From Sunday School - Good Stuff!

Here are the scriptures we talked about in our Middle School Sunday School class. They were a blast, and I figured it'd be fun to share what we talked about. Here is this blog's layout. First, scriptures we talked about. Secondly, a song we sung during worship. Last, a discussion of some of what we talked about. Enjoy!

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Isaiah 53:5-6 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities (sins); the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity (sin) of us all."

Romans 5:1-2 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we hace peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 3:10-12 "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.' "

Romans 3:23-24 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

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Sunday we sang "By His Wounds" by Glory Revealed, which really gave the class something to talk about. Here are the lyrics...

(Verse)
He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed

(Chorus)
We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that You gave
We are healed for You paid the price
By Your grace we are saved
We are saved

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All that being said, God is amazing. That verse in Isaiah is what we were going to discuss, and singing it during worship really gave the students a place to start from. So I asked them, "What does it mean? We were all singing it this morning; what were we singing about?" And then we were able to see how very specifically it is about Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross.

The Lord had revealed something to the prophet Isaiah; Isaiah was looking ahead to a suffering servant. Isaiah wrote "he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that was our peace was upon him." Here Jesus' death and suffering is revealed, ahead of time. And not only do we see His suffering, but "the punishment that was our peace was upon him." That punishment that he bore has become our peace. Look at what the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul in Romans.

"since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Peace with God is established through Jesus Christ alone, by grace through faith. The punishment that Jesus Christ bore on the cross, that has become our peace; by his wounds we are healed of sin and oppression by Satanic forces (yes, demonic activity is still going on. People are still bound and need to be released). Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me." He is the only means by which we can obtain peace with God and approach the Father.

Can we be good enough on our own? What does scripture testify about man? "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." How did Isaiah describe it? "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity (sin) of us all." Once more, just to make sure it is clear, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." By ourselves, God clearly shows that we fall short of His perfection and holiness. Rather than obeying God's ways and adhering to God's standards, everyone of us "have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way."

But here's the good news. God knew that was mankind's condition a long time ago, and provided a means by which we could have peace with Him. The prophet Isaiah testified, "and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity (sin) of us all." What is he saying? Here is the wonder of God's love. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." When we were undeserving, He took the punishment of our sins upon Himself so that we could have peace with God. Even more so, by the punishment he bore, we can be healed.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Not one of us measures up to God's standards, but in His love He gave His Son Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. Now, through Jesus Christ, we can be made right with God. And here is where good news gets better. We are justified freely. Justified simply means that God has declared someone innocent and guiltless; it means to absolve us of all the charges that were against us. God, who is rich in mercy, justifies us at no cost to us. The only thing he requires is that we believe on Jesus - to trust Jesus Christ for our righteousness. Jesus paid it all so that it could be free for us.

While Jesus was walking the earth, some people wanted to follow Jesus and asked "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." That is all God requires. Will you put your trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins? There is no other way we can be saved; there is no other way to have peace with God. God showed us His love by laying down His life for us. He is trustworthy; you can trust Him. To the one who believes in Him, he says "never will I leave you, nor will I forsake you," and His promises are true.

Trust Him, believe Him. There is peace for you.