Session 15

Life = Change

From The Gospel: Five Words You Need to Know

READ:                             
• Mark 2:1–12
• Galatians 2:20                             
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23

“And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God.” —Mark 2:12
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” —Galatians 2:20
“May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.” —1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV)

The Gospel is a change agent. In Mark 2, a paralyzed man hears the Gospel when he is brought to Jesus by his friends. In verse 3, this man is identified as a “paralytic”. He meets Jesus in verse 5, and then in verse 12, we see him walk away carrying his mat. His life was pretty drastically changed!

We are all born into sin. It’s not something we are taught; it’s something we are. Because God is holy, that sin separates us from Him. The Gospel—the fact that Jesus came to earth, died on the cross, and rose from the dead—is our only hope. When we meet Jesus, just like the paralyzed man, we experience change.

Galatians 2:20 describes the change that occurs when we meet Jesus. At that time, He begins to live through us. God begins to change everything in us that doesn’t look like Jesus. His goal is to match our character to the character of His son.

RESPOND:
• What in you doesn’t match Jesus? How is God trying to change that in you?
• What is your next step? What can you do tomorrow that’s more like Jesus and less like the usual?