L. UNDERSTANDING THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE

A young boy grew up in the South and had the love and care of his parents. However, when he went to school, his peers picked on, undermined, and rejected him. This created a longing for acceptance by his peers and family. He had heard Bible stories about God’s love but did not comprehend this and lived a life of trying to please people. This affected his marriage and parenting and resulted in his trying to control others. One period of his life when he felt like a failure, the experience of seeing the same love the Father had for Jesus was his love for him because of his relationship of faith with Jesus. He was filled with a new joy and hope.   A verse in the Bible that helped this was what he focused on.

Romans 5:5-9

⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

1. What does it mean at the right time?

2. What does ungodly mean?

3. Who do people decide to die for?

4. Who did Jesus Christ decide to die for?

5. How do you see that God demonstrated love?

6. What does it mean to be saved from God’s wrath?

7. What questions do you have about this?

1. What do you feel about God’s love for you?

2. How did you see he demonstrated it?

3. What will you do to escape the wrath to come?