Easy Reading Edition

3
The Promised Son
January 8–14

SABBATH—JANUARY 8
READ FOR THIS WEEK’S LESSON: Numbers 24:14–
19; Hebrews 1:1–4; Exodus 24:16, 17; Nehemiah 9:6;
Hebrews 1:5.

MEMORY VERSE: “In these last days, he talked to us

through [by] his Son. God chose him to be the one to
whom [the one who] he would give all things. God also
made the world [the earth and everything on it] by this
Son. He [the Son] shines as bright as God. He is just
like [the same as] God himself. He holds up the world
by the power of his word. He made people clean from
their wrong ways. Then he sat down beside [next to]
God in heaven” (Hebrews 1:2, 3, WE).

AFTER ADAM AND EVE SINNED, God promised them a Son.

This Son will free them. He will help them get back the things
After Adam and Eve
they lost. The Son will do the things they failed to do (Genesis
sinned, God promised 3:15). He will take their place. He will destroy the snake.
them a Son. “Adam and Eve expect God to give them their Savior right
away. So, they are happy when their first son is born. They
hope this baby is the special Son God told them about. But
the promise does not happen at that time.”—Ellen G. White,
The Desire of Ages, page 31, adapted. Later, God makes the
same promise to Abraham. God also promises Abraham that
his future Son will be a blessing to all people (Genesis 22:16–
18; Galatians 3:16). God makes the same promise to David.
God promises David that He will make His Son King above all
the kings on the earth (2 Samuel 7:12–14; Psalm 89:27–29).
No doubt Adam and Eve, Abraham, and David do not know
that this Promised Son will be God Himself!
20 THE PROMISED SON
 SUNDAY—JANUARY 9 Lesson 3
IN THESE LAST DAYS (Numbers 24:14–19)

Paul says he lives in the “last days” (Hebrews 1:2, ERV). Paul
lived 2,000 years ago. What is Paul thinking when he says the
“last days”? The Bible talks about the future in two ways: (1)
“the last days” and (2) “the time of the end.” These words do
not show the same thing. The Old Testament writers wrote the
words “the last days” to talk about a time far away in the future
(read Deuteronomy 4:30, 31; Jeremiah 23:20). Daniel uses the
words “the time of the end” to show the end times and the end
of history on earth (Daniel 8:17; Daniel 12:4).

Read Numbers 24:14–19 and Isaiah 2:2, 3. What does

God promise to do for His people in the future?

Several Old Testament writers announce that God will send

a King to His people. People from different lands and family
groups on earth will search for this King. Their search will lead
them to Israel (read Isaiah 2:2, 3). Paul says that Jesus made
all these promises happen. Jesus beat Satan. Then people
from all over the earth came to Jesus (Colossians 2:15; John
12:32). So, these promises show us that “the last days” already God promised to wake up
started. His children from the dead
Our spiritual fathers died in faith. They did not see God’s (1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16).
promises happen in their time. But we can see how Jesus kept
the promises God made to Israel.
Let us think about the things God the Father prom-
ised. God promised to wake up His children from the dead
(1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16). God started to keep this promise
when Jesus woke up from the dead and woke up other people
with Him (1  Corinthians 15:20; Matthew 27:51–53). God also
promised to make everything on earth new (Isaiah 65:17). He
started to keep that promise when He made our spiritual lives
new (2  Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). God promises that
His kingdom will be the final kingdom on earth (Daniel 2:44).
He started this kingdom when He made us free from Satan
and made Jesus our King (Matthew 12:28–30; Luke 10:18–20).
These promises are just the beginning of the things that God
will do. God will finish at the Second Coming the things He
started to do when Jesus first came to the earth.

Look at all the promises God made and kept in the past.
How should these promises help us to trust God to keep
His promises that have not happened?

THE PROMISED SON 21

 Lesson 3 MONDAY—JANUARY 10
GOD TALKS TO US BY HIS SON (Hebrews 1:1–4)

Read Hebrews 1:1–4. What do these verses say?

Hebrews 1:1–4 is only one sentence in the Greek language.

Many Bible experts say that this sentence is the most beau-
tiful sentence in the whole New Testament. These verses tell
us that God talks to us by Jesus, His Son.
God had not sent any messages to His people since the
time of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi, more than 400 years
before. That was a long time ago for the Jews living during
New Testament times. But now God communicates to His
people again. God sends Jesus to give His people His mes-
sages.
These messages from Jesus are better than the messages
God gave to His special messengers in the Old Testament.
Why? Because Jesus is God Himself. Jesus made the sky
and the earth. He controls all the stars and planets in outer
space. Paul has no doubts about who Jesus really is. Paul
completely accepts that Jesus is God.
Also, Paul accepts that the Old Testament came from God.
The same God who communicated Bible truth in the past con-
tinues to communicate Bible truth to His people today. The Old
Testament shows us the things God wants from us and for us.
The Old Testament also tells us the things God will do for us.
After Jesus came to this earth, we understood the Old
Testament better. His coming made possible our deeper
knowledge about the Bible. Jesus and His life explained so
much of the Old Testament.
Jesus also came to be our Helper and Savior. He takes our
place in the fight against the snake. Jesus beats the snake for
us. Paul shows us that Jesus is our “perfect Leader” (Hebrews
2:10, NLV). Jesus has “gone . . . ahead of us” to God (Hebrews
6:20, WE). God the Father wants to do for us the things He
did for Jesus. God told Jesus to sit at His right side. God also
wants us to sit with Jesus on His throne (Revelation 3:21).
The message that Jesus gives to us from God includes far
more than sermons. The message includes promises. What
Jesus beats the snake are these promises? They include everything that God did
for us. because of Jesus and for Jesus. God did all these things to
bless us now and forever.

Think about this idea: Jesus, who is God, came to

this earth. Why should this Bible truth bring us so much
hope?

22 THE PROMISED SON

 TUESDAY—JANUARY 11 Lesson 3
THE SON SHINES AS BRIGHT AS GOD (Hebrews 1:2–4)

Read Hebrews 1:2–4. What do these verses teach us

about Jesus?

We are going to look at the part of Hebrews 1:2–4 that

says: “He shines as bright as God. He is just [completely]
like [the same as] God himself” (Hebrews 1:3, WE).

What is God’s glory? Read Exodus 24:16, 17; Psalm

4:6; Psalm 36:9; and Psalm 89:15 for the answer.

In the Old Testament, God’s glory shows us how God

looks to human eyes when He shows Himself to His people
(Exodus 16:7; Exodus 24:16, 17; Leviticus 9:23; Numbers
14:10). God shines the same as a bright light.
The Bible compares Jesus to light. Jesus came to this
earth to show us God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3; John 1:6–9,
14–18; and 2  Corinthians 4:6). Remember how Jesus
looked to Peter, James, and John after light covered
Him? “While these followers watched him, Jesus was
changed. His face became bright like [the same as] the
sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Matthew
17:2, ERV).
We know about the sun because we can see and feel its
light. In the same way, we know God the Father because
we know Jesus. Jesus and the Father are two different
Persons but the same God. God’s glory is light. Just as light
and its bright rays are the same, God and Jesus have the
same heart and mind.
Paul also says that Jesus is “just [completely] like [the
same as] God himself” (Hebrews 1:3, WE). What does
Paul want to teach us when he compares Jesus to God in
Jesus came to this earth
this way? Paul wants us to understand that God the Father
to show us God’s glory.
and Son think, feel, talk, and behave exactly the same. As
humans, we are copies of God (Genesis 1:26). We are not
the same as God. But the Son is God. No wonder Jesus
says, “ ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father too’ ”
(John 14:9, ERV).

The person who sees Jesus also sees God. Jesus

shows us the love and the glory of the Father. Why is
this news so wonderful? How does Jesus show the
Father to us?

THE PROMISED SON 23

 Lesson 3 WEDNESDAY—JANUARY 12
YOU GIVE LIFE TO EVERYTHING (Nehemiah 9:6)

Hebrews shows us that God made the earth and the sky
“through” or “by” Jesus. Jesus keeps everything running
smoothly, too. His powerful Word gives life to everything.

Read Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 45:18; and Nehemiah 9:6. In

the Old Testament, the Lord says, “ ‘I alone’ ” made the
skies and the earth “ ‘by myself’ ” (Isaiah 44:24, NIrV).
The Lord also says, “  ‘I am the Lord. .  .  . There is no
other God’ ” (Isaiah 45:18, ERV). But the New Testament
tells us that God chose His Son Jesus to give us all
things. “God also made the world [the earth and every-
thing in it] by this Son” (Hebrews 1:2, WE). Do these
verses show us that the Old Testament and the New
Testament writers do not agree about who really made
the earth and the skies? How should we understand
these verses?

Some people think that Jesus was God’s “helper.” Is that

teaching true? What does Paul write in Hebrews 1:10? But
Jesus is more than just a helper. First, Paul believes Jesus
made the earth and everything in it. Jesus was not just a
helper (Hebrews 1:10). Paul also uses the same words
from Psalm 102:25–27 to show us that Jesus is the One
who made us. Second, Hebrews 2:10 says that all the other
planets and stars were made by, or through, the Father.
(Hebrews 1:2 also shows us that everything was made by,
or through, Jesus.) So, both the Father made everything,
and Jesus made everything (Hebrews 1:2, 10; Hebrews
Paul believes Jesus made 2:10). The Father and the Son think and talk the same in
the earth and everything Their work and plans. This Bible truth is a wonderful mys-
in it. tery that is part of the Bible teaching about the Godhead.
The Godhead is the Three-in-One God: the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yes, Jesus made everything, and
God the Father did, too. The Bible tells us there is only One
God who made everything. So, Jesus is God. Jesus is our
Helper. That is different from “God’s helper.”
Hebrews 1:3 and Colossians 1:17 also show us that
Jesus “holds everything together by his powerful command”
(Hebrews 1:3, ERV). Only the Leader of heaven and earth
can control this mighty work. Every breath, every pump
of our hearts, and every second of our lives comes from
Jesus. He is the reason that all life started and continues.

24 THE PROMISED SON

 THURSDAY—JANUARY 13 Lesson 3
TODAY I HAVE BECOME YOUR FATHER (Hebrews 1:5)

Hebrews 1:5, ERV, reports what God the Father says

to Jesus: “  ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your
Father.’ ” What does Paul mean? Does this verse show us
that God made Jesus?

In Hebrews 1:4, 5, Paul talks about a promise God

made to David. Why is this promise also about Jesus?
For the answers, read also 2  Samuel 7:12–14; Psalm
2:6–8; and Luke 1:31, 32.

Jesus is God just as the Father is God. But Jesus

became God’s Son when He became a Man. In Psalm 2,
God promises that His Son will be the real King over all
the people groups on earth. Then the Father will give His
Son many gifts. The Father also will fight against His Son’s
enemies. The Father also will give to His Son the people on
this earth as a gift (Psalm 89:27; Psalm 2:7, 8).
As we see in Romans 1:3, 4 and Acts 13:32, 33, God
makes a public announcement that Jesus is His Son. God
also announced that Jesus was His Son after Jesus was
baptized (Matthew 3:17). Later, God said the same thing
when light covered Jesus and changed the way He looked
(Matthew 17:5).
Paul also tells us that Jesus “came alive from death. That
showed he was God’s Son. He had God’s power” (Romans
1:4, WE). Then God tells Jesus to sit at His right side. After
Jesus becomes a Man, God announces that David’s Son
is His own Son. When Jesus becomes King David’s Son,
we see that God keeps His promise to David. God puts His
Son on His throne. His Son will be King over all people for- God tells Jesus to sit
ever (2 Samuel 7:12–14). at His right side.
When God announces that Jesus is His Son, the Bible
is not saying that Jesus was born at this time. No, Jesus
became King over all people on earth at this time. “His days
have no beginning. His life has no end” (Hebrews 7:3, NIrV;
also read Hebrews 13:8.) Jesus is everlasting. He always
has lived. So, when the Bible says that Jesus becomes a
Son, the Bible tells us how Jesus saves us. Jesus becomes
human, so that He can keep all the promises God made to
us.

THE PROMISED SON 25

 Lesson 3 FRIDAY—JANUARY 14
ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: Jesus came to this earth as the
Son of God to do several things. First, Jesus came to show
us the Father and His love. Jesus came to show us why we
can trust and obey the Father, too.
Jesus also came as the Son that God promised David,
Abraham, and Adam. God promises that this Son will win
and be King of the whole earth. Jesus came to do what
Adam failed to do. Jesus came to show us the plan that
God had for our lives before there was any sin (Genesis
1:26–28; Psalm 8:3–8).
“At the Jordan River, God said to Jesus: ‘ “This is my Son,
the one I love. I am very pleased with him” ’ [Matthew 3:17,
ERV]. When God said these words to Jesus, our Helper, God
also said them to us. We have many sins and are weak. But
God does not throw us away as if we have no worth. ‘We have
been accepted by God through [because of] Jesus Christ,
whom [who] he loves so much.’ Ephesians 1:6, [WE]. The
honor that God gave Jesus is a promise of the love of God for
us. . . . Light fell from heaven on the head of our Savior at the
Jordan River. This light will fall on us when we pray for help
over sin in our lives. The voice of God from heaven announced
His love to Jesus. This voice of God announces this same love
to every person who trusts in God: ‘This is My child, the one I
love. I am very pleased with him or her.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The
Desire of Ages, page 113, adapted.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1 When we understand better what Jesus said and did, we will

understand God better. How has your understanding of Jesus
helped your walk with God?

2 The love that God showed Jesus is the love that God wants to
show us. What should that Bible truth tell us about how we should
love other people, too?
“God does not throw us
away as if we have 3 What if we believed that Jesus was only human the same as
no worth.” we are, and not God? How does this idea change what Jesus
did at the cross? Compare this idea with the Bible truth that
Jesus, as God, died for us. How are these two ideas different,
and why is the answer so important?

4 How is our giving glory to God part of the Three Angels’

Messages in Revelation 14:7 and present truth? Present truth is
the Bible truth we need most for our time.

26 THE PROMISED SON

 Story
DRINKING WITH VILLAGERS INSIDE
I am a pastor in a faraway village in northern Taiwan. Taiwan is
a country in East Asia. The villagers are not interested at all in
studying the Bible. There are two churches in the village. Many
by Koo Mingji

villagers go to one of the two Christian churches. The rest of

the villagers spend their time drinking alcohol. The church
members refuse to have anything to do with the drinkers.
How can I help these villagers learn about Jesus?
I decide to follow the example of Jesus Himself. I ask myself,
“What would Jesus do?” Jesus would become friends with the
sinners. “The plan of Jesus is the only plan that will give us real
success. His plan will help us touch hearts. The Savior spent
time with people. He showed them that He wanted the best
for them. Jesus showed people that He cared about them. He
took care of their needs. He won their trust. Then He told them,
‘Follow Me.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, page
143, adapted.
Paul himself says, “I have become all things to all people.
I did this so that I could save people in any way possible”
(1  Corinthians 9:22, ERV; read also 1 Corinthians 9:19–23).
So, I decide to become friends with the drinkers.
The drinkers enjoy drinking together. They agree to drink
with me. But I serve them tea and not alcohol. I give them a
whole lot of tea, too! I give them so much tea to drink that they
are too full to drink any alcohol. Soon, they stop drinking any
alcohol when we meet. They start to study the Bible with me.
A few months pass. Two of the men give their hearts to Jesus. I give them so much tea to
drink that they are too full
I baptize them in August 2019.
to drink any alcohol.
Six months later, one of the men I baptized gets sick and
dies. I am so sad. I cry out to God, “Why?”
Soon after the funeral of the young man, something won-
derful happens. The mother and the brother of the dead young
man ask me to give them Bible studies. Then other villagers
ask me to study the Bible with them, too. In late 2020, these
Bible students and other villagers come to a health fair in the
village. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Taiwan is in
charge of the health fair. The next day, five villagers get bap-
tized.
God is full of mercy and love. He has made a way for every-
one on earth to be saved if they choose. The Lord says, “ ‘My
thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your
ways’ ” (Isaiah 55:8, NLV). The Lord is the reason for all our
success. Praise Him!
This story shows us the “I Will Go” plan of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. This plan is about how we can share Jesus
with everyone. Learn more about this plan at IWillGo2020.org.
Provided
27 by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School
mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at AdventistMission.org.