L esson 4 *April 21–27

(page 30 of Standard Edition)

Salvation and the End

Time

Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: John 14:9; Zeph. 3:17; John
1:1–3; Rom. 8:38, 39; Ps. 91:15, 16; Rev. 14:6, 7; Eph. 1:4, 5.

Memory Text: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10,
NIV).

O
ne fascinating but crucial difference between Christianity and
non-Christian religions is that while the others emphasize what
their founders have taught them, they do not emphasize what
their founders have done for them. And that’s because whatever their
founders may have done for them, it cannot save them. All these leaders
can do is try to teach the people how to “save” themselves.
In contrast, Christians emphasize not only what Jesus taught but
what He did. This is because what Christ did provides the only means
by which we are saved. Christ’s incarnation in human flesh (Rom. 8:3),
His death on the cross (Rom. 5:8), His resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3), and
His ministry in heaven (Heb. 7:25)—these acts alone are what save us.
It’s certainly not anything in ourselves. “If you would gather together
everything that is good and holy and noble and lovely in man and then
present the subject to the angels of God as acting a part in the salva-
tion of the human soul or in merit, the proposition would be rejected as
treason.”—Ellen G. White, Faith and Works, p. 24.
This wonderful truth is especially important for us amid the perils
and deceptions of the last days.

* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 28.

44
 S unday April 22
(page 31 of Standard Edition)

The Love of the Father

Not too long before the cross, Jesus spoke with His inner circle about
how people can come to the Father through Him. It was then that Philip
said: “ ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us’ ” (John
14:8, NKJV).

How did Jesus respond to Philip? See John 14:9. What does His
response teach us about the Father? What misconceptions about
God should His response clear up?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Some people say that the God of the Old Testament is a God of
justice in comparison to the God of the New Testament, who is full of
mercy and grace and forgiveness. They draw a distinction between the
two that is not valid. He is the same God, with the same traits, in both
the Old and New Testaments.
One reason Christ came to this world was to reveal the truth about
God the Father. Through the centuries, wrong ideas about Him and
His character had become widespread, not just among the heathen
but among God’s chosen nation, as well. “The earth was dark through
misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened,
that the world might be brought back to God, Satan’s deceptive power
was to be broken.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 22. These
were some of the reasons that Jesus came to this earth.
God does not change. If we knew all the facts surrounding events
in the Old Testament, we would find God just as merciful in the Old
Testament as He is in the New. Scripture declares, “God is love”
(1 John 4:8) and that God does not change. “Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8, NRSV).
Remember, too, it was the God of the Old Testament who hung on
the cross.
This God is also gracious, compassionate, and slow to anger (Ps.
145:8). He is faithful, has unfailing love (Ps. 143:8), and delights in
His followers (Ps. 147:11). God plans to prosper people and give them
hope (Jer. 29:11). In His love, He will no longer rebuke but rejoices
over His people with singing (Zeph. 3:17). This, and so much more, is
what God the Father is truly like.

Think about the fact that Jesus represents God the Father. Why is
this such a wonderful and hopeful truth, especially for those who
sometimes might be afraid of God?

45
 M onday April 23
(page 32 of Standard Edition)

The Love of Christ

Sin separated the human race from God; a yawning chasm opened
between them, and unless that chasm closed, humanity was doomed
to eternal destruction. The gulf was deep and dangerous. Yet, it took
something utterly incredible to solve the problem of sin and to reunite
sinful humanity with a righteous and holy God. It took One eternal with
God Himself, One as divine as God Himself, to become a human being
and, in that humanity, offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

Read John 1:1–3, 14 and Philippians 2:5–8. What do they teach us

about who Jesus is?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Christ was eternal and not dependent upon anyone or anything for
His existence. He was God—not the mere outward appearance of God
but God Himself. His essential nature was divine and eternal. Jesus
retained that divinity but became a human being in order to keep the
law in human flesh and to die as a Substitute for all those who have
broken the law, which is all of us (Rom. 3:23).
Christ became human, without any advantage over other humans. He
kept God’s law, not through His internal divine power but by relying
upon the same external divine power available to any other human.
Jesus was fully God and fully human. This means that the One who
upholds “all things by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3) was the same
One who was found as a “babe lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16). This
means that the One who “is before all things, and in Him all things
consist” (Col. 1:17, NKJV) is the same One who, as a human child,
“increased in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52). This means that the One
without whom “nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3, NKJV) was
the same One who was “ ‘murdered by hanging on a tree’ ” (Acts 5:30,
NKJV).
If all this reveals to us Christ’s love for us, and Christ’s love for us is
but a manifestation of the Father’s love for us, then no wonder we have
so many reasons to rejoice and be thankful!

Read Romans 8:38, 39. How does what we read in the study today
give us powerful reasons to trust in what Paul says to us here?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

46
 T uesday April 24
(page 33 of Standard Edition)

The Love of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit has been misunderstood almost as much as the
Father. Some theologians have thought of the Spirit as the love between
the Father and the Son. In other words, the Spirit would be merely
affection between the Father and the Son. This means that He would be
diminished to a relationship between two members of the Godhead and
not a member Himself.
But Scripture proves His personhood. Christians are baptized in His
name along with the Father and Son (Matt. 28:19). The Spirit glorifies
Christ (John 16:14). The Spirit convicts people (John 16:8). He can be
grieved (Eph. 4:30). He is a Comforter (John 14:16), Helper (NKJV),
and Counselor (RSV). He teaches (Luke 12:12), intercedes (Rom. 8:26),
and sanctifies (1 Pet. 1:2). Christ said the Spirit guides people into all
truth (John 16:13).
In short, the Holy Spirit is God, as are the Father and the Son.
Together, they are One God.

Everything the Spirit does reveals divine love. What are some of
the things He does? Luke 12:12, John 16:8–13, Acts 13:2.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
The greatest evidence that the Holy Spirit is God is the incarnation of
Christ. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20). Only God could
“create” like that.
The Holy Spirit performed two opposite miracles for Christ. First, He
brought the omnipresent Christ into the womb of Mary. Christ ascended
to heaven confined within that human body. Second, the Spirit brings
Christ confined by His humanity and, in another inexplicable miracle,
makes Him present to Christians around the world.
Thus, the Holy Spirit, along with the Father and the Son, is working
in our behalf. “The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave Themselves to the working
out of the plan of redemption.”—Ellen G. White, Counsels on Health,
p. 222.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit love us equally and are work-
ing in order to save us into God’s eternal kingdom. How can we, then,
neglect so great a salvation?

How much comfort can we draw from the fact that the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all at work for our eternal good?

_____________________________________________________

47
 W ednesday April 25
(page 34 of Standard Edition)

Assurance of Salvation
Some Seventh-day Adventists wonder if they will be saved. They lack
assurance and long to know their future, in terms of eternal life. They work
hard to be good enough and yet know that they come up short. They look
within and find little to encourage them in their journey through life.
When we see the immense gap between the character of Jesus and
our own character or when we read a text such as “strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it” (Matt. 7:14), who of us doesn’t have moments when we wonder if
we are going to make it?
To be prepared for the end time, people must have assurance of salva-
tion in the present. They must revel in the reality of salvation in order to
face the future unafraid. Yet, as we have seen, all the living Persons of
the Godhead are at work to save us. Thus, we can and should live with
the assurance of our salvation.

Read the following texts. What hope and assurances come from them
regarding salvation and what God has done for us and promises to do?

Ps. 91:15, 16____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Joel 2:31, 32____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

John 10:28_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Rom. 10:9–13___________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
1 John 5:11–13___________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

We are called, even commanded, to live holy lives, but these lives are
the result of having been saved by Christ, not the means of achieving
that salvation. Although we must be faithful, even unto death, we must
lean always on the gift as our only hope of salvation. God’s people will
be found faithful and obedient in the last days, a faithfulness and obedi-
ence that arises from the assurance of what Christ has done for them.

48
 T hursday April 26
(page 35 of Standard Edition)

The Everlasting Gospel

Read Revelation 14:6, 7. What is the “everlasting gospel”?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
The gospel is referred to here as “everlasting.” This is further evi-
dence that God does not change. An unchanging God has an unchang-
ing gospel. This eternal gospel gives assurance to all who are willing to
accept it. The gospel reveals the unchanging love of God, and it’s this
message that needs to go to the world. Everyone needs a chance to hear
it, which is why God has called His people to spread it.

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that

we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:4, 5, NKJV).
What more does this tell us about just how “everlasting” the gospel
really is?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
We were chosen in Him “before the foundation of the world.” Talk
about an “everlasting” gospel! Even before the Creation of this world,
God’s plan was for us to have salvation in Him.
Look at some of the words here: “chose,” “predestined,” “good plea-
sure,” “adoption.” Look at how much these two verses point to God’s
desire for us to have eternal life “in Him.” And the fact that God did all
this in eternity past (see also 2 Thess. 2:13, 2 Tim. 1:9) points so clearly
to His grace and shows that our salvation comes not from anything we
can do or from any creature merit but totally as an act arising from
God’s own loving character. How could salvation come from anything
we could do if we were elected to have that salvation in Him even
before we existed? The choice is for us to accept or reject it.
And how is this election made manifest in the lives of the elect? To
“be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4, NKJV).
This, too, is what we have been chosen for.

We are called to spread the “everlasting gospel” to the world as

part of the end-time message prior to Christ’s return. Why must
we know and experience the reality of the “everlasting gospel” in
our own lives before we can share it with others?

49
 F riday April 27
(page 36 of Standard Edition)

Further Thought: We can have assurance of salvation, but we must

not be presumptuous about it. Is there such a thing as a false assurance
of salvation? Of course. And Jesus warned about it, too, saying: “ ‘Not
everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will
say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your
name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” ’ ” (Matt. 7:21–23, NKJV).
These people made two fatal mistakes. First, despite whatever great
things they had done in the Lord’s name, they weren’t doing the Lord’s
will, which was to obey His law. Jesus didn’t say, “Depart from me”
you who were “not sinless,” or you who were not “without fault,” or
who were “not perfect.” Instead, He described them as “lawless”—a
translation of anomian, or “without law.” Second, notice their emphasis
on themselves and on what they had accomplished: “Didn’t we do this
in Your name?” Or “Didn’t we do that in Your name?” Or “Didn’t we do
this other thing, and all in Your name, too?” Please! How far removed
from Christ must they have been to point to their own works in an
attempt to justify themselves before God? The only works that will
save us are Christ’s, credited to us by faith. Here is where our assur-
ance exists—not in ourselves or in our works but only in what Christ
has done for us. You want assurance? Obey God’s law and rest only in
the merits of Christ’s righteousness, and you will have all the assurance
you need.

Discussion Questions:
 Martin Luther reportedly said: “When I look to myself, I don’t
know how I can be saved. When I look to Jesus, I don’t know how
I can be lost.” What great wisdom is found in these words? Why is
it a good idea to keep this sentiment ever before us?

 Dwell more on this idea that we have been chosen for salva-
tion even before the foundation of the world. Why does this not
mean that everyone will be saved? If people are not saved, will it
be because God didn’t choose them or because of the choices they
made? Discuss this question in class.

 How does the reality of the great-controversy scenario help us

to deal better with the reality of evil even in a world that the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit love?

50
 i n s i d e
Story
Introducing God
by Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission
A coworker asked Seventh-day Adventist business executive David Kim
about his favorite weekend activities, while making small talk at a funeral.
“I go to church and spend time with family,” David replied.
The coworker said he also liked to spend time with family, causing
David to realize that he didn’t want to discuss faith.
The two men chatted about family. Then David said, “We have talked
about family for a while, now how about faith?”
The coworker said quickly, “I am an atheist.”
“Why are you an atheist?” David asked.
The resulting conversation drew in other funeral guests and planted a
seed that David hopes will lead to a Bible study.
David says it’s simple to bring God into a casual conversation. Here are
some ways that he responds to everyday questions:
• How was the weekend? I had a great weekend! On Saturday we went to
church, and on Sunday we went to the supermarket.
• How did you meet your wife? We met at church in Chicago.
• Do you still play the cello? Not like I used to, but I do teach my son, and I
also have begun working with a Christian singer who has put together some
interesting recording projects on the books of Daniel and Revelation.
• What do you do for fun? I spend most of my free time on activities
related to my family and faith.
• How do you manage your ambition versus your desire for work-life bal-
ance? This can be a real challenge, but one of the most helpful things
for me—and I don’t know how you feel about these things—is my
prayer life.
• Do you have any advice for how to be successful at work? One of the
things I find most helpful is spending time every morning in prayer and
reading the Bible. It helps me to start every day focused on the big picture.
David likens himself to a fly fisherman.
“Fly fishermen are always casting,” he said.
“I try to put bait out there and allow the hungry
fish to respond.”
Coworkers have asked for more information
about God through such conversations, and
David conducts two to four Bible studies a
week. Two coworkers have been baptized.
David Kim is a Seventh-day Adventist business executive
and the founder of the Nicodemus Society, an organiza-
tion that shares the Adventist message with the wealthy,
worldly, and well-educated.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.

Web site: www.AdventistMission.org 51
 teachers comments

The Lesson in Brief

Key Text: Daniel 12:13

The Student Will:

Know: Rediscover God’s love for humans and His plan to save them from
death and evil.
Feel: Appreciate God’s love, even though he or she does not deserve
it.
Do: Trust and love God and love his or her neighbor in turn even if he or
she does not see an immediate response.

Learning Outline:
I. Know: God’s Salvation Is Beyond Me.
A Why does God love you?
B Is it possible to understand God’s love? Explain. What is God’s
love?
C What is the historical evidence of God’s love for you?

II. Feel: God’s Love Is Real.

A Why can I be sure of God’s love?
B What did God do to make His love a reality?
C Is feeling the love of God enough to convince you that He loves
you?

III. Do: God’s Love Is Contagious.

A Why is loving your neighbor a sign that God has saved you?
B Why are you responsible for the salvation of your neighbor?
C Why does your faith in God help you to love your enemy?

Summary: The reality of God’s love is made manifest in His design to save humans
in spite of themselves, and even though they do not deserve it.

52
 teachers comments

Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate

Spotlight on Scripture: 1 John 4:10

Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: The love of God is the only
reason He saved humankind. The love of God is not made up of
just emotions and nice words. What makes the biblical revelation
of divine love unique and yet universal is that God did not reveal
Himself through an emotional and mystical experience or through
beautiful and insightful wisdom. God revealed Himself in the reality
of history. It is because the good news of God’s salvation is for every-
one and because salvation is real that the crowning event of salvation
can take place only at the end of human history.

Just for Teachers: The purpose of this lesson is to make God’s love
and His plan of salvation real to your students. Salvation cannot reach its
ultimate fulfillment in this broken world, limited as it is by sinful human
flesh. Therefore, salvation can happen only at the end of time. Although
we are sure of salvation, all salvation depends on God, and so only the
coming of Christ, at the end of days, will make the reality of salvation pos-
sible. Although we may experience miracles and blessings, these gifts are
just sparks that suggest the reality of fire but are not the fire.

Opening Discussion: How does our experience of God’s love in this

present life help us to understand and imagine the ultimate fulfillment of
God’s salvation at the end of time? What in this life is evidence of the future
kingdom of God?

Questions for Discussion:

 Discuss with your class why having hope in the kingdom of God is
important at the end of time.
 Why is salvation through Christ at the end of time the only possible
salvation?

STEP 2—Explore

Just for Teachers: In our secular societies, it is difficult to speak of the

kingdom of God. This language sounds utopian. People are concerned with
this earth and with this present life; they are largely materialists, interested
only in the reality they can see and enjoy now. They are not interested in a
vague kingdom, located in heaven, that will take place in a faraway future.
53
 teachers comments

The challenge is to shake this group of people up—to awaken them to the
need to be saved. This lesson will propose a strategy in three steps to reach
this group. First and foremost, this group will need to discover God’s love
for them. Only then will they long for His kingdom, where they will live
with Him; and only then will they be ready to believe in Him.

Bible Commentary
I. God Is Love (Review 1 John 4:8–10 and Exodus 34:5–7 with your class.)

God’s salvation begins in His love. To speak of a kingdom of God and of the
salvation of God to people who do not believe in God and have not experienced a
loving relationship with Him is vain. A knowledge and experience of the love of
God is, therefore, essential. And for that knowledge of God, we turn to His Word.
The whole Bible defines God as love. In the Old Testament, God’s
first action is Creation. God’s love is not a response to what we could
have done. God loved us even before we existed. This precedence of
God’s love over our love, which is simply our response to His love, is
an affirmation of the way He saves us. God does not save us because of
what we do but because of who He is. This belief is a part of Daniel’s
plea to God: “ ‘Do not delay for Your own sake’ ” (Dan. 9:19, NKJV).
God does not save us because we love Him or because we obey Him.
Salvation is not based on our merits, but “for His own sake.” For
this reason, God’s proclamation of His love precedes and founds the
gift of the law: “ ‘The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth’ ” (Exod. 34:6,
NKJV). And even in the law, God’s action of salvation precedes the
commandments: “ ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage’ ” (Exod. 20:2, NKJV).
We find this same quality of divine love in the New Testament: “God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sin-
ners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8, NKJV). Christ died for us and loved
us even when we were not lovable. He loved us, despite us. Love is
also the characteristic of the Holy Spirit, who is called the “Comforter”
(John 14:16)—that is, the One who consoles and embraces us when we
grieve and when we suffer. The Greek word parakletos, “Comforter,”
is used in the Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word nakham,
meaning “console” (Jer. 16:7, Hos. 13:14, Isa. 57:18).

Consider This: What lesson can we learn about the process of salvation
from the fact that God loved us first? Why did God give the Sabbath to
humans, despite their not working with Him during the Creation week? In
what ways is the Sabbath a sign of God’s salvation by grace?
54
 teachers comments

II. Jesus Is Surety (Review Hebrews 7:22 and Romans 10:13 with your class.)

The reason one can be sure of salvation is that salvation depends on God. In a
sense, our future salvation is related to the experience of our salvation in our
present life. This double application of the kingdom of God is found in Jesus’
address to the Pharisees and to His disciples. To the Pharisees, Jesus empha-
sizes the present and personal dimension of salvation: “ ‘the kingdom of God
is within you’ ” (Luke 17:21, NKJV). But when Jesus speaks to His disciples,
He refers to salvation as a future and universal event: “ ‘as the lightning that
flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so
also the Son of Man will be in His day’ ” (Luke 17:24, NKJV). The reason for
this paradox is that the disciples, who already have Jesus in their hearts, look
forward to His future coming. On the other hand, the Pharisees, who have not
yet experienced the kingdom within themselves, simply feel they do not need
the future kingdom of God. In fact, the closer Jesus is to us in our present life,
the more we will be sure of His coming and the more we will long for it.

Consider This: Why is it impossible to be a good Christian who loves Jesus

and not wait for the Second Coming? Why and how should the hope of the
future kingdom of God affect our present life?

III. God, From Everlasting to Everlasting (Review Psalm 90:2 and Revelation
14:6, 7 with your class.)

John sees an angel flying in the midst of heaven, preaching “the everlasting
gospel” (Rev. 14:6, NKJV). The gospel is qualified as “everlasting” precisely
because it derives from “our Lord Jesus Christ . . . who alone has immortality”
(1 Tim. 6:14–16, NKJV). To speak of an “everlasting gospel” is to speak
about God, a way of affirming the gospel as the highest spiritual goal we can
embrace. The apostle Paul employs this same reasoning when he urges his
followers to compete “for an imperishable crown” (1 Cor. 9:25, NKJV), the
only award that is worth fighting for (1 Cor. 9:26). This everlasting gospel,
spoken of by John in Revelation, points to the two divine actions that frame
human history—the judgment, at the end, and the Creation, in the beginning
(Rev. 14:7). Human history, which seems to run at random toward the abyss,
now has a sense of purpose and direction: this purpose comes from the God
of eternity and is oriented toward Him.

Consider This: Why is the hope of eternal life the only response to our human
experience of life’s absurdity? Discuss with the class their experiences of
death. What thoughts crossed their minds when they were confronted with
death? Why is death not a normal ending?

55
 teachers comments

STEP 3—Apply

Just for Teachers: The temptation of Seventh-day Adventist believ-

ers regarding identity is twofold. We may put too much emphasis on the
“Seventh-day” aspect of our name, which assigns too much consequence to
our temporality and to our world here and now, or we may overemphasize
the “Adventist” aspect of our identity, which disconnects us from the world
and turns us into fanatics or dreamers. Underscore for your class how vital
it is that we keep in balance the tension between the two components of
our identity.

Discussion Activities:
 Discuss the difference between God’s promises of His kingdom and a
politician’s promises.
 Address any doubts that members of the class may have about the reality
and importance of the kingdom of God. How can we proclaim the reality of
God’s kingdom and still stay in touch with the reality of this world? What is
the effect of our hope on our daily life?
 Discuss the connection between the two kingdoms of God, which have
been called the “already” (the good news of present assurance of salvation)
and the “not yet” (the good news of the Second Coming).
STEP 4—Create

Just for Teachers: What are some concrete ways your class can make
God’s love real among the members of your church community and in
the world at large? Choose to do one or more of the activities below as a
witness of God’s love.

Activities:
 Visit someone who is elderly or a single parent, burdened with the
demands of caring for a family. Does he or she need help preparing meals,
buying groceries, doing yard work, finding childcare, etc.? Offer your
services once or twice a week as a demonstration of God’s love.
 Write an encouraging note to someone who is going through a difficult
time. Share your favorite Bible text in the note and what hope it has given you.
 Make a care package for someone in another state or country or for one
serving overseas in the military. Let this person know how much you care.
 Invite a non-Sabbath keeper to share a Sabbath meal with you in your
home. Introduce him or her to the God of the Sabbath through fellowship
with your family and friends.
56