The Gospel Project Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher Who Explains and Fulfills God’s Word

Session 7 - Recap Main Idea: Jesus – The Faithful Son Who Obeys God’s Word 1.God the Father affirms that Jesus is uniquely qualified to fulfill the righteousness that He requires of us 2.Jesus obeys God at the very point we failed 3.Jesus’ obedience to God’s Word proves His authority to reverse the effects of the fall and restore creation

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher Introduction 1.How do you see the Old Testament? 2.Richard Dawkins: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” – Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (p.74)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher Introduction 1.How do you see the Old Testament? 2.Richard Dawkins 3.Marcion

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher Introduction Summary and Goal “In today’s lesson, we will see that Jesus’ teaching did not contradict the Old Testament. Instead, Jesus was and is the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament pointed to. As the faithful Teacher who explains God’s Word, Jesus upheld the Old Testament in its entirety by correctly interpreting it in light of Himself, by explaining God’s original intention in giving the law, and by fulfilling the righteousness that God’s law requires.” (p.74)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 1.Jesus fulfilled the law by rightly interpreting it (Matt. 5:17) 1.Jesus’s coming & the end to OT institutions 2.Popular sentiments of Jesus & the Law 3.What Jesus really thought about the Law: 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; 18 I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matt. 5:17-18)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 1.Jesus fulfilled the law by rightly interpreting it (Matt. 5:17) 1.Jesus’s coming & the end to OT institutions 2.Popular sentiments of Jesus & the Law 3.What Jesus really thought about the Law: 4.Properly interpreting the OT through Christ: 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 1.Jesus fulfilled the law by rightly interpreting it (Matt. 5:17) 1.Jesus’s coming & the end to OT institutions 2.Popular sentiments of Jesus & the Law 3.What Jesus really thought about the Law: 4.Properly interpreting the OT through Christ: “This means that Jesus was faithful to teach God’s Word precisely because He explained God’s Word in light of Himself. Only Jesus could provide the faithful and true interpretation of God’s Word.” (p.76-77)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 2. Jesus interpreted the law by pointing to the heart of the Author (Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28) 1.Obeying the law, but missing its intention 2.The real intention of the Law: “Contrary to what people had heard, Jesus declared that the intention of the law was not about checking off a list of moral requirements but total obedience that flowed from a pure heart. Anything less excludes one from the kingdom of heaven.“ (p.77)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 2. Jesus interpreted the law by pointing to the heart of the Author (Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28) 1.Obeying the law, but missing its intention 2.The real intention of the Law 3.The Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matt. 5:21-22)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 2. Jesus interpreted the law by pointing to the heart of the Author (Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28) 1.Obeying the law, but missing its intention 2.The real intention of the Law 3.The Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:27-28)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 3. Jesus laid out God’s expectations and then met them (Matt. 5:43-48) 1.Entering the Magic Kingdom? 2.Separating God’s law from his character 3.Correctly interpreting God’s law "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5:43-44a, 48)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher 3. Jesus laid out God’s expectations and then met them (Matt. 5:43-48) “Those who gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven, then, are not those who try to work at it but those who trust in Jesus’ fulfilling of the law in their place. And those who truly believe will obey Jesus’ teaching. Through faith we are enabled to begin living in accordance with Jesus’ teaching! As the apostle Paul declared, “the righteous will live by faith” (Gal. 3:11). This is the righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees.” (p. 80)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher Conclusion/Summary New Hearts & Good News!

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher Issues (What?!) & Implications (So What?)

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher I&I #1 – Christ in the Old Testament 1.A problem that only Christ can solve (the curse, our inability to keep the law, our alienation from God) 2.A promise only Christ can fulfill (blessing, presence of God with us) 3.A need that only Christ can meet (salvation from judgment, life beyond death) 4.A pattern or theme that only comes to resolution in Christ (kingdom, rest) 5.A story that only comes to its conclusion through Christ (the people of God, creation/fall/redemption/consummation) 6.A person who prefigures an aspect of who Christ will be or what he will do by analogy and/or contrast (Joseph, Moses, David) 7.An event or symbol that pictures an aspect of who Christ will be or what he will do (ark, exodus, sacrifices) 8.A revelation of the pre-incarnate Christ (wrestling with Jacob, commander of the Lord’s army) – Nancy Guthrie

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher I&I #1 – Christ in the Old Testament 1.Theme resolution (i.e. image of God, kingdom, Sabbath rest, judgment, and justice themes that only resolve in Christ) 2.Law reception (focusing on the impossibility of keeping the law apart from Christ) 3.Story completion (not just stories of individual people but also the story of the people of God, i.e. life through death, triumph through weakness) 4.Symbol fulfillment (i.e. Passover, bronze snake, prophets, priests, kings, sacrifices, temple, cleanliness laws) - Tim Keller

Session 8 – Jesus: The Faithful Teacher Q&A Time!