WAY by Chewie with study questions

In our studies on Sunday mornings we have come to a point that we are calling our various followings of God, “The way of the Way.” And we have defined it approximately

Way: The path. Or to put it more poetically it is the light, piercing darkness asunder to form a streaming path showing the way to heaven.

way: The manner in which you walk the path. For example; the parable of the good Samaritan. All passers-by were on the way to do great deeds (church and job) but the menial and time consuming deed was left out… And thus, the Way of the way was not followed.

Now I believe that by this time it is no secret that the path and the manner in which you walk it are directly related to Jesus. This may have been reached because you are a genius and josh is a brilliant teacher, making the concept and application quickly and easily within your grasp. However, I am a dolt and this concept has become a vague shadow of a concept in my mind only after weeks and weeks of lessons pounded into my brain. And upon that rock hard forge of gray matter there has dawned a spark of light. My own grasping of what is being called the way of the Way. I shall call it the WAY.

WAY: By definition; the Plan. By implication; Jesus. Not just about Jesus and not just for Jesus; but by Him and through Him and in Him… Jesus. That simple, He is the plan(whoever believes in Him shall not perish…), and He was the plan (while we were still sinners Christ died for us). He is the path (no one comes to the father except through Me) and he is the manner to walk upon the path (…must walk as Jesus did).

It all started by reading a fairly poorly written article(much like this very one) in which there was a tiny phrase that contained the word “way”. Way, way, whey, that is all I hear these days, the sparks exploded in my brain and even those tiny things began a near melt down. And what arose from that shimmering puddle? Something like this…

I didn’t get my way.

God didn’t get His way either.

Whatever!

God ALWAYS gets His way.

No He does not!

Yes He Does! This continues for a time… (it is called Ohio arguing)

Then, I remember I am in Indiana…

What do you mean by God didn’t get His way? (now we are getting somewhere, thanks Indiana)

Well His way was for everything to be perfect.

And our way screwed everything up. ---See the “way of Adam” for details---

Yes but God made another way; Jesus.

That is true, but Jesus is God. So God got His own way.

This sent me off on another line of thought…

Jesus is God and God made the way and Jesus is the way and the Way. He is the shining light that makes the path and the light that is the path, the pattern to and the rhythm of the path. It is all Him, Jesus I mean. The way of God is perfection and the way of man is destruction, but the way of Jesus is redemption. And now we have opportunity to be restored to the way (Gods) of perfection.

So through these and other meanderings I have concluded in my mind another WAY, the third distinct and encompassing use of the term…

Lets read Philemon:

Now this is all about Jesus and how often is He mentioned? Remember that tinny sounding rhythm that blared from josh’s computer? Something about more than useless… Onesimus means useful. Look again at verse 11 and see the distinction. Before he met Jesus he was useless, after he was useful. That simple. Look at verse 6 that uses the same word (and from my understanding the same context) as 2 Peter 1:8 and it is bad theology I know to pick one word and compare ideas because they contain the same word. I am not doing that here, here I am comparing the same concept and the word that tells why is the same. To know Jesus is to be useful. The more you increase in His knowledge the more useful you become.

Onesimus was separated for a while but now he is back forever. Look it is Romans chapters 5 and 6 lived out. It is slavery to the law and separation. It is a slave to Jesus and eternal freedom and redemption.

My point is this… It is all about Jesus. He is God's plan. And we can follow God's plan to perfection or our plans to destruction. You are always following one plan or the other. Which are you following right now? Not which do you plan to follow… Which are you already following?

WAY questions

Find three stories that Jesus told that were not about Himself.

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2

3

If they are not about Jesus then what are they about?

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2

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What was His purpose (why). What did He hope to achieve by telling these.

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2

3

Find three stories that Jesus told about Himself.

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2

3

How is He letting you get to know Him and His Fathers plans through these stories?