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NASB | John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 1:2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. |
Bible Question:
I am facilitating a Bible study (Gospel of John)at my work place with several new Christians and a few mature Chrisitans. Yesterday one of the "newbies" was discussing that her son was afraid for his grandparents dying. One of the "mature" Chrisitans told her to explain it to him this way - that we are spiritual beings in heaven and then we are born into a fleshly body and then when we die we go back to heaven to be in the spirit. I asked her to show me the scriptures that back that up - but she hasn't come through yet. So - what do I tell my new Christians about this - it has them confused. I just asked her to send me the verse - but in the future to just stick with the simple stuff for the others. I believe we all agree on the most important issues. Please help! Thanks. |
Bible Answer: baker723 - You mentioned that your class is studying John's gospel. That would seem a logical place to teach your class that Jesus Christ -- the Word -- is eternal, i.e. "He was in the beginning with God." Read to them John 1:1-14, a passage which clearly establishes the pre-existence of Christ in eternity past before "He became flesh and dwelt among us" (v.14). But the Word (Jesus) is God! (John 1:1). Man is not God; he had no pre-existence as a spiritual being. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man BECAME a living being" (Genesis 2:9). Jesus Christ was not created; His existence is eternal. Man was created and he never existed anywhere in any form form until God created him. Your "mature" Christian student really doesn't sound so mature if she is telling a new Christian that human beings were spiritual beings in heaven who came to earth to sojourn in the flesh and then to return to heaven to resume their spiritual role. It sounds as though she needs to learn the difference between human beings and Jesus Christ! But if I were the teacher (I've taught Bible study classes for many years), I'd do two things. First, I would use Scripture to correct the false information your "mature" student gave to the new student. Second, I would enjoin your students to be prepared to offer Scriptural evidence of any theological statements such as you encountered. Years ago I learned to establish boundaries in the classroom. Discussion of Scripture would be permitted and encouraged, but interminable discussions based on nothing more than uniformed opinion and speculation would not be. Unless there are established ground rules, a Bible study class can rapidly deteriorate into a fruitless babble among cracker-barrel philosophers and dreamers who don't have an inkling of what they're talking about. It's the leader's responsibility to keep the class on track. By the way, I wouldn't worry much about your "mature" student's being able to bring to class a long list of biblical proofs of her theory. She won't be able to find any. --Hank |
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Questions and/or Subjects for John 1:2 | Author | ||
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FytRobert | ||
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LOVEJUSES | ||
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baker723 | ||
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Hank | ||
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Just Read Mark | ||
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Hank |