Know: Review the process whereby we are clothed with Christ in baptism and become heirs to Christ’s kingdom.
Feel: Sense the intimacy of a child/parent relationship to the Father through the Spirit of Christ in our hearts.
Do: Live as a child of God—no longer a restrained minor under the law but free to accept the full rights of inheritance.
Learning Outline:
Know: Heirs, Clothed in Christ
How does baptism in Christ mark us as a child of God?
Why was it necessary for Christ to be born of a woman, under law, in order to free us to become His children and heirs?
Feel: Abba, My Father
How does the Spirit in our hearts evoke the loving, informal intimacy between a father and a child who is beloved and knows it?
What experiences bring about such warm, trusting love?
Do: Heirs of the Kingdom
How might we who have been God’s children slide back into the slavery of works in exchange for favor?
How do we daily clothe ourselves in the death and resurrection of Christ?
How does our daily to-do list reflect our status as God’s children and inheritors of His kingdom?
Summary: As we live Christ’s life, we are called children of God. We address the Father lovingly and intimately, with all the rights of those who inherit Christ’s kingdom because of His gifts and not because of our own merits.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ were God’s means of setting human beings free from the power of sin and death and returning us to a right relationship with Himself. We are called to live free in Christ.
Just for Teachers: The following true story reminds us that the freedom given to us by God through Christ is one of the most precious gifts possessed by fallen human beings and should be celebrated as such.
In April 2002 Ray Krone, a former death-row inmate, became the 100th prisoner in the United States to be exonerated by DNA evidence since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Krone had spent more than ten years in prison for a murder he had not committed.
How did Krone spend his first day of freedom? He ate steak and went for a swim in a hotel pool, letting out a shriek of exultation as the cold water enveloped him. Almost immediately after his release he began decrying the weaknesses in the justice system that had caused him to lose faith. Krone had been sentenced not once but twice for the same crime, the final time to life in prison.
When asked how he planned to rebuild his life, Krone responded, “I don’t think about rebuilding. I think about starting over. I have a brand-new life, brand-new dreams. . . . I don’t want to be negative, vengeful, or angry. I don’t have time for that.”
Consider This: Ask the class to consider the following questions: What does freedom in Christ look like? How can we tell when that freedom is genuine and when it is not—if that is at all possible? What deep truth about our new life in Christ is revealed by Krone’s words about starting over?
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: As this week’s lesson makes clear, Old Testament prophets faced the difficult task of exposing the hidden—and not so hidden—sins of people who often claimed to be worshiping the true God.
Bible Commentary
I. Dead Indeed (Read Romans 6:1–11, Galatians 3:26, and 1 Corinthians 12:13 with your class.)
This week’s lesson outlines the crucial role that baptism plays in the extreme makeover of the sinner’s life. According to Sunday’s study, it represents a “radical decision to unite our lives with Christ.”
In Romans 6:4, the apostle Paul thickens the meaning of baptism’s significance. He describes the process as being “buried with Him through baptism into death” (NKJV). This is often one of the most difficult concepts to grasp—that through baptism one has truly died to his or her old way of life. Yet, this understanding is the predicate of Galatians 3:26.
The believer’s death to sin in baptism is as real and complete as Christ’s literal death. As the emergence of Christ from the grave signaled a total rebirth, so our emergence from the watery grave of baptism signals a new way of life in Christ.
Baptism represents a union with Christ. Paul notes: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13, NKJV).
Consider This: Why do many believers struggle to accept the totality of their death in Christ? How are we to understand the fact that although we are dead to sin, certain sins continue to challenge us? How does Satan use this tension between the old and new lives to discourage the believer?
II. Even the Power? (Review Galatians 4:7 and Matthew 4:4–11 with your class.)
One of the truly awe-inspiring aspects of Jesus’ ministry on earth was the raw exercise of His mastery over Satan, beginning with the temptation He endured in the wilderness (Matt. 4:4–11). As the author makes clear in this week’s study, because we are joint heirs with Christ, whatever belongs to Him belongs to us—even His power. Part of the freedom offered by Christ is a growing capacity to resist and put away sin in all of its forms. God adopted us from the “bondage to sin.”
Think for a moment about Satan’s inability to succeed with Jesus on any front, as described here by Ellen G. White: “When Jesus came into the world, Satan’s power was turned against Him. From the time when He appeared as a babe in Bethlehem, the usurper worked to bring about His destruction. In every possible way he sought to prevent Jesus from developing a perfect childhood, a faultless manhood, a holy ministry, and an unblemished sacrifice. But he was defeated. He could not lead Jesus into sin. He could not discourage Him, or drive Him from a work He had come on earth to do. From the desert to Calvary, the storm of Satan’s wrath beat upon Him, but the more mercilessly it fell, the more firmly did the Son of God cling to the hand of His Father, and press on in the bloodstained path. All the efforts of Satan to oppress and overcome Him only brought out in a purer light His spotless character.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 759.
Consider This: Many Christians do not believe that through Jesus they, too, can be victorious over the wiles of Satan. What prevents them from experiencing freedom from the power of certain sins? Are they destined to struggle forever? Explain.
III. Paul’s Living Witness (Read Galatians 3:28, 4:12 with your class.)
This week’s study closes with Paul’s plea that the new Galatian believers not return to the “weak and beggarly elements” that once enslaved them (Gal. 4:9, NKJV). To Paul, a return to past legalism would be akin to going back to pagan worship.
Paul urges his Gentile audience to “become like me, for I became like you” (Gal. 4:12). Hidden in this seemingly sentimental language is the truth that Paul revealed in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NKJV). As we’ll find out in next week’s study, Paul actually adopted some Gentile customs and ways of life.
One can only begin to imagine how this statement fell on the ears of Paul’s Jewish listeners. Paul emphatically rejects any separation between himself and the Gentiles. First Corinthians 9:21 states that Paul became like a Gentile so that perchance he might lead some to Christ: “to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law” (NKJV).
Paul’s freedom in Christ had stripped away parochialism and opened him to share the love of God far and wide.
Consider This: How should we go about modeling the unity that we share with all of God’s children?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: As adopted sons and daughters of God, we must learn the life of the Father, what it means to abide in Him (John 15:1–7), and what it means to share His love with lost family members (Matt. 28:18–20).
Thought Questions:
What roles do our devotional lives play in maintaining our freedom in Christ? Read Mark 1:35–39. What do these verses tell us about the devotional life of Jesus and how that life informed His moment-by-moment decision-making?
Why do some believers doubt the reality of their adoption in Christ? How might our past relationships with sin sometimes sabotage our future relationships with our Father?
Application Questions:
How do we reconcile freedom in Christ with the Bible’s teaching on subjects such as modesty of dress, Christian behavior, and health reform? What are we free and/or not free to do?
In what ways should we remain childlike in our Christian walk? In what ways should we grow up into fully mature sons and daughters of God?
Questions for Witnessing:
“The disciples were to be colaborers with their Redeemer in the work of saving the world.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 818. What does our willingness to work for the salvation of lost brothers and sisters say about our love for the Father?
Read the parable of the great supper found in Luke 14:15–24. Jesus commands His servants to “go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (vs. 23, NKJV). Why is the Father so desirous of sharing His largesse with as many people as possible? How do we “compel” people to come to the great adoption celebration?
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Share the following message with your students and ask them how they would apply the truths learned this week to meet the need of the struggling heart of the person referred to below. Ask your students to make a list of things they would say to this person.
Someone posted the following cry for help on a Christian Web site: “Sometimes God just feels like He’s a galaxy away from me. I guess my past sins just keep haunting me. I can’t seem to forget them. And just when I think it is under control, and I won’t do it again, BOOM! There it goes again. I mess up. It’s like the devil’s taunting me: ‘You thought you could get away? You can’t!’ And sometimes I feel that way. That I have sunk so low, so far from God’s grace, that I can’t get back. I know that it isn’t true, that God meets you wherever you are, but I sometimes wonder if He really hears me.”
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Key Text: Galatians 4:7
The Student Will:
Learning Outline:
Summary: As we live Christ’s life, we are called children of God. We address the Father lovingly and intimately, with all the rights of those who inherit Christ’s kingdom because of His gifts and not because of our own merits.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ were God’s means of setting human beings free from the power of sin and death and returning us to a right relationship with Himself. We are called to live free in Christ.
Just for Teachers: The following true story reminds us that the freedom given to us by God through Christ is one of the most precious gifts possessed by fallen human beings and should be celebrated as such.
In April 2002 Ray Krone, a former death-row inmate, became the 100th prisoner in the United States to be exonerated by DNA evidence since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Krone had spent more than ten years in prison for a murder he had not committed.
How did Krone spend his first day of freedom? He ate steak and went for a swim in a hotel pool, letting out a shriek of exultation as the cold water enveloped him. Almost immediately after his release he began decrying the weaknesses in the justice system that had caused him to lose faith. Krone had been sentenced not once but twice for the same crime, the final time to life in prison.
When asked how he planned to rebuild his life, Krone responded, “I don’t think about rebuilding. I think about starting over. I have a brand-new life, brand-new dreams. . . . I don’t want to be negative, vengeful, or angry. I don’t have time for that.”
Consider This: Ask the class to consider the following questions: What does freedom in Christ look like? How can we tell when that freedom is genuine and when it is not—if that is at all possible? What deep truth about our new life in Christ is revealed by Krone’s words about starting over?
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: As this week’s lesson makes clear, Old Testament prophets faced the difficult task of exposing the hidden—and not so hidden—sins of people who often claimed to be worshiping the true God.
Bible Commentary
I. Dead Indeed (Read Romans 6:1–11, Galatians 3:26, and 1 Corinthians 12:13 with your class.)
This week’s lesson outlines the crucial role that baptism plays in the extreme makeover of the sinner’s life. According to Sunday’s study, it represents a “radical decision to unite our lives with Christ.”
In Romans 6:4, the apostle Paul thickens the meaning of baptism’s significance. He describes the process as being “buried with Him through baptism into death” (NKJV). This is often one of the most difficult concepts to grasp—that through baptism one has truly died to his or her old way of life. Yet, this understanding is the predicate of Galatians 3:26.
The believer’s death to sin in baptism is as real and complete as Christ’s literal death. As the emergence of Christ from the grave signaled a total rebirth, so our emergence from the watery grave of baptism signals a new way of life in Christ.
Baptism represents a union with Christ. Paul notes: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13, NKJV).
Consider This: Why do many believers struggle to accept the totality of their death in Christ? How are we to understand the fact that although we are dead to sin, certain sins continue to challenge us? How does Satan use this tension between the old and new lives to discourage the believer?
II. Even the Power? (Review Galatians 4:7 and Matthew 4:4–11 with your class.)
One of the truly awe-inspiring aspects of Jesus’ ministry on earth was the raw exercise of His mastery over Satan, beginning with the temptation He endured in the wilderness (Matt. 4:4–11). As the author makes clear in this week’s study, because we are joint heirs with Christ, whatever belongs to Him belongs to us—even His power. Part of the freedom offered by Christ is a growing capacity to resist and put away sin in all of its forms. God adopted us from the “bondage to sin.”
Think for a moment about Satan’s inability to succeed with Jesus on any front, as described here by Ellen G. White: “When Jesus came into the world, Satan’s power was turned against Him. From the time when He appeared as a babe in Bethlehem, the usurper worked to bring about His destruction. In every possible way he sought to prevent Jesus from developing a perfect childhood, a faultless manhood, a holy ministry, and an unblemished sacrifice. But he was defeated. He could not lead Jesus into sin. He could not discourage Him, or drive Him from a work He had come on earth to do. From the desert to Calvary, the storm of Satan’s wrath beat upon Him, but the more mercilessly it fell, the more firmly did the Son of God cling to the hand of His Father, and press on in the bloodstained path. All the efforts of Satan to oppress and overcome Him only brought out in a purer light His spotless character.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 759.
Consider This: Many Christians do not believe that through Jesus they, too, can be victorious over the wiles of Satan. What prevents them from experiencing freedom from the power of certain sins? Are they destined to struggle forever? Explain.
III. Paul’s Living Witness (Read Galatians 3:28, 4:12 with your class.)
This week’s study closes with Paul’s plea that the new Galatian believers not return to the “weak and beggarly elements” that once enslaved them (Gal. 4:9, NKJV). To Paul, a return to past legalism would be akin to going back to pagan worship.
Paul urges his Gentile audience to “become like me, for I became like you” (Gal. 4:12). Hidden in this seemingly sentimental language is the truth that Paul revealed in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NKJV). As we’ll find out in next week’s study, Paul actually adopted some Gentile customs and ways of life.
One can only begin to imagine how this statement fell on the ears of Paul’s Jewish listeners. Paul emphatically rejects any separation between himself and the Gentiles. First Corinthians 9:21 states that Paul became like a Gentile so that perchance he might lead some to Christ: “to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law” (NKJV).
Paul’s freedom in Christ had stripped away parochialism and opened him to share the love of God far and wide.
Consider This: How should we go about modeling the unity that we share with all of God’s children?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: As adopted sons and daughters of God, we must learn the life of the Father, what it means to abide in Him (John 15:1–7), and what it means to share His love with lost family members (Matt. 28:18–20).
Thought Questions:
Application Questions:
Questions for Witnessing:
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Share the following message with your students and ask them how they would apply the truths learned this week to meet the need of the struggling heart of the person referred to below. Ask your students to make a list of things they would say to this person.
Someone posted the following cry for help on a Christian Web site: “Sometimes God just feels like He’s a galaxy away from me. I guess my past sins just keep haunting me. I can’t seem to forget them. And just when I think it is under control, and I won’t do it again, BOOM! There it goes again. I mess up. It’s like the devil’s taunting me: ‘You thought you could get away? You can’t!’ And sometimes I feel that way. That I have sunk so low, so far from God’s grace, that I can’t get back. I know that it isn’t true, that God meets you wherever you are, but I sometimes wonder if He really hears me.”