Jesus: Raised as King: Study 09 in the series "Three Trees: The story of the whole Bible" in 10 studies.

When it comes to Jesus, the Bible teaches the miraculous! A virgin birth, walking on water, water into wine, feeding 5000 men with 5 loaves and two fish, raising the dead, healing the sick, casting out demons and believing in the resurrection.

Is it hard to believe in the resurrection of Jesus? Why?

Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen that Jesus is the son of Abraham but also the son of David, the promised King we’ve been expecting. Where all others have failed, only Jesus has obeyed God’s Word, an obedience demonstrated in his death. By his death for us, Jesus reverses all the curses of Eden: sin, death and separation from God are now all removed - there’s no condemnation left for us! Despite the unfaithfulness of his people, God is keeping his promises.

There’s just one small problem with these promises… how can a dead Jesus be the son of David who will reign forever over God’s people?

Jesus, The Coming King: Study 07 in the series "Three Trees: The story of the whole Bible" in 10 studies.
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After the Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple, they carried the people away into exile (597-586 BC).
Now expelled from God's presence and his blessing because of their sin; God now says nothing to them for 400 years.
We know that it was the unfaithfulness of God’s people that put them in this position. Israel stopped listening to God, so God stopped speaking. But what about God’s faithfulness to his promises? What about God’s promises to Abraham? And to David? Will he be unfaithful, in return?
Into that deafening silence, Matthew now speaks.

References:

• Matthew 1:1-28
• Matthew 28:19-20
• Hebrews 2:14-15
• Deuteronomy 22:23-24
• Isaiah 9:1-7

King Solomon, A Royal Failure: Study 05 in the series "Three Trees: The story of the whole Bible" in 10 studies.
With God’s promises to David in 2 Samuel 7, that a son of David would reign over God’s people as King forever and that David’s son would be the Son of God who built the temple, all eyes and expectations are now focused firmly on David’s son - King Solomon. If Solomon gets it right, all of God’s promises will be fulfilled!
References:

• 1 Kings 4:29-34
• 1 Kings 3:1-4
• 1 Kings 10:14-29
• 1 Kings 11:1-8, 12-13
• Compare Genesis 3:7 and 1 Kings 11:9-11
• Deuteronomy 17:14-17
• Matthew 6:19-34
• 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Abraham and the Promise: Study 3 in the series "Three Trees: The story of the whole Bible" in 10 studies.
When do you find it hardest to trust God? Are there certain times or seasons or events in your life where it has been hard to trust God?

We often read one story in the Bible that reminds us of elements in another story in the Bible. That’s what we are starting to see here in God’s promises to Abraham. The promises of blessing in Eden are now being repeated - and progressed. The Bible is a book that often repeats itself by establishing a pattern, and then repeating it, to advance the story towards fulfilment (Promise & Fulfilment).

For now the Scriptures tell us that Abram ‘believed God’s promises and it was credited to him as righteousness’, and that Abraham’s faith is how we need to respond to God’s promises to us in Jesus.

God the Maker & King: Study 1 in the series "Three Trees: The story of the whole Bible" in 10 studies.>

In wanting to understand the story of the whole Bible, the best place to start is… In the Beginning.

In the creation record, we notice the following pattern in Genesis 1:1-2:3.
• And God said: Let there be…
• God called…
• And it was so…
• And God saw that it was good…
• And there was evening and there was morning, the …. day.

In Genesis 1-2 we’ve already discovered our first two trees; the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 1:31 says God looks at his world and says it’s very good… but how would you describe the world you look at and live in?