1 Corinthians - Lesson 13

By Stafford North

BE HOPEFUL

Background Information for the Teacher

Objectives:

1. The student can explain what Paul means by urging the Corinthians to “eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”

2. The student can state the basis for the Christian hope.

3. The student can explain what we expect to receive at Christ’s second coming.

4. The student can state what we need to do to continue to receive the promised hope.

5. The student can list some circumstances in which hope can sustain us.

Preparation:

1. Each student should have a Bible

2. Each student should have a copy of the Worksheet and a pencil/pen.

3. Have ready a board on which to write key words and ideas.

4. Have verses to read ready to hand out before class.

5. Have Review Quiz over Lesson 12 ready to distribute at the first of class or as people enter.

Theme:

Paul tells the Corinthians to “eagerly wait” for the return of Christ and that is how all should feel who are prepared for His return.

Lesson Plan for Conducting the Class

Introduction: (about 10 minutes)

  1. Call the roll and introduce visitors.
  2. Make necessary announcements.
  3. Sing some songs if you wish and have a prayer. Songs related to the lesson would be: “On Zion’s Glorious Summit,” “When We All Get to Heaven,” “Victory inJesus,” “Beautiful Robes So White.”
  4. Give the answers to the Review Quiz as a way of reviewing the previous lesson.Encourage students to complete the worksheet on the lesson today so they can prepare for the Review Quiz next week.

Learning Experiences (about 25 minutes)

  1. Read 1 Corinthians 1:7-9. Q: What does Paul tell the Corinthians to “eagerly wait” for? A: Our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. Q: To be one who eagerly awaits Christ’s coming and judgment, in what status must we be living? A: A blameless state. Q: How do we attain this blameless state? A: God has called us into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, and God is faithful. By being in fellowship with Christ, we are blameless and we enter fellowship with Christ by being baptized into Him (Galatians 3:27).
  2. Read 1 John 1:5-9. Q: What must we do to maintain fellowship with Christ? A:We must walk in the light and not in the darkness. Q: Does this mean that we must never sin? A: No. Q: What does it mean to walk in the light? A: It does not mean never to sin. It is different than to walk in darkness. So, to walk in the light means that we try not to sin and when we occasionally do sin, we confess our sin and seek not to do it again. The word “walk” here is in a verb form that means “keep on walking.” Thus, those who keep on walking in the light as He is in the light, have fellowship with each other and Jesus’ blood keeps on cleansing their sins. Q: So how do we become blameless and stay blameless? Q: We must get into fellowship with Christ where forgiveness of sins is to be found. We enter this fellowship when we, as a repenting believer, are baptized into Christ.Then we must keep on walking in the light, trying not to sin and when we do sin,we must confess the sin and thus, have it forgiven.
  3. Read Acts 8:12-24. Q: Did Simon enter fellowship with Christ? A: He believed and was baptized, and so had his past sins forgiven. Thus, he was in fellowship with Christ. Q: Was it possible for him to sin after that in such a way as to leave the saved state? A: Yes. Peter says that because he tried to buy the power to give the Holy Spirit to others, as only apostles could do, he was in the “perishing”state and was captive to sin. Q: What did Peter tell him to do to return to the saved state? A: To repent and pray. Q: Why did Peter not tell him to go back and believe and be baptized properly? A: Because his initial obedience was acceptable. Q: Is the “repent and pray” in this passage parallel to the “confess our sins” of 1 John 1? A: Yes. To continue to walk in the light, we must be trying not to sin. If we were not trying to avoid sin we would be walking in darkness. When we do sin, however, we must make the proper amends for that-by having a repentant heart, confessing our sin to God and to those who need to know of our repentance, and praying to God for forgiveness. Living in such away, keeps walking in the light and thus keeps us blameless.
  4. Read 1 Corinthians 4:5; 9:25 and 15:51-57. Q: What does Paul say awaits theChristian who has lived the faithful life? A: The praise of God and the crown of victory. Q: What does Paul say will not happen to everyone and what does he say will happen to everyone? A: We shall not all sleep (die) but we shall all be changed into an imperishable body. Thus, both the living and the dead whenChrist returns receive a new incorruptible body. Q: What is then defeated? A:Death. Q: And who wins the victory and how? A: Those who have been raised to enter the eternal joys of heaven win the victory and this happens because God gives us the victory through Christ.
  5. Read 1 Corinthians 15:58. Q: In view of this hope, what does Paul tell us to do?A: Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord. (Teacher-use the board to make this list.) Q: List some things thatChristians today will be doing who follow this command. A: (Teacher-press for some specific things such as the following: will worship God regularly, will be faithful in marriage, will tell the truth, will share their faith with others, will care for the needy, will give generously, will stand firmly on the doctrine of Christ.)

Application: (About 10 minutes)

  1. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:8. Q: To what does Paul compare hope? A: The helmet of salvation. Q: What was the primary benefit of a helmet in the Roman soldier’s armor? A: To ward off the heavy blows from a club, an axe, an arrow,or a sword.
  2. Q: What difficult times in our lives can our hope of salvation help us through?A: The death of a parent, death of a child, a financial setback, an illness, the betrayal of a friend, a disappointment or failure. (Teacher-try to get some in the class to share times in their lives when the hope of heaven has been a strength.)
  3. So, be hopeful. Think often about the hope we have in Jesus and walking in the light so we can keep our hope. Let hope strengthen you through the hard times of life.

Download Worksheets

Back to 1 Corinthians

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.