This post covers chapter 2.

If you have not yet read this chapter, here are a couple of warm-up questions:

1. In this chapter, Jerry opens with this statement:

The death of Jesus Christ was the most remarkable event in all history.

On its face, at a gut level, is this what you believe? If so, what contributes to this belief? If not, what factors obscure this view of the death of the Son of God from you? (Be as specific for both of these responses as you can. If His death does not loom very large for you, that’s OK! You are definitely not alone! This is one reason that you’re reading this book, and why Jerry felt led to write this chapter. )

2. What kinds of things would make an event that happened today “world-class news” or “extremely noteworthy”?

3. Given your answer in #2, remove all the elements that involve technology (like “carried on all the major news media”) and think about how God might have used ancient phenomena to call attention to an event that He deemed important.

4. If an unsaved friend asked you to coffee, and during your time together looked deep into your eyes and asked you the following question, how would you answer: “Why did Jesus come to die?”

OK, now: Let’s read the chapter.

1. Copy 1 Peter 3:18 (quoted by Jerry on the bottom of page 22) into your journal. Now, paraphrase this verse in writing in your journal using the most personal terms you can.

2. On pages 23-24 Jerry recounts the true story of Adam’s sin as our representative First Parent. Be honest: does this seem unfair to you, that you should have to struggle with the consequences of another man’s choices? If so, consider:

• This is true for you as well. Others–your parents, your husband, and your children–have all suffered unjustly when you have chosen to do less than to love God with all of your heart and love others as yourself.
• Far from being unfair, God has always had a plan where the worst punishment for Adam’s choice to sin as our representative should fall on Jesus, who is also our representative. Jesus has endured more sorrow that any human being ever endured because Adam sinned.
• Because God allowed Adam to sin, we who have been forgiven much can love Christ much.

3. What was your reaction in reading through Jerry’s list that attempts to briefly indicate the implications of the first and second great commandments on pages 25-27? Try to take a moment to capture your honest heart reactions. Ask yourself, “Why do I react this way? What does this reaction show me about my heart towards God and Christ Jesus?”

4. Did Jerry’s discussion of the depths of your sinful nature result in discouragement and desperation? As he said, that was kind of his point:

You might be thinking by this time, “Why devote so much attention to sin? It just makes me feel guilty. I thought you were going to tell us about the unsearchable riches of Christ.” My reason is to cause us all to realize we have no place to hide… Many people erroneously think that God can just forgive our sins because He is a loving God. Nothing could be further from the truth. The cross speaks to us not only about our sin but about God’s holiness. (page 28)

Until we realize that we are worse than we dare believe, and that God is holy and unable to “just forgive” us, we will not grasp the enormity of our plight, nor the depths of the riches of Christ. Jerry is trying to help us to see both! How much of this kind of meditation is new to you? Can you, in your journal, try to express the depths of your need for God’s forgiveness? (After you try, go back and look at the lists on pages 25-27. Is there more to add to your honest, less-than-flattering description of yourself?)

5. Was it a new idea to you that God’s holiness “responds to sin with immutable and eternal hatred”? What, then do we deserve?

6. In what way does the death of Jesus on the cross display the depths of the heinousness of sin and simultaneously the depth of His love for us?

7. Jerry concludes this chapter by writing:

And it is a continuing sense of the imperfection of our obedience, arising from the constant presence and remaining power of indwelling sin, that drives us more and more as believers to an absolute dependence on the grace of God given to us through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Is this comforting to you as you survey the ways that you consistently “miss the mark” (literally, sin) as a homeschooling mom? The ongoing battle with sin (from within and without) should train us to run to (and hide in) Christ. The rest of this book helps us to see both the depths of God’s love and the only sure hope for living a holy life: complete dependence on Christ. Would you like to write out a prayer to God that you would grow in your ability to depend on Him? (If so, be sure to look for His loving answer to that prayer in days to come!)

Below are links that will help you navigate the discussions easier. (You can also use the Archives section of this blog.)

Discussion #1 for this book.

Discussion #3 for this book.

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