Week 4 | Lord of the Rings

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

James 1:14–15
Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Sin always promises to give you something, but eventually it takes everything.

Isaiah 9:6–7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders… Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom.

Luke 1:32–33
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.

The Bible is not the story of humanity searching for a King. It is the story of the King coming to rescue humanity.

Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering… He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities.

1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross…

The gospel is not advice about how to carry your burden. It is the announcement that Jesus carried what was killing you.

Romans 5:6
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

At the cross, Jesus did not merely survive evil. He broke its authority.

Philippians 2:9
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.

Revelation 21:1
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Revelation 21:5
“Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

Ephesians 2:4-5
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.