Week 2: God Rules
DISCUSS QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS FROM READING THE GOSPEL PAGE AND SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FROM LAST WEEK:
Q: What is something you did not realize that the Bible said before reading this?
Q: With what do you disagree?
Q: What would you like to be made clearer?
Q: Is there anything that really stood out to you? Maybe helped you?
Q: How would you summarize the Bible's gospel message in your own words?
READ AND DISCUSS THIS TOGETHER TODAY:
1) God Rules: The one true God created us to enjoy and reflect His glory in all His creation.
Q: What do you think about God as Ruler? How might this be good for the world? For you?
Q: Can you think of reasons people don't like the idea of God as Ruler?
Q: How does this stated purpose for God creating us give meaning to your life? What do you like about it? What do you dislike?
Q: How would you describe Jesus in your own words?
Read Key Verses Together:
Read Lesson Summary Together:
The rule and glory of God is most revealed in the God-man: Jesus Christ. Following Jesus is the only way for us to enjoy and reflect God’s glory under God’s good rule. Jesus is the LORD come to us, displaying the glorious heart of God. Mark’s Gospel describes the glory of God seen in Jesus and what it means to follow Him.
Q: How would you adjust or add to your description of Jesus after reading the key verses and summary together?
Q: What questions do you have about listening to the sermon clip and reading Mark 1-4 this week?
BE READY TO DISCUSS THESE QUESTIONS AND MORE NEXT WEEK AFTER LISTENING TO THE SERMON CLIP AND READING MARK 1-4:
Q: What have you learned or appreciate more about Jesus?
Q: In what ways do you think most people have the wrong ideas about Jesus?
Q: What do you think about the Bible's claim that the one true God created us to enjoy and reflect His glory in all His creation?
Q: What do you think about Jesus's claim that He is God and the greatest revelation of God's glory?
Q: How are you responding to Jesus?
BIBLE READING AND QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU AS YOU READ DURING THIS NEXT WEEK:
Read Mark 1-4 while you try to answer these questions below. Remember, you can use the notes feature at the top of this lesson. Don't forget to listen to the attached sermon clip. We encourage you to listen to it more than once. Meet up again next week with questions and thoughts for discussion!
Q: In Mark 1:1-15, what do we learn about Jesus’s identity and message? (Tip: Malachi 3; Isaiah 40)
Q: In Mark 1:16-45, what can we learn about Jesus from just around 24 hours of ministry?
Q: In Mark 2:1-22, what shocking authority does Jesus claim to have, and how does this relate to why He said He came?
Q: In Mark 2:23-3:12, what additional authority does Jesus claim to have, and how do people respond to Him acting according to it? How might this relate to why He said He came?
Q: In Mark 3:13-35, what does Jesus appear to be forming? Why start by calling “twelve” to Himself from on a mountain? Who does Jesus say belong to the people He is forming?
Q: By who’s power do the scribes from Jerusalem accuse Jesus to do His miracles? By Who’s power does Jesus clarify that He is doing miracles (hint: v29). What does Jesus say is the consequence of calling His power unholy? What does He say is true of those who do the will of God?
Q: In Mark 4:1-34, how does Jesus say that the kingdom of God grows? How does Jesus describe those who receive it? Why was Jesus teaching in parables? (Tip: Isaiah 6:9-10)
Q: In Mark 4:35-41, what does Jesus have power over? How do the disciples respond to this? How are you responding to this testimony of eye witnesses?
EXTRA RESOURCE--MANUSCRIPT RELATED TO THE SERMON CLIP:
1) God Rules: The one true God created us to enjoy and reflect His glory in all His creation.
This is foundational to the rest of the Gospel. It is part of the good news. The Bible begins by telling us how God created everything. Anything outside of God is God’s creation, and therefore, it is subject to God as its Ruler.
God is the good Ruler of everything. God is so good that He chose to share His glory by creating us to enjoy it. And when it comes to humans, God created us to uniquely enjoy and reflect His glory into all the world as we wisely, skillfully, creatively, and obediently give order to it and as we multiply and fill the earth. All of this can be learned by reading the first two chapters of the Bible: Genesis 1-2. God and His design of the unfathomable and ordered creation really is amazing.
But surprisingly, the Bible says that the greatest display of God’s glory is not the dazzling stars or the vast universe He created. Rather, the greatest display of God’s glory for us to enjoy is God coming as promised and prophesied (with many details) in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Fully God and fully man.
God in Christ’s personal, loving, active, sacrificial, and redeeming work in history, gives more spectacular reason for us to be in awe and live in worship of God than anything else.
The letter of Romans says that this way:
Romans 16:25–27
Now to him that is of power… according to the commandment of the everlasting God…To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
And that is why Mark’s Gospel starts with…
Key Verses: Mark 1:1-3, 10-11; 2:10-11; 3:14-15, 34-35; 4:39-41
Mark 1:1–3
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written… Prepare ye the way of the LORD…
This includes a quote from Hebrew Bible. Malachi 3 says to prepare for the way of the Lord, using the name of God in the text that is translated LORD. The all-caps “LORD” is written in place of God’s self-identified name in the Bible: Yahweh. When you see all-caps “LORD,” read also “Yahweh.”
According to God’s wise purposes, the good news of Jesus is the best and only way we can know what it means to live under Yahweh’s rule as we enjoy and reflect His glory in all the world and for all eternity. Jesus most makes known the rule and glory of Yahweh to us. He shows us how God rules with power, love, righteousness, and grace.
The rule and glory of God is most revealed in the God-man: Jesus Christ. Following Jesus is the only way for us to enjoy and reflect God’s glory under God’s good rule. Jesus is the LORD come to us, displaying the glorious heart of God. Mark’s Gospel describes the glory of God seen in Jesus and what it means to follow Him.
In Genesis, we see God directly in good fellowship with the first humans. And while that did not last long, that is still God’s plan—to fellowship in good communion with us on earth. Notice with me in Mark 1:1-3 where it says: “As it is written…”
The Bible tells us God’s good plan to rule over and with His creation, and that plan centers around the person Jesus. Jesus is not only a good man with wise teachings. Jesus is the LORD (Yahweh) come to rule over and with His people as they enjoy and reflect His glory.
Mark tells us how at the start of Jesus’s ministry when He was baptized, the Spirit of God descended upon Him and the Father in heaven spoke audibly, declaring Jesus as His beloved Son.
Mark 1:10–11
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Throughout all the Bible, Yawheh God has revealed Himself as One—but in a way that is complex. There are times in the Old Testament when God talks with Himself as though it is another person. God often speaks of His “Right Arm” or “Throne” or “Angel and Messenger” or “Spirit and Breath” or “Messiah” or “Servant” or “Son of man” or “Son” or of Himself with the plural pronoun,“Us” in ways and in contexts that identify them as Yahweh.
It is only in the promised and fulfilled coming of Yahweh in Christ when Yahweh reveals this mystery of Himself—He is triune.
God is One.
God is three Persons.
Each Person is fully God.
There is no analogy that makes sense of this. Only the Person and ministry of Jesus empowered by the Spirit and loved of the Father reveals the God of the Bible with such clarity.
God has always been an eternal community of love in Himself. He has needed nothing, but He has chosen to give everything. God has chosen to share Himself by creating, redeeming, and fellowshipping with humanity in creation. This is why Jesus—the God-man—is the fulfillment of God creating us to enjoy and reflect His glory in all creation.
God created humanity to live in fellowship with God on earth and to reflect God’s glory in all the world. The Gospel includes the truth that God graciously purposes to be with His people and to be their good King. Mark’s Gospel reveals that God is accomplishing all this in Jesus.
If you were to read Mark 1-4, you would find that Jesus is shown to truly be Yahweh God in the flesh. Jesus teaches, heals, and commands with authority, and in response, the people of Galilee are constantly amazed. Everything Jesus does demonstrates God’s sovereign rule over every power and all creation. Jesus does what no one had ever done before—except God. The person who knows the Old Testament, or the Hebrew Bible, can see this.
Maybe you are wondering, “Then why didn’t Jesus just heal everyone and put a stop to all the evil in our world?” And, what a great question! Jesus actually told us why He was doing these miracles.
Mark 2:10–11
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
The good news is that Jesus came to do more than heal a few people. Jesus came to save many people throughout all of history from their sin and from the death and evils that result from it.
The Old Testament foretells of a day when the LORD would come to form a new people who would obey Him from the heart and live in His Kingdom in all the earth. This would be a new people formed by the promised Messiah and King. So, Mark tells us how Jesus…
Mark 3:14–15
And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
God came in Christ to rule all creation, but He remains committed to His original plan: to do so through His people. So, Jesus came to do what we could not do and then to enable us to do what we must do! Later with another group of people…
Mark 3:34–35
And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
There is no one like Jesus. He is the God-man who came to create the new people of God and to bring the good rule of God on earth—as a human. In doing so, Jesus revealed the glory of God over and over again, but the people around Him did not know how to respond.
In chapter 4, Jesus told parables and taught His disciples all about the various ways people would respond to Him. His teaching shows itself to be true throughout the rest of the book. Right after teaching, His own disciples respond to Him in a strange way while on a boat. It had something to do with how Jesus gave commands to His creation…
Mark 4:39–41
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Why did they respond to Jesus this way? If Jesus is the LORD (Yahweh) come “as it is written,” and these disciples are Jewish men who had read or heard read what was said of Him, why do they fear Him in this way. The Bible tells us to fear the LORD. Is that what they were doing?
No, their fear is not a biblical fear because it is not mixed with faith and trust. That is clear by what Jesus says in verse 40. So, Jesus is obviously demonstrating God’s rule over creation, but instead of glorying in it, the disciples are afraid of Jesus. Why?