Believe in Jesus

South Lake Youth Ministries 

Small Group and Youth Group Curriculum

Believe In Jesus

Introduction: 

Welcome to the Absolute Curriculum. Before we get rolling, let's look backward and forward. If you were with us last year, you might recall the rough order of what we covered. We began with a lesson on the Absolute importance of God's word, the moved into the doctrine of God. We discussed the Trinitarian Being of God, that God is three persons, each of these Persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) is fully God, and there is one God. One Being, three persons. Three persons, one essence. From there we moved into God's actions as Creator, specifically His creation of mankind. Man was created imageo dei, in the image of God, and thus has incredible value, as well as many of the attributes of God, although in finite form. Human beings can think, love, feel, make choices. From there we examined the fallen nature of man, that we chose to direct our worship, love, and admiration away from God and towards lesser things. We chose to worship and serve the created (usually ourselves) rather than the Creator. But God didn't leave it there, did He? No, immediately He promises a coming Redeemer, and eventually sends into history His Son, The Word. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes into human history, takes on human flesh, lives a perfect life, dies an atoning death for our sins, and rises from the grave victorious over sin, death, the grave. He drank the full cup of God's wrath and rose from the dead that we may too walk in newness of life. In the last couple of sessions we looked at some practical responses in terms of prayer, Bible reading, and being part of the local church. 

As we begin a new year of curriculum, I want to begin with a similar focus as what we built to last year: the centrality of Jesus. The fact that you must believe in Him to be saved. Moving forward from here, we'll look next week at what it means to hope in God, then we'll spend two weeks looking at the two greatest commandments: to love God, and to love our neighbor. From there we will launch into examinations of the Ten Commandments, and Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5, commonly referred to as the Beatitudes. We will also look at a couple of other topics, but those will consume the bulk of our time together this school year. 

Let's begin. The first thing I want to do is look at three verses in the opening chapter of John's Gospel.  

"He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."  John 1:11-13 

The "He" in these verses is Jesus, which if you look at verses 1-5 and 14-18 becomes very clear. In looking at 11-13, especially verse 12, I want to ask four questions: 

• Who hasn't received Him? 

First we need to see the contrast between verses 11 and 12. Who did not receive Jesus? Answer: His own. Who are Jesus "own"? The Jewish people. Jesus came as the Son of David promised in 2 Samuel 7, the true King of Israel. But His own people did not receive Him. Some did, His original disciples were of course entirely Jewish. But most did not. In John chapter 5 Jesus chastises the Pharisees for searching the Scriptures and believing that this would bring them life--this chastisement was not because the Scriptures don't bring life, but rather because the way they bring life is by pointing to Jesus (John 5:39, 2 Timothy 3:15). But they refused to acknowledge this, and they did not receive their own Messiah. 

• Then who has received Him? 

So if the Jews did not receive Him, the same Jews who were given the Old Testament Scriptures, the Law, the prophets, and all of the promises contained therein, what hope has anyone else? Much hope indeed. Because to all who did receive Him He gave the right to become children of God. All who received, regardless of previous creed, color, ethnicity, background, gender, any of it. Any who receive are saved. 

• What does it mean to receive Jesus? 

 So, the question becomes, what does it mean to receive Jesus? Do I pray a prayer, sign a decision card, "ask Jesus into my heart", do some religious ritual, join a particular church? No. The answer to the question, "what does it mean to receive Jesus?" is quite simple: believe. Believe that Jesus Christ is who says He is, that He did what He said He did, and that He will do what He promises He will do. He is the One sent from the Father (John 20:21), He came to die for our sins (Mark 8:31, Romans 3:24-25), and He will give eternal life to all who believe in Him (John 3:16-18, Hebrews 11:6), and He is coming back one day to receive His people to Himself (John 14:1-4, Revelation 22:7,12). To trust in Christ is to believe all that He is and all that He has said. It is, quite simply, to trust Him. 

• What have those who believe been given? 

So then, what has been given to those who believe, and thus receive, Jesus? The right to become children of God. What does this mean? What is the significance of being a child of God? Well, one could go on for hours on his topic, but I want to look quickly at three things.  

First, it means we are no longer God's enemies, but rather His children. We were created to be God's children. God man in His own image, He made man to reflect His glory to all of creation, to other people, and back toward God Himself in worship. But we rejected God's kind and loving rule, His loving Fatherhood. We became sinners, and insodoing, we became God's enemies (Romans 5:10). But when we receive Christ and His payment for our sins, we are no longer God's enemies, we are now His children. What an incredible change of status in the eyes of God! We have been freely brought back into the family, not because of our good works, but because of Christ. 

Second, being God's child means we are part of His family, His body, the Church. In Galatians 6:10, the apostle Paul refers to the household of faith. In places like Ephesians 4:1-6 and Philippians 2:1-4 the apostle discusses the love, kindness, and unity that ought to happen among those who call themselves Christians. While of course we don't do this perfectly, and often do not do it well, when we walk in obedience to Christ together there is a type of love and support and community that is not present anywhere else in the world, even in our own blood family. 

Third, to be God's child means to be a fellow heir with Christ. Many of us are familiar with Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." But do you know what comes next? Verse 29 says this, "For those whom He foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." You and I, if we believe in Christ, have been made co-heirs with Christ, His very brothers and sisters! Children of the most high God, with dignity beyond measure, and a weight of glory beyond all comparison being prepared for us (2 Corinthians 4:17). This is what it means to be God's child. But it only belongs to those who receive Jesus, and the only ones who receive Jesus are those who believe. We must believe.