HAVE YOU HEARD…                           

ABOUT GOD’S PLAN?

Have you sensed God’s presence?

 

Why read the book of Genesis?  There have been many beginnings: the first plants and animals, the first man and woman, the first sin, the first news of God’s salvation.  It also shows God’s dealings with Noah, Abraham and others, demonstrating his desire to fellowship with his people.  From: The Quest Study Bible Introduction to the book.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  NIV Genesis 1:1.

For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  NIV Proverbs 2:6

Concerning Salvation:

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. NIV John 3:16-18.  

  

Concerning Man and Woman:

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.  NIV Genesis 1:26-27. 

Why read the book of Colossians?  Some people have been surprised to discover something new about a friend they thought they knew well.  That’s one of the exciting things about a relationship with Christ: there’s no limit to the things we can learn about him.  Reading Collossians is one way we can discover a few more things about Jesus and learn how we can honor him.  From: The Quest Study Bible Introduction to the book.

Concerning Your Earthly Nature:

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  ⁶Because of these,   the wrath of God is coming.  NIV Colossians 3:5-6.

Concerning Married Life:

¹Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to marry.  ²But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.  ³The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband.  In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. ⁵Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.  NIV 1 Corinthians 7:1-7.

Concerning Who You Marry:

Marriage is a sacred vow between a man and woman and the Bible offers many verses that offer guidance for married couples, husbands, wives, newlyweds and engagement. Read verses from the Holy Bible about marriage in relation to God, Jesus Christ, and the Christian faith.

Concerning Divorce:

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.  NIV Matthew 5:32.

³Some Pharisees came to him to test him.  They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”  ⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”  NIV Matthew 19:4-6.

The River of Life:

¹Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city.  On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.  And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign for ever and ever.  NIV Revelations 22:1-5.

John and the Angel:

⁶ The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true.  The Lord, the God of the spirits of  the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”  NIV Revelations 22:6

Jesus is Coming:

⁷“Behold, I am coming soon!  Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me.  ⁹But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

¹⁰Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.  ¹¹Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.”

¹²“Behold, I am coming soon!  My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.  ¹⁵Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.  I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!”  Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

¹⁸I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.  ¹⁹And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

²⁰He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.  Amen.  NIV Revelations 22:7-21.

The End

This I Have Heard!