Come and See: an exploration of the God of the Bible and his message

This final session will help those who have accepted Yahweh’s invitation to put their faith in Jesus. It will also help others who have not yet put their faith in Christ to understand what the Christian life is supposed to be like. We explore eight practical characteristics of the Christian life that are helpful to know: (i) pray with thankfulness to God; (ii) study the Bible; (iii) be part of a local church; (iv) be baptised in water (once); (v) participate in Holy Communion; (vi) have spiritually focused relationships; (vii) grow by cooperating with the Holy Spirit; and (viii) invite others to a relationship with Yahweh. Also worth taking note is how the sanctification journey works and the role of suffering in the believer’s life. The goal is spiritual maturity and a close relationship with God. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-25-Gods-Invitation-Part-2.pdf For further study, please visit https://interlocked.online

In our journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we have attempted to get a good overview of the message of the Bible and to understand who the Creator-God is: what He is like, and what He is seeking from each person. We see that He is the God who made us, loves us and wants to have a personal and intimate relationship with every person. To understand what a close relationship looks like to God, We look at three instances in the Bible where God has close friendships with people. We also ask: how do helpless sinners get into a relationship with Him? The Bible explains that He has provided a way for helpless sinners to have their sin problem taken care of and to gain a righteousness that would allow them to enter into a relationship with Him. And this is through placing faith in the Saviour whom He sent, that is, to trust in Jesus Christ who came to be mankind’s sufficient substitute. Through faith in Christ, a person can have their sin problem taken care of and be reconciled to God. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-24-Gods-Invitation-Part-1.pdf

After the second coming, Jesus judges and removes all mortal unbelievers from the earth. Then He ushers in the Kingdom of God. He is the King and from His capital in Jerusalem, He rules the world. He transforms this planet and significantly reduces the impact of the curse that came into the world because of the Fall. What is the rule of King Jesus like? The Bible describes real world peace, a renewed and thriving physical environment, every nation acknowledging and worshipping Christ and mortal mankind living long, health lives and exercising responsible dominion very well. The immortal believers with resurrection bodies are given charge of towns, cities and nations. The mortal believers who survived the Tribulation continue to marry and have children. And these mortal children are the ones who continue to have a sin nature and must therefore make a decision whether or not to trust in King Jesus, whom they can see and interact with. And the nation of Israel is completely loyal and obedient to their King. The Kingdom period lasts a thousand years and then King Jesus releases Satan, who has been bound up in the bottomless pit for the duration of the Kingdom. The devil hasn’t changed and he stirs up an innumerable army of mortals who were born in the Kingdom, but who have refused to put their trust in Christ. Instead, when given this chance, they now openly rebel. But God puts an immediate end to their rebellion. Then the current heaven and earth are destroyed and Jesus performs the the final judgment known as the Great White Throne. Rebellious people from all throughout mortal history are raise from the dead and brought before Jesus for judgment. They are guilty of rebellion and are cast away into the lake of fire for eternity. God also casts away death and the place of the dead into the lake of fire. Then God brings in the new heaven and earth and He stays on the new earth to enjoy intimate fellowship with immortal believers. This is the Eternal State. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-23-How-the-World-Ends-Part-3.pdf

The church age does not go on indefinitely. Rather, it will end suddenly when Jesus removes all church-age believers in a single moment. Then, as prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus will turn His attention back to unrepentant, national Israel. God had already talked about what it would take in the future to make the rebellious people of Israel repent and come to national faith in their Jewish Messiah. God will orchestrate a time of terrible punishment and suffering to get Israel’s attention. This is the seven-year period known as the “time of trouble for Jacob”, otherwise called the Tribulation. We go through a summary of the details that God provides about this future period, how there will be supernatural catastrophes, wars, hyperinflation, famine and a reshaping of the planet. God will permit Satan to raise a man known as the False Christ, or Antichrist, who will force the people of the world to submit to his one-world government and worship him. This False Christ will be assisted by another Satan-raised person known as the false prophet. But Jesus is the One directing the Tribulation and He will come to judge all the rebellious Jews, Gentiles, the Antichrist and the false prophet. It will be this catastrophic time that brings many Tribulation-age Jews and Gentiles to faith in Christ. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-22-How-the-World-Ends-Part-2.pdf

Does the church age continue without end? What does the Bible tell us? Scripture tells us that the church age will not go on forever but will end suddenly, without warning, when Jesus comes in the air to call to Him all who belong to Him, that is, those who have put their faith in Him. On that future day, believers who are alive on the earth will be taken up to meet Jesus in the air. Then along with church-age believers who have already passed away, all church-age believers will be given new, immortal resurrection bodies. They will go to be with Jesus in heaven and there, they will receive a review of their lives. Jesus will reward each believer according to the works each has done during their time on earth as believers. These rewards are regarding the future roles and lives in the coming Kingdom of God. The Bible tells us the key criterion of evaluation is the motive or attitude behind every work done. Each believer will be rewarded and assigned their future roles and responsibilities in the coming Kingdom. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-21-How-the-World-Ends-Part-1.pdf

What happens when someone trusts in Jesus for salvation? We explore what the Bible says. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, God can declare a believer as righteous. And God births new spiritual life through the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit indwells permanently; and the Holy Spirit seals a believer, guaranteeing eternal life. We then examine why believers still fail, disobey and do evil. That’s because there are three aspects to salvation: there is the one-time justification (saved from the penalty of sin); the on-going sanctification (saved from the power of sin); and the future glorification (saved from the presence of sin). God secures justification and glorification, and while the Holy Spirit leads the sanctification process, it requires the cooperation of the believer. This means the believer can stumble, be disobedient and fail. This is why the Bible talks about being filled with the Spirit, grieving the Holy Spirit and quenching the Holy Spirit. These are all sanctification issues. We also discuss the realities of the church age: how there will be fake believers, failed believers, false teachers and Satan’s continued attacks on the church. So while the “invisible” church is made up of true believers, the “visible church” is a mix of real, false and failed believers, as well as false teachers. That’s why churchgoers often experience a mix of loving people and people who behave in unloving ways. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-20-The-Present-Age-Part-2.pdf

Before we examine what the present age is about, we go back to the gospel accounts to witness what Jesus offered the Jewish people when he first came. He was the Messiah, the Son of David, the King whom the people of Israel were waiting for. Jesus offered the people of Israel their Kingdom. Some of the Jews trusted Jesus but the majority rejected him. So Jesus delayed the return of the Kingdom and instead, introduced an interim period. This interim period is the church age and a future tribulation period for Israel that will bring the Jews to national repentance. Then Jesus told his disciples to wait for God the Father and him to send the Holy Spirit to live in believers. Ten days after Jesus ascended, on the morning of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit arrived dramatically with three simultaneous miracles. The disciples realised the Holy Spirit had come. And now, the church age had begun. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-19-The-Present-Age-Part-1.pdf

Why did Jesus die, how did He die and what happened after He died? These are all questions we will examine in this lesson. We examine the eyewitness accounts, the gospels, to see why the Jewish people and their leaders rejected the Messiah they had. been waiting for. We read through the account of Jesus being tried, found innocent, but still being sentenced to death on a cross. We examine all the unusual things that occurred on the day Jesus died and then what happened three days later. His disciples met a resurrected Jesus! We examine what the Bible says about the immortal, resurrection body, how it is completely different from the mortal body. And we examine why the resurrection is important, why it shows that what God is saying about the future is true. This is why so many people try so hard to deny the reality of Jesus’ resurrection event for if it really happened in history, then what God is saying about the future is true. We also examine how a person can personally benefit from Christ’s death and resurrection by putting their faith in Christ for salvation. Such a person will have their sin problem taken care of and will have reconciliation with the Creator-God. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-18-The-Saviours-Work-Part-2.pdf

Previously, we saw the Jesus performed miraculous signs to show He was Yahweh, the Creator-God. And He had come to earth to be mankind’s Saviour. But what exactly was mankind’s problem? In this lesson, we look at what Scripture says about mankind’s condition. We learn that the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, represented mankind and when they rebelled against Yahweh, they corrupted their nature. Now they had a sin nature and they were cut off from their Creator. This sin nature is passed down to all people, generation after generation. People are born separated from God and face an eternity without God. By default, they are headed for eternal separation or eternal death. People are also unrighteous and unable to live the perfectly righteous life that will be equal to God’s righteousness. This is where the Saviour comes in. Jesus came to earth as a human. Supernaturally, He was born without sin and He lived a completely righteous life. And then He went on to die for mankind. He became the sufficient substitute, able to die on mankind’s behalf, and able to credit or impute His righteousness to mankind. Sinful mankind can appropriate what Jesus did through faith. When people put their trust in Christ for salvation, Jesus’ death will count as theirs and Jesus’ righteousness will be credited to them. To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-17-The-Saviours-Work-Part-1.pdf

In this lesson, we learn what Jesus, God’s chosen Saviour is like. Jesus did many miraculous signs because He was showing the people who He was. He did the things that only Yahweh, the Creator-God could do. He created miraculously, He healed people from a distance, He fed thousands of people with a little food, He controlled nature, He raised the dead and He controlled evil spirits. Jesus was making it clear that He was more than just a human—He was God Himself. He wanted people and His disciples to be able to identify who He was, so they would be able to trust Him to take care of mankind’s sin problem and provide eternal life and a relationship with God. We also discuss the question of how do we learn the truth. There are four common sources of truth, but which source is the most trustworthy? To follow the session, access the notes at https://comeandsee.online/s/Lesson-16-Gods-Rescue-Plan-Part-2.pdf