In
order to leverage this document for yourself personally or in a group, it will
be necessary for you to take notes, even pictures of various PowerPoint slides,
in order to capture key quotes in order to reflect on the text. We encourage you to take notes, develop your
own questions and engage with the text as you feed yourself and perhaps those
you lead.
6 Nov 16
ROMANS SERIES, PART 5
War and Peace!
Mark
Kotchapaw
Series Title: Good News Bad News
Description: From the
moment we wake up to the moment our heads hit the pillow, we can be bombarded
with bad news. Social media has made our world a lot smaller and exposed us
24/7 to the constant deluge of bad news. This fall we are starting a study in
the book of Romans. In the first 17
verses Paul talks about the good news, the good news that he will expand upon
in his letter to the Romans. Join us as we unpack the good news, are challenged
by it and anchored in it.
Text:
Romans 5
Question: What do we note about this peace?
Big Idea: The Ultimate Enemy – SIN - was defeated by the Ultimate Soldier that
brought mankind Ultimate Peace.
Notes:
·
Ultimate
Peace (v.1-5)
“We are saved by works. They’re just not our works,
they’re Christ’s.” Stephen Nicholls.
·
Ultimate
Soldier (v.6-11)
Note the condition of the people
Note the actions of the Ultimate Soldier
The texts says that the source of our judgment, God (v.9),
is the source and initiator of our ultimate peace, Jesus (v.8). The offended, God, is the one who deals with
the offense at His own expense by sending Jesus the ultimate soldier. That is
the wonder and mystery of the Gospel.
·
Ultimate
Enemy (v.12-21)
List all the contrasts between the impact of the one
act of the Ultimate Soldier and the one act of the ultimate sinner.
Discussion:
Why
is it so hard for some to stand (v.2) at peace with God? In other words, what
is it about our nature that makes us want to work for His grace instead of
trusting in His work that extended grace to us?
Have
you ever thought of Jesus as the Ultimate Soldier? How does this image of Jesus help clarify
what Christ has done for us? Remember 2
Timothy 2:3 talks about us being a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
In
talking about Adam as the ultimate sinner (referring to the consequence of his
action) what questions do we have about Adam’s sin “infecting” the entire human
race? How is this just? What is the
empirical evidence that what Paul is saying is, in fact, true?
How does your
reflection on this text encourage you to pray for the city, the nation and the world?
Take some time
as a group to remember the many soldiers who have died to bring peace. Also
take time to remember the one act of the Ultimate Soldier that has brought us
peace with God.
Pray that many
would receive this free gift that Paul talks about, and pray for those in the
many war-torn areas of our world that they would know the peace of God.
Join us today
at 4pm at Bethel Prays.
Mark Kotchapaw
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