Double Dug Soil

One of the things I love about gardening is how every time I work the ground God impresses so many of His truths into my heart. The Old Testament uses farming metaphors on several occasions and then, fittingly, Jesus speaks in terms of fields, farms, fruits, soils, seeds, and sowers over and over again.

Yesterday, I began building a raised garden bed for the upcoming spring gardening season. Seeing as how I was fresh off my reading of Brett Markham’s “Mini Farming” book, I set out to perform certain soil preparation technique called “Double-Digging.”

This method, has you dig out a trench the length of your raised bed, placing all the dirt you just dug into a wheelbarrow and then off to the side, and then filling the trench with fresh compost. Another trench is then dug next to the first one with the new soil being placed on top of the compost that had filled the first trench. This process then continues for the width of the bed until the wheelbarrow full of dirt is used to cover the compost in the final trench.

After performing this labor on my small garden bed, two things rang true in my mind.

1- I should have stretched my hamstrings a little first (I could barely make it up our stairs last night)

and

2- Preparing good soil is HARD WORK. Trenching, composting, digging, moving dirt, etc… it is hard on the back, hard on the legs, and hard on the arms.

But the soil… it is incredible. What was once a sandy looking 40 square feet of dirt is now a 20 cubic foot box of dark brown, soft, loamy soil, the type that every gardner covets… the type that just looks ready to receive new seeds.

As I said in the beginning though, I don’t just enjoy gardening for the sake of the fruits and vegetables… I enjoy it for the truths that God presses into me as I work the ground. After this experience, I was left thinking about the parable of the sower. This time, however, I was shown a side to this parable that I hadn’t seen before. This time, God pressed into my heart… how hard He works to prepare good soil.

In this parable, which can be found in each of the three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus speaks of a sower who sows seeds in four places, each of the four environments yields a different result, with the best being the Good Soil… the soil from which a harvest up to a hundred-fold was reaped. Jesus goes on to explain that the seed is the Word of God, and that the good soil is those of us who hear the word and accept it. While I have heard and read this parable several times in my life but this time, in thinking about this parable, I started to wonder…

What, or who, makes us into good soil?

In Colossians 2:8-15, Paul says that it was “while we were dead in our trespasses.” That God made us alive in Christ.

In Deuteronomy 9-10, Moses reminds the Israelites that it is not because of their righteousness that God is bringing them into the promised land, for they are a stubborn people, and in Hebrews 12:2, we are told that it is Jesus Himself who is the author and perfector of our faith.

Paul even tells us in Philippians 1:6 that it is “He who began a good work in us who will bring it to completion.

While we can easily see, both in life and scripture, that is good soil that springs forth good, fruit-bearing trees, we also see that the whole of Scripture seems to have this theme flowing through it that says it is God who prepares the soil, God who causes the seed to take root, God who grows the tree, God who prunes, & God who enjoys seeing the fruits of His labor in us.

Which brings me back to my raised bed and the truth that God pressed into me as I toiled…

God works hard on us

How many of us can actually say that we prepared ourselves to receive His word? As Paul says in Galations 3; “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:2), and was or is our reception of the Spirit, or the fact that we have been found to be good soil a work of our own? It can’t be! How many Christian testimonies start with “well I had never heard anything about God or Jesus but I had spent years preparing myself for when that day came so that once I finally received the Word I would believe and bear much fruit” (If this is your story please let me know because you are the first of this nature I have ever heard of).

Instead, we hear time and again about how some life circumstances, some seemingly “random” chain of events, and even some persistent sower all seemed to “miraculously” align at just the right time in our lives to lead us to a place of realization of who we are before God, and who He has called us to be in Him.

in looking back, we can see that it was God who was arranging the life circumstances, sequencing the chain of events, and even leading the sower to sow the seeds of His Word into our hearts. It was God who was breaking up the hard soil of our hearts, digging the first ditch, breaking up the subsoil, filling the first ditch with compost, and then repeating the process all over again.

Then, we can go out, double dig ourselves a little garden bed, pull a hamstring, sit down, watch a sunset, and realize, with great appreciation.

God works hard on us… Preparing our hearts to be Good Soil… Soil ready to receive His Word.

The New Covenant Part 1… Introduction

Is the Christian Life really all about trying to follow a bunch of rules that are thousands of years old?

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers…” -Jeremiah 31:31

At this point, having proposed that the entirety of Scripture is about Jesus, and then having looked at both the prophecies of The Messiah and the fact that Jesus is the Image of God, we now pause on this track and turn to the introduction of the 2^nd of what I am calling 3 Essential Truths to Unlocking The Bible.

To be completely honest with you I am somewhat embarrassed that I had no working knowledge of this aspect of my faith until somewhat recently. To be even more honest with you it bothers me deeply that what I am about to go into is not intentionally laid out for new believers to understand, taught to us completely, talked about incessantly, and even preached about repeatedly.

I say this, because it is, in my humble opinion, life changing. It is, in a word… ENORMOUS.

What I am talking about is The New Covenant.

Let me start by asking you this question… what was the point of Jesus going to the cross? I mean, we established that The Old Testament testified to His coming, but what was the point of His incarnation? I mean, we saw in the last article that He appeared over and again all throughout history before ever arriving as a baby in a manger, so I ask again… Why did He incarnate? Why did He take on human flesh, walk among us, and then die at our hands?

I know that sounds bad… but really… what was the point?

Stop and think about it… how does your life change if Jesus doesn’t incarnate, doesn’t live the life that He lived, doesn’t make the claims that He made, doesn’t go to the cross… doesn’t rise from the dead?

If I could paint a picture of the average American-Christian’s beginnings in the faith I think it would look something like this:

- Grew up in a home that recognized God in some way shape or form… maybe even had parents that took the family to church on Sundays.

- At some point heard a sermon, testimony, or evangelistic message that caught their ear and placed a fear of hell in their mind.

- This fear of hell, combined with a the emotional appeal that the speaker made led to praying a prayer, asking Jesus into their heart, and then either coming forward, standing, or raising their hand, all in order to acknowledge that they had just prayed this prayer.

- This was then followed by a period of intense awareness of all things spiritual. Music was thrown away, movies removed from the video player, t.v. shows no longer watched, radio stations switched to Christian radio and (hopefully) an immersion into The Bible, reading, reading, reading, trying to understand… realizing there is some tough stuff in there… and then beginning to ask questions.

Now, if this describes your experience so far than please do not be offended. There is really nothing wrong with anything I have just described. We could argue the ins and outs of upbringings, methods of evangelizing people, and even what kind of music to listen to, but what I have described above is, at least Biblically, OK. It is not too far off from what happened over and over again in The Gospels.

Person lives a sinful life, person meets Jesus, said person’s life is changed.

We see this with Peter, James, John, Nathanael, Nicodemus, and Zacchaeus.

There is, typically, a difference in the method Jesus employs compared to that of the modern day evangelist (longing for life in The Kingdom vs fear of hell), but I will go into that another time.

What tends to happen next, however, is where things start to get skewed.

What I have seen happen more often than not, is that this same “on-fire for Jesus” baby Christian, having started to really read his or her Bible, begins to develop a list of questions… and somewhere near the top of that list is the question… “What should I do now?”

This… is where things go awry… Because it is at this point that the “do’s” and “do not’s” get brought in.

The young convert is typically given a list containing some sort of general structure as follows:

Do read your Bible

Do not read books written by atheists

Do listen to Christian music

Do not listen to Rock n’ Roll

Do go to church every Sunday

Do not go to the bar

Do tithe

Do not steal

Do love your neighbor

Do not covet his possessions

Do support your country

Do not kill

Do go to church on Sunday

Do not forget the Sabbath is a day of rest

Do

Do not

Do

Do not

Etc, etc… I think you get the point

And this is where, in my opinion, a great tragedy occurs over and over again. I say this, because of what it does to a person. I say this, because it overlooks 2 of 3 Biblical truths that unlock all of scripture. One of which is… Life in The New Covenant.

You see, it is at this stage of a young Christian’s life that The Bible becomes 1 of 2 things. It either becomes:

a)    A book of rules (do’s and do not’s) …

Or

b)   A living story… one that started before creation… and one in which we actually find ourselves in the middle of right now.

Furthermore, Jesus becomes one of 2 things. He either becomes:

a)    The One who died so we wouldn’t have to go to hell when we died…

Or

b)   The One who ushered in an entirely new way living

If the young Christian is pointed down the path of “do’s” and “do not’s” (as many of us are or were), and if Jesus becomes, to this young convert, the One who died so that hell could be avoided then what typically tends to follow is a life that looks like this:

• Try.
• Fail.
• Feel Guilty.
• Wonder if The Spirit has been quenched, salvation lost, and a one-way trip to hell re-instated.
• Beg God for forgiveness.
• Find an accountability partner, or even get a WWJD bracelet or something similar to help us in the hard times.
• Try again.
• Fail.
• Feel even guiltier.
• Spend some time in the mud of despondency and swear that there is still more to give… a better way to live.
• Beg God for forgiveness once again and promise God that this next go around will be better.
• Re-commit life to Jesus, get a 2^nd accountability partner, set all radio stations to Christian radio, download Chris Tomlin’s newest album and sponsor a child in a 3^rd world country for $5 a month…
• Then…
• Try again.
• And… you got it… fail.

Does this cycle seem familiar to you at all?

Is this cycle really what the Christian life is all about? Is this why the Image of God took on human flesh and bore our sins upon the cross?

Is the Christian Life really all about trying to follow a bunch of rules that are thousands of years old?

And if so… then which rules are we supposed to follow?

Do we still adhere to the Moral Law (Exodus 20:1-26 also known as the Ten Commandments), but not the Civil Law (Exodus 21:1 – 24:18), or the Ceremonial Law (Exodus 25:1 – 40:38)?

Are we supposed to rest on the Sabbath… and keep it Holy? Does that mean we can’t watch football games on T.V. until Monday night again?

Are we allowed to eat pork? Are we supposed to tithe? If we do tithe does it have to be 10%? Can it be more than 10%? Should we use all of our gold to build a tabernacle or can we give it to the “cash for gold people” at the mall? Then, if we do give it to the “cash for gold people” and we do get some cash do we have to tithe that as well?

And what about the often neglected aspects of The Law, should we follow those too?

Should we avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers (Deuteronomy 22:11), stone adulterers (Leviticus 20:10), and as men, is it ok to trim the edges of our beards (Leviticus 19:27)?

Gets confusing doesn’t it? No wonder we have so many denominations out there.

This church says you can eat bacon, but no drinking wine… that one offers wine at communion, but you have to be wearing a shirt and tie to get it… But then that one says no bacon, no wine, and no dancing.

One church says you must give 10%, another says give whatever you can afford… just give joyfully… another even says nobody is leaving until we have enough to satisfy God today.

New wine… Old skins.

But what if all this could be avoided? What if The Bible, The Christian Life, The Answer to that nagging question of “what should I do now,” was something other than “do’s” and “do not’s”…

What if The Christian Life actually had nothing to do with following rules (works), and everything to do with LIFE… and the FREEDOM to actually LIVE?

Enter the apostle Paul

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. -Galations 5:1-6

You see, trying to live be works, trying to justify yourself as a Christian by following a list of “do’s” and “do not’s,” even trying to live a certain way in order to please God…

Is Bondage, a yoke of slavery, and the very thing that Jesus not only died to remove from us… but lived to fulfill for us.

This is why Paul says that to get into the game of “do’s” and “do not’s,” in this case by way of circumcision (a law), is to place ourselves back under the yoke of slavery… it is a means by which we attempt to be justified by the law. And for those who attempt to be justified by the law this simple truth remains.

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

 

And since,

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. -Romans 8:1-3

Thus, it seems reasonable to me to say… we should know everything about this “Law of the Spirit of Life” in order to live in it… while at the same time… Avoiding the Law of Sin and Death.

For you see, obeying The Law (living by the “do’s” and “do not’s”) is “bondage,” and places one under the law’s demand for perfect obedience, thereby making one subject to the law’s curse (death) upon any violation of any of its commands. But, it is justification by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone that Paul has in view when he speaks of freedom.

To be justified by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone is to be FREE!

We are free not only from the curse of the law (death), since Christ became a “curse” (died) for us but also free from the yoke of slavery to which law-keeping subjects us.

Christ came for the purpose of setting us free. He did not come to make us slaves.

And this… is where the most important point of all comes in… the truth that I say is one of 3 Essential Truths to unlocking all of Scripture. And that Truth is…

 

This was all planned out by God, in Christ and for Christ, before a single act of creation ever even took place.

You see, this isn’t just some grand byproduct of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

This… this Life in The Spirit… this Life in Christ… This Life of Freedom… has all been a part of God’s plan since before day one.

This is what makes The Bible a living story… one that started before creation… one in which we actually find ourselves in the middle of right now.

This… is life in The New Covenant.

Book Reviews (January 2012)

While my reading intake has slowed down considerably (two kids, one on the way, and a home renovation in progress) I have, never-the-less, still been able to enjoy a couple of books a month.

This month, I set out to read two books that were vastly different, yet, in reading them, I found them to be amazingly similar in their views of this world, and the lives we are called to live as we sojourn through the lands of our days.

The first was Money, Possessions, and Eternity, by Randy Alcorn

The second, The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan

Money, Possessions, & Eternity

Author: Randy Alcorn

Year Written: 1989

Other Books by This Author that I Have Read: None

Pages: 520

Review: Hands down the best book I have read regarding how a Christian should view work, finances, giving, saving, and leaving an inheritance. The book was further enhanced for me when I did some digging into the life of Randy Alcorn. I will say, that I am not a fan in any way, shape, or form of the Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Make-Over” as it actually misses The Gospel completely. Alcorn, however, goes right to the heart of The Good News of Jesus, pleads for a return to a Christianity that sees giving as one of the chief aims of those who walk in the Covenant of Grace, and actually calls Christians to a life of setting a reasonable budget… and then giving the rest away. I was challenged by the book and humbled by the life of its author.

“The believer’s view of reality should be radically different than the nonbeliever’s. We should live differently because we see differently.” -Randy Alcorn

The Pilgrim’s Progress

Author: John Bunyan

Year Written: 1678

Other Books by This Author that I Have Read: None

Pages: 474

Review: In a word… WOW. I could not believe I had never read this book. Everything is so incredibly well orchestrated that it is no wonder this is the 2nd best selling book in history (2nd only to The Bible). The pilgrimage is highlighted by aptly named characters (pliable, worldly wiseman, faithful, hopeful, talkative, lord hate-good, etc..) and in-depth descriptions of the challenges that all believers face while sojourning through this world (Slough of Despond, Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair, Delectable Mountains, and the Celestial City). The ending to the first part has a gut-wrenching twist to it. I can’t recommend this book enough. Buy the one that is translated into modern English for easier reading.

“a man there was, though some did count him mad, the more he cast away the more he had.” -John Bunyan

AVC’s Warriors

It was an interesting thing tonight, going to watch my high school alma mater play their homecoming basketball game. Yes, I said homecoming and basketball in the same sentence. As it turns out, Apple Valley Christian is still such a small school that football is not an option… and therefore the homecoming game is played out on the Basketball court in January. It was the same way when I was in high school, and the school was actually bigger back then.

This little school, however, is a book that should NOT be judged by its cover. I am sure someone in the front office would have the official statistics, but from the people I personally know who have graduated from AVC the quality of Christian Leaders who have risen from their halls are amazing. There are graduates of Service Academies, Lawyers, Doctors, University Professors, Pastors & Missionaries all who, at one time or another, were members of a class of no more than 30 kids.

The reason I bring all this up is not so much to brag about my old high school, but to honor the leaders who serve there.

You see, the most amazing thing about going back to a high school basketball game is looking almost 15 years into my past and realizing that the very people who helped shape me into the man I am today are still pouring themselves into the future leaders of our country and churches. The Mr. Lockwoods, Mr  & Mrs Huffs, Ms Sims, Mr. Watsons, and Pastor Richarts of the world work for somewhere around 25%-40% of what they could be making doing the same job somewhere else and 10%-20% of what they could be making doing something, anything else. These loving servants spend countless hours writing lesson plans, grading papers, praying for students, and caring for one child right after another… and will probably never know how many lives have been changed for the better because of them.

Mr. Lockwood taught me that history matters, and those who fail to learn it will repeat the mistakes of those who failed before them.

Mr. Huff taught me how to prepare like an engineer, compete like a warrior, and yet still have the heart of a child.

Mrs. Huff taught me math (SOH, CAH, TOA), how to enjoy the little things in life, and what it means to love sacrificially.

Ms. Sims taught me Apologetics, Hermeneutics, and that being a little late to 1st period was ok as long as you brought doughnuts for everyone.

And Mr. Watson taught me that even those who have the most brilliant of minds should still be those with the most humble of hearts.

Looking back, I am sure I was not the easiest student to have (I probably really did think I knew everything at the age of 16), but somehow, these men and women found a way lovingly lead me, point me towards Jesus, and then cheer me on as I launched out into life.

So if you ever get a chance, drop by Apple Valley Christian School. Catch a ball game or listen in a chapel… You might find that there is nothing there that will really blow you away (except for maybe the desert winds), but I guarantee you that you will never find a more committed group of men and women, lovingly serving, joyfully teaching, and expertly training… Christian Leaders Committed to Excellence.

Jesus Part 3… Jesus Is The Image of God

 

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

In an effort to continually seek Jesus in the whole of Scripture, we must not be content to stop with prophecy. It is one thing to say that The Bible told of Jesus’ coming, but an entirely separate thing all together to say that the whole of Scripture is about Jesus.

However, as early on as the creation of man, we begin to get a glimpse into the mystery of Jesus.

In his account of creation Moses writes that God said, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26).

My first thoughts are what is this? Or better yet, who is this? Who is the “us” that man was made in the image of?

Then again, in Genesis 3, after the fall, we are told that;

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8)

At this point, if your mind works anything like mine, there is an issue to be dealt with. You see, I always think of God as this vapor-like presence… Maybe some sort ethereal red & blue fog that permeates the universe… Not as someone, and definitely not as someone who walks in a garden. In fact, this sounds much more man-like than anything I tend to imagine when I think of God.

This then, sets my mind to thinking… Could it be that God can be seen? Immediately, however, my thoughts jump to places in Scripture such as Exodus, where God tells Moses that;

“you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”” (Exodus 33:20)

Furthermore, John wrote that, “No one has ever seen God” (John 1:18a, 1 John 4:12), and even Paul taught that God is the, “Invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), “whom no one has ever seen or can see.” (1 Timothy 6:16) all of which tells me that something is off here.

How is God walking? And why would Adam & Eve think that hiding would work unless they thought that God’s sight was limited, like theirs?

Unless… There is somehow an image of the invisible God… a God-man so to speak… someone, who looks similar to a man, sounds like a man, and can even communicate with men… but who is still fully God.

And this… is where The Bible begins to explode!

You see, when we really start to dig… We truly begin to see Jesus.

Before the incarnation, He is there. Before the Angel speaks to Mary, before she ever feels her son kick inside of her, before Joseph ever sees his virgin wife round with child, before the manger, before the very first Christmas day… Jesus is there!

He is the one who spoke “to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11).

He is the One, “who has made [God] known” (John 1:18).

“He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

You see, Jesus is The Angel of God. The One who, all throughout the Old Testament, appears to men, claims divine authority, exercises divine prerogatives, and receives divine homage.

As Charles Hodge says, “If this were a casual matter, if in one or two instances the messenger [angel] spoke in the name of him who sent him, we might assume that the person thus designated was an ordinary angel or minister of God. But when this is a pervading representation of the Bible; when we find that these terms are applied, not first to one, and then to another angel indiscriminately, but to one particular Angel; that the person so designated is also called the Son of God, the Mighty God; that the work attributed to him is elsewhere attributed to God himself; and that in the New Testament, this manifested Jehovah, who led his people under the Old Testament economy, is declared to be the Son of God, the Logos, who was manifested in the flesh, it becomes certain that by the angel of Jehovah in the early books of Scripture, we are to understand a divine person, distinct from the Father.” [1]

Amazingly, Jesus is the one whom Hagar meets in the desert and declares to be, “The God of seeing” (Genesis 16:7-13).

Jesus is the one who dines with Abraham, promises a son through Sarah, sends His two angels into Sodom & Gomorra, and listens to Abraham’s plea for that very same city (Genesis 18:1-33).

Jesus is the one who stops Abraham just short of plunging a sacrificial knife into Isaac, provides a lamb for the sacrifice, and then promises him an offspring as great in the number as the sand that is on the seashore (Genesis 22:10-19).

Jesus is the one who stands atop the ladder that reaches into the heavens and promises Jacob that through his offspring the nations of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 28:11-17).

It is this same Jesus who later wrestles with Jacob, knocks his hip out of its joint, and then blesses him and tells him he has striven with God. It is this Jesus of whom Jacob later says, “I have seen God face to face” (Genesis 32:24-30, see also Hosea 12:4-5).

Jesus is The Angel of The Lord who speaks to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3), a fact further attested to by Jesus Himself when He tells the crowd, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58).

Furthermore, it was Jesus who, time and again, spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).

Jesus is the “Commander of the Army of the Lord” who appears to Joshua (Joshua 5:14).

Jesus is the one who called Gideon into service (Judges 6:11-27), and informed Manoah and his wife that they would have a son (Samson) who would deliver the Israelites from the Philistines (Judges 13:1-25). In fact, in both of cases the men are afraid of dying… having seen the face of God!

It was Jesus who appeared to both the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 3:19-21) and King Solomon (1 Kings 3:5-14; 9:1-9; 2 Chronicles 7:12-22).

Jesus is the one whom Isaiah saw sitting on the throne, “high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple,” the sight of which sent the prophet to his knees in anguish as he immediately recognized himself as a “man of unclean lips,” and Jesus as “The King, The Lord of Hosts!” (Isaiah 6:1-7, John 12:41).

Jesus appeared to bring comfort to those being persecuted as He did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:23-25) and Daniel during his time of mourning (Daniel 10:5-6, Revelation 1:12-16).

And finally, Jesus is the one that Daniel sees coming on the clouds of Heaven to receive dominion and authority over all peoples, nations, and languages (Daniel 7:13-14, Matthew 26:64).

You see, before Christmas ever was… Jesus is.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15–17)

The whole of Scripture doesn’t just prophecy about Jesus’, the coming Messiah…

The whole of Scripture reveals Jesus… The Divine Logos… The Angel of Jehova… The Son of God

---

^[1] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997). 485.

Jesus Part 2… The Prophecies of Christ

In the introduction to this study of Jesus, I wrote the following:

“Could it be that Jesus was more than a man, more than an oft prophesied of Messiah?

Could it be that Jesus was indeed God?

And, if so… assuming one were also to believe that the whole of Scripture is about God… could it be that the entire Bible is actually about Jesus?

If this were true, then in order to correctly interpret Scripture we would need to connect its verses, concepts and events to Jesus.

This would mean that the Bible prophecies of Jesus, highlights pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus, provides accounts of people, events and images that foreshadow Jesus, recounts the life of Jesus, provides instruction for life in Jesus, and finally reveals to us the ultimate purpose of mankind… eternal life with Jesus.”

Having proposed that the entirety of the Bible is actually about Jesus, it now lies on me to bear the burden of proof to you, the reader. I will do this via the, “summary” method. What I mean by that is that I will summarize what I have seen in the entirety of Scripture. While this is not my ideal approach, it is, in this instance, the best approach. Remember, the goal here is to unveil what I have called the 3 Essential Truths for unlocking all of Scripture. Once I have sketched an outline of each of these truths then I will be able to go into the entirety of the Scriptural meta-narrative and flesh these 3 truths out one book, story, and even verse at time.

But first… Jesus. Does the  Bible really prophesy about Him?

In short, yes. As it turns out, the Old Testament teaches about Jesus through the hundreds of prophecies pointing to His incarnation, life, death, and subsequent resurrection. We can see this by interpreting the books of the Law, Prophets, & Poets, but we can also see this in the understanding of who Jesus was according to the writers of the New Testament.

When speaking to Cornelius, Peter explains that, “To him [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness…” (Acts 10:43)

An Ethiopian Eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts8:34-35)

In his letter to the church in Rome Paul explains that he is, “a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Romans 1:1-4)

Finally, Peter says that, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” (1 Peter 1:10-12)

These verses paint a picture of men who, having walked with Jesus, having seen the events of early Christianity with their own eyes, and having been able to “connect the dots” Scripture, are able to see and to say that the Old Testament testified to Jesus.

In fact, Approximately one fourth of the Bible was prophetic at the time it was written. There are more than 300 prophecies about Jesus, which reveal details about His incarnation, life, death, and subsequent resurrection.

Some of the most prominent of these prophecies include:

Genesis 3:15 – Jesus would be born of a woman

Genesis 12:3 – Jesus would descend from the line of Abraham, through Isaac (Genesis 17:9), through Jacob (Numbers 24:17), and then through the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10)

Isaiah 7:14 – Jesus mother would conceive and give birth to him as a virgin

Micah 5:2 – Jesus would be born in Bethlehem

Hosea 11:1 – Jesus family would flee to Egypt to protect Him as a child

Malachi 3:1 – Jesus would enter the temple

Isaiah 40:3 – John the Baptizer would prepare the way for Jesus

Isaiah 53:9 – Jesus would live a life free of sin

Isaiah 35:5-6 – Jesus would perform many miracles

Zechariah 9:9 – Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey

Psalm 41:9 – Jesus would be betrayed by a friend

Zechariah 11:12-13 – The one who betrayed Jesus would receive 30 pieces of silver

Isaiah 53:3 – Jesus would be hated and rejected

Isaiah 53:7 – Though Jesus would be hated and rejected He would not defend Himself

Isaiah 50:6 – Jesus would be beaten, have His beard plucked out, be mocked, and spit on

Psalm 22:18 – People would cast lots for Jesusʼ clothes

Psalm 22:16 – Jesus would be crucified

Isaiah 53:12 – Jesus would be killed alongside sinners

Exodus 12:46 & Psalm 34:20 – None of Jesus bones would be broken

Psalm 22:1 – Jesus would cry out to God asking why He had forsaken Him

Isaiah 53:8 – Jesus would die

Isaiah 53:9 – Jesus would be buried in a tomb given to Him by a rich man

Psalm 16:10 & Isaiah 53:10-11 – Jesus would rise from death

Psalm 68:18 – Jesus would ascend back to heaven

Psalm 110:1 – Jesus would sit at the right hand of God

Amazingly, the odds of just eight of the over three hundred of such prophecies being fulfilled in one man is one in one quintillion, or 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Now this, is typically where the skeptics begin to jump in. They claim everything from misinterpretation of Scripture, to unreliability of the Gospel writers who provided the details of Jesus’ life, to shear rejection of one man having actually fulfilled any of these Scriptures.

At this point, however, I would say the burden of proof lies on the skeptics.

How do they explain the prophecies? How do they explain the life, death, & resurrection of Jesus? And, if the Bible isn’t really about Jesus… then what, or who, are all these prophecies really about?

Jesus Part 1… Introduction

Jesus is, without a doubt, the most controversial figure of all time. Here is a man who is, by all accounts, a simple man, the son of a carpenter, hailing from a small town, who stirs the pot of history like no one else ever has.

Performing a Google search on “Jesus” nets 143 million results,  “Questions About Jesus” yields 295 million hits, and a staggering 592 million links are available to anyone looking to find out “Who was Jesus.”

Was He a real person? Did He really perform miracles? Did He really die? Did He really rise? Do our calendars really actually hinge on when He walked the earth (BC/AD)?

These are all questions that swirl around this man of mystery.

If outside speculation weren’t enough, however, Jesus adds to the intrigue with a few, but pointed sayings.

While arguing with the pharisees, He said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39), and “if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:46).

In saying these things, Jesus is actually saying that the Tanakh, or Christian Old Testament bears witness about Him, and that Moses, the writer of the Tora, or the first 5 books Old Testament actually wrote about Jesus.

Furthermore, following his resurrection, Jesus walked with two of His disciples, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27).

Next, he appeared to the rest of His disciples and, “he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45).

What are these “things concerning himself” in the writings of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms? Some answer this question by pointing to prophecies fulfilled, some by pointing to vague ideas of a Messiah, followed by claims regarding whether or not Jesus was this Messiah that was prophesied to come.

Interestingly enough, the Bible doesn’t stop with thoughts of Jesus’ past… it also speaks of Jesus’ future.

In Revelation 19, John, seeing a Kingly, Triumphant Jesus on a white horse, refers to Jesus as the one who “is called The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:13).

It is this same Word of God of whom John writes in His gospel when he begins by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5).

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Could it be that Jesus was more than a man, more than an oft prophesied of Messiah?  Could it be that Jesus was indeed God?

And, if so… assuming one were also to believe that the whole of Scripture is about God… could it be that the entire Bible is actually about Jesus?

If this were true, then in order to correctly interpret Scripture we would need to connect its verses, concepts and events to Jesus.

This would mean that the Bible prophecies of Jesus, highlights pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus, provides accounts of people, events and images that foreshadow Jesus, recounts the life of Jesus, provides instruction for life in Jesus, and finally reveals to us the ultimate purpose of mankind… eternal life with Jesus.

Essential Truth… An Overview

In an effort to begin to take on some of what I would consider the “difficulties” of The Bible and the Christian walk as a whole, I have spent a lot of time praying and thinking… asking God to guide me into a more complete knowledge of His workings in human history.

I have thought and prayed through several books of The Bible, Doctrines of the church, and even the common cultural perceptions of Christianity as a whole. In the end, I have seen that there are 3 Truths, essential to unlocking the whole of The Bible, understanding our place in God’s redepemtive story, and beginning to walk in the great Christian tension of “Come to me you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” and “take up your cross and follow me.”

These 3 Essential Truths can be categorized as follows:

The Truth about Jesus

The Truth of the New Covenant

The Truth of the Indwelling Spirit

The Bible teaches each of these truths not only plainly, but continuously. What I mean by that is that each of these 3 truths are seen in Genesis, Revelation, and everywhere in between. They are there at the account of creation… they are there in the prophecies of conclusion… and they flow smoothly through past, present and future.

Now I want to be clear, that these truths are not greater than God, they are simply truths about God, and about the way in which He has chosen to work through humanity for His glory.  I also want to warn you that these truths are controversial to say the least. I am not exaggerating when I saw that blood has literally been shed over these truths. Churches have split, persecutions have occurred, and wars have been fought… all because of the polarizing nature of these truths.

I say this for two reasons: first, to let you know that I do not take this study lightly. Secondly, to let you know ahead of time… you might not like what I present. You won’t be the first… You won’t be the last. I do, however, ask that you give me an ear. Take these truths, go to God with them, test them against the scriptures and ask The Lord to bring clarity to your heart and mind.

What will follow over the next year or so will be a series of “articles” in which I will expound upon these truths following and filling in the graphic below as I proceed.

I will begin with The Truth About Jesus, and work my way through the others from there. In some articles I will work linearly through one aspect of one of these truths. In others I will have to work across two or more of them at a time, as certain verses and topics blend two or more of these truths together. In every article I will exegete scripture.

I hope you enjoy what will follow. I pray that God will show you The Truth about who He is and how He has shaped all of history for His purposes.

Topics At Hand… A Call for Help

As I have thought on different things to write about my mind has wandered over the past couple of years or so of my life. As my mind has wandered several things have stood out.

One those things is that transitioning out of the military was a lot harder than I thought it would be… at least for me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the freedom of “civilian life,” but there are certain aspects of Navy life that I miss. I miss the camaraderie, the family like-team that a boat of submariners develops into, the way everyone succeeds and even fails together, and even the whole “be somewhere for a little while and then relocate” pattern of life.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not signing back up or anything, just saying that getting out was a much more difficult transition then I thought it would be. What I have found though, is that many of the things that I miss about being in the Navy are the very things that I long for the most in my thoughts of being a part of Christ’s Church. The camaraderie, or family-life mentality, the unity in both success and failure, and even the constant shifting of people, money, and resources around from one location to another.

It is still my heart’s desire to serve and shepherd within Jesus’ body, a desire that has burned in me for going on 8 years now, but as I continue walking with Christ that desire has shifted… developed… matured.

The reason we came back to Apple Valley was because we saw a need here. We saw a people and a place that needed to be set free. Set free from the bondage of materialism, set free from the bondage of destructive living, set free from the bondage of drugs and gangs, set free from the bondage of luke-warm, self-exalting Christianity… set free from the bondage of sin.

In a way… it felt like a call back to what I missed… a call to arms, a call to deployment, a call to service. And in this call… God is good. He continues to unfold His plan in our lives and continues to work in my heart… showing me my own shortcomings, my own bondage, and then… with the power of His Gospel… setting me free.

Which, in a round about sort of way, brings me back to the topic at hand… what to write about.

The answer… at least in part…

“The things that have entangled me, and how The Gospel has set me free.”

Some of these things have come from what I have seen and experienced over time, in every corner of the country, in several different church bodies. Some of these things have stemmed from my experiences in the military, experiences at work, experiences at home, and experiences in the church. Some of these things have grown out of my own immaturity or lack of knowledge… But all of these things have, at their root, found their beginnings in my sinful human nature.

A short list of coming topics is:

The Old & New Covenants

Life in the New Covenant (Laws, Priests, Churches, Giving, Serving, and Missions)

Jesus in the Old Testament

and

Heaven & Hell

While these topics will no doubt keep me busy for some time, they are but a starting point… which is where I need your help.

First of all, I am curious to know the things that have hindered you in your walk, and the stories that accompany these things. What has God taught you? What is He still teaching you? Where have you strayed, and how has Christ restored you?

Secondly, what are the things that you would like to understand more fully? What do you struggle with in the faith? What seems to hinder you from experiencing the fullness of life in Christ?

If there is anything you want to share with me I would love to hear. You can comment to this post, message me on facebook, e-mail, or even call me. If you don’t have my e-mail or phone # then just comment to this post with a way for me to get ahold of you, it will go to my e-mail, and then I will get a hold of you.

I Look forward to hearing from you…

-Alan

A New Year… Perhaps Some Writing

Well it has been about 9 months since I last wrote… In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago.

Seeing as how so much can change in 9 months I thought I would just give a quick update on where we are and what we are up to… in short… all that has changed.

We now live in Apple Valley, CA … the town I grew up in. God provided a home for us with a lot work that needed / still needs to be done, and a lot of room for our family to grow.

Speaking of a growing family… we are doing just that. We are expecting our first boy, Benjamin Steele, sometime in Mid-February. Cassie and I are both excited, and the girls (Elizabeth is almost 4, and Abigail is 2) are excited to have a little brother.

Along with spending our weekends working on the house and enjoying our new neighborhood we have also recently started a Bible Study in our home. We both felt that God was leading us to simply “open up our home” to anyone who He brings along and provide a place where people can spend time in The Word together.

One great blessing has been that my friend of 25 years, Ricky Huff, and his family have also been able to be a part of starting this home fellowship with us. It has been a breath of fresh air to study God’s Word with such a close and loving friend, one who is “like a brother” in every sense of the word.

2011 was a year of many ups and downs for our family, both immediate and extended. In everything, God has held us close. He has indeed continued to be our Rock and Comfort.

I am excited to see what God has for the New Year. I see Him working in the lives and hearts of so many around us that I am encouraged to press on, learning to walk with Jesus day by day (like my cousin Geoff, who is literally walking the country telling people of Jesus’ love for them).

I don’t really have a “plan” for what I will write about this year… probably just a mixture of topics as I am not doing any “focused” studies outside of our Bible Study right now. I do, however, have a few ideas for starting up again.

Happy New Year’s to you and to yours, may you walk with Jesus this year, may you experience the freedom, life, and love that only He can provide, and may you work out your salvation with fear and trembling in 2012.