VWO Small Groups
Reversal: Know
God gives us a new nature
1. Read Isaiah 43:18-19 The Bible is a book of reversals. Old things become new. Grief is turned into joy. The lost are found. Those in bondage are set free. All this and more is possible because God, who created all, is willing, and in fact, eager to recreate all. He wants to take the lives we’ve messed up, and recreate them into something new, and wonderful, and fit for His use. The best part is, He doesn’t have to rely on the leftover scraps from our ruined lives. He makes all things new. The God who spoke the universe into existence certainly has the solutions to your problems. The God who knows the number of hairs on your head certainly cares enough to become involved in your life and give you a fresh start. The path to this kind of a relationship with God starts with our salvation, where we begin to get to know Jesus Christ. We don’t just ‘cross paths’ with Jesus the day we say a prayer of salvation, but we begin a life long relationship with Him; learning about His character, who He loves and what He hates, and becoming more like Him. List some of the ‘reversals’ described throughout the Bible.
2. Read 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 All throughout the Bible God uses nobodies; the average, the common, the ordinary. What may be one man’s ‘trash’ is our God’s treasure. Jesus gave dignity to the outcasts and hope to the despised. He poured Himself into ordinary people, and “the poor heard Him gladly”. Jesus was unique in His ability to see in others what the world could not. It doesn’t matter what your past failures were because God doesn’t need the ‘old stuff’ to create a new you. Your future is not limited by your past. God starts over fresh with His Spirit. List some of the nobodies in the Bible that allowed themselves to be used by God.
3. Read John 3:1-9 and John 8:32 Can you quote it? Nicodemus was not an outcast. He was a religious leader with dignity, a public position, and a reputation to protect. But He was also a man of courage. While his peers condemned Jesus and the Gospel message without hearing Him out, Nicodemus sought Him out, determined to know the truth. He had the courage to consider that he might be wrong and to humbly ask God to reveal the truth. Tell of something you wrongly believed in before your were born again and learned the truth.
4. Read John 3:3 Jesus was very quick to get to the point. He used the basic knowledge of human birth to shine a light on the spirituality of rebirth. Born again! Another chance to start over, a new life! God makes all things new!! God does new things in us, supernaturally surpassing human wisdom, and reversing the plans of the devil in order to bring about His own plans. There is a transformation that takes place in our lives that changes our old nature into something altogether different. It is a creative work of His Holy Spirit. God gives us a new Spirit, working from the inside out. He gives us new eyes and a new heart to understand what it means to be part of a new family – a child of God living in obedience to the Father’s will. How are you different in new ways that your old friends wouldn’t even recognize?
5. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17 Can you quote it? This new birth is not some experience that we add to our old way of thinking or acting. We don’t just add a bunch of new ‘religious’ words to our vocabulary and try our best to live by a new set of rules. In genuine rebirth we allow God’s Spirit to create in us genuine change. The word Spirit, translated from Hebrew, means ‘the intimate breath of God’ and just as a baby’s first breath is evidence of life, when a person is born again the Spirit of the living God breathes new life in to them. Tell of something you lost your ‘appetite’ for when you got saved. Were you surprised?
