Week 8

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8 W E E K

E I G H T

THE PAYOFF ROMANS 8:22-25, COLOSSIANS 3:1-4, & 1 TIMOTHY 4:7-10

W e e k E i g h t | F e b r u a r y 2 6 th

T H I S W EEK : T H E PAYO F F p r e pa r at i o n

+ MONDAY - WEDNESDAY Spend some time alone with God’s Word reading through Romans 8:22-25, Colossians 3:1-4. and 1 Timothy 4:7-10. Pray that God, through His Spirit, would bring to life the truths of this text.

+ THURSDAY - SATURDAY Many questions have been included, so read through and determine which of those questions will work well to encourage, push, and grow your group in the best way.

+ DAILY As you prepare, pray for the preaching of God’s Word this coming week at the corporate church gathering. Pray also for your time in this week’s study.

this week

+ KEY BIBLICAL TRUTH The reward Christ has in store for his children will far outweigh any struggle we experience here and now.

+ THEOLOGY APPLIED Since we know that our full reward will come when Christ returns, we don’t look for temporary rewards on this side of eternity. We trust Christ with all that we give to him and serve joyfully, knowing full well our reward is to be united with him forever. 1

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G E T T I N G S TA R T E D + Use this section to prepare your heart and mind for the truths of this week. This section will help to introduce the focus of this week’s lesson.

+ In your own words, explain the difference between a risk and a reward. + How do you use the concept of risk/reward in your decision-making? + What reward are Christians promised?

| OUR RISK & OUR REWARD

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ith everything, there is risk and there is reward. This dichotomy is how we process and evaluate many

of our decisions. We ask ourselves, “What is the risk of this decision? What is the payoff?” We base our final decision on which is greater. If the reward is greater than the risk, we’ll take the chance. However, if the risk is greater than the potential reward, we stay where we are. For the past 8 weeks, we’ve been unpacking what it looks like to serve God with our lives. Now that we’ve been in this study for these weeks, we understand that serving the kingdom of God is quite an investment of time, energy, sacrifice, tears, and hard work. We may be tempted at different points to wonder if the work and the investment is worth it. We may be tempted to treat service in God’s kingdom the same way we treat other earthly investments that we make. We stack up the sides of risk and reward and we start to compare. Friends, this will never hold up. If we believe God and His Word, his Word assures us that the reward for our earthly investment will last throughout eternity. God assures us we labor not for an earthy reward or payday. Instead, we labor here and now to receive a treasure that will never deplete and forever dwarf the effort we put forth. Eternal rewards will always overshadow earthy risks. God will make good on his promises and will remain faithful. The

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struggle and sacrifice we experience now is nothing compared to the joy and lasting peace we will receive with Christ forever. For this reason, there’s never a question or hint of doubt concerning whether serving and sacrificing for God’s Kingdom is worth it. It will always be worth it and God will always honor our service to him with eternal rewards.

+ What do we stand to lose from serving others? + Take a moment to list certain risks that come from serving others. + Take a moment to list certain rewards that come from serving others.

U n d e r s t a n d i n g th e Tex t

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he Scripture passages for this week focus on the finish line of the Christian life: our complete

sanctification and redemption in Christ. While we serve on this earth and bring signs of God’s coming kingdom to bear on our work here, the Christian realizes the whole end game of God’s rescue mission is for his children to be with him for eternity. For this reason, as the Christian serves and sacrifices on this side of heaven, we do so with an awareness of what is to come. We wait patiently for the completion of Christ’s redemption, looking to Him all along the way and seeking his power in our lives to fit us for eternity with God. Three things we gain from the Scripture as it pertains to our job here on earth as we serve Christ’s church:

1. We Wait 2. We Look 3. We Train

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going deeper + This next section will help to show what God’s Word says about this week’s particular focus. Walk through the Scripture passages, connecting the text to this week’s biblical truth.

| WE WAIT Read Romans 8:22-25

+ What does it mean to groan? + Explain what it means to have the “first fruits of the Spirit.” + As Christians, how do we hope for what we do not yet see?

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aul understands the Christian life. He knows it is a life of waiting. Now that Christ has come and imparted

his Spirit to us, we wait with anxious hope for when Christ comes again to make all things new. Paul likens this waiting period to childbirth. Those in Christ, along with the rest of creation, wait for the new life that is on the horizon when Christ inaugurates the fulfillment of his forever Kingdom. Notice verse 23 and Paul’s language concerning the Spirit. As believers, we’ve been given Christ’s Spirit as a guarantee of what is to come. It is also the preview of what will be true in the new heavens and new earth. The Spirit is a taste of what is to come, the first fruits of this new world. Paul writes elsewhere that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, the old passes away and the new comes with the arrival of the Spirit in the person’s life. This is what the Spirit is to us, a small glimpse into what will come in full view when Jesus brings all things under his feet. We wait for our complete adoption into God’s family and our complete redemption from the stain and hold 4

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We wait for our complete adoption into God’s family and our complete redemption from the stain and hold of sin. Believers must not doubt the reason for which we labor. We work here and labor for Christ now, waiting for the full redemption that is coming. We don’t put our hope in what we see now in the world, even acts of service and self-sacrifice. We put our hope in what our sacrifice points to: Christ’s ultimate rule and reign. Paul says we do this patiently.

+ What brings you the most joy about Christ’s return? + How does that affect the way you serve and sacrifice for Christ’s body now?

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n our work, we mustn’t forget that our work now is an investment for later. And 2 Peter tells us that God is

not slow to return, but rather he is gracious in his timing because he longs for all to come to him. This affects the way we wait. If God is being gracious so that more will come to him, while we wait with patience for his return we continue to labor and toil with great faithfulness, knowing we must not sit idle. Waiting doesn’t mean we stop progress. Waiting doesn’t mean we don’t keep moving. Waiting patiently for the Lord to bring about our future hope means we wait with joy while we work with great zeal. This is our reward for the sacrifice of serving: others coming to know Christ and experiencing the full redemption and adoption awaiting all his children when he returns. We don’t serve and sacrifice for the temporary; we do so for the eternal, knowing the payoff for our service is not immediate. Our investment will not completely mature until Christ returns and his glory covers the earth. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that our ultimate prize is not something we can lose, it’s not something that perishes with time. We labor for a reward that will never lose its value. Paul issues this call in Philippians 3 as well as he describes the Christian running towards the future prize awaiting us in Christ. We know that what is sown in weakness is raised in power. We trust that what is sown in dishonor is raised in honor. We believe that what is sown here for Christ will be raised forever with Christ.

+ Why is it easy to believe we serve others now for an immediate reward?

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+ How has culture tainted our philosophy of serving? + Knowing you can’t lose the reward God has for you, how does that give you confidence to serve him?

| WE LOOK Read Colossians 3:1-4

+ How do we “set our minds on things above”? + What does it mean that our lives are hidden with Christ, according to verse 3? + When will we appear with Christ in glory?

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hile we wait, we look ahead to Christ. One of the easiest ways to sideline ourselves from ministry and

service to our King is to look horizontally at what’s in front of us and what’s around us. Instead, we must keep our eyes fixed heavenward for what is to come, keeping our vision directed to Jesus and kept above all that the world throws at us. Paul expounds on the Christian who waits for Christ’s return, explaining that while we wait we must fix our gaze upon the great and glorious Lamb. We seek the things that are above. We seek the things worthy of our King.

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In Colossians 3, Paul writes to the believers in Colossae explaining to them that their lives are now centered on and grounded in Christ; therefore we must look to him and keep our eyes locked on his beauty. Christ is our life. Those that have trusted in him have put their lives in his hands. For this reason, while we wait we understand he holds our reward. Our reward doesn’t come from the hands of this world but from the hands that created this world. He holds our future. This is our end goal: to be with him. Our aim is to be united with Christ and as his followers, we look for what is coming, not what is temporary but what is eternal.

+ How are our lives and our reward connected? What does this Colossians passage say about that?

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hen we serve others, it’s natural that our frustration increases the more we focus on the here and now.

But when we lift our eyes on Jesus, we are reminded why we do all that we do and that while we toil amidst the temporary, the harvest of the eternal will come. The writer of Hebrews uses the imagery of running a race, just like Paul does in Corinthians and Philippians. The writer says look to the finish line, not to the sidelines. Keep your eyes on Jesus because he sits at the Father’s right side waiting to give you your reward for running well.

| WE TRAIN Read 1 Timothy 4:7-10

+ In your own words, what does it mean to train yourself in godliness? + How is godliness valuable for both the present and the future? + How is serving a form of toiling and striving? 7

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aul encourages Timothy with a great hope that encourages us today: spend yourselves on the things of

God and the God who gives us all things will not let us down. Paul urges Christians to not waste their time on earth. Don’t waste your time with spending your energy on things that won’t last, things that won’t carry over from one kingdom to the next. Treasures of this world, rewards of this world, will not survive the new cosmic transformation. But Paul assures us of what will: lives lived for God in holiness. It’s simple, Paul says. This is why the Christian labors: for godliness. The Christian toils and strives for the sake of Christ because our complete, future, eternal hope and life rests with Him alone. We set our hope on the Living God for he alone is our Savior. For this reason, we use our time to train and prepare ourselves in ways that matter for eternity. That means we invest in others, we dive into God’s Word, and we involve ourselves in the community of believers. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4 that sanctification, our becoming more and more like Christ, is our purpose. Paul exhorts Christians in Colossae to kill the sin in their lives. We must put to death our old selves as we wait for the dawning of new creation. We spend our lives training for godliness because it is God that holds the keys to our future hope. The Spirit molds us more and more into the image of Jesus because that is the image that will last from here until eternity.

+ How do you spend your time training for other areas of your life? + How do these areas compare with your walk with Christ?

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s we think back on our service to Christ and his church, the payoff is simple: eternity with Jesus. Knowing

this, we serve all the more gladly and with great purpose because this is the truth for all of God’s children: salvation with the Living God. Paul says trust this. Abide in this saying. Ground your life on this reality. Service birthed from a godly heart pays dividends here and now and for eternity. God the Father is the Lord of all and holds the best plans for your future and the future of his universe. We can rest assured that He knows what he is doing and knows what he’s doing with our investments. There’s no chance our return will come up short. Therefore, spend your life for God and his ways. Serve him with great abandon, risking everything because you know everything and so much more will be returned to you in the coming Kingdom of Christ.

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+ Why is God the Living God? + At times, what makes us direct our hope towards ourselves rather than towards God? + Why should we not worry about our return-on-investment when it comes to investing in God’s Kingdom?

NEXT STEPS + Connect the truths from God’s Word to your daily life. Process how what you’ve learned this week will impact the way you live beyond today and into the future.

+ Throughout the past 8 weeks, how has your view on serving changed? + Why is it helpful to be reminded of the reward awaiting us when we struggle to serve Christ’s church? + In what ways does our confidence in Christ release us to serve with great zeal?

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P R AY + Use these prayer points to connect your time in prayer to this week’s focus.

• God help me keep my eyes focused on you on this side of heaven. • God show me what it means to place my hope in you. • God cleanse my heart from wanting any type of temporary reward for serving you. • God show me that what you have in store for me is greater than any amount of man’s praise.

c o m m e n ta r y + Use these commentary resources to help explain the passages and facilitate discussion.

Romans 8:22-25 Verses 22-23: The concept of first fruits is not the same concept as in the Old Testament, what the believer would bring to the Lord. Instead, the gift of the Spirit to the believer at the inception of Christian life is God’s pledge of the completion of the process of salvation. The future bodily resurrection will be the full harvest of redemption. Adoption is mentioned, but this is the final adoption of God’s children, who have already been welcomed into God’s family through Christ. Between the two is the process of sanctification. Only at this final adoption will the child of Christ be fully conformed into the image of the Savior. Verses 24-25: Hope characterizes the believer. From the very moment of the reception of the gospel, the Christian life is characterized by the anticipation of the final phase of salvation. The Christian pilgrim is on the road to glory. If everything was ours now, there would no place for hope. But because the redemption of our bodies is to come, we wait.

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1 Timothy 4:7-10 Verse 8: The Christian has the best of both worlds, in that the Christian can live his/her life in such a way that has value here and now and yet also throughout eternity. Verses 9-10: The believer can work like that of an athlete because of the believer’s hope. The “Savior of all men” can be understood as the “Preserver” of all men. This conveys the providential care of God. The use of hope in these verses is an ongoing hope; a continuous state of the believer.

*Commentary resourcing for Week 8 provided by Tyndale New Testament Commentary and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary.

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