Through this 4-week Bible study, we will learn who Jesus is, the gift of salvation, and the beauty of Jesus’ eternal friendship. We will also learn about the Lord’s love for us and how He is with us through the good days and the hard days. He is our ultimate Friend and the One we can turn to no matter what we are facing.
Week One: Our Greatest Friend
As soon as we know Jesus, He becomes our friend. With time, we will realize He is our best friend as well as our greatest friend. While we might have many wonderful friends in our life, none of them can compare with Jesus. Jesus is the One we can turn to no matter what. Sometimes we will feel as though we cannot turn to our friends because they do not understand what we are going through, but this is not true for Jesus.
He always understands us and He loves us beyond measure (Romans 8:37-39). From the moment we know this until the end of our life, we can take great solace in knowing Jesus is our best friend. As a best friend should, Jesus is beside us in pain, joy, and trouble. Even during our darkest days, He is walking beside us.
When we become angry or upset, it's easy to push our friends away; however, we can never push Jesus away. He is always present with us, even if we push Him away. Jesus is not going to ever be mad at us or make us feel bad about our emotions. Instead, He will be with us and help us process our feelings. For the negative emotions, He will help us heal from them and for the positive emotions, He will enhance our joy.
Challenge Questions:
- Have you ever known anyone who fully understands you and always loves you despite your mistakes? How does it feel to know Jesus always understands you and doesn't define you by your mistakes?
- Have you ever tried to push Jesus away? What happened?
- The Lord helps us as we walk through any valley. Does this bring you comfort?
Prayer: “Dear Jesus, I am looking forward to learning more about You through this Bible study. Please help me to learn what You want me to learn through this study. In Your Name, I pray, Amen.”
Week Two: Who Is Jesus?
If you do not presently know Jesus, He is the second member of the Trinity. This means that He is God since He is part of the Godhead. The two other members of the Godhead are the Father and the Holy Spirit. All three are God, yet three distinct Persons. Therefore, Jesus is God and has existed for all time (John 1:1).
This means Jesus helped in creation, including the creation of mankind. The Lord is also known as “the Angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament. The Angel of the Lord was Jesus’ pre-incarnate form. Jesus’ incarnate form came into being from the moment He took on flesh as a baby. From this time on, the Lord has been fully man and fully God.
Within theological circles, this is known as the hypostatic union. When Jesus lowered Himself to take on the form of mankind, He did not empty Himself of any of His power or divinity. Instead, He added humanity to His divinity. Through Jesus’ human form, He was able to experience everything we have to go through as humans. He learned what it felt like to be tired, hungry, and thirsty.
In this way, we know the Lord can fully relate to us. The Lord can also relate to us in the way that He knows how it feels to be tempted. Unlike us, Jesus never sinned; however, He does know what temptation feels like. The devil tried to tempt Jesus many times, yet Jesus overcame the temptation each time (Matthew 4:1-11). Just how Jesus overcame temptation, He also longs to help us overcome any temptations in our own life.
Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Jesus is our high priest and He can fully sympathize with our pain. Whenever we are struggling with temptation, all we have to do is turn to the Lord.
Challenge Questions:
- Did I know Jesus before today? Am I interested in becoming His friend?
- How can I fully accept the love Jesus has for me?
- Jesus can help me when I am being tempted. How can I ask Jesus for help today?
Prayer: “Dear Jesus, thank You for helping me to learn who You are. I want to be able to become Your friend and to accept the love You have already extended to me. Please help me to do these things and to come home to You. Thank You, Amen.”
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Tutye
Week Three: The Wonderful Gift of Salvation
The story of Jesus doesn't end here. Rather, the Lord grows up, lives a sinless life, and dies the death we deserved. Jesus was charged as a criminal and sentenced to the worst means of death the Romans knew—crucifixion. Crucifixion was saved for only the worst of criminals and involved lashing, carrying your own cross, being nailed to the cross, intense blood loss, dehydration, pain, public ridicule, and a slow death.
Jesus did all of this because He loves us.
The only way to restore our broken relationship with the Father was for Jesus to die the death we deserved. Due to the fall of mankind in Genesis 3, all of us have a broken relationship with the Father. Jesus repaired our broken relationship by dying for our sins. Through Him, our sin debt has been paid in full. The Lord has been so good to us even though we do not deserve His kindness.
Through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, we can now be welcomed into the Father’s arms because our sin debt has been pain. After Jesus had died, He was buried, and three days later, He was raised to life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If we believe in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we are given forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation (John 3:16-17).
At the moment we place faith in Jesus, we join the family of God (1 John 3:1). No longer are we separated from God, but rather, we have been brought near because of the Lord’s finished work. When we look at this, we see how much the Lord loves us. He wouldn't go to these extreme measures to save us if He did not care about us.
As it is, Jesus cares about us more than we can ever know. His love is unconditional and it never changes. Our friends and family’s love for us might change, but Jesus’ love never changes. His love is not based on anything we do or don't do. It is based on His very being.
Challenge Questions:
- What does this tell me about love?
- If I have not placed faith in Jesus yet, do I want to accept Him as my Savior and Lord today? Why or why not?
- How does it feel to know that Jesus’ love is not based on anything I do or don't do?
Prayer: “Dear Jesus, I want to place faith in You today. I accept You as my wonderful Savior and Lord. Allow Your love to come into my heart and to give me lasting peace. You are truly my best friend and the One who knows me better than anyone else. Amen.”
Week Four: The Beauty of Jesus’ Eternal Friendship
Once we place faith in Jesus, He becomes our friend and as mentioned, the more we cultivate our time with Him, the greater our friendship will grow. Jesus is the best friend we could ever have because He is always with us and will never let us down. Even on our darkest and hardest days, the Lord doesn't leave us to sit alone.
He sits right beside us and comforts us with His love. As the years go by, we will quickly see how much our dependence on the Lord will increase. We will become more trusting of Him as well as we will feel more comfortable sharing raw emotions with Him. Jesus wants to know everything that is going on in our hearts, which we can pour out to Him in prayer.
Cultivating our friendship with Jesus will be done by spending time with Him in prayer and reading the Bible. Through prayer, we are able to present our requests to the Lord as well as our praises and thanks. By going to the Bible, we will be able to hear what Jesus is trying to tell us. Jesus can speak to us in many ways; however, His main way of communicating with us through His Word.
Having Jesus as our greatest and best friend can give us hope for the future. He will be our friend forever and our friendship will never end. On the day we pass away from this life to the next, Jesus will be holding our hand. He will welcome us into Heaven with open arms.
Challenge Questions:
- What is the most comforting aspect of Jesus being my friend?
- Jesus is unlike any friend I have had before. How does this make me feel more known and seen?
- How can I be a good friend to Jesus today?
Prayer: “Thank You, Jesus for being my friend. I praise You that we will be friends forever. Please help me to cultivate our friendship and to invest in the time that is needed. I am so grateful for Your friendship and I cannot wait for the day I have the privilege of seeing You in Heaven. Amen.”
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/leolintang
Vivian Bricker obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Ministry, followed by a Master of Arts with an emphasis in theology. She loves all things theology, mission work, and helping others learn about Jesus. Find more of her content at Cultivate: https://cultivatechristianity.wordpress.com/.