THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF YOUR LIFE _ | a!62 Lifeclass THE BEST EXPERIENCE “Very truly | tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). This week, we will be learning about a man named Nicodemus. His conversation with the Lord Jesus is one of the most famous conver- sations in the world, and is found in John chapter 3. Nicodemus was a highly respected man in his day. A teacher of the law for both religious leaders and ordinary people, he was a man of morals. He fasted twice a week, prayed lengthy prayers, and was zealous for the Scriptures. Yet one night, he came to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." Jesus replied, “Very truly tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:2-3) Had the Lord given such a reply to Zacchaeus (the tax collector and thief (Luke 19:2-3a)), to Mary Magdalene (who had been delivered from seven demons (Luke 8:2)), or even to the thief who hung on the cross next to Him, His words may well have seemed reasonable to us. However, Jesus was speaking to a man of spiritual authority among the Jews - someone who appeared to be close to God. This proves that each and every one of us needs to be born again, re- gardless of who we are.Week 3 Day I5 63 What did Jesus mean when He said we must be born again? He was referring to the new nature we all need to receive through faith and the Word of God. In his book, Foundational Truths for Christian Living, Derek Prince uses the following analogy: “A corn seed produces corn; a barley seed produces barley; an orange seed produces an orange. Soitis also in the new birth. The seeds the divine, incorruptible, eternal Word of God. The life this produces, when received by faith into the heart of the believer, is like the seed - divine, incorruptible, eternal,"*5! That was what the Lord Jesus was teaching us when He said, ‘The Spirit gives birth to spirit” John 3:6b). Life in ruin life in ebundance Dryness Fullness SEED of the Word of God SEED of sin This is the new birth - we receive a seed in our hearts that produces new life in us. “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of Goo" (1 John 3:9). When we are born again, not just one part of our lives improves - we are made completely new. All that we are benefits from this change. This new nature opens the spiritual eyes of a believer and enables them to see the kingdom of heaven. That was why Jesus told Nico- demus that only by being born again could a person see the king- dom of heaven. You too have the opportunity to be born again, right here and now. The prophet Jeremiah taught us that the mercies of God are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). The most important thing in receiving His mercy is that we accept it by faith. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him64 LifeClass must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). What if | do not have faith? The Word teaches us that faith can be obtained; this means that it does not matter if you feel you do not have enough faith yet. As you read the Word of God, faith will be born in your heart, because “..faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). Live the Lesson 1. Since coming to church, have you met anyone whose life reflects genuine faith? What outcomes have you seen in their life as a result of their faith? }) Remember the Lesson Z We all need to be born again. Study the Word CpPsaim 27 (CPsaim 28 (CPsaim 29 (Proverbs 15 (J John 18Week 3 Day 16 65 DAY 16 RECOVERING OUR SIGHT In The Glass Castle: a Memoir; the author and journalist, Jeannette Walls, tells the story of her upbringing. She reveals that her family were both deeply dysfunctional and somewhat colorful in their outlook on life. Her father was 2 highly intelligent man, but he was an alcoholic. Rare- ly sober, he became a dishonest and destructive person Her mother was a “free spirit.” who fought against the idea of domestic life and institutions, and did not want the responsibility of raising a family. As a result, the chil- dren learned to fend for themselves. They fed themselves, dressed themselves, and looked out for each other. in her book, Jeannette speaks about the time when her sister, Lori, got her first pair of glasses, The nurse at schoo! test- ed her vision and told her mother that Lori was incredibly short-sighted. At first, her mother refused to buy her glass- es, but the nurse said that without them, she would not be allowed to continue at school. When Lori finally received her glasses, she looked around in amazement. She imme- diately ran outside and started to marvel at the sight of the trees and the individual leaves on each of the branches. Jeannette asked her what she was looking at. Lori started to cry; she cried because of the beauty of what she was66 LifeClass seeing, and she cried because of all that she had been missing up until that day. Something similar happens when we are born again. Our spiritual eyes are opened and we start to see the world in a completely new way. Just as we had to go through physical birth to enter the world, we also need to experience spiritual birth to enter the kingdom of heav- en. New birth can only take place when we accept Christ in our hearts as our only Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings about new birth; through our faith, He births the spiritual life of a new person in us. Physical birth is only the first step in life and should lead us toward the next: the birth of our spiritual nature, Only when this happens do we attain the right to become children of God. That is when our spiritual eyes are opened and we can clearly see the kingdom of heaven, When our spiritual eyes are opened The Bible tells us about a man named Paul, who was formerly known as Saul of Tarsus. He had made it his mission and passion in life to find everyone who followed Jesus and put them in prison. Yet while he was on his way to persecute the believers in Damascus, he had an encounter with Jesus Himself. “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked, “lam Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied” (Acts 93-5)Week 3 Day 16 67 Paul was completely blind when he got up from this encounter - he had no idea whether he would ever be able to see again. Three days later, however, God sent a man narned Ananias to come and pray for him. Once Ananias had prayed, Paul recovered his sight. This is a clear example of what happens in the life of a believer when they encounter the true light - Jesus Christ. Jesus is so pure and so holy in nature that when someone sees Him, His light causes all darkness to leave. The person becomes blind to sin and their spiritual eyes are opened to a world they had never known before, Once, when Paul was sharing the gospel with a proconsul, a false prophet confronted him in an attempt to keep the governor from the faith, Paul was able to see that there were evil spirits operating through the false prophet; he rebuked them so that the proconsul could come to faith (Acts 13:4-12). Without having experienced the new birth, Paul would have found it impossible to understand what was happening, and much less, to have known how to deal with the situation. New birth was immediate in Paul and the change in him was dra- matic. Everything he had been, his priorities, and his reason for liv- ing, changed cornpletely after a genuine encounter with Jesus. Live the Lesson 1. What is the biggest change you have experienced since coming to know Jesus?68 Lifeclass (CJeslam 30 (Jseohn 19 Study the Word (Jpsalm 31 (JProverbs 16Week 3 Dayi7 69 CREATED TO GROW “Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion. it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.) Billy Graham Take a moment to think about the life of a baby, It is a wonderful thing when a child is born! The parents get excited and spend nine months preparing for the arrival of a new family member. But what would happen if their baby did not grow? No parent wants that for their child! Our goal is similar as children of God. Billy Graham once wrote: “The goal of a chila's life is maturity - and the goal of a Christian's life is spiritual maturity [see Hebrews 6:1]. (..] Don't let anything - or anyone - stand in the way of your growth in Christ: [...] Never forget: Goo's will is for us to become more like Christ.) How does a baby grow? They often feed every two to three hours. Peter encourages us to desire spiritual food just as a baby craves milk (1 Peter 2:2). As you study this book and read the Bible every day, you will see great things begin to happen in your life. Here are some examples of what will take place:70 LifeClass 1, You will be cleansed (Psalm 119:9). 2. You will be sanctified (set apart for God) (John 17:17). 3. You will be built up (Deuteronomy 12:28), 4. You will have power to overcome the devil (1 John 2:13). Reading the Bible is like entering a warehouse full of seeds. We know that seeds in storage do not bear fruit - they need to be planted in good soil if they are to become fruitful. Our hearts are that good soil. How can we plant those good seeds in our hearts? By reading and listening to the Word of God. As you read the Bible, certain verses will stand out and catch your attention. It is as if a light goes on and you realize that those verses are a specific word from God for your life. How many have been healed, simply because they un- derstood the passages in the Word of God that speak about divine healing? How many have received deliverance, simply because they understood a promise from God? Personally, | used to find it so hard to understand the principle of prosperity; | used to think that God blesses us in some areas and not in others; but when God lifted the veil, everything changed. | understood that His promises were for my life. Any of God's children can have that same realization, and that is when the Word takes on power and fulfills the full purpose for which God has sent it Peter said that God gave us “..his very great and precious promises, So that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4). When a promise is made real in our lives, we experience the incredible power of God and we become partakers in His divine nature. In other words, we take on a holy nature. Contact with the Word of God not only brings us closer to Him, it also distances us from the corruption of the world. -Week 3_ Day 17 n Live the Lesson Read the following verses and describe the effects that come from studying the Word!?*! 1. When Jeremiah fed on God's Word, what did it become to him? (Jeremiah 15:16). 2. How important were God's words to Job? (Job 23:12) 3. How can a young person lead a clean life? (Psalm 119:9) 4, What two results does God's Word produce in young people when it lives in them? (1 John 2:14). ) Remember the Lesson The Word of God transforms me so that the nature of God can be formed in me and I can become more like Jesus. Study the Word (psalm 32 (Psalm 33 CProverbs 17 ()sohn 20 ()sohn 2172 LifeClass A NEW HEART “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24) The apostle James wrote, "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he create” (James 1:18). God has left the door open so that all who so desire can be born into a spiritual life. New birth implies letting go of our nature affected by sin so that our spirit can flourish in the kingdom of heaven Through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord said, “/ will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: | will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And | will out my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). We cannot have two hearts at the same time; no one can pour part of their heart out before God and another part toward sin. Anyone who is with God hates sin, and anyone who enjoys sinning does not follow God. The Lord promises us a new heart and a new spirit. ioWeek 3 Day 18 73 When we receive these, God removes our hard heart and rebellious spirit. The spirit we receive is the Spirit of God Himself. Paul understood this when he said, “Don’t you know that you your- selves are God's temple and that Goo's Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). The Spirit of God is the One who helps us under- stand the Scriptures, who gives us the strength to obey them, and who prepares the atmosphere so that His promises can be fulfilled. Proof of a new heart As we read in Ezekiel 36:26, when God creates a new heart in us, He also gives us a genuine love for the Word of God - not only to read it, but also to put it into practice. After having read the Bible through some one hundred times with increasing delight, the preacher and missionary, George Muller, made this statement: “I consider it a fost day when I haven't had a good time over the Word of God. Friends often say, “! have so much to do, so many people to see, | cannot find time for Scrip- ture study.” “Perhaps there are not many who have more to do than |. For more than half a century I have never known one day when / had! not more business than | could get through. For four years, | have had annually about 30,000 letters, and most of these have passed through my own hands. “Then, as pastor of a church with 1,200 believers, great has been my care. Besides, ! have had charge of five immense orphanages; also, at my publishing depot, the printing and circulating of millions of tracts, books, and Bibles, but | have always made it a rule never to74 LifeClass begin work until | have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing | have received has been wonderful, "27 This insight into his life helps us understand his triumphs in the faith and his ministerial fruit. As believers, it is important that we allow the Word of God to pen- etrate to the very depths of our being. It is His Word that will guide us, change us and help us in all our needs. The Word also removes the desire we used to have to do the things we used to do. Perhaps it was easy for you to spend hours in front of the television or on social media, sirnply wasting time. God will give you new priorities and you will be able to say like Moses, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Live the Lesson |. According to John 12:24, what does it mean to die? 2. Pray and ask God to show you if you need to die to anything that is not allowing you to move forward in your life of faith, and write it down. 3. Commit to letting go of the things God is asking you to leave behind. Write down your commitment in your own words. r.©+~COWeeks Day 18 75 Remember the Lesson God has given me a new heart. Study the Word Cpsaim 34 (Cproverbs 18 = (J Acts1 DaActs 276 LifeClass BORN INTO HOLINESS “When we are born again, [...] the Spirit of holiness is planted in us as a Seed,"t**) Joyce Meyer It is not always easy to fully comprehend how the new birth works. That was how Mary felt when an angel told her that she was going to conceive the Savior of the world. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since | am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of Goo" (Luke 1:34-35). We are made one with the Holy Spirit when we decide to become one with God. He is a complete gentleman and will never force things; He will not enter a person's life uninvited. He will only act in accordance with our faith in the Word of God. By means of the simple act of believing in the Scriptures and desiring their fulfillment in us, the Holy Spirit will come upon us and give birth to anew, holy nature in us. This means He will give us the legal right to become children of God. TWeek 3__ Day 19 7 Every believer must have their own experience The Lord said to Nicodemus, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tel! where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Sometimes the wind is strong like a hurricane, laying waste to every- thing in its path; at other times, the wind is calm and gentle. It is the same with the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, strong emotions accompany salvation; at other times, the person does not even realize at what point their new birth took place. Being born again means we receive a new life as soon as we ac- cept Christ in our hearts as our personal Lord and Savior. Jesus said, “/ have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b). The Holy Spirit bears witness to the creation of the new man When we are born again, the Holy Spirit sows the life of Christ in us; this seed grows and develops, becoming progressively evident in our lives. The new birth carries the seal of the Holy Spirit, meaning it cannot be invalidated or revoked (2 Corinthians 1:22). God Himself seals every new believer with His Spirit, guaranteeing them eternal life and a heavenly inheritance, which we will attain when we go to be with the Father. We must therefore avoid grieving the Holy Spirit. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). When we are born into a new life in Christ, we receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. As @ result, our priorities change and everything in life takes on new meaning. We should make it our goal to daily main- tain a passion for holiness so that the Holy Spirit can clothe us with power.78 LifeCiass Live the Lesson 1. Find somebody at church who has been born again and ask thern about their experience. i wa \ By } Remember the Lesson SD The Holy Spirit is the One who gives us new birth, Study the Word (JPsaim 35 (JProverbs19 [_JActs 3 ODacts 4Week z Day 20 79 BORN OF THE SPIRIT “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Birth is the beginning of life; to be born again is to begin anew, as those who had been living amiss or to little purpose. We need a new nature, new principles, new affections and new aims. By our first birth we are corrupt, shaped in sin and iniquity; we need to become new creations, This new birth comes from heaven. A major change takes place by the power of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner - this means that something happens inside us and in our favor, something that would be impossible to bring about ourselves. The wind blows wherever it pleases, and God directs it. The Spirit dispenses His influences where, and when, on whom, and in what measure and degree He pleases.”*! Paul explained that Jesus is the second Adam when he said, “The first man Adam became a living being”: the last Adam, a life-giving spirit” ( Corinthians 15:45), He was speaking about the nature that must die in us (the living soul that reigned through “! want,” “/ feel,” "! think”), and the nature that needs to come to life in our old nature's place (the living spirit which reigns in us through the80 LifeClass surrender of our will and our acceptance of the will of God in our lives). When Jesus rose from the grave, He was given the right to give life to all who believe in Him. Given that His Spirit gave us life and He is the One who lives in us, we too have His power to release life through the Word of God. We are called to be like Him in this world. Just as a child picks up habits and expressions from their parents, we also acquire the nature of our heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:49). We find a clear example of this in the Bible when we read about the story of Jesus' arrest. The people started to ask Peter (one of the twelve disciples) if he was a follower of Jesus, Although he tried to conceal his identity, it was very hard for him to hide who he was, because his accent was incredibly similar to that of his Teacher (Matthew 26:73). When Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, the Lord appeared to him and said, “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts. 9:41). Jesus was identifying Himself with those who had decided to serve Him and who were being persecuted. “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in vic~ tory” (I Corinthians 15:53-54), The process of sanctification is made possible when we understand the power of the cross, because it is through the cross that the Lord has given us complete victory over our human nature. When we are able to die to the flesh and truly feel what Jesus felt on the cross, we will be able to live a renewed life. God has given us victory over death because His life absorbs the power of death, first spiritually and then physically.Week 3 _ Day 20 al Live the Lesson Read the passage and answer the questions below. ‘Yesus answered, “Very truly | teil you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unfess they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases, You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8) 1. When we are born again, we have access to enter into 2. The only way to be born again is through 3. Being born of the Spirit means that you are no longer the one directing your own life and you depend completely on the di- rection of the Holy Spirit instead, What will you do this week to help you depend completely on Him?82 LifeClass Remember the Lesson The Spirit gives birth to spirit. Study the Word CPsaim 36 (Proverbs 20 [_JActs 5 Dacts 6Week 3 Day 21 83 A LIFE OF FAITH "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead, The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (Corinthians 15:42-44a) What happens in the natural also takes place in the spiritual. Fruit has to emerge from inside the seed; but to allow this to happen, the seed needs to be deposited in the ground, so that it can be broken and die. Your life is like a seed that is deposited in the hands of the Lord as a living offering, holy and pleasing to the Lord. God begins to work with you in the deepest parts of your heart, until you expe- rience complete detachment from your carnal nature. That is when you can see things from another point of view. "Not alll flesh 's the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another” (1 Corinthians 15:40). We can compare this to the fact that there are also different types of believers: spiritual believers and earthly “believers.” Earthly believers may well go to church, but have not hada84 Lifeclass genuine experience of God. Spiritual believers are guided by the Holy Spirit, while earthly believers are directed by their own opinions. The former walk by faith while the latter walk by logic, A heavenly person always reflects the image of Jesus. One of the ways in which the devil works is by presenting people with what is contrary to the plan of God for their lives. However, God clothes every true believer with a new nature when they are born again into a new life - a nature that is completely different from that of their old life. We find the following examples of this in the Bible: * Abraham: He went from being a father without any children to being a father of many nations (Genesis 17:3-5). * Jacob: Though once a deceiver, he became a prince with God (Genesis 32:27-28). * Moses: He was such a violent person that he killed a man, but he went on to become the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12:3). * Job: Once a person full of fears, he learned to place all his trust in God (Job 13:15) + Hannah: She was barren, but God made her the mother of Samuel - one of the greatest prophets in the Bible (1 Samuel 120) * David: God made this simple shepherd the king over all Israel (1 Samuel 13:14), He was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). A glance at the life of Oral Roberts The evangelist and preacher Oral Roberts was a pioneer in the use of media for the sake of the gospel. He founded both the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and the Oral Roberts University in Oklaho- ma. His ministry became farnous because of the way in which the Holy Spirit moved through healings and miracles.Week 3 Day 21 85 Before he became known as a great pioneer in modern day Christianity, there were people who said: * “Oral Roberts will never be a preacher. In fact, he can’t even speak without stuttering.” * “Oral Roberts will never amount to much because his family is so poor.” + “His healing ministry will last only two months because no- body is doing what he is doing in ministry.” * “Oral Roberts University will never be built because Oral Rob- erts doesn’t know how to build a university.” Many people may have said many things about Oral Roberts, but what really mattered to him was what God said, Through the proph- et Isaiah, the Lord said, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, s0 are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). When we believe in the promises of God, ex- traordinary things can happen. Roberts wrote, “! decided to believe God'’s thoughts about me and go for something higher than what others had planned for me. The results have been miraculous!) Oral Roberts met God through a very difficult situation indeed. As a high school sophomore, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was told that he was already in the last stages of the horrible dis- ease. In 1935, there was no medical cure. Oral spent five months bat- tling death, until his sister, Jewel, said seven words to him that would change him forever: “Oral, God is going to heal you.*! God did heal him and he became one of the men most used by God in his time. Oral Roberts learned to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. The new birth produces a nature of faith in us. It was the seed of faith that produced healing in Oral Roberts’ life. The voice of the Holy Spirit later spoke to his heart and said, “You are to build Me a university. Build it on My authority and! on the Holy Spirit"! Today, Oral Roberts University is one of the most renowned Christian uni- versities in the world86 LifeClass Live the Lesson 1. What has the Holy Spirit spoken to your heart? What new dreams has He placed in your life? Remember the Lesson New birth allows us to hear the voice of God, which changes everything. Study the Word (JPsalm 37 (Jproverbs 21 (_JActs7