FOCUSING
ON CHRIST I. TEXTUAL
THOUGHTS 1. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 - Jesus is of first importance. 2. John 1:1,14,18 - Jesus as the Word shows us the Father through his physical life. 3. John 6:68-69 - Only Jesus has the words of eternal life - How do we hear these words? 4. Colossians 2:1-10 - The Christian life is in Christ, not in fine, logical arguments of law. 5.
Philippians 3:7-11 - Everything else is worthless, except knowing Christ. II. MAIN
THEME - How do we know what God expects
from us today? In the past, God spoke through prophets, but now He speaks to us through His Son - Hebrew 1:1-2. How should we then live? We should not consider that we have a law to fulfill. Christ fulfilled the law! 1. The difference between the Old and the New Covenants, reveals a new focus for today: a. Under the Old Covenant, the Israelites had a plan - the law. Exodus 19:1-8 In their minds, it was necessary to keep the law perfectly - a righteousness of one's own. b. Under the New Covenant, we now have a man - Jesus. Colossians 2:16-19 Today, our righteousness comes from Him, not through our ability to keep law. Jeremiah 31:31-34; Philippians 3:7-9; Romans 3:21-23; Colossians 1:28-29 2. Why is Jesus the new focus for today? Why should we follow His example and depend on His perfection, instead of trying to keep law perfectly for our righteousness? a. Because we are not able to fulfill the requirements of law, but He did it perfectly - Romans 8:1-4; Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:44-49; Colossians 2:13-15 b. So, the requirements of law cannot be the focus because law cannot make us perfect: Hebrews 7:18-19; Galatians 3:10-12; Romans 7:4-6,9-11; Romans 5:20 c. Jesus is the focus because He can give us His righteousness through faith - Romans 7:24; Galatians 2:15-21; Galatians 3:13-14,21-27; Romans 5:17-19 3. How is Jesus our new focus? How should we look at Jesus to understand God's will? a. Look at Jesus' life - we see godliness - John 14:6-11; Colossians 2:9-10; 2 Peter 1:3
b. Look at Jesus' death - we see righteousness - Philippians 3:7-11; Romans 5:8-11 c. Look at Jesus' faith - we see faithfulness - Hebrews 12:1-3; Luke 22:42; 4. Therefore, we do not have a law book that we can use to justify ourselves, but a Savior, a man,
whose life is the Word of God to us - John 19:5; Colossians 1:15-20; 2 Peter
3:18 III.
APPLICATION 1. Practically, how do we follow what has been taught above? In essence, when a situation arises that we need to know God's will, instead of trying to find a law which says "do this" or
"don't do this," rather ask the question "What would Jesus
do?" Look at His life. 2. Theoretically, this allows Jesus
to be Lord of our lives, instead of our ability to comprehend and keep law. Matthew 7:21-23; John 6:68-69; Romans 6:23; 2 Timothy 4:7-8 3.
Spiritually, then eternal life is not based on keeping law, but on knowing
Jesus - John 17:3. IV. MEMORY
VERSE - Colossians
2:17
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