Unit 1 Session 5 - Christianity Among the Religions - Personal Study Guide (ESV)

8/13/2019 Unit 1 Session 5 - Christianity Among the Religions - Personal Study Guide (ESV)

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WINTER 2013-14: Personal Study GuideEd Stetzer General EditorTrevin Wax Managing Editor

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2 TGP Personal Study Guide

THE GOSPEL PROJECT FOR STUDENTS

PERSONAL STUDY GUIDE, WINTER 2013-14VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2

PRODUCTION AND MINISTRY TEAM

VICE PRESIDENT, CHURCH RESOURCES: Eric GeigerGENERAL EDITOR: Ed Stetzer

MANAGING EDITOR: Trevin WaxCONTENT EDITOR: Andy McLean

DIRECTOR, STUDENT MINISTRY PUBLISHING: Jeff PrattDIRECTOR, STUDENT MINISTRY: Ben Trueblood

Send questions/comments to: Content Editor, The Gospel Project f or Students Personal Study Guide, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0174, Or make comments on the Web at www.lifeway.com

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999,2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers . Used by per mission. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are f rom the

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SESSION 5

CHRISTIANITY AMONGTHE RELIGIONS

Have you ever heard of The Self-Realization Lake Shrine inLos Angeles? It is advertised as a spiritual sanctuary whereone can retreat to hear the voice of God. In the midst of itsbeautiful tapestry of gardens, paths, and natural spring-fed lake is an area called the Court of Religions, created

in honor of the ve principal religions of the world. When you enter thiscourt, you nd 5 trailheads marked with the names of these religions:Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Each of thesetrails meanders through the scenic beauty and serenity of the groundsuntil they all end up at a reection pool.

The design of this sanctuary is a good picture of one of the leadingthoughts in our world today. Many people view all the worlds religionsas different paths leading to the same place and the same personGod.However, standing against the idea that all religions lead to God arethe words of Jesus Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus makes a claim to be theexclusive path to God, saying, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.No one comes to the Father except through Me.

This week we will examine this assertion of Jesus Christ and see howChrists person, His teaching, and His resurrection make Christianityunique among all the world religions. Not only that, but we will see how

Christs uniqueness is good news for a lost and dying world.


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READY YOUR HEART

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John 14:6-11 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comesto the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, showus the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father whodwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, orelse believe on account of the works themselves.

I LOVE PEARLS. To me they are more beautiful than diamonds. There is just somethingclassy about them. I have pieces of jewelry made of fake pearls, like a necklace andsome earrings. But for our rst wedding anniversary, my husband surprised me with areal pearl necklace. Because they are real, I always kept them in the original box, apartfrom the rest.

When I took them off on one occasion, I placed them in my jewelry box with theothers without thinking. The next time I went to wear them, I couldnt tell which oneswere real and which ones were fake. They looked exactly alike. I wanted to wear thenecklace my husband gave me, not just the imitation. I had always kept them separated,but now I didnt have a clue. I called my grandmother for advice. When I told her whathappened, she chuckled and told me to rub them on my teeth. I thought for sure shewas going crazy, but I did what she said. I rubbed both against my teeth. One set felt

smooth and the other rough. She explained that real pearls have a gritty texture. Myproblem was solved.Often, its hard to tell who the real deal is. Just like my pearls, there are many

imitators. Jesus is real because of who He is. His character and identity are unique.There are none like Jesus because Jesus is one of a kind. In John 14:1-11 Jesus tells us thathe is the way. Notice that He doesnt say a way, or even the best way, but the way. He is,exclusively, the one and only, and the truth of that becomes all the more evident as wewitness who He is in the Scriptures.

THE REAL DEAL

PAUSE AND REFLECT How is Jesus different from other leaders of world religions? Since Jesus is unique, what does that say about otherreligions?


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READY YOUR HEART

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes tothe Father except through me.

I LOVE TO TALK TRASH WHEN I PLAY SPORTSI have no shame in it. Basketball,football, golf, or ping-pong, it doesnt matter. I know how to talk a big game, and in somecases, I can usually back it up. One sport I have never talked junk in playing is baseball.Why? you ask. Because baseball is a game of failure. Think about this. Ty Cobb hasthe highest career batting average in baseball at .366. That means that in his entirecareer he only got a hit 36.6% of the time. He failed 63.4% of the time. I am no Ty Cobb,so I steer clear of talking trash in baseball.

However, there was one guy who did talk a big game in baseball. His name wasBabe Ruth. In the 1932 World Series, Ruth was up to bat with the game tied at 3. Afterbeing ridiculed by the other team, Ruth supposedly pointed his nger to the center eldstands. He was calling his shot, telling everyone the next pitch was going to be a homerun. On the very next pitch, Ruth smashed the baseball over the fence to the exact spothe had just pointed out.

What makes this story amazing is that someone who was talking a big gameactually backed it up with action. Jesus made an even more amazing statement thanBabe Ruth ever could. After having claimed to be the way, Jesus then claims to be thetruth in John 14:6. Notice that He doesnt say that He merely speaks truth, or that He isa truth among many, but that He is the truthTruth with a capital T. All truth nds itsource of origin in Him because of who He is.

PAUSE AND REFLECT Have you ever talked a big game and not backed it up?How did that feel?

What does it mean that Jesus is the truth? Do you trust that Jesus can back up everything that Hesaid? Why or why not?

TALK THE TALK


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READY YOUR HEART

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John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes tothe Father except through me.

THE LAST TIME I WAS IN THE AIRPORT my ight got delayed for a few hours becauseof bad weather. Since we were grounded for the time being, I did what most everyoneelse did at the timeI pulled out my phone and started to check Facebook and Twitterand play some Angry Birds. After quickly getting bored with that, I pulled out a book andbegan to read. Everyone else was still on their phones or tablets, spread out over thesitting area. After about an hour, I looked up and saw that a few people were sitting bythe wall with their phones plugged in. After another hour, I saw that a few more werecrowding around the outlets on the walls, charging their phones, tablets, and computers.

After a while longer, we discovered that the ight was going to be delayed again. Wewere now running three hours behind schedule. I took a look around and it seemed thateveryone on my ight was huddled around the power outlets because their batterieswere dying. When I saw that, it made me think about Jesus.

Without Jesus we are dead because of our sin. And just like our phones, we can tryto recharge some, but we will always waste away because we dont have the powerwithin us to spiritually come alive. Thats why we need Jesus. In John 14:6 Jesus saysHe is the life for us. He isnt merely offering a type of life among many, but rather thatthrough him, we have life that is everlasting. He is the only source of true life. We dontneed other things or people to somehow make us feel spiritually alive. They cant do it.Only Jesus can. It is He who defeated death and secured for us life through His death

and resurrection.

MADE ALIVE

PAUSE AND REFLECT What things other than Jesus do you often turn to in hopesof gaining life out of them? Do they work?

If Jesus is the only way to have life, what does that meanfor those who dont believe in Him?

If Jesus is our life, and if we want people we know to havethe same abundant life in Jesus, why do we nd it difficultin sharing with others who dont know Him?


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READ JOHN 14:6. Jesus claims to be the way. He is both thepath and the destination. The path to God is not a list of actions.The path is a Person. Likewise, the ultimate reward is not heaven,but Jesusthe One whose presence makes heaven what it is. IfJesus is the prize of eternal life in heaven, then He must be thepursuit of our temporal lives on earth What are the consequences of disbelieving Jesus words

that no one comes to the Father except through Him? Howwould disbelief affect our identity? Our mission?

Buddhism has the eight-fold path.Islam has ve pillars. Other religionsare based on teachers who show theway to God. What is the signicanceof Jesus claiming not only to show theway, but to be the way?

Jesus is Unique Because of...In John 14:6, Jesus makes a claim to be the exclusive path toGod, saying, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Noone comes to the Father except through Me. In this lesson,we will examine this assertion of Jesus Christ and see howChrists person, His teaching, and His resurrection make

Christianity unique among all the world religions. Christsuniqueness is good news for a lost world.

Who He Is.What makes something unique? People loveto jump on the bandwagon of the latest fador fashion. Something original pops up,and we are drawn to it. Soon, with everyonewearing the same style of clothes or listeningto the same fresh song, the uniquenesswears off. What was once unique starts tolook old.The term unique, at least in its biblicalsense, means one of a kind, superior, or only.Its the kind of uniqueness Jesus claimedfor Himself.


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People in our society often confuse religious tolerancewith relativism. Rightly understood, tolerance isaccepting that people should be able to coexist withdifferent religious beliefs. Wrongly understood,tolerance means all religious beliefs are equal. Whatstrue for you may be true for you, but not for me. Jesusshatters this notion. He is not the Truth for me or foryou only. He is the Truth for everybody. Knowing that Jesus is the only Savior for

all people, how should we think aboutglobal missions and taking the gospel toall peoples?

If we are to take Jesus at His word, we mustreject the popular notion of the day that Jesusis just one of many valid truths about God. Itis precisely because Jesus is the sole truth ofGod that He says no one comes to the Fatherexcept through me.

How can Christians maintain a steadfastconviction in the truth of Jesus Christ anda humble posture toward those who donot believe? How does the gospel takeaway any reason to feel superior?

How is Jesus claim to be the Truth foreverybody impact our mission? What He Does.

Not only does Jesus claim to be the way and the truth,He also claims to be the life. He is the Life, and Hedemonstrates this claim by dying on the cross for our sinsand rising again to new life. Jesus is unique because He isthe only Savior who has died and rose again. Also, Jesusclaim to be the Life points us to His unique relationshipwith God and the fact that, apart from Him, we remain inour sin and in our need for deliverance. We need spiritualand physical life.

If you were asked to list the three mostimportant and unique aspects of Christianity,what would you choose? What separatesChristianity from other religions?

Conclusion Most world religions understand and teach that something hasgone wrong with the world, and they all claim to have a path back towards xing it andcoming to a right standing with God. In Islam, one can submit to the ve pillars of faith inhopes that the balance of their good works will approve them before God. In Hinduism, youhave the teaching of Karma that stresses the need for good living in order to be reincarnatedinto a better status. In our post-modern world, there is the leading belief that truth is relativeand there are many roads that lead to God. But the uniqueness of Christianity can be seen inthe person and work of Jesus Christ. We see that Jesus is unique in who He claims to be as theWay. Jesus made a way for mankind when no way was possible for us to route back to God onour own. How would you respond to someone who says Jesus is unique in the

inuence He has on our world but is not the Son of God?

What He Says.Jesus is unique because of what He saysprimarilyabout Himself. He doesnt just claim to speak thetruth. He claims to be the truth. Jesus is the truthbecause He embodies the supreme revelation ofGod. He is Gods revelation of Himself to us. TheGospel of John portrays Christ as being Godsgracious self-disclosure to the world.

The concept ofresurrection is adistinctive belief thatsets us apart fromother religions. We needour spiritually deadhearts to be made aliveagain. We need ourphysically dead bodiesto be resurrected.Through His death andresurrection, Jesus doeswhat is necessary forour regeneration andresurrection. Why is it good to

affirm and not softenthe reality of humansinfulness?


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ENCORE

1. WHO HE IS (THE WAY).

What makes something unique? People love to jump on the bandwagon of the latest fad or fashion.Something original pops up, and we are drawn to it. Soon, with everyone wearing the same styleof clothes or listening to the same fresh song, the uniqueness wears off. What was once uniquestarts to look old.

Many people view Christianity this way. Its a classic religious option with a timeless feel toit, but its certainly not new and exciting and fresh. Hinduism may seem more exotic, orBuddhism more acceptable, or Islam more rigorous. Or maybe the best approach is to disregardreligious identity altogether and become one of the nonesthe growing number of people insociety who check none of the above when surveyed about their religious affiliation.

Te term unique, at least in its biblical sense, means one of a kind, superior, or only. Its the kindof uniqueness Jesus claimed for Himself. In John 14:6, we see that Jesus claims to be the way. Inother words, He is both the path and the destination. Te path to God is not a list of actions. Tepath is a Person. Likewise, the ultimate reward is not heaven, but Jesusthe One whose presencemakes heaven what it is. If Jesus is the prize of eternal life in heaven, then He must be the pursuit ofour temporal lives on earth.

Most religions of the world understand that something has gone wrong in the world and that weneed some sort of salvation. What sets Christianity apart from the worlds religions is the solution tothe problem of sin. Jesus not only points to the solution; He is the solution.

2. WHAT HE SAYS (THE TRUTH).

Since Christs grand statement in John 14:6 was precipitated by a discussion about the way, weshould view His claims to be the truth and the life as being supports for Jesus being the way.Because Jesus is the truth, He alone is the way for humans to be reconciled to God.

Jesus is unique because of what He saysprimarily about Himself. He doesnt just claim to speakthe truth. He claims to be the truth. What does this statement mean? Jesus is the truth because Heembodies the supreme revelation of God. He is Gods revelation of Himself to us. Te Gospel of

John portrays Christ as being Gods gracious self-disclosure to the world.Tis is why the uniqueness of Christianity is Jesus. He alone shows us who God is. Notice again

the conversation He had with Philip (v. John 14:7-9). Jesus claimed to be the way to God because of who He was in relation to God.If we are to take Jesus at His word, we must reject the popular notion of the day that Jesus is just

one of many valid truths about God. It is precisely because Jesus is the sole truth of God that Hesays no one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Were tempted to shy away from the exclusive claim of Christ in this passage. We worry such anarrow assertion will not be appealing in our modern world. But, ironically, throughout Christianhistory, its the uniqueness and exclusivity of Jesus Christ that has given Christianity its lasting

CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE RELIGIONS Jesus is unique because of...

by Afshin Ziafat


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ENCORE

relevance! o take away the exclusive part of the truth of Christ is to take away the entire truth ofChrist. If you try to make Jesus just One of Many, you lose Jesus the One and Only.

3. WHAT HE DOES (THE LIFE).

Not only does Jesus claim to be the way and the truth, He also claims to be the life. He is the Life,and He demonstrates this claim by dying on the cross for our sins and rising again to new life. Jesusis unique because He is the only Savior who has died and rose again.

Jesus claim to be the Life points us to His unique relationship with God. Te Bible portraysGod as the giver and sustainer of life. As stated earlier, because of our sin, we are separated fromGod and therefore separated from the source of life. Tats why we grow old and die. Romans 6:23tells us that the wages of sin is death. And this is the reason why we need deliverance from deathinorder to have Life and be reconciled unto God. We need spiritual and physical life. Te concept ofresurrection is a distinctive belief that sets us apart from other religions. We need our spiritually deadhearts to be made alive again. We need our physically dead bodies to be resurrected. Trough Hisdeath and resurrection, Jesus does what is necessary for our regeneration and resurrection.

Jesus did not come to make us better, more well behaved people so that God could tolerate us andaccept us. Jesus came to make us alive when we were dead.

No other religion portrays the state of humankind quite as starkly as Christianity. We are dead inour sins (Eph. 2:1). Neither does any other religious gure claim to have the power to bring the deadback to life.

Te religions of this world may contain teaching that can make you a well-behaved person on theoutside. But only Jesus has the power to bring us from death to life (John 10:10).

CONCLUSION

Most world religions understand and teach that something has gone wrong with the world, and theyall claim to have a path back towards xing it and coming to a right standing with God.

In Islam, one can submit to the ve pillars of faith in hopes that the balance of their good works will approve them before God.In Hinduism, you have the teaching of Karma that stresses the need for good living in order tobe reincarnated into a better status.

Judaism emphasizes that those who are obedient to the law will live forever with God.In our post-modern world, there is the leading belief that truth is relative and there are manyroads that lead to God.

But the uniqueness of Christianity can be seen in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We see that Jesus is unique in who He claims to be as the Way. Jesus made a way for mankind when no way waspossible for us to route back to God on our own.

Jesus is unique in what He says as He claims to be the truth. Jesus is the ultimate expression ofGod and without knowing Christ man cannot know God.

Jesus is unique because of what He does. He claims to be the life. And He alone has defeateddeath through His resurrection. He alone can give life to mankind now and forever. Jesus is the way,the truth, and the life.

Unit 1 Session 5 - Christianity Among the Religions - Personal Study Guide (ESV)

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