Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

168 / CORNERSTONE CURRICULUM STUDENT WORKBOOK

Now is the time for you to discuss with your fellow students your questions about the practical meaning of Jesus’ opposition in his life and ministry as Messiah in Israel. A brief overview of the biblical teaching of Jesus’ opposition reveals that the core principle of Jesus’ work was to experience unrelenting conflict with those who opposed him in his kingdom advancing work. As you consider this critical element of Messiah’s work, what kinds of questions do you have concerning your own life and ministry? How does opposition and conflict influence the various dimensions of your own service for the Lord today? Maybe some of the questions below might help you form your own, more specific and critical questions. • What does the level and frequency of opposition, conflict, and persecution in the life of Jesus tell us about the nature of all kingdom advancing ministry today? • To what extent can the disciple of Jesus today expect the kind of rejection and opposition that accompanied Jesus’ life? In what ways is Jesus’ life a pattern for us, and in what ways is his life utterly unique to himself? Explain. • Jesus of Nazareth fulfills the kingdom promise in his person, so, in a very real sense, the Kingdom of God has come. What does this kind of teaching mean for inner city ministry and life? Are there signs of the Kingdom come in your neighborhood? Where? • How does the health-wealth version of the Gospel either agree with or conflict with Jesus’ view of the Kingdom come in his own person? • In a sense, the Kingdom of God is already here, but not yet consummated (i.e., the Already/Not Yet Kingdom). What aspects of the Kingdom of God still await the full consummation and disclosure at Jesus’ Second Coming? • In what ways do the ministries of the Church continue to display Jesus of Nazareth’s fulfillment of the kingdom promise through his victory over the effects of the curse and the works of the kingdom of darkness?

Student Application and Implications

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B i b l i ca l S tud i e s

CASE STUDIES

Demonic Oppression, Possession, or Both? The fact that the Kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus completely redefines the believer’s and the Church’s relationship to the devil. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, the believer is no longer

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