The Preeminence of Christ

Memory Verse: “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:14, NRSVue). INTRO: Admittedly, there is much in the Christian life that defies explanation. How can a person really “die” and be “raised to life” when, to all appearances, he or she is the same person and has had no such physical life-and-death experience? How can a growing believer effectively explain to someone how a living person dies spiritually and why “spiritual death” is essential to receiving and living an “eternal life?” Q: What is the connection between “love” and “death” that Paul speaks so ...

Memory Verse: “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16, 17, NKJV). INTRO: Let’s begin our Bible lesson discussion this week on the Good Word program about what “completeness” in Christ means. Often, Bible Sabbath-keepers are confronted by well-meaning Sunday keepers with the idea that seventh-day Sabbath worship of Jesus Christ is perpetuating Jewish ceremonial practices. Would you agree or disagree? How can Bible Sabbath keepers, like Adventists and Seventh-day Baptists, ...

Memory Verse: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). INTRO: There is an unsurpassable greatness the “gospel” of Jesus, which Paul describes as a “mystery.” Notice in chapter 1 of Colossians, beginning at verse 26 and concluding in verse 28. Let’s read this passage and see how it connects to our memory verse this week. (READ from Bible, Colossians 1:26-28). Paul talks to believers about “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations.” Q: What is this ...

Memory Verse: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:15–17, NKJV). INTRO: As we welcome our listeners to this week’s Bible lesson discussion, we turn our attention to a term used by Bible scholars called “the preeminence (or supremacy) of Christ,” a term which ...

Memory Verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6, NRSVue). INTRO: Paul has repeated admonished believers in Philippi not to be anxious. Despite Paul’s imprisonment and pending court hearing, despite the difficulties those followers of Jesus may be facing where they live, Paul strongly encourages them not to be anxious in Phil. 4:6 which is this week’s memory verse. Memory Verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known ...

Memory Verse: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10, 11, NKJV). INTRO: There are many believers that remain reluctant about salvation in Christ by “faith alone,” apart from the “works of the law.” For some reason, we seem to confuse obedience to Christ with works of the law as if it could ensure our salvation. Let’s begin our discussion today with question about the difference between “salvation by works” and ...

Memory Verse: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14, 15, NKJV). INTRO: This week’s Bible lesson focuses on how the members of the Philippian church were to conduct themselves as followers of Jesus. It seems clear that their reputation in the community was an important component of their witness to the power of Jesus Christ in contrast to the corrupt “generation” surrounding them, including both the citizens of ...

Memory Verse: “Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2, NKJV). INTRO: In this week’s lesson we are reminded again of Paul’s emphasis on unity among believers through commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To do so, Paul uses a poem, which perhaps also became a hymn in the early church to describe the humility or condescension it required of Jesus to provide the pathway for unity among all believers who claimed to be His followers. Here is how Paul introduces this poem: Memory Verse: “Fulfill my ...

INTRO: In perhaps one of Paul’s most puzzling statements about spiritual growth as we follow Jesus, the Memory Verse this week challenges our thinking, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). This week’s lesson focuses on how disciples (or apprentices) of Jesus are confronted with this paradox of the spiritual life: how do we “live” though we are “dead.” Q: What did Paul mean by his declaration in this verse in Philippians, chapter 1, verse 21? What does his perspective reveal about “unity” between heaven and earth? Why would Paul choose to present ...

INTRO: This week’s Bible Lesson turns from the focus on Paul’s suffering in prison for preaching the gospel of Jesus to reasons Paul gives for thanksgiving and prayer despite such challenges which are also facing Philippian and Colossian believers. Note this emphasis in the suggested Memory Verse for this week’s lesson from Philippians Chapter 1, verse 6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Q: When Paul reminds his readers of the “good work” God has begun in them, to what work ...