I'm back after a writing sabbatical--it's been good for me.
The next series of blogs will be drawing some attention to NT passages that give us insight into how Jesus and the first apostles understood the history of God's interactions with creation, Israel and the nations in light of the Incarnation and the inauguration of the kingdom of Messiah. Their divinely inspired recasting of OT history and prophecy stood in plain contrast to each of the four primary Jewish religious eschatological philosophies of the first century. That is...those ideas promoted by the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots and Essenes regarding how the kingdom of God would "come". This fact, of course, contributed to the controversy that Jesus and His first followers stirred up in their day among the Jewish sects. It's interesting to note how various elements of these same basic positions are reflected even today in the belief systems of various groups within "Christendom" as they anticipate, and, in some cases, seek to hasten, the return of Christ.
The whole book of Hebrews is a primary piece of NT literature that places the Person and Work of Jesus of Nazareth into this context of the Big God Story of historic divine/human relations. The main point of the writer is to inspire weary and persecuted followers of Jesus to keep Him central to all their spirituality. He compares and contrasts Jesus with many OT players and reveals how their places in the Big Story pointed to the One who would bring an ultimate fulfillment to the larger purpose of which their parts were a vital foreshadowing. God intended that these foreshadowing's would be a source of helping all people groups to accept Jesus as the prophesied Christ when He arrived on the scene of human history. And...it is...when we take the time to look in the "rear view mirror" of Scripture and see how all the parts of the Story are integrated in Jesus.
Hebrews 1:1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
It kind of sounds like the beginning of Star Wars doesn't it--and like the beginning of many epic stories. It actually does have veiled references to a cosmic war that long ago broke out within the angelic ranks.
There are 4 profoundly simple theological points to notice from this paragraph:
1. God spoke truly through the OT prophets, but in patches and parts...difficult to put together accurately on the front end. These prophecies anticipated and prepared the world for an ultimate Prophet and created an historic context and a reasonable basis for the universal recognition of His appearance.
2. The "last days" have already begun--they were initiated at the first coming of Christ. (So...of course...we are living in the "last days"!)
3. God has spoken to us in the clearest way possible...in Person...by sending His eternal Son from heaven to earth. Jesus is...unequivocally and uniquely...the Word of God.
4. Jesus is the fully divine and fully human...God/Man...the preexistent Lord of all Creation and the Author of humanity's Salvation. He is not a mere angelic messenger...like the ones that God used to help mediate the OT covenants. (cf. Heb 2:2; Acts 7:30)
