CHAPTER 2 JESUS CHRIST’S NATURE AND PROGRAM

Christ, God’s Son, is far greater than the Angels
Jesus is greater than Moses
Jesus, the Great High Priest
Christ, a Priest for ever
Jesus, our High Priest
Jesus, his Love and Kindness
Christ, the exact likeness of God
Jesus, God’s Son
Jesus is the Son of God
Christ, God’s Message of Life
Adam disobeyed God’s Laws, but Christ brought Forgiveness
Jesus Christ, the Savior
Christ, the Living Foundation
Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people
The precious life-blood of Christ
The Suffering of Christ
The simple message of the Cross of Christ
The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
Christ rose from the dead
What if Christ hadn’t risen from the dead?
A beautiful new body for those who rise from the dead
Being born again
The old and the new way
Christ’s love to us
The body of Christ
Special abilities from Christ
The Unity of the Body
Christ and our Union with Him
The Benefits of belonging to Jesus Christ
Dead to sin and sharing the new life of Jesus Christ
Keep your eyes on Jesus
The Lord’s Table

Christ, God’s Son, is far greater than the Angels
HEBREWS 1:1-14
Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets [in visions, dreams, and even face to face], telling them little by little about his plans.
But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son, to whom he has given everything, and through whom he made the world and everything there is.
God’s Son shines out with God’s glory, and all that God’s Son is and does marks him as God. He regulates the universe by the mighty power of his command. He is the one who died to cleanse us and clear our record of all sin, and then sat down in highest honor beside the great God of heaven.
Thus he became far greater than the angels, as proved by the fact that his name “Son of God” which was passed on to him from his Father, is far greater than the names and titles of the angels. For God never said to any angel, “You are my Son, and today I have given you the honor that goes with that name.” But God said it about Jesus. Another time he said, “I am his Father and he is my Son.” And still another time – when his firstborn Son came to earth – God said, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”
God speaks of his angels as messengers swift as the wind and as servants made of flaming fire; but of his Son he says, “Your kingdom, O God, will last for ever and ever; its commands are always just and right. You love right and hate wrong; so God, even your God, has poured out more gladness upon you than on anyone else.”
God also called him “Lord” when he said, “Lord, in the beginning you made the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will disappear into nothingness, but you will remain for ever. They will become worn out like old clothes, and some day you will fold them up and replace them. But you yourself will never change, and your years will never end.”
And did God ever say to an angel, as he does to his Son, “Sit here beside me in honor until I crush all your enemies beneath your feet”?
No, for the angels are only spirit-messengers sent out to help and care for those who are to receive his salvation.

Jesus is greater than Moses
HEBREWS 3:1-19
Therefore, Dear Brothers whom God has set apart for himself – you are chosen for heaven – I want you to think now about this Jesus who is God’s messenger and the high priest of our faith.
For Jesus was faithful to God who appointed him high priest, just as Moses also faithfully served in God’s house. But Jesus has far more glory than Moses, just as a man who builds a fine house gets more praise than his house does. And many people can build houses, but only God made everything.
Well, Moses did a fine job working in God’s house, but he was only a servant; and his work was mostly to illustrate and suggest those things that would happen later on. But Christ, God’s faithful Son, is in complete charge of God’s house. And we Christians are God’s house – he lives in us! – if we keep up our courage firm to the end, and our joy and our trust in the Lord.
And since Christ is so much superior, the Holy Spirit warns us to listen to him, to be careful to hear his voice today and not let our hearts become set against him, as the people of Israel did. They steeled themselves against his love and complained against him in the desert while he was testing them. But God was patient with them forty years, though they tried his patience sorely; he kept right on doing his mighty miracles for them to see. “But” God says, “I was very angry with them, for their hearts were always looking
somewhere else instead of up to me, and they never found the paths I wanted them to follow.”
Then God, full of his anger against them, bound himself with an oath that he would never let them come to his place of rest.
Beware then of your own hearts, dear brothers, in case you should find that they, too, are evil and unbelieving and are leading you away from the living God. Speak to each other about these things every day while there is still time, so that none of you will become hardened against God, being blinded by the glamour of sin. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as we did when we first became Christians, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.
But now is the time. Never forget the warning, “Today if you hear God’s voice speaking to you, do not harden your hearts (do not be stubborn) against him, as the people of Israel did when they rebelled against him in the desert.”
And who were those people I speak of, who heard God’s voice speaking to them but then rebelled against him? They were the ones who came out of Egypt with Moses their leader. And who was it who made God angry for all those forty years? These same people who sinned and as a result died in the wilderness. And to whom was God speaking when he swore with an oath that they could never go into the land he had promised his people? He was speaking to all those who disobeyed him. And why couldn’t they go in? Because they didn’t trust him.

Jesus, the Great High Priest
HEBREWS 4:14-16 and 5:1-10
But Jesus the Son of God is our great high priest who has gone to heaven itself to help us; therefore let us never stop trusting him. This high priest of ours understands our weaknesses, since he had the same temptations we have, though he never once gave way to them and sinned (disobeyed God’s Laws). So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in times of need.
HEBREWS 5:1-10
The Jewish high priest is merely a man like anyone else, but he is chosen to speak for all other men in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers to him the blood of animals that are sacrificed to cover the sins of the people and his own sins too. And because he is a man he can deal gently with other men, though they are foolish and ignorant, for he, too, is surrounded with the same temptations and understands their problems very well.
Another thing to remember is that no one can be a high priest just because he wants to be. He has to be called by God for this work in the same way that God chose Aaron.
That is why Christ did not elect himself to the honor of being high priest; no, he was chosen by God. God said to him, “My Son, today I have honored you.” And another time God said to him, “You have been chosen to be a priest forever, with the same rank as Melchizedek.”
Yet while Christ was here on earth he pleaded with God, praying with tears and agony of soul to the only one who could save him from [premature] death. And God heard his prayers because of his strong desire to obey God at all times.
Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he had to learn from experience what it was like to obey, when obeying meant suffering. It was after he had proved himself perfect in this experience that Jesus became the giver of eternal salvation to all those who obey him. For remember that God had chosen him to be a high priest with the same rank as Melchizedek.

Christ, a priest for ever
HEBREWS 7:17-28
And the psalmist points this out when he says of Christ, “You are a priest for ever with the rank of Melchizedek.”
Yes, the old system of priesthood based on family lines was cancelled because it didn’t work. It was weak and useless for saving people. It never made anyone really right with God. But now we have a far better hope, for Christ makes us acceptable to God, and now we may draw near to him.
God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest, although he never said that of other priests. Only to Christ he said, “The Lord has sworn and will never change his mind: you are a priest for ever, with the rank of Melchizedek.” Because of God’s oath, Christ can guarantee for ever the success of this new and better arrangement.
Under the old arrangement there had to be many priests, so that when the older ones died off, the system could still be carried on by others who took their places.
But Jesus lives forever and continues to be a priest so that no one else is needed. He is able to save completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his blood.
He is, therefore, exactly the kind of high priest we need: for he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin, undefiled by sinners, and to him has been given the place of honor in heaven.
He never needs the daily blood of animal sacrifices, as other priests did, to cover over first their own sins and then the sins of the people; for he finished all sacrifices, once and for all, when he sacrificed himself on the cross. Under the old system, even the high priests were weak and sinful men who could not keep from doing wrong, but later God appointed by his oath his Son who is perfect for ever.

Jesus, our High Priest
HEBREWS 8:1-6
What we are saying is this: Christ, whose priesthood we have just described, is our high priest, and is in heaven at the place of God’s greatest honor next to God himself. He ministers in the temple in heaven, the true place of worship built by the Lord and not by human hands.
Since every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ must make an offering too.

The sacrifice he offers is far better than those offered by the earthly priests. (But even so, if he were here on earth he wouldn’t even be permitted to be a priest, because down here the priests still follow the old Jewish system of sacrifices.) Their work is connected with a mere earthly model of the real tabernacle, in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the tabernacle, God warned him to follow exactly the pattern of the heavenly tabernacle as shown to him on Mount Sinai. But Christ, as a minister in heaven, has been rewarded with far more important work than those who serve under the old laws, because the new agreement which he passes on to us from God contains far more wonderful promises.

Jesus, his Love and Kindness
(Paul)
2 CORINTHIANS 8:9
You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was: though he was so very rich, yet to help you he became so very poor, so that by being poor he could make you rich.
(Paul)
1 TIMOTHY 3:16
It is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ, who came to earth as a man, was proved spotless and pure in his spirit, was served by angels, was preached among the nations, was accepted by men everywhere and was received up again to his glory in heaven.
(Paul)
2 TIMOTHY 2:8
Jesus Christ was a man, born into King David’s family; and He was God, as shown by the fact that He rose again from the dead.

Christ, the exact likeness of God
(Paul)
COLOSSIANS 1:13-23
For he has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son, who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins.
Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t (see); the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities: all were made by Christ for his own use and glory.
He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. He is the head of the body made up of his people – that is, his church – which he began; and he is the leader of all who arise from the dead, so that he is first in everything: for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.
It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him – all things in heaven and on earth – for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood. This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends.
He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you – nothing left that he could even chide (scold or rebuke) you for. The only condition is that you fully believe the truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world.

Jesus, God’s Son
2 PETER 1:16-21
For we have not been telling you fairy tales when we explained to you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. My own eyes have seen his splendor and his glory. I was there on the holy mountain when he shone out with honor given him by God his Father; I heard that glorious, majestic voice calling down from heaven, saying, “This is my much-loved Son; I am well pleased with him.”
So we have seen and proved that what the prophets said came true. You will do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, for, like lights shining into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise would be dark and difficult.
But when you consider the wonderful truth of the prophets’ words, then the light will dawn in your souls and Christ the Morning Star will shine in your hearts. For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God.

Jesus is the Son of God
1 JOHN 5:6-12
And we know he is, because God said so with a voice from heaven when Jesus was baptized, and again as he was facing death – yes, not only at his baptism but also as he faced death. And the Holy Spirit, for ever truthful, says it too. So we have these three witnesses: the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the voice from heaven at Christ’s baptism, and the voice before he died. And they all say the same thing: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
We believe men who witness in our courts, and so surely we can believe whatever God declares. And God declares that Jesus is his Son. All who believe this know in their hearts that it is true. If anyone doesn’t believe this, he is actually calling God a liar, because he doesn’t believe what God has said about his Son.
And what is it that God has said? That he has given us eternal life, and that this life is in his Son. So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son, does not have life.
(Paul)
2 CORINTHIANS 1:19-22
(adapted)
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He isn’t one to say “yes” when he means “no.” He always does exactly what he says. He carries out and fulfills all of God’s promises, no matter how many of them there are; he is faithful and we give glory (and honor) to his name.
It is this God who has made you and me into faithful Christians and commissioned the apostles to preach his Good News. He has put his brand upon us – his mark of ownership – and given us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to him, and as the first installment of all that he is going to give us.

Christ, God’s Message of Life
1 JOHN 1:1-4
Christ was alive when the world began, yet I myself have seen him with my own eyes and listened to him speak. I have touched him with my own hands. He is God’s message of Life. This one who is Life from God has been shown to us and we guarantee that we have seen him; I am speaking of Christ, who is eternal Life. He was with the Father and then was shown to us. Again I say, we are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may share the fellowship and the joys we have with the Father and with Jesus Christ his Son. And if you do as I say in this letter, then you, too, will be full of joy and so will we.
(Paul)
1 TIMOTHY 1:15
(adapted)
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (those people who have disobeyed God’s Laws and are perishing).

Adam disobeyed God’s Laws, but Christ brought Forgiveness
(Paul)
ROMANS 5:12-21
When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all (the entire) world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned. [We know that it was Adam’s sin that caused this] because although, of course people were sinning from the time of Adam until Moses, God did not in those days judge them guilty of death for breaking his law – because he had not given his laws to them, nor told them what he wanted them to do. So when their bodies died it was not for their sins, since they themselves had never disobeyed God’s special law against eating the forbidden fruit, as Adam had.
What a contrast between Adam and Christ who was yet to come! And what a difference between man’s sin and God’s forgiveness!
For this one man Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this one man Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s mercy. Adam’s one sin brought the penalty of death to many, while Christ freely takes away many sins and gives glorious life instead. The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to be king (ruler) over all, but all who will take God’s gift of forgiveness and acquittal (being formally declared not guilty of a criminal charge) are kings (rulers) of life because of this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s sin brought punishment to all, but Christ’s righteousness makes men (human beings in general) right with God, so they can live. Adam caused many to be sinners because he disobeyed God, and Christ caused many to be made acceptable to God because he obeyed.

The Ten Commandments were given so that all could see the extent of their failure to obey God’s laws. But the more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God’s abounding grace (and favor) forgiving us. Before, sin ruled over all men (all human beings in general) and brought them to death, but now God’s kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus Christ, the Savior
1 JOHN 2:1-6
My little children, I am telling you this so that you will stay away from sin (from breaking God’s Laws). But if you sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. His name is Jesus Christ, the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely.
He is the one who took God’s wrath (God’s anger) against our sins upon himself, and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the (people of the) world’s (sins).
And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By looking within ourselves: are we really trying to do what he wants us to do?
Someone may say, “I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ.” But if he doesn’t do what Christ tells him to do, he is a liar. But those who do what Christ tells them to do will learn to love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian. Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ did.

Christ, the Living Foundation
1 PETER 2:1-10
So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with (be finished with) dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs. If you have tasted (and enjoyed) the Lord’s goodness and kindness, cry for more, as a baby cries for milk – and grow strong in the Lord. Come to Christ, who is the living Foundation of Rock upon which God builds; though men (human beings in general) have spurned (and despised) him, he is very precious to God who has chosen him above all others.
And now you have become living building-stones for God’s use in building his house. What’s more, you are his holy priests; so come to him [you are acceptable to him because of Jesus Christ] and offer to God those things that please him.
As the Scriptures express it, “See I am sending Christ to be carefully chosen, precious cornerstone of my church, and I will never disappoint those who trust in him.”
Yes, he is very precious to you who believe; and to those who reject him, well – “The same Stone that was rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone, the most honored and important part of the building.” And the Scriptures also say, “He is the Stone that some will stumble over, and the rock that will make them fall.” They will stumble because they will not listen to God’s Word, nor obey it, and so this punishment must follow – that they will fall.
But you are not like that, for you have been chosen by God himself – you are priests of the King, you are holy and pure, you are God’s very own – all this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
Once you were less than nothing; now you are God’s own. Once you knew very little of God’s kindness: now your very lives have been changed by it.

Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people
HEBREWS 9:24-28 and 10:1-18
For Christ has entered into heaven itself, to appear now before God as our friend. It was not in the earthly place of worship that he did this, for that was merely a copy of the real temple in heaven. Nor has he offered himself again and again, as the high priest down here on earth offers animal blood in the Holy of Holies each year. If that had been necessary, then he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us.
And just as it is destined that men (all human beings in general) die only once, and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and he will come again, but not to deal again with our sins. This time he will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for him.
HEBREWS 10:1-18
The Old System of Jewish Laws gave only a dim foretaste of the good things Christ would do for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but even so they could never save those who lived under their rules. If they could have, one offering would have been enough; the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and their feeling of guilt would be gone.
But just the opposite happened: those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their disobedience and guilt instead of relieving their minds. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats really to take away sins.
That is why Christ said, as he came into the world, “O God, the blood of bulls and goats cannot satisfy you, so you have made ready this body of mine for me to lay as a sacrifice upon your altar. You were not satisfied with the animal sacrifices, slain and burnt before you as offerings for sin. Then I said, ‘See, I have come to do your will, to lay down my life, just as the Scriptures said that I would.’”
After Christ said this, about not being satisfied with the various sacrifices and offerings required under the old system, he then added, “Here I am. I have come to give my life.”
He cancels the first system in favor of a far better one. Under this new plan we have been forgiven and made clean by Christ’s dying for us once and for all. Under the old agreement the priests stood before the altar day after day offering sacrifices that could never take away our sins. But Christ gave himself to God for our sins as one sacrifice for all time, and then sat down in the place of highest honor at God’s right hand, waiting for his enemies to be laid under his feet. For by that one offering he made for ever perfect in the sight of God all those whom he is making holy.
And the Holy Spirit testifies that this is so, for he has said, “This is the agreement I will make with the people of Israel, though they broke their first agreement: I will write my laws into their minds so that they will always know my will, and I will put my laws in their hearts so that they will want to obey them. And then he adds, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”
Now, when sins have been forgiven once and for all and forgotten, there is no need to offer more sacrifices to get rid of them.

The precious life-blood of Christ
1 PETER 1:18-25
God paid a ransom (an amount paid for the release of a captive or captives) to save you from the impossible road to heaven which your fathers tried to take, and the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver, as you very well know; but he paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but only recently was he brought into public view, in these last days, as a blessing to you.
Because of this your trust can be in God who raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. Now your faith and hope can rest in him alone. Now you can have real love for everyone because your souls have been cleansed from selfishness and hatred when you trusted Christ to save you; so see to it that you really do love each other warmly, with all your hearts.
For you have a new life. It was not passed on to you from your parents, for the life they gave you will fade away. This new one will last forever, for it comes from Christ, God’s ever-living message to men (all human beings in general). Yes, our natural lives will fade as grass does when it becomes all brown and dry. All our greatness is like a flower that droops and falls; but the Word of the Lord will last for ever. And his message is the Good News that was preached to you.

The Suffering of Christ
1 PETER 3:18-22 and 4:1-6
Christ also suffered. He died once for the sins of all us guilty sinners (people who disobey God’s Laws), although he himself was innocent of any sin at any time, that he might bring us safely home to God. But though his body died, his spirit lived on, and it was in the spirit that he visited the spirits in prison, and preached to them – spirits of those who, long before the days of Noah, had refused to listen to God, though he waited patiently for them while Noah was building the ark. Yet only eight persons were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. (That, by the way, is what baptism pictures for us: in baptism we show that we have been saved from death and doom by the resurrection of Christ; not because our bodies are washed clean by the water, but because in being baptized we are turning to God and asking him to cleanse our hearts from sin.) And now Christ is in heaven, sitting in the place of honor next to God the Father, with all the angels and powers of heaven bowing before him and obeying him.
1 PETER 4:1-6
Since Christ suffered and underwent pain, you must have the same attitude he had; you must be ready to suffer, too. For remember, when your body suffers, sin loses its power, and you won’t be spending the rest of your life chasing after evil desires, but will be anxious to do the will of God. You have had enough in the past of the evil things the godless enjoy – sexual sin, lust, getting drunk, wild parties, drinking bouts, and the worship of idols – which leads to other terrible sins.
Of course, your former friends will be very surprised when you don’t eagerly join them any more in the wicked things they do, and they will laugh at you in contempt and scorn. But just remember that they must face the Judge of all, living and dead; they will be punished for the way they have lived. That is why the Good News was preached even to those who were dead – killed by the flood – so that although their bodies were punished with death, they could still live in their spirits as God lives.

The simple message of the Cross of Christ
(Paul)
1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-31 and 2:1-5
I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved recognize this message as the very power of God. For God says, “I will destroy all human plans of salvation no matter how wise they seem to be, and ignore the best ideas of men, even the most brilliant of them.”
So what about these wise men, these scholars, these brilliant debaters of this world’s great affairs? God has made them all look foolish, and shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. For God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find God through human brilliance, and then he stepped in and saved all those who believed his message, which the world calls foolish and silly. It seems foolish to the Jews because they want a sign from heaven as proof that what is preached is true; and it is foolish to the Gentiles because they believe only what agrees with their philosophy and seems wise to them. So when we preach about Christ dying to save them, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But God has opened the eyes of those called to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, to see that Christ is the mighty power of God to save them; Christ himself is the center of God’s wise plan for their salvation. This so-called “foolish” plan of God is far wiser than the wisest plan of the wisest man, and God in his weakness – Christ dying on the cross – is far stronger than any man.
Notice among yourselves, dear brothers, that few of you who follow Christ have big names or power of wealth. Instead, God has deliberately chosen to use the ideas the world considers foolish and of little worth in order to shame those people considered by the world as wise and great. He has chosen a plan despised by the world, counted as nothing at all, and used it to bring down to nothing those the world considers great, so that no one anywhere can ever boast in the presence of God.
For it is from God alone that you have your life through Christ Jesus. He showed us God’s plan of salvation; he was the one who made us acceptable to God: he made us pure and holy and gave himself to purchase our salvation. As it says in the Scriptures, “If anyone is going to boast (talk big), let him boast (talk big) only of what the Lord has done.”
1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-5
Dear Brothers, even when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty (high and mighty) words and brilliant ideas to tell you God’s message. For I decided that I would speak only of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I came to you in weakness – timid and trembling. And my preaching was very plain, not with a lot of oratory (the art or practice of formal public speaking) and human wisdom, but the Holy Spirit’s power was in my words, proving to those who heard them that the message was from God. I did this because I wanted your faith to stand firmly upon God, not on some man’s great ideas.

The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Paul)
GALATIONS 6:14-15
As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross my interest in all the attractive things was killed long ago, and the world’s interest in me is also long dead. It doesn’t make any difference now whether we have been circumcised or not; what counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people.

Christ rose from the dead
(Paul)
1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-28
But the fact is that Christ actually did rise from the dead, and has become the first of millions (of people) who will come back to life again some day.
Death came into the world because of what one man (Adam) did, and it is because of what this other man (Christ) has done that now there is the resurrection from the dead.
Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, being members of his sinful race, and wherever there is sin, death results.
But all who are related to Christ will rise again. Each, however, in his own turn: Christ rose first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will become alive again.
After that the end will come when he will turn the kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind. For Christ will be King until he has defeated all his enemies, including the last enemy – death. This too must be defeated and ended. For the rule and authority over all things has been given to Christ by his Father; except, of course, Christ does not rule over the Father himself, who gave him this power to rule.
When Christ has finally won the battle against all his enemies, then he, the Son of God, will put himself also under his Father’s orders, so that God, who has given him the victory over everything else, will be utterly supreme.

What if Christ hadn’t risen from the dead?
(Paul)
1 CORINTHIANS 15:13-19
For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ must still be dead. And if he is still dead, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless; and we apostles are all liars, because we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, and of course that isn’t true if the dead do not come back to life again. If they don’t, then Christ is still dead, and you are very foolish to keep on trusting God to save you, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. In that case all Christians who have died are lost. And if being a Christian is only of value to us in this life, we are the most miserable of creatures.

A beautiful new body for those who rise from the dead
(Paul)
1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-58
But someone may ask, “How will the dead be brought back to life again? What kind of bodies will they have?” What a foolish question! You will find the answer in your own garden. When you put a seed into the ground it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it “dies” first. When the green shoot comes up out of the seed, it is very different from the seed you first planted. For all you put into the ground is a dry little seed of wheat, or whatever it is you are planting. Then God gives it a beautiful new body – just the kind he wants it to have; a different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed. And just as there are different kinds of seeds and plants, so also there are different kinds of flesh. Humans, animals, fish and birds are all different.
The angels in heaven have bodies far different from ours, and the beauty and the glory of their bodies is different from the beauty and the glory of ours. The sun has one kind of glory while the moon and stars have another kind. And the stars differ from each other in their beauty and their brightness.
In the same way our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die. The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength. They are just human bodies at death, but when they come back to life they will be superhuman bodies. For just as there are natural human bodies, there are also supernatural, spiritual bodies.
The Scriptures tell us that the first man, Adam, was given a natural human body but Christ is more than that, for he was life-giving Spirit.
First, then, we have these human bodies and later on God gives us spiritual, heavenly bodies. Adam was made from the dust of the earth, but Christ came from heaven above. Every human being has a body just like Adam’s, made of dust, but all who become Christ’s will have the same kind of body as his – a body from heaven. Just as each of us now has a body like Adam’s, so we shall some day have a body like Christ’s.
I tell you this, my brothers: an earthly body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God’s kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not the right kind to live for ever. But I am telling you this strange and wonderful secret: we shall not all die, but we shall all be given new bodies! It will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For there will be a trumpet blast from the sky and all the Christians who have died will suddenly become alive with new bodies that will never, never die; and then we who are still alive shall suddenly have new bodies, too.
For our earthly bodies, the ones we have now that can die, must be transformed into heavenly bodies that cannot perish but will live forever.
When this happens, then at last this Scripture will come true – “Death is swallowed up in victory.” O death, where then your victory? Where then your sting? For sin (disobeying God’ laws) - the sting that causes death – will all be gone; and the law, which reveals our sins, will no longer be our judge. How we thank God for all of this! It is he that makes us victorious through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So, my dear brothers, since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding (growing well) in the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted (worthless and to no good purpose) – as it would be if there were no resurrection.

Being born again
1 PETER 1:3-7
All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: for it is his boundless (his unlimited) mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again, so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.
And God has reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, in his mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it, because you are trusting him. It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see. So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy (pleasure and happiness) ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here.
These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return, (the return of our Lord Jesus Christ).

The old and the new way
(Paul)
COLOSSIANS 2:16-23 and 3:1-4
So don’t let anyone criticize you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating Jewish holidays and feasts or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these were only temporary rules that ended when Christ came. They were only shadows of the real thing – of Christ himself. Don’t let anyone declare you lost when you refuse to worship angels, as they say you must. They have seen a vision, they say, and know you should. These proud men have a very clever imagination. But they are not connected to Christ, the Head to which all of us who are his body are joined; for we are joined together by his strong sinews and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from him.
Since you died, as it were, with Christ and this has set you free from following the world’s ideas of how to be saved – by doing good and obeying various rules – why do you keep on following them anyway, still bound by such rules as not eating, tasting, or even touching certain foods? Such rules are mere human teachings, for food was made to be eaten and used up. These rules may seem good, for rules of this kind require strong devotion and are humiliating and hard on the body, but they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires. They only make him proud.
COLOSSIANS 3:1-4
Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God. And when Christ who is our real life comes back again, you will shine with him and share in all his glories.
(Paul)
1 TIMOTHY 1:14
(adapted)
Oh, how kind our Lord is, for he shows us how to trust him and become full of the love of Christ Jesus.

Christ’s love to us
(Paul)
ROMANS 8:31-39
What can we ever say to such wonderful things as these? If God is on our side, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son for us but gave him up for us all, won’t he surely give us everything else?
Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has forgiven us and given us a right standing with himself.
Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? No! For he is the one who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us there in heaven.
Who then can ever keep Christ’s love from us? When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because he doesn’t love us any more? And if we are hungry or penniless, (without money) or in danger, or threatened with death, has God deserted us?
No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day – we are like sheep awaiting slaughter.
But despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are - high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean – nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.

The body of Christ
(Paul)
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31
Our bodies have many parts, but the many parts make up only one body when they are all put together. So it is with the “body” of Christ. Each of us is a part of the one body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves and some are free. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one body. We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit, and have all been given that same Holy Spirit.
Yes, the body has many parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And what would you think if you heard an ear say, “I am not part of the body because I am only an ear, and not an eye?” Would that make it any less a part of the body? Suppose the whole body were an eye – then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything?
But that isn’t the way God has made us. He has made many parts for our bodies and has put each part just where he wants it. What a strange thing a body would be if it had only one part! So he made many parts, but still there is only one body.
The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” And some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. Yes, we are especially glad to have some parts that seem rather odd! And we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen, while of course the parts that may be seen do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that might otherwise seem less important. This makes for happiness among the parts, so that the parts have the same care for each other that they have for themselves. If one part suffers, all parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
Now here is what I am trying to say: all of you together are the one body of Christ and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.
Here is a list of some of the parts he has placed in his church, which is his body: apostles, prophets – those who preach God’s Word with inspiration, teachers, those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who can get others to work together, those who speak in languages they have never learned.
Is everyone an apostle? Of course not. Is everyone a preacher or prophet? No. Are all teachers? Does everyone have the power to do miracles? Can everyone heal the sick? Of course not. Does God give all of us the ability to speak in languages we’ve never learned? Can just anyone understand and translate what those are saying who have that gift? No, but try your best to have the more important of these gifts.

Special abilities from Christ
(Paul)
EPHESIANS 4:7-16
However, Christ has given each of us special abilities – whatever he wants us to have out of his rich storehouse of gifts.
The Psalmist tells about this, for he says that when Christ returned triumphantly to heaven after his resurrection and victory over Satan, he gave generous gifts to men. Notice that it says he returned to heaven. This means that he had first come down from the heights of heaven, far down to the lowest parts of the earth. The same one who came down is the one who went back up, that he might fill all things everywhere with himself, from the very lowest to the very highest.
Some of us have been given special ability as apostles; to others he has given the gift of inspired preaching; some have special ability in winning people to Christ; still others have a gift for caring for God’s people as a shepherd does his sheep, leading and teaching them in the ways of God.
Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God’s people will be equipped to do better work for him, building up the church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity; until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God’s Son, and all become full-grown in the Lord – yes, to the point of being filled full with Christ.
Then we will no longer be like children, for ever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different, or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.
Instead we will lovingly follow the truth at all times – speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly – and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

The Unity of the Body
(Paul)
EPHESIANS 4:4-6
We are all parts of one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. For us there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and we all have the same God and Father who is over us all and in us all, and living through every part of us.

Christ and our Union with Him
(Paul)
COLOSSIANS 2:2b-3
For God’s secret plan, now at last made known, is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the mighty, untapped treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
COLOSSIANS 2:6-15
And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done.
Don’t let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies, their wrong and shallow answers built on men’s thoughts and ideas, instead of what Christ has said. For in Christ there is the perfection of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest ruler, with authority over every other power.
When you came to Christ he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls. For in baptism you see how your old, evil nature died with him and was buried with him; and then you came out of death with him into a new life because you trusted the Word of the mighty God who raised Christ from the dead.
You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for he forgave all your sins, and blotted out the charges proved against you, the list of his commandments which you had not obeyed. He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. In this way God took away Satan’s power to accuse you of sin, and God openly displayed to the whole world Christ’s triumph (and victory) at the cross where your sins were all taken away.

The Benefits of belonging to Jesus Christ
(Paul)
EPHESIANS 1:3-14
How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ.
Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own, through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault – we who stand before him covered with his love. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!
Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us, because we belong to his dearly loved Son. So overflowing is his kindness towards us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son, by whom we are saved; and he has showered down upon us the richness of his grace – for how well he understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.
God has told us his secret reason for sending Christ, a plan he decided on in mercy long ago. And this was his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are – in heaven or on earth – to be with him in Christ, for ever. Moreover, because of what Christ has done we have become gifts to God that he delights in , for as part of God’s sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be his, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God’s purpose in this was that we should praise God and give glory to him for doing these mighty things for us, who were the first to trust in Christ.
And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. His presence within us is God’s guarantee that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit’s seal upon us means that God has already purchased us and that he guarantees to bring us to himself. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.

Dead to sin and sharing the new life in Jesus Christ
(Paul)
ROMANS 6:1-14
Well then, shall we keep on sinning (breaking God’s Laws) so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness?
Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don’t have to? For sin’s power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ: through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered. Your old sin-loving nature was buried with him by baptism when he died, and when God the Father, with glorious power, brought him back to life again, you were given his wonderful new life to enjoy.
For you have become part of him and so you died with him, so to speak, when he died, and now you share his new life, and shall rise as he did. Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with him; that part of you that loves to sin was crushed and fatally wounded, so that your sin-loving body is no longer under sin’s control, no longer needs to be a slave to sin; for when you are deadened to sin you are freed from all its allure (its fascination) and its power over you.
And since your old sin-loving nature “died” with Christ, we know that you will share his new life. Christ rose from the dead and will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. He died once for all, to end sin’s power, but now he lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God. So look upon your old sinful nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to him, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Do not let sin control your puny (small and weak) body any longer; do not give in to its sinful desires. Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God - every part of you – for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes. Sin (breaking the Laws of God) need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God’s favor and mercy.

Keep your eyes on Jesus
HEBREWS 12:1-11
Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God. If you want to keep from becoming fainthearted and weary, think about his patience as sinful men did such terrible things to him. After all, you have never yet struggled against sin and temptation until you sweat great drops of blood.
And have you quite forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his child? He said, “My son, don’t be angry when the Lord punishes you. Don’t be discouraged when he has to show you where you are wrong. For when he punishes you, it proves that he loves you. When he whips you it proves you are really his child.”
Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected? If God doesn’t punish you when you need it, as other fathers punish their sons, then it means that you aren’t really God’s son at all – that you don’t really belong in his family. Since we respect our fathers here on earth, though they punish us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to God’s training so that we can begin to really live?
Our earthly fathers trained us for a few brief years, doing the best for us that they knew how, but God’s correction is always right and for our best good, that we may share his holiness. Being punished isn’t enjoyable while it is happening – it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character.

The Lord’s Table
(Paul)
1 CORINTHIANS 10:15-17
You are intelligent people. Look now and see for yourselves whether what I am about to say is true. When we ask the Lord’s blessing upon our drinking from the cup of wine at the Lord’s Table, this means, doesn’t it, that all who drink it are sharing together the blessing of Christ’s blood? And when we break bread from the loaf to eat there together, this shows that we are sharing together in the benefits of his body. No matter how many of us there are, we all eat from the same loaf, showing that we are all parts of the one body of Christ.
1CORINTHIANS 11:23-34
For this is what the Lord himself has said about his Table, and I have passed it on to you before: That on the night when Judas betrayed him, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks to God for it, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new agreement between God and you that has been established and set in motion by my blood. Do this in remembrance of me whenever you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are re-telling the message of the Lord’s death. Do this until he comes again.
So if anyone eats this bread and drinks from this cup of the Lord in an unworthy (an inadequate) manner, he is guilty of sin against the body and the blood of the Lord. That is why a man should examine himself carefully before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. For if he eats the bread and drinks from the cup unworthily (inadequately), not thinking about the body of Christ and what it means, he is eating and drinking God’s judgment upon himself; for he is trifling (treating without seriousness or respect) with the death of Christ. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and some have even died.
But if you carefully examine yourselves before eating you will not need to be judged and punished.
Yet, when we are judged and punished by the Lord, it is so that we will not be condemned with the rest of the world. So, dear brothers, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper – the communion service – wait for each other. If anyone is really hungry he should eat at home so that he won’t bring punishment upon himself when you meet together.