MEMORY VERSE: ‘And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Jesus are perished … but now is Christ risen.’ 1 Corinthians 15:17-20.
LESSON AIM: The Man of Calvary died on a cross outside Jerusalem. His death was not as the death of a martyr, for He did not remain in the grave. He arose. This lesson will look at the blessings brought to us by the living, risen Man of Calvary.
‘If Jesus had not died our sacrifice and risen again, we should never have known peace, never have felt joy, but only experienced the horrors of darkness and the miseries of despair. Then let only praise and gratitude be the language of our hearts.’ In Heavenly Places, page 36
1. How did Solomon describe the ills of old age? Ecclesiastes 12:3-7. Consider what Paul said about the fear of death in Hebrews 2:15.
NOTE: Here is how the process of ageing is graphically described by the Bible in everyday English. ‘Those dismal days and years come when you will say, “I don't enjoy life.” That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars will grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly. Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music as it plays, but even the song of a bird will wake you from sleep. You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will have gone. We are going to our final resting place ... Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us.’ (Excerpts from a variety of different Bible versions.)
2. How do the Scriptures reveal what every human being knows? Ecclesiastes 9:5, first part.
NOTE: ‘What say the Scriptures? Man is not conscious in death: “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” “The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything. ... Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” “The grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day.” “In death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks”.’ From Here to Forever, page 335.