INTRODUCTION:

1.   We begin a study that is titled “The Life And Lessons Of The Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

2.   Though this study will certainly involve studying the four Gospels, it is hoped that this study will be far more than that.

 

3.   This study series will strive to accomplish several tasks as intermediate goals on our way to accomplishing one grand goal.

 

4.   The intermediate goals are as follows:

 

a)   To survey and examine the Biblical record of the earthly ministry, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ,

 

b)   To paint a mental picture of the culture and society in which the Son of God lived and moved and taught,

 

c)   To study the teachings of the Master Teacher and to study the way in which He taught His disciples, so that we might be better disciplers of young Christians in our own ministries,

 

d)   To chronologically harmonize the four Gospel accounts in an attempt to trace the progress of Christ’s earthly ministry which culminated on that hill called Mount Calvary,

 

e)   And to bring each one of you as often as I can to a point of crisis and decision so that opportunities will be created for you to consciously and purposefully make decisions about life and eternity, and to attempt to persuade you to deny yourself, to take up your individual cross, and to follow Him.

 

5.   I pray that our attempts to meet each of these intermediate goals will be blessed and used by the Holy Spirit of God in His ministry in each of our lives.  The Holy Spirit’s ministry, we shall see in our studies, is to point men toward the Savior, draw men to the Savior, and to lift up and exalt the Son of God.  May this same Spirit of God use our lives as tools to accomplish His grand goal.

 

6.   Let us also pray that during this study of the Lord Jesus, as we turn our eyes upon Him from week to week, the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

 

7.   Our study will follow this main outline so that we can maintain order in four books of the Bible which seem to some Christians to be in complete disorder:

 

1A.      Background Information

2A.      Preliminary Information

3A.      The Incarnation Of God

4A.      The Childhood Of The Son Of God

5A.      The Baptist’s Public Ministry Begins

6A.      The Messiah’s Public Ministry Begins

7A.      The Messiah’s Great Galilean Ministry

8A.      The Messiah’s Jerusalem Area Ministry

9A.      The Messiah’s Last Hours With His Disciples

10A.    His Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion And Burial

11A.    His Resurrection, Appearances And Ascension