Lesson 1-1 - The Christian's Certainty

Objective: To give the new Christian assurance of eternal life and of Christ’s presence in his life.

[Note: All verses from New Living Translation (NLT)]

Read: John 3:1-20

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 ”What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

9 ”How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

16 ”For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 ”There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

Memorize: 1 John 5:5-15

5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. 7 So we have these three witnesses — 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. 9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. 10 All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

Christian Certainty
New Life
Life Application

Believers of the Old Testament times looked forward to the coming of their Messiah. New Testament believers look back to the cross and the resurrection. Both of these events culminate in the unique person of Jesus Christ.

INSERT IMAGE HERE

The apostle Paul says, “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…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…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. Colossians 1:20-23

Hundreds of millions of people around the world have discovered this marvelous “path” because of Jesus’ death on the cross and His bodily resurrection from the dead.

Jesus’ death bridged the gulf between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. He died to pay the penalty of our sin and rescue us “out of the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom” and bring us “into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who bought out freedom with His blood and forgave us all our sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14). But without His resurrection and ascension, His sacrifice would have been incomplete, and we would have remained under the penalty of death. (1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.)

To believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world is to believe in a living person. People often ask, “What is the meaning of belief?” The Amplified New Testament expresses the full meaning of the term believe as “adhere to, trust in, and rely on.” The Gospel of John has been called the Gospel of Belief. The word believe occurs many times in the book of John. Chapter 20, verse 31, expresses the purpose of that book:

31 These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.
The living Savior, therefore, is the basis for Christian confidence. The resurrection is the foundation of our certainty that we have eternal life and that we experience daily the indwelling presence of our loving Savior.

Christian Certainty

1. What must one do to become a Christian?

John 1:12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

2. To be a son of God is to be born of whom?

John 1:13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

3. To believe in Jesus Christ is to possess and be free from what?

John 5:24 I tell you the truth; those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

4. What did Christ do with our sins? How should this affect our lives?

1 Peter 2:24-25 24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

5. What three things characterize Jesus’ sheep?

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me

6. What is your relationship with Christ, as He Himself states in John 10:18-30?

*18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
*

*19 When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. 20 Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” 21 Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
*

*22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
*

25 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. 26 But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.

7. What are the implications of failing to believe the testimony that God has given regarding His Son?

1 John 5:10-11 10 All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. 11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

8. The resurrection of Jesus is history’s most revolutionary event. How does it prove Christ’s claim to be God?

Romans 1:4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

9. Why is the resurrection so essential to our faith?

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.

New Life

1. In John 3:3-7 what did Jesus tell Nicodemus about seeing and entering the Kingdom of God?

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 ”What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

2. At physical birth one receives many things he is not aware of: family name, privileges, wealth, love, care, and protection. At spiritual birth one becomes a son of God and receives eternal life, a divine inheritance, and God’s love, care, and protection. God has given us these because of His great love. God’s gifts are never based on man’s changing emotions, but on His own unchanging word. In your own words, describe what you have, according to these verses:

Ephesians 1:7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Romans 3:22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

Colossians 1:27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

3. As you begin to live the Christian life, what three evidences in your life will assure you that you know Jesus Christ?

1 John 2:3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.

I John3:14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.

Romans 8:16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.