Helmet of Salvation
Armor of God for Minecraft Lovers, Lesson 6
Read other parts of this study:
Overview - Lesson 1 - Lesson 2 - Lesson 3 - Lesson 4 - Lesson 5 - Lesson 6 - Lesson 7 - Bonus
Read the Non-Minecraft Version of Lesson 6
Reminder: This is intended to be a small group discussion. Ask the leading questions to the group and invite discussion. For questions with Bible verses, read the verses to help answer the question. Potential answers and key takeaways are provided as a leader’s guide.
We learned in Lesson 5 that much like the shield in Minecraft protects us from the skeleton’s arrows, the shield of faith helps protect us from the flaming arrows of the evil one. Faith in Jesus is what saves us from the enemy and from eternal condemnation. And that leads us right to our next piece of armor—the helmet of salvation.
Ephesians 6:17: Take the helmet of salvation...
Helmet
What is the purpose of the helmet in Minecraft?
Protection for the head
Water enchantments (it can help you hold your breath longer)
What is important about the head?
It holds the brain, which is where our thinking and reasoning takes place.
It contains many of our senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste.
It is where we take in air to breathe, which is vital for life.
Why is it important to protect our mind?
Genesis 3:1-7: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
John 8:44: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
2 Corinthians 4:4: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-14: But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. ... For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Key takeaway: Your mind is easily deceived by Satan.
Why is it important to protect our thoughts?
Mark 7:21-23: For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.
1 John 3:15: Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
James 1:13-15: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Key takeaway: Many sins (actions) start as a thought or attitude.
Salvation
What is salvation?
Romans 5:8-10: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Romans 10:9-10: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Key takeaway: Salvation is God saving us from our sins through Jesus’ death on the cross.
How do our senses help lead us to salvation?
Romans 10:17: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
John 20:31: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Key takeaway: It is through hearing the message of Jesus and reading the words of the Bible that we learn how to be saved.
How does the mind relate to salvation?
2 Corinthians 7:9-10: Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Acts 3:19: Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Romans 10:9-10: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Key takeaway: Our minds process our sorrow for sins, which leads us to confession and repentance. Our mind then makes the decision to believe that Jesus is Lord, which brings salvation.
How does salvation relate to life?
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 14:6: Jesus answered: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10: For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
Key takeaway: We receive salvation through Jesus, and that salvation comes with the gift of eternal life.
Helmet of Salvation
How does the helmet of salvation protect us from sin/Satan?
Romans 8:5-6: Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 12:2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
2 Corinthians 10:5: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Key takeaway: Salvation will help us transform our mind so that it is obedient to Christ rather than governed by the flesh.
Final Application
Why do we need to be saved? What do we need to be saved from?
What can you do today to put on the helmet of salvation?
Any parallels I missed in my comparison of the helmet between Minecraft and us? Share your thoughts in the comment section!
Premium Resources
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