Share the Gospel – Study #2
Who are WE? (How does our Creator size us up?)
Ancient Greek playwrights and philosophers often urged that the first task in life was to Know Thyself. This week’s teaching raised the second of the 5 key questions we should be prepared to answer when seeking to share the gospel with others.
First Question: Who is God? [Jesus spoke of God as a FATHER: perfect and generous, listening and responsive, seeking and merciful, a preparer for our eternal future]
Second Question: Who are we? [God views us in at least 3 key ways: We are IN God’s image, we are IN Adam, and we can be IN Christ]
This study’s objective is for us to KNOW better who we truly are, to FEEL how this understanding can renew our minds, and to DO…to be better prepared to share this good news with others.
Let’s get STARTED –
One website put it like this: Identity and self-esteem are closely related and developing self-esteem and a strong sense of identity are very important to good mental health. Your sense of identity has to do with who you think you are and how you perceive yourself. It’s about how you define yourself. Self-esteem is how you value yourself. It has to do with your sense of self-worth. Both affect your mental health, your behavior and how you relate to other people. [https://www.mirror-mirror.org/identity-and-self-esteem.htm]
DISCUSS: What do you think influences our self-esteem and identity? How important to these things are our parents: how they value us, what they say to us, and about us? And…what role is our understanding of what God thinks of us?
Let’s EXPLORE in the Word –
If the Scriptures tell us who God is and what He thinks about us, how can the following Biblical truths shape our identity and self-esteem?
#1 God reveals to us that each of us are MADE IN HIS IMAGE Genesis 1:26-27, 5:1, 9:5-6, James 3:9-10
What is “God’s image/likeness” in us? How would God have us understand what this is? [NOTE: the animal kingdom is NOT made in God’s image]. Interestingly…we are to GROW in this “image” Cf. Rom. 8:29, 2 Cor 3:18, Col. 3:10
#2 God reminds us that each of us are born IN ADAM Gen. 3:17-19, Hosea 6:7, Romans 5, 1 Cor 15:22a
As you read through Romans 5:12-21, list the things “we are” because we are sons/daughters of (or in) Adam
How does David’s self-description in Psalm 51:5 confirm this?
#3 God has provided a replacement for being IN ADAM…namely, that we might be IN CHRIST.
Reading again in Romans 5:12-21, what has the “2nd Adam” (i.e., Christ) made possible for us?
Look at Ephesians 1:3-14. What are the listed blessings of being “in Christ”?
Let’s Prioritize APPLICATION –
In God’s assessment of us (and ours of ourselves), there is AFFIRMATION (we are in God’s image), REALIZATION (we are in Adam), and TRANSFORMATION (we can become in Christ).
Can you see yourself sharing these three aspects of who we are with someone? Identify someone with whom you might share this, and ask the Holy Spirit to open the door. SHARE THE GOSPEL!
Let’s live the mission!
Pastor David (Staff)