C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON FOR AUGUST 6, 2023 : LESSON 4: TOPIC – THE NECESSITY FOR REPENTANCE AND REGENERATION

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON PREVIEW CLASS

THEME: UNDERSTANDING OUR APOSTOLIC FOUNDATION

JULY – DECEMBER 2023

UNIT ONE: THE TRIUNE GOD COMES TO REDEEM US

6TH AUGUST 2023

LESSON 4

TOPIC: THE NECESSITY FOR REPENTANCE AND REGENERATION

MEMORY SCRIPTURE

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

To underscore the importance of repentance and regeneration above all, Jesus didn’t mince words in telling the well-respected Jewish leader, Nicodemus, that he couldn’t go anywhere near God, if he wasn’t born again!

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE: Acts Of The Apostles 2:38

OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, it is expected that the learners should:

i. have understood and be able to explain God’s provision for man concerning repentance and regeneration;

ii. be able to mention God’s expectation from man as regards regeneration and making heaven at last; and

iii. be able to explain the fate of those who reject Christ till the end.

INTRODUCTION

TEXTUAL SOURCE: GENESIS 3:1FF; 6:5; JOB 15:16; JEREMIAH 17:9; JOHN 3:16-21

Thank God for the successful completion of the first part of our discourse on T the utter depravity of human nature, the necessity for repentance and regeneration, and the eternal doom of the finally impenitent. We have discussed how God created man so perfectly before the Fall as well as what led man into the depraved state humanity has been plunged into. Is there still hope? The lesson for this week answers that.

The depravity of man notwithstanding, the gracious God wouldn’t allow man to be wasted just like that. His eternal love for man came to bear. Provision has been divinely made for man’s deliverance. How? Any conditions attached? Surprisingly, the same God that man offended and Who inflicted punishment on man still came down from His lofty height to bear the brunt and set the condemned man free. Whoa! Though, this provision of His is free, it is optional (Rev. 3:20), but highly consequential, if the offer is rejected. This is the thrust of this lesson.

LESSON OUTLINE

I. REPENTANCE AND REGENERATION: INDISPENSABLE

II. RECALCITRANCE BRINGS ETERNAL DOOM

LESSON EXPOSITION

1. REPENTANCE AND REGENERATION: INDISPENSABLE (Gen. 3:1ff; 6:5; Job 15:16; Jer. 17:9)

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5).

REPENTANCE means: The action of repenting; sincere regret or remorse.

REGENERATION is only found in Matthew 19:28 and Titus 3:5. This word literally means “new birth.” The Greek word so rendered (palingenesia) is used by classical writers with reference to the changes produced by the return of spring. In Matthew 19:28 the word is equivalent to the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21). In Titus 3:5 it denotes that change of heart elsewhere spoken of as a passing from death to life (1 John 3:14); becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17); being born again (John 3:5); a renewal of the mind (Romans 12:2); a resurrection from the dead (Ephesians 2:6); a being quickened (Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5).

John 3:14-15

3:14, 15 When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God sent a plague of snakes to punish the people for their rebel- lious attitudes. Those doomed to die from snakebite could be healed by obeying God’s command to look up at the elevated bronze snake and by believing that God would heal them if they did (see Numbers 21:8, 9). Similarly, our salvation happens when we look up to Jesus, believing he will save us. God has provided this way for us to be healed of sin’s deadly bite.

Genesis 3:14-19 Adam and Eve learned by painful experience that because God is holy and hates sin, he must punish sinners. The rest of the book of Genesis recounts painful stories of lives ruined as a result of the Fall. Disobedience is sin, and it breaks our fellowship with God. But, fortunately, when we disobey, God is willing to forgive us and to restore our relation- ship with him.

3:15 Satan is our enemy. He will do anything he can to get us to follow his evil, deadly path. The phrase “you will strike his heel” refers to Satan’s repeated attempts to defeat Christ during his life on earth. “He will strike your head” foreshadows Satan’s defeat when Christ rose from the dead. A strike on the heel is not deadly, but a blow to the head is. Already God was revealing his plan to defeat Satan and offer salvation to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ.

This is eternal REDEMPTION

2 Corinthians 7:10 Sorrow for our sins can result in changed behavior. Many people are sorry only for the effects of their sins or for being caught (sorrow “which lacks repentance”). Compare Peter’s remorse and repentance with Judas’s bitterness and act of suicide. Both denied Christ. One repented and was restored to faith and service; the other took his own life.

John 3:16 The message of the Good News comes to a focus in this verse. God’s love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in. Here God sets the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationships-when you love someone dearly, you are willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. God paid dearly with the life of his Son, the highest price he could pay. Jesus accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us the new life that he had bought for us. When we share the Good News with others, our love must be like Jesus’-will- ingly giving up our own comfort and security so that others might join us in receiving God’s love.

Some people are repulsed by the idea of eternal life because their lives are miserable. But eternal life is not an extension of a person’s miserable, mortal life; eternal life is God’s life embodied in Christ given to all believers now as a guarantee that they will live forever. In eternal life there is no death, sickness, enemy, evil, or sin. When we don’t know Christ, we make choices as though this life is all we have. In reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity. Receive this new life by faith and begin to evaluate all that happens from an eternal perspective.

3:16 To “believe” is more than intellectual agreement that Jesus is God. It means to put our trust and confidence in him that he alone can save us. It is to put Christ in charge of our present plans and eternal destiny. Believing is both trusting his words as reliable, and relying on him for the power to change. If you have never trusted Christ, let this promise of everlasting life be yours-and believe.

3:18 People often try to protect themselves from their fears by putting their faith in something they do or have: good deeds, skill or intelligence, money or possessions. But only God can save us from the one thing that we really need to fear-eternal condem- nation. We believe in God by recognizing the insufficiency of our own efforts to find salvation and by asking him to do his work in us. When Jesus talks about unbelievers, he means those who reject or ignore him completely, not those who have momentary doubts,

18:23 God is perfect love, but he also dispenses perfect justice. His perfect love causes him to be merciful to those who recognize their sin and turn back to him, but he cannot overlook those who willfully sin. Wicked people die both physically and spiritually. God takes no joy in their deaths; he would prefer that they turn to him and have eternal life. Likewise, we should not rejoice in the misfortunes of nonbelievers. Instead, we should do all in our power to bring them to faith.

II. RECALCITRANCE BRINGS ETERNAL DOOM (Jn. 3:16-21) He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (Jn. 3:18).

RECALCITRANCE

Oxford dictionary explained

recalcitrance as: ​unwilling to obey rules or follow instructions; difficult to control.

John 3:18

People often try to protect themselves from their fears by putting their faith in something they do or have: good deeds, skill or intelligence, money or possessions. But only God can save us from the one thing that we really need to fear-eternal condem- nation. We believe in God by recognizing the insufficiency of our own efforts to find salvation and by asking him to do his work in us. When Jesus talks about unbelievers, he means those who reject or ignore him completely, not those who have momentary doubts.

3:19-21 Many people don’t want their lives exposed to God’s light because they are afraid of what will be revealed. They don’t want to be changed. Don’t be surprised when these same people are threatened by your desire to obey God and do what is right, because they are afraid that the light in you may expose some of the darkness in their lives. Rather than giving in to discouragement, keep praying that they will come to see how much better it is to live in light than in darkness.

Some church workers leaders inclusive, are very difficult to control! They workers come to church anytime they want and they do not want anyone to condemned their attitude.

Some workers do not attend Sunday School while some pastors don’t lay down good example, his always busy to stay under the Sunday School with some irrelevant issues or something that can be postponed till later. You should not allow any situation to keep you away every Sunday.

Some members join the assembly without genuine repentance; some are even yet to understand the meaning of salvation. They just see the church as a social place due to some church programme that does not even centered on salvation. Leaders should be blamed.

We are counting total number of members without discovering their positions. We count all and believed all have been saved. Salvation is very important than numbers.

If you don’t preach salvation because you don’t want someone to go God will not forgive you.

Message of Salvation is what Jesus Christ handed over to the leaders not message of how to make wealth and other things. If you put wealth, and other things ahead of salvation you’re a stomach leader not divine appointed leader. SALVATION FIRST.

Our greatest gain is when people around us come to the knowledge of Christ not when we achieve gold and diamond. SALVATION FIRST.

The first leaders don’t preach wealth and their worldly achievement, they preach the gospel of Christ. They are even ready to die of anyone try to stop them. How many of us can do this today.

I need to commend the faith of most of our Christian leaders in northern part of Nigeria. Despite all the percussion from the other regions they are still preaching, serving and moving stronger. While majority of leaders here still abuse the grace to preach freely. We need to wake up and do the right thing now before it’s too late.

May God help us.

LESSONS DERIVED

1. God has provided the eternal Remedy for man’s malady. Don’t wait for the head to be chopped off before crying!

2. No man can bear the sorrow of being finally impenitent. It is better you repent and return to Christ for cleansing and consecration, NOW!

QUESTIONS

1. Define God’s provision and expectation from man as regards regeneration and making Heaven at last.

2. What would happen to anyone who refuses to come to Christ now till the rapture happens?