Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 4 | THE NT WITNESS TO CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM: THE MESSIAH OPPOSED / 153

The New Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom The Messiah Opposed

LESSON 4

page 93 & 1

Welcome in the strong name of Jesus Christ! After your reading, study, discussion, and application of the materials in this lesson, you will be able to: • Detail the Jewish concept of the Kingdom of God at the time of Jesus, influenced as it was by their oppression from political powers, including their belief that the Kingdom of God would come in power, restoring the material universe and saving humankind from the control of Satan. • Defend the biblical evidence that supports the idea that Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom present, and demonstrated its reality in his person, and works of healings and exorcisms. The Servant and His Lord Read John 15.18-26 . Can a disciple of Jesus maneuver through this world without experiencing the kind of rejection, persecution, and tribulation known and experienced by our Lord? Was our Lord’s experience sui generis (utterly unique) to him, or must all of his own also experience a level of the world’s hatred and rejection, even as he did? One of Jesus’ favorite sayings was the familiar word, “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13.16 [ESV]). A servant is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. Jesus, the truly great and sovereign Master of all, endured the persecution and hatred of the ungodly and hardhearted, and his obvious word in our devotional text is that if the world hated him, they will hate us as well. No genuine disciple of Jesus can go through this world without scars, with no opposition, operating gloriously scot-free; we all must experience the rejection and opposition of God’s enemies. We have to fight, we will be opposed, even hated, for the sake of Christ. We need not marvel at this, however. Jesus himself, our Lord and Master, was rejected and hated and we, because of our union with him, will experience the same. God will grant to those who belong to Christ the same grace that he received, which enabled our Lord to endure such hateful treatment and abuse for the sake of the Father.

Lesson Objectives

page 96 & 2

Devotion page 96 & 3

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