Break the ice. If you could only eat one dessert for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Read Galatians 3:7-9.

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7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

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Discuss the text. Law is the category of God’s commands, while Gospel is the category of God’s unconditional promises. Law is what we do for God, while Gospel is what God does for us. The gospel does not begin in the New Testament, but begins all the way back in Genesis 3:15. God’s response to the first person’s failure to keep the first law was to make the first gospel promise.

1. In what sense did Abraham know “the gospel?”
2. How was the gospel preached to Abraham fulfilled in the gospel of Jesus Christ?
3. Was there a time in your life when you thought the God of the Old Testament was different from the God in the New? What attributes did you use to describe Him? How did you begin to understand that God is the same yesterday, today and forever?
4. How does knowing all nations shall be blessed affect your view of people (neighbors, coworkers, family members) that you don’t think would be interested in the gospel?
5. When we feel condemned and distant from God, what gospel promises can we cling to that bring us back to a Father who loves us and actively pursues us in both our sin and our suffering?

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Rest in God’s truth. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Galatians 2:20-21

Close in prayer. Thank God for all the things He has given us unconditionally apart from anything we could ever give to Him. Examples: Life is a gift. Grace is a gift. Christ is a gift. Salvation is a gift. Faith is a gift. The Gospel is a gift. You alone are the Giver. Thank you, God.