Session 3 - Growing to Be Like Christ

Who are we? What are we really like? How do other people see us? How does God see us? These questions of self-identity sometimes never get answered. People go through their entire lives trying to discover who they are, and why they are here on planet earth. What is the purpose for their existence? To know ourselves, this is one of the great challenges we face in life. The Bible tells us that God knows everything about us. We have no secrets from God. He sees us for who we truly are, and he loves us with an everlasting love. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us” (Romans 5:8). God knows who we are, and he has great plans for our futures. While we were busy ignoring him in life, he was working out his plan for us. He sees value in our existence, and wants to spend eternity with us. Since God has such a high view of us, it would be nice to see ourselves as God sees us. The true meaning of self-love is to see ourselves through God’s eyes.
It is difficult for us to see all our weaknesses and imperfections and understand why God loves us so much. It may be strange to us, but God sees us as perfect and blameless. Why is this? It is because God sees us through Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the debt for all our sin, and now we are completely forgiven in him. As the great love passage of Scripture 1 Corinthians 13 states, “Love never fails.” God’s love for us will last for eternity. He will always see us as the children he loves with an undying love. Because Jesus brought us forgiveness, God can be in our presence and not judge us. God, the Father, is our constant companion in life. His thoughts and character are continually revealed to us. As we walk in the light of his presence, we are transformed into his likeness. We become imitators of his grace and kindness to others. Like him, we love others and do good things for them. We start to think as he does. As we get to know him better, we become better people. In fact, the more time we spend with him the more we reflect his love to others. The Apostle John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son (Jesus) into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7-11). When we see ourselves as God sees us, we can then see how God loves others. We need to see ourselves as God sees us, so that we can see others as God sees them. When we have this understanding, we treat others with love. These acts of love transform who we are and we become like Christ, for the grace that changes others flows through us. The more we love others the more we become like Jesus. He loved others so much that we was willing to die for them. How far does our love for others go? What sacrifices are we willing to make so that others can have a better life? Are we willing to become like Christ, and give our lives for others? Or, will we spend our lives totally on ourselves? What are you willing to do for others? We are given God’s love to pass on to others. Love is never meant to be possessed, but to be freely given away. Love is God’s gift that is in our hands to give away to someone else.

Session 2 - Love Connects us to One Another

There is an old saying that no man is an island. We live our lives surrounded by other people, and interact with those around us everyday. Our lives are continually influenced by other lives. How has your life been affected by other people? The Bible points out that as believers in Christ; we are connected with each other and with God. Ephesians 4: 15-16 states, “We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body (the Church), joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds up in love.” The Church is the accumulation of all believers who have ever lived, and the human body is given as an example of how we are connected to one another and to God. In the Gospel of John, the grape vine is used to demonstrate that we are all connected together by the power and presence of God, like sap, it runs through us giving us a community life and fellowship with one another. This connectiveness supplies us with life in the Holy Spirit, and is defined by the phrase, “Abide in my love” (John 15:9). Love is the glue that binds us all together. How connected do you feel to other believers? The love that emanates from the Father reveals the character and power of God. Love is the glory of God that allows us to know and understand who God is and what he is doing. As Jesus said in his High Priestly prayer, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one . . . that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:22—26). The manifestation of God's glory unities us into one family of faith. We become one with God, and God becomes one with us. We live together in the midst of God’s glory and power. We have a spiritual bond with each other – the presence of God. As we walk in the fellowship of his presence, we are transformed into godly people, who are connected by a common life in the Spirit of God (1 John 1:2-3, 7). The very essence of eternal life is dwelling in the presence of God and abiding in his love.
As we walk in God’s presence, we are to testify to this life we have in the Spirit of God. The study guide mentions that “one way to strengthen your connection with each other is to tell stories about your connection with God” (page 23). As the Apostle Paul stated, “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14). The power of our fellowship together is our confession of the Lord Jesus Christ, the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit, and the saving power of God the Father’s love. We need to talk about our life in Christ, and the common life we have together as the children of God. Our confession brings the power of eternal life to ourselves and to others. How often does your conversation with others mention your life and faith in God? Faith is communicated by the words we speak to each other, for “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The confession of the gospel brings us into one faith and one fellowship; it is not just for unbelievers, but for believers in Christ. The gospel is our way to faith, and it gives us the desire to practice loving kindness to others, for a true faith manifests the loving works of the Spirit of God. Faith without love is useless (Galatians 5:5-6). Faith leads us to dwell in the community of God’s love.

Session 1 - Learning to Love One Another

In life we have many goals, some involve money, others are about relationships, and still others are about our spiritual journey. As mentioned in the previous lesson, true spirituality involves loving others. In fact, the Bible states that “God is love.” This is an interesting concept, but how do we define what love is? Usually, we use word labels to define love. As 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 states, “Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong-doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.” These words create a picture in our minds of what true love is about. Another passage that shows what love is like is Galatians 5:22-23. It says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” These beautiful words illustrate that when we walk in the Spirit, we meet the obligations of loving others.
These passages show that love’s source is God, and as the Spirit of God transforms and renews our minds, we become more loving in our nature and respond to the people around us. This reminds us that love needs to be genuine. Not a fanned emotion; but a true spiritual expression of God’s love being channeled through us. Not a love that comes from within us; but a love that comes straight from the heart of God. Our responsibility is to walk close to God, so that his presence saturates our lives with his character and our hearts rejoice that our ability to love others is not dependent on who we are, but on who God is. As the writer of 2 Chronicles 22:21 asserts, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” We do not know how to love, so we need to keep our spiritual eyes focused on God. How do you think you can do this? (See Hebrews 12:1-2).
Jesus is the greatest expression of God’s love for us: “For God so loved the world he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God’s love is responsive to people’s needs. How does your live show this type of love for others? For us, love is not a natural expression of our natures. We tend to be preoccupied with ourselves and our desires. In order to express the love of God, we need God in our lives. We need to make this our main objective! The great missionary Paul put it well, when he wrote, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and in a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1: 5). These traits of love only come from a life dedicated to prayer, the Word of God, and fellowship. It is a life that is connected to God and others through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and by having a sensitive heart to those around us. This type of compassion and loving kindness only comes from a mind saturated with godly thoughts and truth. The light that illuminates our hearts and that gives us direction is based on a life that is interactive with God, and has a vision of the Kingdom of God, which comes from “walking in the Light” and the “practice of truth” (1 John 1:5-9).

Introduction - Why did God give us eternal life?

What is the gospel message? If you were to choose a single verse to describe the gospel, which one would you pick? Many people would choose John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” A very straightforward verse, but it only expresses one aspect of the gospel message. It tells us what God has done and how man is to respond, but it does not mention why God gave people that believe in Jesus Christ eternal life. It does state that God’s motivation was love, but this only tells us God’s reason for our salvation. How do we fit into the purpose of God’s love for us? What are we to do in response to God’s great love and provision of eternal life for us? A verse that tells us the answer to this question is Ephesians 5:1: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And, walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” This tells us that God wants us to respond to his gift of eternal life by loving others. We should lead a life that is marked by love, so that we are seen as channels of God’s love to others. We are to be like our heavenly Father and love others with a sacrificial love. This means that sharing God’s love will cost us something. We need to surrender our lives to give to others. We are not to exploit others or the grace of God solely for our own benefit and happiness. The grace that God lavished on us was to be shared with others. Eternal life is a shared life of blessings to ourselves and others around us. Grace is manifested in a community of faith and love. All the kindness and care that the heavenly Father gives to us is to be passed on to others, through our connections with the people around us. Fellowship is the environment in which love expresses itself. The idea of community or fellowship is not a new concept. It is community spirit that fulfills the mandate of loving others. We receive forgiveness, acceptance and life from God, and he expects us to give it away to others. Selfishness and self-interest are the enemies of faith and love. They want us to keep God’s gifts and hoard them for ourselves. As the Bible tells us, “They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:21). The correct response is that of: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (2:4). We are to be like-minded with Jesus and serve the needs of others before our own. In short, we are to live our lives focused on the needs of others rather than on our own desires and pleasures, and walk in the path of love. However, what does it mean for us to “walk in love?” The gospel message tells us we are to live a life of affection and compassion for others. We are told that we are all one in Christ. This “togetherness” or “oneness” is a huge task for us to achieve, for we tend to be individuals in our thinking and mindset. Our strength and emotions are not usually community directed. It is true enough that we have family and life partner concepts, but not a similar bond to the faith community in which we attend. A few years ago the big idea in the church community was that of the Greek word “koinonia.” It basically means to “be together in oneness.” We are to united in the Spirit of love for each other and look out for each others welfare, for we are all part of the family of God. Unity of purpose and fellowship are closely associated with each other. These are common to us all, for the Holy Spirit fills our minds with the desire to do godly and righteous things, and have family feelings for all God’s children (see Romans 8:16-17). In Romans 5:5 we are told “that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Therefore, we are to be involved in each other’s lives as loving children of the same spiritual family of faith. As God’s children, we all have family responsibilities to fulfill and the heavenly Father holds us accountable for each other’s well being. Isolation is not an option for a Christian. We belong to each other and are bound together by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. To be in Christ and have the Holy Spirit of God in communion with us requires us to participate in the family, for we are all part of God’s household with family duties to perform. We are all part of the same TEAM building concept (Together-Everyone-Accomplishes-More). As each of us does our part, the family grows stronger and God’s dwelling place is better equipped to do the will of the Father. “We are to grow up in him who is the head [of the body], into Christ, from whom the whole body (the family of God), joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part (family members) is working properly, makes the body (or family) grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16). In light of this, what do you see as your responsibilities in God’s family?

Doing Life Together

This is a six part study on the "Doing Life Together" series. God never intended for us to do life alone, but to live in a community of faith. These studies focus on the purposes God has for our lives and the people around us. God wants us to have rich, genuine and meaningful relationships with others. He does not want us to live in isolation, but to activily involve ourselves in the community of faith known as the church.

Part One: "Beginning Life Together" - Six sessions on God's purposes for your life.

Session One - The Goal of Life
Session Two - Connecting with God's Family
Session Three - Growing to be Like Christ
Session Four - Developing Your Shape to Serve others
Session Five - Sharing Your Life Mission Every Day
Session Six - Surrendering Your Life for God's Pleasure