Hello everyone.
It has been a while since I've posted. I've neglected the site, but I'm committing this year to getting back on track. What has sparked this resurgence of commitment is a new Bible study idea. Hopefully you've seen some of the blog posts on the Book of Revelation that coincide with my Sunday School lessons. Well, since the pandemic has set in, we've been doing online church and Sunday School lessons through the Mount Carmel Baptist Church Facebook page. Just recently an idea for a new set of lessons has emerged, and to go along with the Facebook videos, I've decided to do a blog post along with each lesson. The overall goal is to document the series in writing, along with the videos in the hope that when I reach the end, I'll have a good bit of information that can be pieced together (somewhat coherently) that others can use or that I can fish out in the future for a new set of students and readers.
Before I get started, if you want to view the video that this blog supplements, click here. This will take you to Facebook, where not only can you watch this week's video, but you'll also be able to browse many other videos of past lessons and Big Church sermons.
Back to the idea... First, I should acquaint you to my favorite Bible verse, Matthew 22:37-40:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
This verse is a direct quote from Jesus, responding to a question from one of the 'keepers of the law'. Obviously this person was hoping to trip Jesus up, but of course, he couldn't.
This verse gives you the most direct instruction on how you should act. And even though it is very direct, there is more there that we can learn. And this is where our lesson will begin. How do we act? What is the most important things we should focus on. What behavior should be display to be Christ like. That answer is LOVE. Within that verse we are told who we should love and to the depths we should love.
Love is the key to all things. To understand where this love comes from, let's talk about the Trinity, the God head, the three components that make up God; The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
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| The Trinity |
The Venn diagram above is an example of how the three are both independent of each other, and yet at the same time part of one entity. A lot of people may think that 'God' created Jesus at the time he came to Earth, and then created the Holy Spirit at the time of Jesus ascension to heaven. But in reality, all three were together at the beginning. They were one at the onset and have been one during all times since. In other words, when God created the heavens and the earth, that included Jesus and Holy Spirit, not just the Father.
In this particular diagram, I try to show you how the three work together to provide for us. Naturally, each one can provide any of the components listed in the cross over areas, but I think they each focus on those areas. For example, both the Father and the Son provide the sacrifice to us that pays for our sins. Jesus death and the Holy Spirit's guidance are what provide our path to eternal life. Jesus himself states that all wisdom comes from the Father, and the Holy Spirit is what provides us wisdom when we study the Bible. The three together overlap for the center component, (and all they provide it), is the root of Love. Their love for us.
You'll also notice that in Matthew 22:37-40 there is another group of three within the verses regarding who we should love; God, Neighbors, Ourselves. We are commanded to love all three. There is a mnemonic sometimes used to help us remember this order, and that is JOY. Jesus, Others, Yourself. In that order. Having true joy in your life requires love in that order.
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| JOY |
You'll see that in this diagram, I've linked the three components of JOY with some verses - MT 22 being the foundation, or where all three intersect. These verses will be what we dive into each week of the lessons.
- Matthew 22:37-40
- 1 John 4
- 1 Corinthians 13
- Matthew 5-7
So we know who we should love, but do we know how? That will be the actual focus of this series.
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| the "HOW" |
In this diagram, you can see the linkages between these verses and what they will teach us about doing what MT 22 commands us to do. They tell us "HOW" to love. 1 Cor 13 and MT 5-7 lay the framework of how we should be - how we should act. MT 5 contains the 'Beatitudes', or blessings for certain behaviors (among many other instructional verses we'll cover later). 1 Cor 13 outlines in great detail what Love is. 1 John 4 lays out the instructions of both how and why we should love and what that looks like. These three verses together will lay out our plan on how to actually Love, how to be (internally) and how to show this love (externally).
These verses together will provide you a framework that will allow you to do, feel, and believe the things that will let you exhibit, live, and be Christ like behaviors - which will teach you how to Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind - and love your neighbor as yourself.
I hope you'll come along for this ride and watch the associated videos. I do urge you to watch them, there will one for each blog (I hope). Start with
this week's to get you going (they are only about 30 minutes).
The next blog and video will be available in two weeks. Hope to see you back here.
God Bless,
Love,
Rob.
