Teaching Notes

Everyone enjoys planning a vacation to a tropical place. You think about the excitement and the joy you'll have there. You make sure that you do what you need so that you can get there. It is the same with our desire to see God one day. In order for us to reach that destination of paradise, we must do the right things here to get there. The right think is accept the gift of salvation from God. (picture by Joselyn Williams)

What are You Worth?

1 Corinthians 15:50 (The Message)

I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don't in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very "nature" is to die, so how could they "naturally" end up in the Life kingdom?

Notes: This scripture calls for us to understand some important things about life. Our natural body is going to die. Simply being alive does not mean it will lead you to heaven. There are many that have a wrong belief that simply because you are alive, when you die if you are "good" then you are going to heaven when you die. This scripture however, says if you live only a natural life, why would you expect to receive a spiritual one?

Questions: What do you think this scripture is calling us to do?

Answer: This scripture is calling us to look at ourselves. If you remember the earlier scriptures this week, we learned that God called for sins to be atoned for through blood. Under the Old Testament the offering of the blood of animals did not completely remove sin. When Jesus gave himself as the only sacrifice of blood that would be once and for all, it gave us the opportunity to apply this sacrifice to our lives. So the question in scripture for us is, do not simply live this life and believe you have been forgiven. You must take some actions. That action is the acceptance of the gift of salvation so that you will now have a spiritual life and only this life allows you to reach the life Kingdom (Heaven).

Prayer: Lord help us today to stop trying to live a life of being good in ourselves. Help us to live a life for you by first accepting the gift of salvation from your son.