The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE WORLD IN A WEEK (Genesis 1:3-27)

THE WORLD IN A WEEK(Genesis 1:3-27)

Today we are going to discuss the creation of the world by God as He prepares the earth as the place for mankind to live.  Over the last couple of weeks, we have been building the foundation for how we are to understand the Creation story.  We have talked about the meaning of the words “light” and “day.” and we have talked about who God is.  Now, it is time to apply those lessons as we learn about the almighty power of the God we serve.  The God of All Creation.

God begins the creation process of turning chaos into order. First, God dealt first with the darkness.  In the second step, God dealt next with the disorder, itself. He began by raising the clouds. Then, the third step in the process was for God to raise the continents.  That brings us to the next step in the process of bringing order to chaos, God dealt with the deadness of the planet.  He created the plants and the animals.

The next step was to create man, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  In his nature, person, and personality, in his moral and spiritual capacities, in his emotions, intellect, conscience, and will, man stands apart from the animal world.  God created man as being threefold in nature, we have a spirit, soul, and body. 

Click on the play button above to hear a message on how God prepared this earth for man to have dominion over.  Most importantly, don’t miss the all important message in these verses about the light that is Jesus Christ.  Don’t miss the message that we are creations of Jesus Christ, we owe Him our worship, our service, and our love.  Don’t believe for a second that some day, if you reject the light that is Jesus Christ, that you will not stand in judgment and be condemned to an eternity without His light.  Be sure you have the light that is Jesus Christ within your heart.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD (Genesis 1_1)

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD (Genesis 1:1)

In today’s message, I want to spend time settling the question of who God is and does He exist.  For you see, if you believe in God, then all of the questions you have about the Creation are answered.  If you do not believe in God, then you will never have the answers to your questions about how this universe came in to being.

Have you ever thought about the fact that the Bible just presents God? There He is in the very first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God.”  He is simply presented. The fact of God is never explained in the Bible. The existence of God is never argued in the Bible. The Bible does not try to teach against atheism. God is simply presented. Now God, therefore, must be accepted by faith. Sometimes a skeptic will come and say to you, “Prove there is a God.” Don’t try, because you can’t prove that God exists, for the finite can never prove the infinite.  But not to worry. After he says, “Prove that God exists,” you say simply with a smile on your face and much confidence in your heart, “I can’t. Now, sir, will you prove that God does not exist?” And he can’t do that either.

If a person does not believe in God, it is not that he cannot believe; it is that he will not believe. He chooses not to believe. All people are believers. Some believe there is a God; some believe there is no God. 

The Bible says that “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.” He’s presented. Now, in the beginning God did what? He created, and what mighty power is seen in His creation! Only God has creative power. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on why the almighty God created all things. He did it for His pleasure.  He did it for His praise, and He did for you. This is our mighty God. He loves you and He wants to save you and give you everlasting life. 

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

THE MEANING OF LIGHT AND DAY (Genesis 1:1-5)

THE MEANING OF LIGHT AND DAY (Genesis 1:1-5)

Today’s message is on the meaning of the words “light” and “day” as they are used in the Bible’s account of creation.  Two very simple words, that we use all of the time, but so many people have a hard time understanding when it comes to what God says about the creation of all things.  

In the book of Genesis, God said “let there be light.”  The word “light” stands for and performs so many different functions and things in the Scriptures.  The concept of light is described throughout the Bible, and it is first used here in Genesis.  Light truly is a unique creation.  The Holy Spirit chose light as a metaphor for God throughout the Scripture.  Like God, light is mysterious but glorious.

Light by its nature, just like our Lord, is constant.  The speed and the nature of light never change.  The speed of the light that leaves our sun millions of miles away is traveling at the exact same speed as when it reaches us as we stand outside and let it fall on us to warm and comfort us.  The light of our Lord is the same.  It is the same today as it was on creation day, and as it will be when He comes for us to take us home.  Satan and his kingdom must bow before God and the majesty of His light.  When God’s light comes, Satan’s darkness must go.  

It also means that there is only one way to get rid of Satan’s darkness, and that is the light of the Word of God.  We have victory in Jesus because no force on the earth, or below the earth, can stand against the mighty majesty of His light.  When our lives are filled with sin, it is the light of the Word of God that will give you victory over that sin in your life.  In fact, it is the only light that will give you victory over Satan and sin.  You cannot live the Christian life without the power and light of the Holy Spirit in your heart.

Click on the play button at the top of the post to hear a message on the meaning of the words “light” and “day” as they are used in the creation story found in the first few verses of the Bible.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

IN THE BEGINNING, GOD (Genesis 1:1-3)

As you study the Bible, it always amazes me how one part folds into and helps the understanding of another part.  For example, you must have an understanding of the Book of Daniel before you can understand the Book of Revelation.  In my opinion, there are two books which are key to the understanding of all of the Scriptures, the book that opens the Old Testament (Genesis), and the book that opens the New Testament (Matthew).

God had some definite purpose in giving the book of Genesis to us.  The first section of the book has to do with the universe and with creation, but the last part deals with man, with nations, and with the person of Jesus Christ. God was more interested in Abraham than He was in the entire created universe, and God is more interested in you and attaches more value to you than He does to the entire physical universe.

With Genesis begins the progressive self-revelation of God which culminates in Christ.  The three primary names of Deity-Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai appear in Genesis and these in an ordered progression which could not be changed without confusion.  It also presents the problem of sin and how it affects man’s condition on the earth and his relationship to God.  It also presents the divine solution of that problem.  

Click on the link below to hear a message that describes what the book of Genesis is all about. Genesis is the “seed plot” of the Bible, and here we find the beginning, the source, the birth of everything. The Book of Genesis is just like the bud of a beautiful rose, and it opens out into the rest of the Bible. The truth here is in germ form.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

GOD PROVIDED A SUBSTITUTE (Hebrews 11:17-19)

I want you to take God’s Word and hold your Bible in your hand.  Now, I want to tell you there is no book like the Bible. None whatsoever. The book that you hold in your hand is one book, and yet it is sixty-six books. There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament. There are twenty-seven in the New Testament. They were written over a period of about 1,500 years by at least forty different authors in three different languages, people from all backgrounds and walks of life. But when you bring them together, they don’t make sixty-six books; they make one book, one book that is bound together. 

This book has one hero, His name is Jesus. It has one villain, he is the devil. It has one theme, it is salvation. It has one purpose, the glory of God. And so, if you read any verse in the Bible, standing somewhere in the shadows, you’re going to find the Lord Jesus, and that’s what we’re going to see today as we continue to look in the life of the man named Abraham.  We are going to look back in history, centuries before Jesus Christ was born upon this earth, and we’re going to find a wonderful depiction of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, God gave illustrations, types, prophecies, figures of that which is to come in the New Testament.  It is one of the great confirmations of the inspiration of the Scripture, when you see way back here centuries before Jesus Christ was even born that God gives figures and types and prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, not only is it a confirmation of the inspiration of the Scriptures, but, correspondingly, it is a confirmation of the deity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as we see Him pictured there, tucked away in the Old Testament.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on if God was willing to give Jesus up freely for us all, how shall He not also freely give us all things? He is the God who provides.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

JESUS, OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST (Hebrews 4:13-5:4)

Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest, that is the role that Christ is playing in our lives today.  He has completed His work of salvation, and now He is in heaven as our Great High Priest.  

In the Old Testament, one of the functions of the priest was to hear the confession of sins so that a sacrifice could be made to obtain forgiveness of that sin.  Un-confessed sin was and is a burden upon the person who sins.  However, as a believer that has made Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, in this age of grace, we know that all of our sins have already been forgiven.  We already know that we will not have to face the penalty of our sin, for Christ has already done that for us.  Yet, sin is still a burden on our spirit, and we are certainly told to confess our sins. 

We confess our sins out of obedience and a desire for cleansing.  If we do not acknowledge our sin, it becomes like a malignancy which spreads to consume our energy, our spiritual zeal, and it is always present with us draining our ambition to serve the Lord.  It robs us of the joy of being in God’s will, and for the Christian, being in God’s will is the zone, it is that special place we want to be.

Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
KJV

This is telling us that we can come with great freedom unto the Throne of Grace.  We can speak freely to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We can tell Him things we wouldn’t tell anyone else.  He already knows everything there is to know about us, so why not speak freely with Him.  Christ understands us; He knows all of our weaknesses.  And when we approach that throne of Grace it is so “that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” We can come with full confidence that He will hear us, and He wants to extend to us His Grace, and Mercy, when we are in a time of need.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the fact that our sin is not a secret, God sees it all, and God expects us to confess that sin.  The message today is about the One who now stands in the office of High Priest, and to whom we must confess.  Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is the Supreme High Priest.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

THE WORD OF GOD-PART II (Hebrews 4:12)

When you open the Word of God, Jesus steps out. It is a living book. It presents a living person. Jesus Christ is alive and well, and He says, “… the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” The Bible is alive!

The Bible says that the gospel is a saber of life unto life, or death unto death. It is the sword of God. It is quick. It is powerful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. 

Heb 4:12
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
KJV

This says that the Bible is “quick.” Now that word quick means alive, but it also means that it is something that continues to go on. It will never die. This book, the Word of God, will live through the ages. It cannot die. It is alive, and it is deathless. It is the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever.

It’s the Word that the body of Christ, the church of believers, is built on. And in this day, when everything that’s not nailed down is coming loose, and the devil is pulling nails out as fast as he can, you had better build your life on the Word of God.

Click on the link below to hear a message that tells us that there is no way possible that you are going to be a growing Christian if you neglect the one book that God has provided to give you energy, power, sustenance, and strength, wisdom, knowledge, and faith; and that book is, the Word of God.  If you do not spend time daily in the Word of God, then you cannot lead a victorious Christian life.  

Amen.

OUR SO GREAT SALVATION (Hebrews 1:13 to 2:4)

Who was it that thought up this idea of salvation? Not you, not me. It originated in the heart of Almighty God.  Before God ever swung this world into space, before God ever scooped out the seas, and heaped up the mountains, and flung out the sun, moon, and the stars, salvation was in the heart and mind of God. 

Why is this salvation so great?  Because Jesus, with His rich, red, royal blood tasted death for every man. Jesus died instead of you. His death had your name on it.  Only the dead in hell can even begin to know what Jesus suffered on that cross, and He did it for you. If you refuse this salvation, if you just drift on by, then you trample underneath your feet the precious blood of Jesus and pour contempt upon His death.

So, the writer of Hebrews asks this question: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation.” That’s the question. That’s a question that no lawyer can answer. That’s a question that no scientist with his computer can answer. That’s a question that no philosopher with his thick volumes can answer. That is a question that no soothsayer can answer. That is a question that even God Almighty cannot answer because there is no answer to the question “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” There is no answer because there is no escape. 

Click on the link below to hear a message on our so great salvation that God has provided for us.

Amen.

 

OUR SUPERLATIVE SAVIOR - PART II (Hebrews 1:4-12)

Heb 1:8
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
KJV

I want you to notice something very important here, God the Father calls God the Son, God. Now, the eternal claim of Jesus is that He is God. Jesus is forevermore God. A billion, billion years from now, He still will be God. Look at this verse: “Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever and ever and ever.”  Jesus will still be King forever more.  

A basic truth of our created universe is that things change.  All created things change.  This universe is going to wear itself out. This universe is going to run down, the second law of thermodynamics tells us that it’s on its way down. It is burning out.  Another basic truth is that anything that moves makes friction, and anything that makes friction wears, and anything that wears, disintegrates. And that’s the reason that this universe that is moving and pulsating is wearing down, it is wearing down like a garment that wears out. It’s going to wear out. But Jesus is from everlasting to everlasting. A billion years from now Jesus is the same from age to age;

Click on the link below to hear a message on Jesus Christ, our Superlative Savior.

Amen.

 

OUR SUPERLATIVE SAVIOR-PART I (Hebrews 1:1-3)

“You may learn to love Jesus better, but you can never love anything better than Jesus.  He is our superlative Savior.”  

H. G. Wells, wrote in his outlines of history the 10 greatest men of all history, and number one on his list was Jesus Christ.  But, the truth is, that Jesus Christ does not belong on anybody’s list.  Why? Because, He is God’s unique, only begotten Son. He is our singular Savior. He is our superior Savior. He is our superlative Savior.

Jesus is unique in comparison to all of the other religious leaders. Buddha was a religious leader. Mohammed was a religious leader. Confucius was a religious leader. But let me tell you what all of these have in common. You can take them out of their teachings and still have their teachings. You can take Buddha out of Buddhism and still have Buddhism. You can take Mohammed out of Islam and still have Islam. You can take Confucius out of Confucianism and still have that system of thought. You just follow the deeds, the teachings, the precepts, the creeds of those particular faiths, and you have it. 

But you can’t take Christ out of Christianity and still have Christianity, because Christianity is not a code, not a cause, not a creed, not a church, but Christ. It is a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you tried to take Jesus out of Christianity, that would be like taking the notes out of music. That would be like taking the water out of a well. That would be like taking numbers out of mathematics. If you take Jesus out of Christianity, you don’t have anything left, because Christ and Christianity are the same.

Christianity is not just believing some thing; it is receiving someone. And this is the difference between Christianity and any other religion: Christianity is a vital relationship with a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. He is alive and well and living in me today.  If we are to be Christ followers, born again believers in Jesus Christ, then we need to understand that Jesus Christ is our singular Savior, and therefore He is our superlative Savior.

Click on the link below to hear a message on Jesus Christ, our Superlative Savior.

Amen.