Chinese & English Bilingual Bible Study Fellowship~~~
Every Saturday 6 pm @ Cape Alliance Church
~4307 Skyline Blvd. Cape Coral, FL 33914
Currently meeting via Zoom due to COVID-19
中英文雙語聖經團契
每週六晚上六時聚會(七月及八月暑假期間無聚會,目前因新冠疫情,藉由Zoom網路聚會)
We have all heard people say that money is evil. People also might say that if someone has money that they are evil. Both statements are false. The bible makes it clear what the issue with money is - 1Timothy 6:10 says,
“For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
The issue isn’t money itself, it is the love of money(greediness about money) that causes issues. We don’t want to wander away from the faith, and the love of money has the power to do just that. We are to love God, first, and no other love should take that place. We are to worship God first, and not worship anyone or anything above that worship. We need money, we have a responsibility to support our families, but we also have the responsibility for it not to take over the number one position in our lives.
“Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:21 NLT
“In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.” Proverbs 23:5 NLT
“O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.” Proverbs 23:26 NLT
A high level, historical overview of the God-man, Jesus Christ:
對於耶穌基督,神人的高層次、歷史概述:
He (Jesus Christ) was in existence, before the creation of the world – before angels, before Adam, and before Abraham.
他(耶穌基督)存在於世界創建之前,在天使之前,在亞當之前和亞伯拉罕之前。
He walked in the Garden of Eden teaching Adam and the woman, in the cool of the morning. He was known in the Old Testament as Elohim, Jehovah, Yahweh, or Adonai (in Hebrew) meaning the “Most High,” or “Lord.” These Hebrew words also mean, “I am that I am.” Which we have studied as the great I Am. He spoke to Moses at a burning bush. He led the Jews through the desert in a pillar of fire, and a cloud. He dwelt in the tabernacle and the temple. He was with his people as the Shekinah glory.
He was not known as Jesus Christ until the New Testament. He was born of a virgin in fulfillment of prophecy. Many miracles accompanied his birth. He was born in Bethlehem, but his parents were from Nazareth, which is where he grew up. He had no human biological father, so he did not have a sin nature like we do. His mother Mary conceived supernaturally by God the Holy Spirit. God the Son became flesh and dwelt among us. This is the meaning of the Christmas celebration.
He lived his whole life without sin, which meant that he was always inside God the Father’s plan for his life; it also meant that he was qualified to be our savior and qualified to take our place on the cross, and to be judged for our sins. Due to his perfection, he could be the mediator between God and mankind.
We know very little of his childhood other than he grew in stature, in knowledge, and in favor with God and man. We start to learn about his adult life when he is approximately 30 years old.
He chose or called 12 men to follow him, they are called the 12 disciples. He taught these men and others the ways of God, and revealed God to them. All but one of these disciples became apostles. The apostles are the writers of the New Testament under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit.
He performed many miracles. He performed more miracles that are recorded in the bible. His first miracle was turning water into wine. You can get a list of his miracles that are in the bible by searching for “list of Jesus miracles” on the Internet, so we won’t list them all here.
Jesus had continual conflicts with the religious leaders of his day. These leaders distorted the truth and taught false doctrines. Jesus was a threat to their power (religious and political), to their status, to their teachings, to their followers, and to their income stream. The religious leaders did not believe that he was the true Messiah even though Jesus was fulfilling all of the Old Testament prophecies right before their eyes. They were so threatened by Jesus that early on in Jesus’ ministry they had already started to plot his death. The religious leaders were the Scribes, Pharisees, and members of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the Jewish religious court.
Jesus demonstrated that he was Messiah through his miracles, through the fulfillment of prophecy, through his teachings, and through his resurrection and ascension.
耶穌藉著他的神蹟,藉著預言的實現,藉著他的教導以及他的復活和升天來證明自己是彌賽亞。
Jesus often spoke in parables as a way to communicate the truth that he came to reveal. It allowed his followers to understand spiritual concepts using everyday examples. It also allowed him to communicate spiritual truths without his enemies getting even angrier, because they didn’t feel threatened by parables. This allowed him to continue his ministry until it was the right time for him to go to the cross.
There was a specific time for Jesus to go to the cross, to bear our sins as our substitute, and to provide for our salvation. This was God’s will and plan for His Son’s life. The religious leaders tried many times to arrest him, so that they could kill him, but each time they failed, until it fit God’s timing. When the time was right they finally succeeded in arresting Jesus around midnight in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas. And, after he was arrested a disciple who was very close to him, Peter, also denied him.
Jesus went through 6 illegitimate trials. The trials broke the law for many different reasons. According to Jewish law, trials were not supposed to be held at night, he was struck during the trial, there were not at least two collaborating witnesses testifying against Jesus, and Jesus was forced to be a witness against himself. All of these things were specifically forbidden by Jewish law. In the end, criminals were condemning an innocent man, and they condemned him to death. The punishment would be carried out by crucifixion. Jesus makes the most pointed declarations of who he was during questioning in one of the trials. We find it in Luke 22:70
70 And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.”
70 他們都說:“這樣,你是神的兒子嗎?”耶穌說:“你們所說的是。”
In obedience, Jesus went to the cross. He suffered much throughout his life, but nothing as horrible as what occurred from the time he was arrested to the time he hung on the cross. Yet, during the physical punishment, he did not say a thing. The truly horrible pain and suffering was about to begin when God the Father and God the Holy Spirit would turn their backs on Jesus while all the sins of the world were poured out on him and judged. Being separated from God the Father was the worst thing he endured as a man. This separation was spiritual death for our Lord. This was the first death Jesus that Jesus suffered, and he did it for our salvation. We remember / celebrate this on Good Friday.
When our salvation work was complete he said, “It is finished.” He had completed God’s plan for his human life, and then he could die physically. He was buried, and on the third day he rose again. He had a bodily resurrection and more that 500 people witnessed him in his resurrection body. Easter is a celebration of his resurrection. He was on the earth in his resurrection body for 40 days. At the end of this time he ascended back to heaven. Jesus, in his resurrection body, was taken up into a cloud while his disciples were watching, and then they could see him no longer. However, he will come back again in the same way.
Now, Christ is still alive, he is still the unique person of all human history, and he is seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. This position is a position of honor. He will remain in this position of honor until God the Father makes all of his enemies a footstool for him in the future. Every knee will bow (those in heaven, those on the earth, and those under the earth) and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. This will glorify God the Father.
Jesus Christ will come back. The first time Jesus will return is to bring all of the believers (living and dead) off of the earth at the end of our present time. At that time we will all receive our resurrection bodies. This is called the rapture of the church and Jesus Christ will not set foot on the earth. We will be brought up to meet him in the air, and we will be with him forever after that. No one knows when this will occur, but it could occur anytime and we are commanded to be ready.
After the rapture, the next time Jesus Christ comes back to earth he will come all the way down to earth. He will be on the throne and be the ruler of the earth for 1,000 literal years. This will happen after 7 terrible years on this earth (7 years after the rapture). There is a lot of prophecy regarding these 7 years, and it is called the tribulation. There are four major armies that will descend upon Israel with the intension of wiping it out. When Jesus Christ returns, at the end of the tribulation, he will wipe out the enemies of Israel (and God) in a war called Armageddon. Jesus Christ will triumph, and then Satan and his demons are put in prison for 1,000 years.
The earth will only have unbelievers after the rapture of the church. But, by the end of the 7 years there will be many people who have believed in Christ. At the beginning of the Millennium (1,000 years) there will only be believers on the earth. The believers in our day and age will return with Christ and help him to rule the earth during the Millennium. At the end of the 1,000 years there will be unbelievers again on the earth and Satan will be released from prison. Satan will gather up the unbelievers to wage another rebellion against Christ, which he again will lose. This is called the Gog and May Gog revolution and it ends with Satan, his demons, and all unbelievers (living and dead) being cast into the lake of fire for all of eternity.
The earth will then be destroyed, and a new earth will be created, and that is the end of human history. All who have believed in Jesus Christ, no matter by what name they knew him by, will spend eternity in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
8 耶穌基督,昨日、今日、一直到永遠是一樣的。
Hopefully, as we continue our studies in both the Old and New Testaments, this background, this truth, will become evident to all of us, and help us to understand what we are learning as we progress.