for Scripture interpretation. God cannot be known through mere human intellect or clever reasoning. Humbly accept and confess that only God can give you the correct knowledge and understanding of God and His Word. Everything by Holy Spirit revelation and nothing by our human reasoning. See John 6:63, 6:45, 14:26, 15:26; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16; 1 John 2:27. 3. Revelation from God is essential. You need to receive your Word based God-teachings from God self and not from any human based Word teachings (Luke 24:45; Isaiah 54:13; John 6:45; 1 John 2:27). Unfortunately human based Word teachings abound in the church. 4. Regularly and prayerfully read the Word of God. As you read, pray that God will reveal to you the true Christ-based meaning and application thereof also of the Old Testament. 5. Take enough time to deeply reflect on the Word of God, to meditate on it to take it into your heart. Ever trusting God to reveal the true meaning and application thereof. Think Scripture through in consultation with God until the true Light and Life of Christ shines from it. Meditate until the Christ content and Christ implement of God s Word is revealed to you. 6. Regularly review the Word teachings you have received from God. Review the Word until it becomes the glasses through which you view God, yourself, and everything around you. 7. Recite key verses of Scripture; let God guide you which Scriptures are essential to memorize. 8. Repeat Scripture through your mouth whenever it fits daily situations. Make it a habit to confess Scripture. As you continuously confess the Truth, God graciously works the Truth. Your regular confessing of God s Word allows God to bring your living in line with His Word. 9. Re-align or reform your thinking, choosing, speaking, attitude and actions to be in line with the Word of God. Faithfully resolve to live by the Word, through grace by faith in obedience! 10. Fully rely on God self to fulfil all of his Word. Only God can live and work by God s required holy standards. Grace is God working all to His standard! That is why Holy God himself came to live in you, so that He can fulfil the Word of God in your daily living and working. Grace is God self in operation to fulfil His Word, will and work. God s Word can only be fulfilled by grace through faith in obedience to Jesus who resides in us as our enablement to live the Word. See Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 14:23, 15:5; Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:4; 2 Corinthians 5:7. What are you going to do to have God s Word of Christ in your heart, mind, mouth and actions?