(Delete the portions in red when handing out questions to students.)
Bible Study 1
Since Adam and Eve, every person had come into this world through two parents. Why is Jesus’ birth so special?
Luke 1:26-27, 31 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
The Quran teaches that Jesus’ supernatural birth is a Sign.
Surah 19 20 She said: “How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?” 21. He said: “So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, ‘that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us’: It is a matter (so) decreed.”
The Bible also teaches that the coming of Jesus in a supernatural way to earth is a sign that carries great significance. It is a sign that God Himself will come to earth in flesh to dwell with men.
(Isa 7:14 NIV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).
Do you believe it is possible for God to dwell with man?
In the past God came down to earth for brief moments of time to be with men. For example, He appeared to Moses in a fire in order to speak with him. This event is also mentioned in the Quran.
Surah 28:29. Now when Moses had fulfilled the term, and was travelling with his family, he perceived a fire in the direction of Mount Tur. He said to his family: “Tarry ye; I perceive a fire; I hope to bring you from there some information, or a burning firebrand, that ye may warm yourselves.”
30. But when he came to the (fire), a voice was heard from the right bank of the valley, from a tree in hallowed ground: “O Moses! Verily I am Allah, the Lord of the Worlds….
Just like God appeared to Moses in a fire, God also appeared to men in the person of Jesus so that He might reveal Himself to us.
(John 1:18 RSV) No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
You can ask your Muslim-background friend whether he believes that God is all-powerful and nothing is impossible for Him. If so, would it then be impossible for Him then to come to earth and to take a human form?
Christians believe that Jesus is God. Is the Bible teaching that it is possible for a man to become God?
No, it is not possible for man to become God. The Bible does not teach that Jesus, a man, became God. Instead it teaches that God took on the form of a man.
Do you believe it is possible for God to take on the form of a man?
Nothing is impossible with God and if God wants to take the form of a man to come to us, should we think that it is not possible?
In the Quran, Jesus was called by the name Isa. This is equivalent to the Hebrew name Yeshua, which is equivalent to Jesus. Do you know what the name Jesus mean?
Luke 1:31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
The name Jesus means God saves.
What did God want Jesus to save us from?
(Mat 1:21 NIV) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The Bible teaches that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s standard.
(Romans 3:23 NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
The penalty of sin is eternal death. That is why Jesus had to come to save us from the penalty of sin.
(Romans 6:23 NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When the Bible says that Mary conceived the baby Jesus when the Holy Spirit came upon her, what do you understand by that?
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you.
When the Bible says that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she gave birth to Jesus, it is not talking about a physical union between God and Mary resulting in the birth of a physical son Jesus. The Bible teaches that as a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary, new life came about in her body and Jesus was born.
The Quran also teaches that new life comes about because of God’s spirit?
The Quran teaches that man was created and received life when God breathed His Spirit into man.
Suah 32:9. But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit.
Likewise, the Holy Spirit was also the agent to life being formed in the womb of Mary even though she was a virgin and therefore life could not have been derived from the normal way.
Jesus was referred to as Son of God in the Bible. Why was Jesus called Son of God? Is it possible for God to have a physical son?
Luke 1:35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Muslims believe that God cannot have a physical son.
Surah 6.101 Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! How could He have a son when He has no consort (i.e. wife)…
When Christians say that Jesus is the Son of God, we are not saying that God had taken for Himself a wife in order to give birth to a physical son.
The Bible called Jesus the Son of God because the Son is the exact representation of the father, similar to our expression “Like father, like son.”
(John 14:7-9 NIV) If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well…. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
Malays are familiar with the expression “anak bulan”. When the moon is only visible partially as a crescent, Malays call it “anak bulan”, which literally means “child of the moon”. When someone says “anak bulan” no one will ask where the mother or father of the moon is. Everyone understands that “anak bulan” is the moon itself.
The Bible calls Jesus the “holy one”. Do you think it is possible for man to be sinless?
Luke 1:35 Therefore The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
It is not possible for man to be sinless. Even Jesus says in Mark 10:18, “No one is good—except God alone.” Therefore, when Jesus claims to be sinless, it is equivalent to claiming to be God.
Jesus said in John 8:29,46 “I always do what pleases Him (God). Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?”
Why were the people in the temple so amazed that Jesus possessed so much knowledge about God?
Luke 2:46-47 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
Jesus was so knowledgeable about the things of God because Jesus is the Word of God.
(John 1:1, 14 NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Muslims also believe that Jesus is the word of God – Kalimatullah
Surah 3:45. Behold! the angels said: “O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah.
Is the word of God eternal? Was God at any point in time without His word?
Christians believe that God’s word is eternal because there was not a time that God was without his ability to communicate. That is why Christians believe that Jesus, the Word of God, is eternal, is God.
(John 1:1, 14 NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
The Word here refers to Jesus. He was with God from the beginning and was God. While his existence is eternal, Jesus’ appearance on earth was at a particular point in time.
Muslims believe the Quran is the eternal, uncreated word of God.
Surah 85:21-22 Nay this is a Glorious Quran (inscribed) in a Tablet Preserved!
Yet the eternal word of God descended upon man at a particular point in time.
Surah 17:105. We sent down the (Qur’an) in Truth, and in Truth has it descended: and We sent thee but to give Glad Tidings and to warn (sinners).
Likewise, Jesus the Word of God was eternal but descended upon man at a particular point in history.
(John 8:23 NIV) But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
Jesus also taught that he existed even before Abraham. When the people heard that, they tried to stone him because they understand he was claiming to be eternally existent and therefore God.
(John 8:57-59) “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.