This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Jesus Died For Me", 3/15/2014

JESUS DIED FOR ME

 

Psalms 110:1-4. Acts 2:22-24, 29-32

 

Psalms 110:1-4 (  The Prophecy 1000 BC est)

 

THE RULE OF JESUS

V:110. " The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."

A. The Lord = Yehovah= the self existing one, the eternal one

    1. My Lord= Adoni= sovereign, controller,  master owner

    2. The Eternal Father said to the Eternal Son sit at my right hand.

    3. The Person of the Father said to the Person of the Son sit at my right hand.

 B. The right hand of the Father is the power side.

    1. All power over heaven and earth was given to Jesus, the Eternal Son.  Mat 28:18

    2. The Bible says that everything was made by Jesus and nothing was made

        without Him.  John 1:3

    3. Jesus our Lord and Savior, has power that cannot be measured.

    4. The engine in our cars are rated by horse power. Electricity is rated in

        kilowatts.

    5. We don't have a measurement for the power of Jesus.

    6. All we can say is what His power has done and what His power is doing and

        what His power will do.

 C. David had a history with Jesus.

    1. David said, Jesus had the power to put all His enemies under His feet.  

    2. Jesus has the power to subdue all the powers that arise against you.

    3. We must understand that there is nothing to hard for Jesus.

 

V:2. " The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies."

 A. David was king over Israel.

    1. The Lord did not get rid of his enemies. He ruled in the mist of his enemies.

    2. Jesus is the everlasting King on the throne of David.

    3. The enemies of Jesus still exist. Jesus is the ruler over His friends and his

        enemies.

 B. In all our life time, we will have enemies. It is our enemies that forces us to call on

      Jesus.

    1. We really don't know all of our enemies.

        a. They may be sitting in our mist with smiling faces ready to bring us down.

        b. Jesus is the Lord over your enemies.

        c. With Jesus, you have protection against your enemies.

    2. When you let Jesus be the ruler over your life, your enemies don't have a chance.

    3. Jesus rules from His heavenly throne.

  V:3 "Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from

       the   womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew."

 A. When David was King of Israel, he had a volunteer army that was ready to serve

       and  fight for their land.

    1. Jesus is Lord over the Body of Christ, which includes all believers.

    2. As believers, we should be ready and willing to serve Christ at all times.

    3. We have all been gifted and equipped for the service.

    4. On earth, we are the army of the Lord.

 B. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father.

    1. Jesus is clothed in Glory.

    2. When He was born in the flesh, he walked in the Glory of the Lord.

 C. Jesus is our role model of righteousness.

    1. Jesus is the good news and the Gospel of our lives.

    2. With His Word, we find power for living.

    3. The Word of the Lord is always fresh each day.

    4. The Spirit of the Lord is youthful and never changes.

    5.  Our hearts are refreshed daily when we study and meditate on the Word of the

        Lord.

 

JESUS, A PRIEST FOREVER

V:4. " The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever

 According to the order of Melchizedek."

 A. Before the birth of Jesus in the flesh, Israel had High priests who communicated

      with God and made intercessions for them.

     1. The High Priest instructed Israel in the Law of Moses.

     2. According to the Law, the High Priest offered sacrifices for the sins of Israel.

 B. The death and resurrection of Jesus, ended the judgment of the Law and began the

      Age of Grace.

     1. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father making intercessions for us.

     2. Jesus holds a three fold office.

         a. He is our high Priest.

         b. He is our King.

         c. He is our prophet.

     3. He is the final sacrifice for all sins, past, present and future. 

         a. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Law with His death on the cross.

         b. The death of Jesus on the cross satisfied God's demand for justice for the sins

             of the world.

         c. The blood of Jesus is the atonement for our sins.  Lev 9:7, Rom 3:25

 C. Jesus is the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

     1. Melchizedek was the first noted high priest of God.

     2. Melchizedek was the King of Salem

     3. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek.

     4. Melchizedek worshipped the true and living God.

     5. Melchizedek was a  type of Christ.  

     6. The name "Melchizedek" means "king of righteousness".

     7. Jesus is the everlasting and righteous King of Kings forever.

 

Acts 2:22-25 (  The Prophecy Fulfilled, 33 AD est.)

 

THE FIRST GOSPEL MESSAGE

V:22. "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know."

 A. This is the first sermon of the new empowered Church.

     1. The church was powered with the giving of the Holy Spirit.   Act 2:4

     2. Peter preached the Good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ to men from every

         nation under the sun.  Act 2:5,6

     3. The day of the first Gospel preaching to the Church was the day of Pentecost.

         (50 days after the ascension of  Jesus back into heaven.)

 B. This first sermon was to a group of men who believed in God, but didn't know His

     Son.

    1. They had been taught the Word of God without Jesus in the Word.

    2. There are many religions that teach a god with no Jesus.

    3. There are religions that teach Jesus as a prophet of God, but not the Son of God.

    4. There are religions that teach Jesus as the Son of God but not equal to God.

 C. One way of identifying Jesus in our lives is by the wonders, signs and miracles

      He performs in our lives daily.

    1. Every believer is an eye witness to the works of Jesus in their lives.

    2. We received the gift of the Holy Spirit which gives us incite into the Word.

       a. It is the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit that makes us aware of Jesus in our

           lives.

 D. God prepared for the spread of the Gospel by assembling men from every nation

     in Israel on the day of Pentecost to hear Peter's sermon.  Acts 2:5

    1. Having heard the Gospel, these men would take the Word back to their countries.

    2. God performed a miracle for them to confirm His message.

        a. Every man heard Peter speak in his own language at the same time. Acts 2:8

        b. The disciples were not trained in these different languages, yet the Word was

            heard in the language of each nation.

 

A PLANNED DEATH

V:23 "This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. "

 A. Jesus came first to the Jews who rejected Him as their King.

     1. Jesus was condemned and crucified by His own people.

     2. Those who were in charge of the Word rejected the Word in their mist.

     3. Those in charge of the Word were blinded by their teaching and their traditions.

          a. They brought false charges against Jesus and presented Him to the

              Roman government to be crucified.

          b. On the Friday before the Passover, they traded the life of Jesus for a

              known criminal.

         c. They were so caught up in their own ideology, that they broke God's

             commands  to kill Jesus.   (Thou shall not lie, thou shall not kill).

         b. They willfully committed sins to kill our Jesus who had no sin.

 B. God the Father planned the death of His own Son by the hands of evil men.

     1. The death of Jesus was no surprise to the God the Father.

     2. The plan to crucify Jesus for the sins of man was first voiced by the

          Father in the Garden of Eden thousands of years beforehand.  Gen 3:15

 C. God prepares the hearts of His elect to accepted His Son. Mat 24:31, 1 Pet 1:1

     1. God also hardens the hearts of some to reject His Son.

     2. God harden the heart of the Pharaoh of Egypt so that he could not

         receive His Word to release the Israelites. Exodus 10:1

         a. The Pharaoh's rejection of the Word gave God the opportunity to

             show His Glory.

         b. Sin was allowed into God's perfect creation for His Glory.

  D. God harden the hearts of the Chief Priest, the Pharisees and the Scribes of

       Israel to reject Jesus to accomplish His plan of redemption.

     1. These were men who studied the Word but were left blind by the Lord.

     2. They had the Messiah in their mist but they could not recognize Him.    

    

THE REDEMPTION OF MAN

V:24 "But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power."

 A.  God put His own Son to death to raise Him up again.

    1. When the first sin was committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden, death was put

        in the forecast for all mankind.  Romans 5:12

    2. What God made perfect was made imperfect by the sin of one man.

    3. God immediately activated His perfect solution; the death of His perfect Son.

 B. With sin in the world, death held the power over man preventing Him from

      fellowship  with Father and inheriting eternal life. 

   1. The shed blood of Jesus on the cross, covered the sins of all mankind establishing

        the way for man to eternal life.

       a. Jesus said, I Am the Way The Truth And The Life.  John 14:6

       b. Jesus is the way to salvation.

       c. Jesus is the truth about salvation.

       d. Jesus is the Eternal Life.

   2. Death had no power over Jesus.

      a. Man did not take His life. He volunteered it by the will of the Father. Jn 10:17,18

      b. He had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again.

      c. While Jesus was dying on the cross, God was reconciling the world to Himself.

          2 Cor 5:18,19

   3. Jesus had to be lifted up on the cross to draw us to Himself. Jn 3:14

      a. If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me. Jn 12:32

 C. The agony of death is the eternal burning of non believers in the fire of Hell.

   1. With Jesus as our Savior, it is impossible for death to hold us in its' power.

   2. With Jesus as our Savior, we have escaped the eternal fire of Hell and will enter

       into  Heaven.

 

Acts 2:28-33

THE ASSURANCE OF OUR REDEMPTIOM.

V:29 "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day."

 A. Moses delivered God's people from the bondage of slavery. He died and His body

      was buried in the mountain by God.

     1. Abraham was the father of faith. He died and his body was buried in a tomb.

     2. David was a man after God's own heart, yet he died and his body is in a tomb.

 B. All these men believed God, obeyed His commands and are included in the Lamb's

     book of Life.

    1. Jesus death and resurrection secures a place in heaven for all believers.

    2. Jesus died, but there is no tomb with His name on it.

    3. Jesus died but He was raised up again

    4. Jesus died but He is alive and lives in our hearts.

 

JESUS ON THE THRONE FOREVER

V:30 "And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE."

 A. God made a covenant with David that His throne would be a throne forever

      with His seed reigning.

     1. Jesus is that promised seed through the line of David.

     2. God keeps his promises in His time.

     3. We may not see all His promises fulfilled in our life time, but they are sure.

     4. We have the evidence of God keeping His promises.

     5. Jesus is the fulfillment of all God's promises.

 B. David died before his son was made king, but he believed it to be so.

     1. Faith is believing that the promises of God are true even though we don't have

        any  evidence in our lives at the present moment.

     2. Faith is believing that a mountain is moved even though it's in front of us.

     3. Faith is believing that we can have what God says we have even though we don't

         possess it at this moment.    

 

V:31 "He looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. "

 A. David believed the Word of God, that the Christ that had not been born in the flesh,

      would die and be resurrected some time in the future.

     1. Faith in God believes what He says is true the moment you hear it.

 A. We have the testimony of the Word, the Prophets and the Holy Spirit that

      Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

     1. He was resurrected on the third day.

     2. He walked the earth for 40 days.

     3. He ascended into heaven before the eyes of his disciples.

 B. The Jesus we serve is alive and well, seated at the right hand of the Father.            

      Mark 16:19

 

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS

V:32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. "

 A. Peter was an eye witness to the death of Jesus.

     1. Peter was an eye witness to the resurrected Jesus.

     2. Peter was an eye witness to the ascension of Jesus into the clouds. Lk 24:51

     3. Peter was an eye witness to the miracles of Jesus.

     4. Peter was empowered to do the works of Jesus doing his life time.

 B. We can believe Peter because His words are inspired by God and are confirmed by

      the prophecies of the Old Testament and the eye witnesses of the other disciples.

    1. The Lord will come again to receive His Church to Himself in heaven. Jn 14:3

    2. We must stay encouraged by the Word that God has preserved though out

         the ages for our enlightenment and convictions.