“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
Nelson Mandela

Passage

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
2 "Dominion and awe belong to Him Who establishes peace in His heights.
3 "Is there any number to His troops? And upon whom does His light not rise?
4 "How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?
5 "If even the moon has no brightness And the stars are not pure in His sight,
6 How much less man, that maggot, And the son of man, that worm!"
Job 25:1-6 (NASB)

"Many Lights" by Damien Ayers is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Background

Quote-Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (/mænˈdɛlə/; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

Passage-First The book of Job is Narrative History. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that Job himself wrote it. It is possible that Job is the oldest of any book of the Bible written approximately 2100-1800 B.C. Key personalities of this book include Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu the Buzite.

In Job, we see a man who God allows to be directly attacked by Satan. He is an example of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God. Its purpose is to illustrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness during a time of great suffering.

Lesson Notes

Opening Statement

How does one “do Jesus” alone? I used to think me, and God was all I needed, and it was for a time. It was also a very immature Christian view. It’s the road I took, but ultimately, we need corporate worship if we are to mature as followers of Jesus. We need fellowship with other believers if we are to advance our purpose for God.

Ask: Do you feel alone in Christ?
Point: The question has no right or wrong answer. The point is to assess whether or not each of us feels like they are walking with Jesus by themselves?

Ask: If you do feel alone, why do you feel alone in your association with Jesus? If you do not feel alone, why do you think someone might feel alone in their fellowship with Christ?
Point: This is to prompt discussion about isolating behavior, situations, and attitudes both by individuals and the church.

Ask: Do you think you were meant to be alone in the ways described?
Point: God never intended us to go it alone in our walk with Him.

First Reading Genesis 2:18-25 (NASB)

Ask: Why do you suppose God decided it was not good for Adam to be alone?
Point: Opposites attract because in those things that I am weak, she is strong and vice versa. We compliment and support each other making the basic task of living life easier.

Ask: If it is God’s intention that we have help from a partner in living life do you think He intended us to go it alone when walking His path for that life?
Point: Second Reading 1 Corinthians 12:11-12 (NASB)

Ask: What happens if you cut off a toe?
Point: It hurts, but that is the main body that feels the pain, not the toe. The toe isn’t aware it has been cut off because it is no longer connected to the brain, the head of the body.

Ask: Who is the head of the Body Christian?
Point: Third Reading Colossians 1:13-18 (NASB)

Ask: If you lost a toe what would that do to your ability to perform tasks?
Point: As anyone who has had any joint replacement or surgery can attest, life becomes significantly more difficult in just the basics and being productive at even simple tasks is very hard.

Ask: What is the basic function of the church, the body of Christ?
Point: Fourth Reading Mark 16:14-16 (NASB)

Closing Statement

Can the church walk along the path of God correctly if the toe is missing from a foot? How about a hand, or an eye? Are you a toe, an eye, the tongue? How about fingers or ears? Where do your gifts lie and to what use are they being put for the Body of Christ, the church? That last bit doesn’t mean a single building, congregation, or entity though it can. The Body of Christ is the big “C”, the Church Universal, all Christians in all the world. But is also means all the people in all the world because our mandate from God is not to just minister within these walls, but to go out to the people outside of the Big “C” Church, the lost, the wicked, the fallen and minister to them too. How well does your “Body of Christ” do that now and is it missing a toe?

Questions for the Week

Question 1 What part of the Body of Christ are you?

Question 2 Is the body you are a part of going about the task(s) it was assigned as well as it could?

Question 3 If the answer was “No” to the above question, what can you do to make it better?

Question 4 If the answer to Question 2 was “I don’t know” what can you do to find out?

Question 5 Review the Definitions page with the Greek word for Body. How does that definition affect your view of your roll in the Body of Christ?

Scripture

First Reading

18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Genesis 2:18-25 (NASB)

Second Reading

11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:11-12 (NASB)

Third Reading

13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Colossians 1:13-18 (NASB)

Fourth Reading

14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Mark 16:14-16 (NASB)

Definitions

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18 (KJV)

Greek Strong's Number: 4983
Greek Word: σῶμα
Transliteration: sōma
Phonetic Pronunciation: so'-mah
Root: from <G4982>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 7:1024,1140
Part of Speech: n n
Vine's Words: Body, Bodily, Slave

English Words used in KJV:

body 144
bodily 1
slave 1
[Total Count: 146]

from <G4982> (sozo); the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literal or figurative :- bodily, body, slave.

James Strong, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch Corp., 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "4983".

Adult Bible Study Material - The Cavalier's Pen

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