linda bass

Jesus as the Great Physician resonates with our broken world because, He is the only one able to heal us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually; making us whole in spirit and body.

In light of all the world's religions, Jesus can be the exclusive Way to God because, the blood He shed for us opened up a "new and living way" to the Father. This offends the world because, our society wants to believe there are many paths to God. However, the Scriptures clearly state that the only way to get to God is through accepting Christ as Savior. Since this is true, we can declare this truth to our generation by assuring them that Jesus is the Path that will lead them to joy in this life, in spite of trials and struggles, as well to eternal joy in the life to come.

The ways the rock images of Christ are attractive to our world is, Christians are like living stones being built into a spiritual house(the church) to be a holy priesthood. The way the rock images of Christ repels people is, they resent His divinity and absolute authority. The reason why is, they are too enamored with their own will to surrender to God's will. The ways I see Jesus as a Rock, Stone, and Foundation in my life are, He keeps me grounded in the faith. He is a sustaining fortress in the midst of conflict. I depend on His strength to help me make it through my Christian walk.

The characteristics of the "Good Shepherd" are 1]He knows all those who are His, 2]He watches over and protects those who are His, 3]He gave His life for us. How this contrasts with the "hired hand" is, the priests and religious leaders were supposed to care for God's people, but they only thought of themselves. We can demonstrate we are "good shepherds" rather than "hired hands" by reaching out and helping those in need.

How Jesus serves(like Boaz) as a Kinsman-Redeemer to us is, He came to earth as a servant to ransom us from the slavery of sin. What the idea of needing ransom implies about our condition is, it is impossible for us to pay what we owe on our sin debt. We have fallen so far into debt that it is impossible for us to ever be able to redeem ourselves. The redemption price that the Father paid for us was, the precious, holy blood of His Son which was shed upon the cross.

What it means to me personally that Jesus is the Friend of Sinners is, He loved me enough to shed His blood on the cross and to take the punishment for my sins that I deserved. How it should affect our relationships with people who are deep in sin is, we need to remember Jesus died for them as well and they also need a Savior.

The purpose of the Lord's Supper is to bring to mind Jesus' broken body; symbolized by the bread, cracker, or wafer, and the blood He shed on the cross for our sin; symbolized by the wine or grape juice. We should partake of the Lord's Supper often because we need to be reminded of what it cost God to redeem us from our sin. My church partakes of the Lord's Supper or communion as we refer to it on the 2nd Sunday of the month and on Good Friday. We partake in what is referred to as open communion. One doesn't have to be a member of the church to partake, but they must have accepted Jesus as Savior. Often it is easy to forget what Jesus has done for us on the cross because, the longer one has been a Christian the easier it becomes to take our salvation for granted.

Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God because, He would become the sacrifice for our sins. The degree that Jesus takes away are sin is, completely. Animal sacrifices could only cover up one's sin. That's why they to be repeated continually. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was once and for all. When we accept Jesus as Savior we are completely forgiven of all our past, present, and future sin. Jesus came to represent me as my sacrifice for sin when I admitted I was a sinner and accepted His blood sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins.

What Jesus' holiness and righteousness demands of our lives as His disciples is, that we be obedient to His commands and live holy lives. The primary characteristic of the sheep vs the goats was, the goats proclaimed Jesus as Lord but, their was no spiritual fruit in their life. The sheep showed their were true believers by reaching out and helping those in need.

The significance of Jesus "I Am" statements is, Jesus is declaring His divinity and oneness with the Father. The "I am" statement that means the most to me personally is, " I am the resurrection and the life" because He conquered death and the grave when He rose again on the third day.

The title "Only Begotten God" signifies Jesus' divinity by proclaiming, "God the one and only who is at His Father's side." We become sons and daughters of God when we are adopted into His family after we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. Jesus was God's Son from eternity. He has always existed and wasn't created like we were. What "only begotten" says about Jesus' status with the Father is, they are equal in divinity. About the costliness of the cross-the separation the Father had to endure, while His Son was dying on the cross for the sin of mankind.

God loved us so much that He was willing to send His Son to suffer and die a brutal death on a cross to save us from eternal punishment in hell. This doesn't make sense to our natural minds because no parent I know would willingly sacrifice their child for anyone, let alone the whole world. The only exception was when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham was willing to obey God because he believed God's promise that he would have many descendants. What this says about God's love for us is, He was willing to pay the ultimate price, the death of His Son, to ransom us from Satan's dark domain.

The way the title Son of God makes Jesus equal to the Father is, Jesus is God and shares in the divine nature. Dealing with the Son is the same as dealing with the father because they are one and the same. I know Jesus the Son of God as my Savior. Yes I love Him because He died for my sins and took the punishment that I deserved.

The chief priests and scribes were angry when the little children referred to Jesus as "son of David" because they were claiming Jesus was the awaited Messiah. The title "Son of David" signifies that Jesus' was a direct descendant of the Davidic line.

My favorite Messianic prophecy is Isaiah 9:6-9. The title that means the most to me is "Mighty God." This is because the Lord is powerful and reigns over creation and man.

The meaning of the words "Christ" and "Messiah is, "Anointed One". The Davidic Covenant influenced Messianic expectations in Jesus' day by causing intense expectations among the Jews. They were believing that a descendant of David would come as the Messiah do free them from Roman rule. During Jesus' time, every Jewish virgin was hoping to be the chosen one to give birth to the Messiah.

Jesus can be both the Man of Sorrows and one who finds joy in His Father because of His human nature. As humans we often experience sorrow, joy, and a wide range of other emotions. We can experience sorrow without it coming to dominate our life by accepting the fact it is only for a season and will soon pass.

The attributes that "one like a son of man" has in Daniel's prophecy are 1] resembles a man, 2] has a heavenly origin, 3] represents God, 4] receives authority, 5] is worshipped, and 6] possession of an everlasting kingdom. The way this personage possesses divine elements is, He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. He has the authority to have all peoples, nations, and every language worship Him because His kingdom will be everlasting. We know that Jesus identified Himself with this Son of Man in Daniel because, when the high priest asked Him if He was the Christ, Jesus replied that He was and in the future you would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.

Jesus' truth contrasts with my culture's dearly loved "truths" because His wisdom comes from the Father.. Jesus' wisdom differs from worldly wisdom because it is eternal and never changes. What would help me hold on to Jesus' truth and wisdom more effectively; spending more time in bible study and prayer.

Jesus is the Word of God in the sense that He was with God in the beginning, before the creation of the world. He is the Word because He came from the Father to become flesh and dwell among us. I think Jesus is called the Word of God because He is the personification of the written word brought to life. John called Jesus the Word of Life because he saw Jesus as fully divine, on the same level of divinity as the Father. What this says to us about the importance of hearing is, we need to take time to read and meditate on God's Word on a daily basis.

My relationship to Jesus as my Rabbi is, He is my Teacher and I am His disciple. I try to come to Jesus to teach me on a daily basis. I receive His teaching by reading and studying the bible, attending adult Sunday school at church, and being part of a small bible study group. I like to believe I am fairly teachable. I am open do learning from God's Word.

Praying in Jesus' name means that we pray in accordance to God's will. I end my prayers with the phrase "in Jesus' Name" because I am asking God to answer my petitions according to His will. Praying "in Jesus' name" limits what we pray for because, it prevents us from pressuring God into giving us what we selfishly desire.

The meaning of Jesus' name is linked to His mission because it is a Hebrew name of a compound word that means "Yahweh saves". Jesus' mission was to save His people from their sins. He came to destroy the power of sin. Jesus fulfilled His mission by dying on the cross, then rising from the dead 3 days later. Jesus fulfilled His mission in my life when I accepted Him as my Savior between the ages of 12 and 14.

The essential of Daniel's prayer was confession of sin and a plea for mercy. The various grounds of Daniel's appeal are 1] God's precedent-deliverance of Israel in the past, 2] God's glory, 3] God's righteousness, and 4] God's personal identification with Jerusalem. God answered Daniel's prayer by sending Gabriel to give him insight and understanding to explain a vision he had concerning future events.

Even though Daniel was a righteous man of his generation, he identifies with the sins of his people because he has placed himself in the middle of his nation's sins. As a member of a sinning nation, Daniel, in a sense, takes their sin upon himself. How this compares to how Jesus sought forgiveness for His people is, Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the world to save it. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse Himself.