Lesson 3 Review: To Be Pleasing to God

 

Introduction

Memory Text: “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17, NKJV).

God does not look upon us, or the gifts we bring to Him, with the attitude of a father who does not care about the gift of his son. On the contrary, we can be pleasing to God, but only through Christ.

How does God respond to lost sinners who come back to Him?

As the father who had compassion and welcomed the prodigal son who requested for his inheritance from his father and left his father for prodigal living, so does God have compassion and welcomes every wayward person. The son who remained home may have, from a human standpoint, thought that it was not a fair treatment the father gave but it further tries to explains to us the extent of God’s love towards us, that is beyond human understanding.

How does Zephaniah 3:17 shed light on the parable of the prodigal son?

Just about every word in the Hebrew language is packed into Zephaniah 3:17 to describe God’s delight over His redeemed people. Almost as though none of the terms is sufficient to describe the magnitude of God’s love. The reconciliation of God’s love comes with the immediate presence of God, just like the father who sees his son from afar off and runs to meet him. The very pinnacle of God’s joy is reserved for the ay of restoration.

What does Ephesians 5:25-28 say about the kind of love we are called to display?

Husbands are exhorted in this passage to love their wives “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” and to love their wives as “their own bodies” (Eph. 5:25, 28, NKJV). Christ indeed loves the church as part of Himself.

What does Isaiah 43:4, Psalm 149:4 and Proverbs 15:8,9 say about God taking delight in His people?

God loves people in a way that takes account of their best interests as would anyone who loved and cared for others. Conversely, God is displeased by His people when they do evil. God loves the righteous and the cheerful giver according to Psalms 146:8 and 2 Corinthians 9:7 respectively. These texts do not say God loves only the righteous and the cheerful giver, God loves everyone. The text says God loves the righteous and the cheerful giver in some special sense — in the sense of being pleased with them is the clue from Proverbs 15:8, 9.

How can we be reconciled to God and even pleasing to Him?

God bestows grace on people prior to any human response. And We can be reconciled to God and even pleasing in His sight, by faith through the work of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. God’s work is not only for us but in us as well.

What is the worthy Goal according to Paul’s counsel?

Our worthy goal is to “be well pleasing to God” (2 Cor. 5:9, 10, NKJV) and we should ask God to transform our interests to include the best interests of those whom we love, and to expand our love so that it reaches out to others.

In Conclusion,

We are reconciled to God and even pleasing in His sight, by faith through the work of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ and may We have faith so we can be pleasing to God, in Jesus’ name.