Group Notes | April 1

A BRAND NEW DAY
April 1, 2018
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Open:

There are probably very few people who could honestly say that they’ve never had a period of time when they wished they could wake up the next morning in a completely different life or situation! Can anyone share?

This past week has been the memorial of Easter, remembering the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Coming in flesh to the earth as a baby, He became a man, and was crucified, buried, and resurrected three days later, birthing the Christian faith. This is best described in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Focal Passage: 2 Corinthians 5:21

Discuss:

The Symbol of the Cross

  1. Read Hebrews 12:2. Sometimes the reality of the heinous act of crucifixion does not impact our lives as it should, simply because we have never seen one. Yet what do we know about death on a cross that should cause us great grief to realize Jesus went through such suffering for each of us?
  2. Read Hebrews 9:22. The Jewish religion was based on the sacrificial death of animals. In what way did Jesus represent that atoning sacrifice? Read Isaiah 52:14, and chap. 53, and give God praise that Jesus did not resist the agony He would undergo.

Those Who Viewed the Crucifixion

  1. Read Matthew 27:36-44. Who were some of those who watched the crucifixion? How do you think the different groups acted?
  2. Jesus also endured knowing His mother was being tortured in her spirit seeing Him die without completely understanding. Read Luke 23:49. Who else was with her?

The Effect of the Crucifixion for Today

  1. Read Romans 3:23, 6:23, and Eph. 2:1-10.
  2. What was our condition when we cried out to God for the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? Dead men can do nothing. Could we save ourselves?
  3. Read 1 John 2:2. Can anyone explain propitiation? How did He take our sins, making them His very own? Assuming our debts, covering our guilt, and taking our punishment: that is propitiation, and He did it for you.
  4. Read John 3:16. God has a purpose for everything He does, yet we know many people reject Jesus Christ as Savior. Why do you think this is so?

How Do We Get a BRAND NEW DAY?

  1. Going back to our opening, what are some things that worry you and hinder your sleep in the dark of night? Can you share?
  2. What is it about a new morning that causes the heaviest of worries somehow seem lighter? Read Psalm 30:5. How does this verse describe how you feel?
  3. Read 2 Cor. 5:17. What happens when we repent of our sins, and ask Jesus to save us? Will we keep sinning? Read Lamentations 3:22-23 for peace. How does God feel about you each morning? How does Easter morning add a whole new dimension when you consider what He went through for YOU?

Acts 2:21: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved!”

 Close

Did you ever wonder how crucifixion began, and why it was chosen for Jesus’ death? Thought to have originated in Babylon hundreds of years before Christ, the Persians also began using it for criminals and unwanted citizens. Later, it made its way to Greece, then Rome. By the 1st century BC, the Romans had perfected it for killing slaves, criminals, foreigners—and later, Christians. Finally, about 400 AD, Constantine I abolished it. Placed next to roads or busy highways, the victims were examples to all who passed by as objects of shame. Such was the cross—usually a newly cut tree with bark and splinters—of Jesus Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the Son of God.

Did you ever wonder why two thieves were crucified with Him? Is it possible those men—deserving their fate, by their own admission—represented all humanity in our choice of eternity? One turned away from asking the Savior to forgive his sins, while the other begged for mercy and grace. Soon he would no longer be able to speak; in a few hours he would enter Paradise with Jesus. There are only two choices for eternal life: heaven or hell. These men represent each.

Jesus died on such a cross, shedding His sinless, perfect blood, so that we do not have to endure hell. But it is a choice each of us must intentionally make. Our good works, family, church or wishes won’t get us there. Only the realization that we are dead in trespasses and sins, and know the wages of sin is death for eternity in hell, can we—like the thief—cry out to God for His grace and forgiveness from our sins. We will immediately be His child, and nothing can pluck us out of His hand. It is a decision that will matter for eternity.

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