Bible Studies, Inspired by Faith and Science

  Have we really reached our 100th study in this "chronological" life of Christ? (I guess, since I started at zero, that should be the 101st.) Meanwhile, in a time of trial and tribulation, we look at Jesus' final words to his disciples... (100) End of Life Discussion Jesus’ disciples are facing some serious tribulation. It’s Passover. They’re already scared of the crowds—no nice Sea of Galilee to escape onto here. The authorities are out to get them. Jesus says he’s going to die. The only way things can get worse is if Jesus really does die. So how eagerly will they be listening to whatever he tells them in this “final” conversation? I am the way the truth and the life : Read John 14:6 1.        This is the first of several statements about “who” Jesus is – How important is this statement to you? 2.        Which part of the statement is more important to you? 3.        What “I am” s...

14: Revelation 21-22: The City of God The final visions in Revelation seem to move away from the immediate impact of images that could be applied to the Christians under Rome. Images of the City of God seem much more clearly apocalyptic, just as parts of Jesus' message in Matthew 24 applied to the immediate future and the fall of Jerusalem, while others were purely apocalyptic. Peter takes up the message of a new creation in 2 Peter 3 . 12waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. 1. The New Jerusalem ( Revelation 21:1-8 ) 1 Sea… implies separation, and is also representative of a source of evil (as in the beast from the sea). 2 City includes culture and life as well as bricks and mortar. 2 Jerusalem… represents peace and the presence of God. The word its...

5: Revelation 6:1 – 8:1: The Seven Seals on the Scroll Recap: John’s letters to the churches end with promises of heaven – the Tree of Life, not being harmed by “second death,” hidden manna, a white stone, a new name, having authority to rule, the morning star, white robes, our name written in the book of life, Jesus standing up for us, our presence like a pillar in the Temple, permanence, the New Jerusalem, Jesus will eat with us, and we share his throne. Implied question : You can image John replying to the angel “Okay, but I still don’t understand what heaven’s all about.” We can imagine ourselves making the same reply. Angel's answer : John is invited by the angel “Come up here,” as if he’s being asked to climb the steps to the Holy of Holies. And then… Heavenly worship begins : with harps, a scroll to be read, a High Priest (the Lamb) to read it, etc… Purpose of a Seal : Normally a seal is removed from a letter or a scroll so we can read the message inside. Sometimes the se...

I'm going to have to post more than one a week of these if I'm going to finish by Pentecost. Ah well. I'll try... Revelation 1: John introduces his vision Who is writing? There are lots of Johns who may have written Revelation. John the Apostle, writer of John’s gospel and the letters of John is one likely candidate, but it’s unlikely that we’ll ever know for sure if he wrote the book of Revelation, or if it was another John. Some things that we can be pretty sure of are that this John knows his Bible, he knows Jesus, he’s a respected leader who’s letter will be read in the churches in Asia, he was banished to an island, and John received a vision from God. ( Revelation 1:1-4 ) Who is John writing to? Revelation 1:4, 9-11 John writes to the “7” churches in Asia, and 7 stands for God’s plan. He could be literally writing to seven churches, no more and no less. But given the amount of symbolism in what he writes, it’s more likely that he’s writing to all the churches in God’...