A 4-Week Bible Study on Jesus’ Promise of Eternal Friendship
Jesus did all of this because He loves us.
The only way to restore our broken relationship with the Father was for Jesus to die the death we deserved. Due to the fall of mankind in Genesis 3, all of us have a broken relationship with the Father. Jesus repaired our broken relationship by dying for our sins. Through Him, our sin debt has been paid in full. The Lord has been so good to us even though we do not deserve His kindness.
Through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, we can now be welcomed into the Father’s arms because our sin debt has been pain. After Jesus had died, He was buried, and three days later, He was raised to life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If we believe in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we are given forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation (John 3:16-17).
At the moment we place faith in Jesus, we join the family of God (1 John 3:1). No longer are we separated from God, but rather, we have been brought near because of the Lord’s finished work. When we look at this, we see how much the Lord loves us. He wouldn't go to these extreme measures to save us if He did not care about us.
As it is, Jesus cares about us more than we can ever know. His love is unconditional and it never changes. Our friends and family’s love for us might change, but Jesus’ love never changes. His love is not based on anything we do or don't do. It is based on His very being.
Challenge Questions:
Prayer: “Dear Jesus, I want to place faith in You today. I accept You as my wonderful Savior and Lord. Allow Your love to come into my heart and to give me lasting peace. You are truly my best friend and the One who knows me better than anyone else. Amen.”
Once we place faith in Jesus, He becomes our friend and as mentioned, the more we cultivate our time with Him, the greater our friendship will grow. Jesus is the best friend we could ever have because He is always with us and will never let us down. Even on our darkest and hardest days, the Lord doesn't leave us to sit alone.
He sits right beside us and comforts us with His love. As the years go by, we will quickly see how much our dependence on the Lord will increase. We will become more trusting of Him as well as we will feel more comfortable sharing raw emotions with Him. Jesus wants to know everything that is going on in our hearts, which we can pour out to Him in prayer.
Cultivating our friendship with Jesus will be done by spending time with Him in prayer and reading the Bible. Through prayer, we are able to present our requests to the Lord as well as our praises and thanks. By going to the Bible, we will be able to hear what Jesus is trying to tell us. Jesus can speak to us in many ways; however, His main way of communicating with us through His Word.
Having Jesus as our greatest and best friend can give us hope for the future. He will be our friend forever and our friendship will never end. On the day we pass away from this life to the next, Jesus will be holding our hand. He will welcome us into Heaven with open arms.
Challenge Questions:
Prayer: “Thank You, Jesus for being my friend. I praise You that we will be friends forever. Please help me to cultivate our friendship and to invest in the time that is needed. I am so grateful for Your friendship and I cannot wait for the day I have the privilege of seeing You in Heaven. Amen.”
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/leolintang
