Hey Readers, here's this week's READING SCAVENGER HUNT. Try to find the answers to the questions below. The answers come directly from the reading in CHAPTER ONE of UNION WITH CHRIST. You can share your answers with all of us as well as other insights you may have gained from the reading. Post your thoughts in the comment section below.
1. The author suggests that for many of us who believe and hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ, there seems to be a gap between all the good things we read and hear about our relationship with Christ and what we actually experience day to day. In Melissa's story, what was her concern about the change in her life thus far and what she was hoping for?
2. In Bill's story, he's been hearing sermons for most of his life that talk about how abundant and full life in Christ is suppose to be but what has been his experience?
3. In Thom's story, what gap is he putting between Jesus who lived 2000 years ago and who Jesus could be in his life today?
4. In Lucy's story, she seems discontent with her life and who she is. What is her dilemma?
5. John Newton was a pastor in Olney, England, in the eighteenth century and wrote what is probably the most famous hymn of all time, "Amazing Grace." What was Newton's vocation before he was a pastor?
6. How many years transpired between Newton's conversion and his conviction regarding the slave trade?
7. One skeptic said, "If the gospel is supernatural, as you say, then why doesn't it seem to make more of a difference in the lives of so many who claim to believe it?" This is a fair question because the gap between what many Christians claim is true about themselves and what we often see in the mirror is real. Do you feel the gap? What does the author say is the first step in closing the gap?
8. The gap can be ignored. What are some ways that we can ignore the gap?
9. What does feeling discomfort about there being a gap in your experience of enjoying God indicate about you?
10. While there are several responses concerning what to do with this gap, what is the one response that very few people are talking about that might be the most important aspect of the Christian life and needed to be understood more than ever today?
11. What had been the author's thinking about Christ as Savior?
12. Upon reading the writings of the original Reformers and the Puritans as well as the New Testament, how did the author's thinking change about Christ as Savior?
13. According to J.I. Packer, how much should we make of our union with Christ?
14. What did the twentieth-century writer John Murray conclude about the doctrine of union with Christ?
15. The author suggests that the doctrine of "union with Christ" (realizing the life of Christ dwells within you) has shifted from being central to enjoying the Christian life to being marginalized and neglected in the local churches. What has been the consequences of this neglect?
16. John Owen, a seventeenth century theologian, considered one of the greatest theologians to ever have written in the English language, states that few of us are experiencing the joy of the love of the Father. He includes himself in this statement. He is acknowledging that the gap is very real. But Owen says we should not feel this way and it's a problem. What does John Owen say is the remedy to this gap?
EXCERPT: It might seem like healing is far away. "Not that I have already obtained all this , or have already arrived at my goal," Paul wrote, acknowledging the gap in his own life, "but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Phil. 3:13 NIV). Union with Christ enables you, like Paul, to face the gap with ruthless honesty, but also with unfettered hope, optimism, and energy. I want you to know that union with Christ is really possible. For you. You can press on, "further up and further in," to what is already yours in Christ.
1. The author suggests that for many of us who believe and hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ, there seems to be a gap between all the good things we read and hear about our relationship with Christ and what we actually experience day to day. In Melissa's story, what was her concern about the change in her life thus far and what she was hoping for?
2. In Bill's story, he's been hearing sermons for most of his life that talk about how abundant and full life in Christ is suppose to be but what has been his experience?
3. In Thom's story, what gap is he putting between Jesus who lived 2000 years ago and who Jesus could be in his life today?
4. In Lucy's story, she seems discontent with her life and who she is. What is her dilemma?
5. John Newton was a pastor in Olney, England, in the eighteenth century and wrote what is probably the most famous hymn of all time, "Amazing Grace." What was Newton's vocation before he was a pastor?
6. How many years transpired between Newton's conversion and his conviction regarding the slave trade?
7. One skeptic said, "If the gospel is supernatural, as you say, then why doesn't it seem to make more of a difference in the lives of so many who claim to believe it?" This is a fair question because the gap between what many Christians claim is true about themselves and what we often see in the mirror is real. Do you feel the gap? What does the author say is the first step in closing the gap?
8. The gap can be ignored. What are some ways that we can ignore the gap?
9. What does feeling discomfort about there being a gap in your experience of enjoying God indicate about you?
10. While there are several responses concerning what to do with this gap, what is the one response that very few people are talking about that might be the most important aspect of the Christian life and needed to be understood more than ever today?
11. What had been the author's thinking about Christ as Savior?
12. Upon reading the writings of the original Reformers and the Puritans as well as the New Testament, how did the author's thinking change about Christ as Savior?
13. According to J.I. Packer, how much should we make of our union with Christ?
14. What did the twentieth-century writer John Murray conclude about the doctrine of union with Christ?
15. The author suggests that the doctrine of "union with Christ" (realizing the life of Christ dwells within you) has shifted from being central to enjoying the Christian life to being marginalized and neglected in the local churches. What has been the consequences of this neglect?
16. John Owen, a seventeenth century theologian, considered one of the greatest theologians to ever have written in the English language, states that few of us are experiencing the joy of the love of the Father. He includes himself in this statement. He is acknowledging that the gap is very real. But Owen says we should not feel this way and it's a problem. What does John Owen say is the remedy to this gap?
EXCERPT: It might seem like healing is far away. "Not that I have already obtained all this , or have already arrived at my goal," Paul wrote, acknowledging the gap in his own life, "but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Phil. 3:13 NIV). Union with Christ enables you, like Paul, to face the gap with ruthless honesty, but also with unfettered hope, optimism, and energy. I want you to know that union with Christ is really possible. For you. You can press on, "further up and further in," to what is already yours in Christ.