Bible Study: “The Heart of A Christian”
Glen Dawursk, Jr. – www.yuthguy.com
Leader’s Script
When God created us, he
created us with one purpose; He desired a relationship with us. This relationship was based upon love for
us. In essence God wanted to love us and
He wanted us to love Him. Our heart was
one with God at creation and God was praised through this holy, pure
relationship.
But his Heart became broken
when sin ruined that relationship. I
image that God cried over the loss His us.
He cries over us still today.
Even Jesus cried for us in the Garden of Eden.
But, man’s evil changed the
heart God had created in His image. And
His heart became even more broken.
Genesis 6:5-8
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and
that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was
filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have
created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move
along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made
them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
God
was hurting and had decided to start over, yet because of the righteous heart
of just one man and his family, God changed His mind. Noah was that man. When the boat came to rest on
Genesis 8:21
The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again
will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his
heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living
creatures, as I have done.
God wanted to have a
relationship still with man, but sin kept getting in the way.
The Children of Israel were
allowed by God to become slaves in
Exodus 7:13
Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not
listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
Amazingly, there is still
only one sin that is NOT forgiven by God when we die and that is the “hardening
of our heart toward God; the rejection of His love relationship with us.”
But God doesn’t give up His
people. Like a love letter, He wrote on
the hearts of His people His desires and His wants. We call this our “conscience.”
Romans 2:14-15
(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required
by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the
law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their
hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now
accusing, now even defending them.)
But just like many people do
today, the Children of Israel suppressed their conscience many times throughout
the Old Testament. They rejected the
relationship often. That is one of the
reasons they roamed for 40 years in the desert.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith
and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come
through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot
iron.
Titus 1:15
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are
corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and
consciences are corrupted.
The Israelites couldn’t keep
their commitment to God. So when Moses
has a really bad headache, God sent up
But God still wanted a
relationship with His people. He wanted
them for His own.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me
to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to
possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the
LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that
I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful
to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a
land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD , the God of your fathers,
promised you. Hear, O
This relationship was based
upon an expectation that we had to follow God’s commandments to gain His favor.
We had to be not just good – He wanted us to be perfect. He wanted our hearts
to be pure again. This was the Old Covenant.
Joshua 22:5
But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant
of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey
his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all
your soul."
But sin wouldn’t allow us to
keep the law perfectly. So God decided
to follow the commandants perfectly on our behalf. He decided to make a new covenant with us
through His Son, Jesus. Jesus lived the
perfect life we could not live and took the “crud” of our hearts and made us
pure and holy again before God. God
renewed our relationship – we could NOT do it on our own. We tried, but we
couldn’t do it. God did it all.
In the Old Testament the
area where the High Priests prayed on the behalf of the people was called the
Holy of Holies. This area was surrounded
by a one foot thick peace of cloth. The
priest had to be “clean” physically and spiritually before He could intercede
for the people otherwise God would strike Him dead. God expected perfection.
But Jesus changed all
that. On the cross when He cried out “It
is finished,” He was saying that He had fulfilled the commandments perfectly on
our behalf. They were no longer a “requirement”
in order for our heart relationship to be renewed with Him.
On the day Jesus died a
significant thing happened. That one
foot thick curtain ripped in half. We
were now free to go before God. We could
once again love God with a pure heart.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished
to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death or from useless
ritual so that we may serve the living God!
But if the rules are no
longer a requirement for us to have a relationship with God – then why follow
them? This is where the “Heart of a
Christian” comes in.
Our Heart is supposed to be
like how we may feel when we fall madly in love with a Guy or Girl the first
time. We lose all track of time, our
thoughts are always on that person and we will to do anything to please and dazzle
that person. That is how it is with a
Christian. You see, we are not held accountable to the commandments – but out
of a desire to serve and praise God, we desire to do His will. We desire to the things which dazzle Him
because we are madly in love with Him.
It is all about a response to what God has done for us.
- It starts with “respect for God.” This is the head knowledge we learn in
catechism classes. We believe the
creeds, we trust the scriptures and we desire to be different.
Deuteronomy 4:39
Acknowledge and take to
heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
There is no other.
Matthew 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got
together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this
question: "Teacher, which is the
greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second
is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang
on these two commandments."
Jesus said that the #1
commandment was to simply be madly in love with Him.
- Next, we are to be “humbled” and
repentant for how we have not lived up to His commandments and we seek His
forgiveness through the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for
Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
2 Chronicles 34:27
Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you
heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled
yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard
you, declares the LORD .
Psalm 149:4
For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.
- Next, we decide to change to a life of “integrity”
as a response to what He has done. Just like King Josiah when he found the
Book of the Law – the Old Covenant, he threw out and destroyed everything
that was contrary to God. He purified the life of himself and his
people.
2 Kings 23 24-25
Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,
the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in
Acts 24:16
So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before
God and man.
Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that
you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your
heart as long as you live.
- And finally, we maintain our conviction to God’s
renewed relationship with us no matter the temptation or hardship. We must have “perseverance.”
1 Corinthians 13:6-7
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because
when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has
promised to those who love him.
Respect God, humble yourself
and repent of our sins, live a life of Godly integrity and have perseverance
when your faith is tested. These are the
unique qualities of the Heart of a Christian.
Why? Because
they are the qualities of Jesus.
He respected His Father – even spending time at 12 years old to learn
about Him from the Jewish teachers in the temple. He humbled Himself – by washing the
disciple’s feet, touching lepers and dying a shameful death on a cross. He lived a life of such integrity -- that
even Pontius Pilot could not find fault with him. And He persevered through significant
temptations from Satan in the desert, verbal attacks by the Pharisees and
extreme physical pain from the beatings and His death. The Heart of a Christian is having Jesus
Christ living, beating, and circulating His life blood in the lives of His
people. He is the Heart of a Christian.
Printable Handout: Downloadable MS Word File
Power Point Slide Show: Downloadable MS Power
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Bible
Study:
The Heart of
a Christian
Glen
Dawursk, Jr.
When God created us, he
created us with one purpose; He desired a ________________ with us.
But his Heart became broken
when __________ ruined that relationship.
Genesis 6:5-8
The LORD saw how great man's
wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made
man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I
will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and
animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I
am grieved that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the
LORD.
God
was hurting and had decided to start over, yet because of the righteous
______________ of just one man and his family, God changed His mind.
The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma
and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of
man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And
never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
The Children of Israel were
allowed by God to become slaves in
Amazingly, there is still
only one sin that is NOT forgiven by God when we die and that is the “hardening
of our heart toward God; the ___________________ of His love relationship with
us.”
But God doesn’t give up His
people. Like a love letter, He wrote on
the hearts of His people His desires and His wants. We call this our
“_____________________.”
Romans 2:14-15
(Indeed,
when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the
law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since
they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even
defending them.)
But just like many people do
today, the Children of Israel ____________________ their conscience many times
throughout the Old Testament.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
The Spirit clearly says that in
later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things
taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose
consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
Titus 1:15
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are
corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and
consciences are corrupted.
The Israelites could not
keep their commitment to God.
But God still
______________________ a relationship with His people.
He wanted them for His own.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
These are the commands, decrees and
laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you
are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their
children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping
all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long
life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you
and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just
as the LORD , the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O
This relationship was based
upon an expectation that we had to follow God’s commandments to gain His favor.
We had to be not just good – He wanted us to be ________________. He wanted our
hearts to be pure again. This was the __________ Covenant.
But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant
of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to
obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and
all your soul."
God renewed our relationship
– we could ____________ do it on our own.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead
to death or from useless ritual so that we may serve the living God!
But if the rules are no
longer a requirement for us to have a relationship with God – then why follow
them? This is where the “Heart of a
Christian” comes in.
It is all about a response
to what God has done for us.
- It starts with “______________ for God.” This is the head knowledge we learn in
catechism classes. We believe the
creeds, we trust the scriptures and we desire to be different.
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and
on the earth below. There is no other.
Matthew 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the
Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law,
tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus
replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Jesus said that the #1
commandment was to simply be madly in love with Him.
- Next, we are to be “______________”
and repentant for how we have not lived up to His commandments and we seek
His forgiveness through the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for
Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
2 Chronicles 34:27
Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you
heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled
yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard
you, declares the LORD .
Psalm 149:4
For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.
- Next, we decide to change to a life of “_____________”
as a response to what He has done.
2 Kings 23 24-25
Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other
detestable things seen in
Acts 24:16
So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before
God and man.
Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that
you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your
heart as long as you live.
- And finally, we maintain our conviction to God’s
renewed relationship with us no matter the temptation or hardship. We must have “__________________.”
1 Corinthians 13:6-7
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because
when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has
promised to those who love him.
Why?
Because they are the qualities of Jesus.
·
He
____________ His Father
·
He
____________ Himself
·
He
lived a life of ______________
·
He
______________
The Heart of a Christian is having
Jesus Christ living, beating, and circulating His life blood in the lives of
His people.
Jesus is the Heart of a Christian.