As we have said, references to Ps. 110 are scattered all throughout the Gospels, the Acts and the Epistles and utilized as a wonderful "power point" that clearly addresses the matter of what the current situation is in God's Big God-Story. It provides for us a simplified construct for understanding the times, spiritually speaking, between the first and second coming's of Christ...and it was written hundreds of years before He came for the first time! This point is illustrated in prominent NT passages like at the end of Ephesians 1.
"That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Eph. 1:19b-23
The Father seated His Son "at his right hand in the heavenly realms" after He was raised from the dead. This is an obvious reference to the language of Ps. 110. It has, not only biblical christology at its heart, but also cosmology, esslesiology, missiology and eschatology. These theological implications and ramifications expounded upon in the NT flow freely from the apostles' divinely inspired interpretations and applications of Ps. 110 and many other OT Messianic prophecies the are cut from the same theological cloth.
One of the largest truths present in this Ephesian passage is how the Father has already exalted Christ "far above" any other powers that be in the heavens or on the earth. And...for us in evangelicalism...it has been easy to say that this would be true "in the age to come", but we haven't understood or communicated well that this is the actual case "in this present age". (Ironically, for the early Christians, Paul had to emphasize that it is true "not only in the present age, but also in the one to come"...just the opposite emphasis that we seem to need.)
The major point is this: Christ is already "reigning" as King of both heaven and earth from His most highly exalted position at the Father's "right hand" in the invisible realm. We are not waiting for Christ to become King of all at His second coming, but He has already been crowned the King of all the kings of the earth (cf. Rev 1:5). Yet, here is the tension: we don't yet see all earthly things fully subjected to Jesus and the New Humanity (the Church) that He inaugurated through His resurrection, but we do, through faith, "see Jesus" in the place of kingly honor and authority with which the Father has rewarded Him...and we know it's just a matter of time before the ramifications of His exaltation are progressively brought fully to pass.
"In putting everything under him (i.e. redeemed humanity...from Psalm 8), God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." Hebrews 2:8b-9
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Fellowship of the Mystery--Part 10
The 3rd OT passage that Peter quotes in his brief and amazingly effective sermon in Acts 2 (yes..there is such a thing!) is, of course, the first couple of verses of Ps. 110
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
" 'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet." '
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Acts 2:32-37
Psalm 110 was used again, as we saw in the ministry of Jesus in an earlier blog, to cause arguments to suddenly cease and to stun the hearts of devout Jews. In this case, 3,000 put their faith in Jesus as the Christ. There is a mysterious power in this prophecy. So what are the theological implications embedded in this amazing Psalm? How are we to view and understand it?
Peter said that David was a prophet. It is obvious from this passage in Acts 2 and from other NT references to Psalm 110, that David had a very clear revelation from God, that spanned many future generations, in which he saw facts about the Messiah...who was to come through his bloodline. In this case, David saw beyond Christ's birth, earthly life and ministry, death, burial and resurrection...right to the moment of His "coronation" or His "exaltation" in heaven after He had finished His sacrificial work of humanity's redemption on the earth. David identified and articulated the place of honor, rest, victory and authority that Jesus entered into after His ascension. His position and office of the "first-born over all creation", the "first-born from among the dead", the "Lord of lords", the "King of kings" and the long-awaited Christ, who was both fully God and fully man, was validated and celebrated in all of heaven on that "Day".
Not only that, but, it was at this time that Jesus received from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit...not this time for His own ministry, as at His baptism, but, the Father gave Him the authorization to dispense "the Promise of the Father" to His followers...to "pour out" the Holy Spirit upon His own in a way and measure never before known in the history of the world, so that they could testify to His death and resurrection (especially!) with a power and conviction far beyond their own.
The importance of Ps. 110, in relation to "God's Big God-Story" is that it outlined for us and prophesied to us (and all who have lived in between the times of Christ's first and second coming's) the answer to the all-important question, theologically speaking, "what time is it in God's Story right now?"
Can you see the framework of Psalm 110 reflected in these 2 classic NT passages (probably part of early Christian hymnody) about Jesus Christ...even though it is not specifically quoted? (And, I submit that the paradigm of Ps. 110 actually informs the whole of NT "kingdom of God" theology including its: christology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, missiology and eschatology.)
Col 1: 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Phil 2: 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
" 'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet." '
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Acts 2:32-37
Psalm 110 was used again, as we saw in the ministry of Jesus in an earlier blog, to cause arguments to suddenly cease and to stun the hearts of devout Jews. In this case, 3,000 put their faith in Jesus as the Christ. There is a mysterious power in this prophecy. So what are the theological implications embedded in this amazing Psalm? How are we to view and understand it?
Peter said that David was a prophet. It is obvious from this passage in Acts 2 and from other NT references to Psalm 110, that David had a very clear revelation from God, that spanned many future generations, in which he saw facts about the Messiah...who was to come through his bloodline. In this case, David saw beyond Christ's birth, earthly life and ministry, death, burial and resurrection...right to the moment of His "coronation" or His "exaltation" in heaven after He had finished His sacrificial work of humanity's redemption on the earth. David identified and articulated the place of honor, rest, victory and authority that Jesus entered into after His ascension. His position and office of the "first-born over all creation", the "first-born from among the dead", the "Lord of lords", the "King of kings" and the long-awaited Christ, who was both fully God and fully man, was validated and celebrated in all of heaven on that "Day".
Not only that, but, it was at this time that Jesus received from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit...not this time for His own ministry, as at His baptism, but, the Father gave Him the authorization to dispense "the Promise of the Father" to His followers...to "pour out" the Holy Spirit upon His own in a way and measure never before known in the history of the world, so that they could testify to His death and resurrection (especially!) with a power and conviction far beyond their own.
The importance of Ps. 110, in relation to "God's Big God-Story" is that it outlined for us and prophesied to us (and all who have lived in between the times of Christ's first and second coming's) the answer to the all-important question, theologically speaking, "what time is it in God's Story right now?"
Can you see the framework of Psalm 110 reflected in these 2 classic NT passages (probably part of early Christian hymnody) about Jesus Christ...even though it is not specifically quoted? (And, I submit that the paradigm of Ps. 110 actually informs the whole of NT "kingdom of God" theology including its: christology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, missiology and eschatology.)
Col 1: 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Phil 2: 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Fellowship of the Mystery--Part 9
So...it's the day of Pentecost in the 1st century. These first apostles had weathered an amazing set of circumstances over the months and weeks. Some 40 months previously, they had been suddenly uprooted from their regular commitments and routines to travel the countryside with Jesus of Nazareth--preaching, teaching and healing with great rigor, crowds, adulation, controversy and persecution in attendance. They had experienced a full range of emotions over those 3+ years: surprise, joy, frustration, awe, doubt, fear, enthusiasm, dismay, anger, sadness and probably all the rest possible.
Some 50 days previously, they had attended Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the Passover time. Then, in a most grievous turn of events, they stood by in a stunned and paralyzed state, as Jesus was arrested, mocked, condemned and crucified. Their euphoria had, all at once, turned to fear, doubt, disillusionment, anger and confusion. They were, for the most part, not strong and courageous, but weak and timid. If there were any heroes, it was the ladies, not the guys.
But suddenly...almost beyond belief...their sorrows and doubts turned to joy and restored faith as Jesus came up from the grave and appeared to them. He kindly and firmly wooed each of them back into confidence and strength on the heels of their various brokennesses. (Untested faith and unbroken strength don't seem to get the job done over the long haul, do they?) He appeared to them regularly over that period of 40 days...days of reformation and transformation and preparation. A time of refitting and retooling for the great mission and Divine purpose ahead. The resurrected Christ speaks with them, in depth, about the kingdom of God that his coming had inaugurated...the new genesis that his incarnation and resurrection mysteriously witnessed to.
So...now...after 10 days of waiting on God in prayer and fellowship...the Spirit of God had come upon them and filled them as never before in the whole history of God's relationship with His people. They are standing together to testify and explain the strange and miraculous event of this Pentecost day to those devout Jews, both local and international, who had come to celebrate the feast before God. Just 53 days before, many of these gathered had been a part of the religious mob that had called for the crucifixion of Jesus and the release of Barabbas. It is in the face of this potentially lethal throng that Peter, as a spokesperson for the rest, interprets this phenomena in the light of Scripture. He quotes from memory (and...I'd bet these were passages that Jesus had expounded to them during the 40 days--how about you?) the following:
1. Joel 2:28-32--This wondrous event was a fulfillment of Joel's foresight into a future trans-national, trans-generational, trans-gender and unprecedented outpouring and infilling of the Holy Spirit. (And...some of the melodramatic and symbolically charged cosmic events were apparently hidden from human eyes...though some were not.)
"I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord."
Not that these are the final words on or exclusive fulfillments of what these things referred to, but... the Father did speak audibly from heaven on three occasions and many miracles took place on the earth during the ministry of Jesus. The sky went dark supernaturally during the crucifixion. And, of course, Jesus did shed his precious blood on the cross. Tongues of fire appeared over each believer's head on this particular day. We know from the epistles that the demonic powers were stripped of their authority by the work of Jesus on the cross as well--what kind of colorful and vivid language might God use to prophesy such displacement in the invisible realm? Truly, the heavens and the earth have never been the same since the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit--whether the peoples of the earth recognize this or not. A main part of our mission as followers of Jesus is to simply unveil to them this historic and radical shift.
2. Psalm 16:26-27--"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave...."
Peter's inspired commentary on the passage follows in Acts 2:29-31: "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay."
Such NT passages provide a interpretative grid or template for how we must approach many OT prophecies of this genre--i.e. David wasn't speaking primarily or literally about himself in this Psalm, as we would tend to imagine on the surface of things. But, more profoundly, he was intimately linked by sovereign and superintending prophetic purposes of God, across the generations, to the Person of Messiah Jesus and was even penning grand words that he himself did not fully comprehend.
And then, at the climactic point of his sermon, immediately prior to three thousand, formerly hostile, people putting their personal faith in Jesus and...their representatives crying out to Peter, "What must we do to be saved?"...he quotes one more OT prophecy. Can you venture a guess which one???
Some 50 days previously, they had attended Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the Passover time. Then, in a most grievous turn of events, they stood by in a stunned and paralyzed state, as Jesus was arrested, mocked, condemned and crucified. Their euphoria had, all at once, turned to fear, doubt, disillusionment, anger and confusion. They were, for the most part, not strong and courageous, but weak and timid. If there were any heroes, it was the ladies, not the guys.
But suddenly...almost beyond belief...their sorrows and doubts turned to joy and restored faith as Jesus came up from the grave and appeared to them. He kindly and firmly wooed each of them back into confidence and strength on the heels of their various brokennesses. (Untested faith and unbroken strength don't seem to get the job done over the long haul, do they?) He appeared to them regularly over that period of 40 days...days of reformation and transformation and preparation. A time of refitting and retooling for the great mission and Divine purpose ahead. The resurrected Christ speaks with them, in depth, about the kingdom of God that his coming had inaugurated...the new genesis that his incarnation and resurrection mysteriously witnessed to.
So...now...after 10 days of waiting on God in prayer and fellowship...the Spirit of God had come upon them and filled them as never before in the whole history of God's relationship with His people. They are standing together to testify and explain the strange and miraculous event of this Pentecost day to those devout Jews, both local and international, who had come to celebrate the feast before God. Just 53 days before, many of these gathered had been a part of the religious mob that had called for the crucifixion of Jesus and the release of Barabbas. It is in the face of this potentially lethal throng that Peter, as a spokesperson for the rest, interprets this phenomena in the light of Scripture. He quotes from memory (and...I'd bet these were passages that Jesus had expounded to them during the 40 days--how about you?) the following:
1. Joel 2:28-32--This wondrous event was a fulfillment of Joel's foresight into a future trans-national, trans-generational, trans-gender and unprecedented outpouring and infilling of the Holy Spirit. (And...some of the melodramatic and symbolically charged cosmic events were apparently hidden from human eyes...though some were not.)
"I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord."
Not that these are the final words on or exclusive fulfillments of what these things referred to, but... the Father did speak audibly from heaven on three occasions and many miracles took place on the earth during the ministry of Jesus. The sky went dark supernaturally during the crucifixion. And, of course, Jesus did shed his precious blood on the cross. Tongues of fire appeared over each believer's head on this particular day. We know from the epistles that the demonic powers were stripped of their authority by the work of Jesus on the cross as well--what kind of colorful and vivid language might God use to prophesy such displacement in the invisible realm? Truly, the heavens and the earth have never been the same since the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit--whether the peoples of the earth recognize this or not. A main part of our mission as followers of Jesus is to simply unveil to them this historic and radical shift.
2. Psalm 16:26-27--"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave...."
Peter's inspired commentary on the passage follows in Acts 2:29-31: "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay."
Such NT passages provide a interpretative grid or template for how we must approach many OT prophecies of this genre--i.e. David wasn't speaking primarily or literally about himself in this Psalm, as we would tend to imagine on the surface of things. But, more profoundly, he was intimately linked by sovereign and superintending prophetic purposes of God, across the generations, to the Person of Messiah Jesus and was even penning grand words that he himself did not fully comprehend.
And then, at the climactic point of his sermon, immediately prior to three thousand, formerly hostile, people putting their personal faith in Jesus and...their representatives crying out to Peter, "What must we do to be saved?"...he quotes one more OT prophecy. Can you venture a guess which one???
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Fellowship of the Mystery--Part 8
I just completed a three minute key word search of the New Testament (at www.biblegateway.com) for the words: "right hand". There were 22 direct references to Jesus being strategically positioned at the "right hand" of God. I did another search for "priest forever" and 5 more NT passages came up. Just these four simple words from Psalm 110 account for, by far, the most often quoted Old Testament prophecy in the NT. (And...there are several other less direct NT references to the themes of this Psalm as well.) When Jesus opened the minds of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24) to understand the Scriptures about himself, I can't imagine that he didn't make clear references to Ps. 110 as a part of that overview of Messianic prophecy. When the resurrected Christ met with his disciples over a period of 40 days to elaborate on the nature of the kingdom of God before returning (semi-permanently!) to heaven (see Acts 1), he certainly must have utilized Ps. 110 as an outstanding OT reference point. What an amazing series of Bible studies that would have been to attend!
Here are just 2 of the 7 verses from this grand Psalm:
1The LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." ...
...4The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind,
"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
Jesus, in the gospels, and Paul and Peter, in their sermons in Acts and in their letters, all made specific references to Ps. 110. The writer of Hebrews, most of all, relied heavily on the "Messianic kingdom" framework prophetically outlined in Ps. 110 in his eloquent and powerful essay that unveils the superiority of Jesus Christ over all other great Biblical characters--whether angelic or human.
In Matthew 22:41-46, Jesus throws out a simple question to the Pharisees derived from Ps. 110 that resulted in an astounding response.
41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42saying,"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." 43He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44"'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet'? 45If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Don't you just love Jesus? With an OT "101" quote and a one-question commentary, he significantly disrupts the Messianic theology and the confidence of the overly-confident Pharisees. This is just a hint to us of the power of God that is embedded in the amazing prophecy of Ps. 110.
Traditionally, it was understood, and rightly so, that the Messiah would be the "son of David" and fulfill God's promises to David that One who would come from his lineage would reign forever on his throne. However, according to Ps. 110, the prophesied Christ, although "fully human", would be more than "merely human"...that is...more than just the "son of David". In Ps. 110 the Messiah is directly referred to by David himself as David's Lord or Master. It is a reference to the mysterious Divine Nature of the Messiah, which the NT bears out so clearly in its Christology. This is the theological implication dealt out by Jesus (no false humility here!) that threw the Pharisees of his day for such a loop. How ironic it was that Jesus simply quoted a well-known, but glossed over, one-liner from the Hebrew Scriptures, revered so highly by the Pharisees themselves, that caused such an abrupt end to their carnal inquisitions of him.
The apostle Paul esteemed this particular truth so highly, that he decided to open his greatest theological treatise ever with this very point...
1Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord....
Rom 1:1-4
Here are just 2 of the 7 verses from this grand Psalm:
1The LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." ...
...4The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind,
"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
Jesus, in the gospels, and Paul and Peter, in their sermons in Acts and in their letters, all made specific references to Ps. 110. The writer of Hebrews, most of all, relied heavily on the "Messianic kingdom" framework prophetically outlined in Ps. 110 in his eloquent and powerful essay that unveils the superiority of Jesus Christ over all other great Biblical characters--whether angelic or human.
In Matthew 22:41-46, Jesus throws out a simple question to the Pharisees derived from Ps. 110 that resulted in an astounding response.
41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42saying,
Don't you just love Jesus? With an OT "101" quote and a one-question commentary, he significantly disrupts the Messianic theology and the confidence of the overly-confident Pharisees. This is just a hint to us of the power of God that is embedded in the amazing prophecy of Ps. 110.
Traditionally, it was understood, and rightly so, that the Messiah would be the "son of David" and fulfill God's promises to David that One who would come from his lineage would reign forever on his throne. However, according to Ps. 110, the prophesied Christ, although "fully human", would be more than "merely human"...that is...more than just the "son of David". In Ps. 110 the Messiah is directly referred to by David himself as David's Lord or Master. It is a reference to the mysterious Divine Nature of the Messiah, which the NT bears out so clearly in its Christology. This is the theological implication dealt out by Jesus (no false humility here!) that threw the Pharisees of his day for such a loop. How ironic it was that Jesus simply quoted a well-known, but glossed over, one-liner from the Hebrew Scriptures, revered so highly by the Pharisees themselves, that caused such an abrupt end to their carnal inquisitions of him.
The apostle Paul esteemed this particular truth so highly, that he decided to open his greatest theological treatise ever with this very point...
1Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord....
Rom 1:1-4
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Fellowship of the Mystery--Part 7
"In the beginning...."
What does this phrase immediately bring to our minds? On one day, it reminds us of Genesis 1:1. On another day, it reminds us of John 1:1...depending on if we happen to have the OT or the NT on our mind at the time. But of course, the Spirit of God who inspired John to pen his words hundreds of years after Moses was likewise inspired, intended for them both to come to mind. Their connection is clearly intentional, but the philosophical/theological implications of their union have often escaped the notice of many Bible readers. If we step back just a bit and look again at Genesis 1 in the context of John 1, it will shed great light on our faith in Jesus of Nazareth.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus as the Word (i.e. "logos" in Greek) is the key to understanding the "logic" or "reason" both of and for God's Big God-Story. Who He is and what He has done is the integrating factor of (or, the "reasoning behind") all divine/human interactions that makes sense of the various parts of the Story. Jesus is also the One who came as the embodiment/fulfillment of all to which the Law and the Prophets pointed. That is, He is the ultimate "reason for" God's historic activities. John was deliberately setting forth the case that faith in Jesus Christ is reasonable, not unreasonable; believable, not unbelievable, credible, not incredible.
Imagine that all the unique and various parts of the history of God's interactions with humanity were scattered in pieces on a table, like those of a giant jig saw puzzle. Only our assigned task would be to put them together as they are turned face down! This would be a terribly frustrating assignment and a nearly impossible task. If we were somehow able to laboriously fit them properly together based simply on their shape rather than working to replicate a known image...and then...we were able to flip the finished puzzle around...we would see a colorful and beautiful portrait of Jesus the Lord and Messiah. How much easier it would have been to fit the pieces together if we had had the image of that portrait already on the cover of the box and we were allowed to work with the pieces face up.
This is the privileged and graceful vantage point that we now enjoy as we reread, rehearse and piece together the Big Story of Scripture, now, on the "other side" of the first coming of the Christ and the inscripturation of His first apostles' teachings. We get to work with the pieces "face up" and also with the distinct advantage of seeing the "face" of God in Jesus Christ portrayed in the Gospels and the remaining NT literature. Christ appeared at just the "right time" in human history to truly inaugurate a "New Genesis" that would renew all creation and reconcile it to its Creator.
Eph 1:7b-10...according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
What does this phrase immediately bring to our minds? On one day, it reminds us of Genesis 1:1. On another day, it reminds us of John 1:1...depending on if we happen to have the OT or the NT on our mind at the time. But of course, the Spirit of God who inspired John to pen his words hundreds of years after Moses was likewise inspired, intended for them both to come to mind. Their connection is clearly intentional, but the philosophical/theological implications of their union have often escaped the notice of many Bible readers. If we step back just a bit and look again at Genesis 1 in the context of John 1, it will shed great light on our faith in Jesus of Nazareth.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus as the Word (i.e. "logos" in Greek) is the key to understanding the "logic" or "reason" both of and for God's Big God-Story. Who He is and what He has done is the integrating factor of (or, the "reasoning behind") all divine/human interactions that makes sense of the various parts of the Story. Jesus is also the One who came as the embodiment/fulfillment of all to which the Law and the Prophets pointed. That is, He is the ultimate "reason for" God's historic activities. John was deliberately setting forth the case that faith in Jesus Christ is reasonable, not unreasonable; believable, not unbelievable, credible, not incredible.
Imagine that all the unique and various parts of the history of God's interactions with humanity were scattered in pieces on a table, like those of a giant jig saw puzzle. Only our assigned task would be to put them together as they are turned face down! This would be a terribly frustrating assignment and a nearly impossible task. If we were somehow able to laboriously fit them properly together based simply on their shape rather than working to replicate a known image...and then...we were able to flip the finished puzzle around...we would see a colorful and beautiful portrait of Jesus the Lord and Messiah. How much easier it would have been to fit the pieces together if we had had the image of that portrait already on the cover of the box and we were allowed to work with the pieces face up.
This is the privileged and graceful vantage point that we now enjoy as we reread, rehearse and piece together the Big Story of Scripture, now, on the "other side" of the first coming of the Christ and the inscripturation of His first apostles' teachings. We get to work with the pieces "face up" and also with the distinct advantage of seeing the "face" of God in Jesus Christ portrayed in the Gospels and the remaining NT literature. Christ appeared at just the "right time" in human history to truly inaugurate a "New Genesis" that would renew all creation and reconcile it to its Creator.
Eph 1:7b-10...according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The Fellowship of the Mystery--Part 6
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)
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)
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Fellowship of the Mystery--Part 5
Jesus the Messiah (His Person and Work) is the integrating reality that brings the Big-God Story of divine/human history together into the world's grandest adventure, mystery and love-story that it is. It has been widely understood that the narratives, poetry and prophecies of the Old Testament scriptures, at times obviously and sometimes cryptically, pointed forward to the Messiah (which, by the way, is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for the Greek word "Christos" or "anointed one"), in addition to simultaneously addressing real people and matters in their historical context.
However...the importance and impact of this on our macro-view of God's eternal purposes has not deeply translated into creating sufficiently "wondrous hearts" in many Christ-followers. Yet, we, who have been born since the first coming of Christ, have a tremendous advantage in decoding the Old Testament scriptures. Not because we are so wise (this is for sure), but in that we have much personal, clear and divinely-inspired commentary of both Jesus and his first apostles in the New Testament on the specific ways that a vast amount of Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled through the first coming of the Messiah. For us, it's like being able to take an "open book" test. It's even more like, obtaining the answer key to the big test ahead of time. (God knows that we need some special help in order to get a passing grade given our track record!)
Still, too many preachers and believers throughout history have not taken the time to deeply study and comprehend the "answer key"--the New Testament writings--which become for us an interpretive template that can be "laid over" the Old Testament writings. (There is an old adage that captures this concept: "The New Testament is in the Old concealed. The Old Testament is in the New revealed.") We would be wise to strive to understand how Jesus and His first apostles understood the Old Testament story-line, it's characters and prophecies, the implications of Him "showing up" on earth that way He did and the historical/theological implications of His Message. This Message was not, in any way, disconnected from all that went before. But who He was, what He did and how He re-framed and illuminated biblical theology and eschatology (the doctrine of the end of this age) was not, and could not have been, fully anticipated by any of the biblical scholars or religious sects of His day--St. Peter said even the prophets who wrote these kinds of words didn't understand the fullness of what they were referring to. More tragically, it has not been well understood by many Bible teachers, preachers and religious movements since He came. We desperately need this fact to change!
The point I have been referring to is illustrated beautifully in the mysterious encounter of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus with the risen Jesus.
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself... Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:25-27, 30-32)
Jesus and His apostles established their Message to the people groups of all the earth around this dynamic of "opening the [Old Testament] Scriptures" to clueless people and causing their hearts to burn within them through the fire of the Spirit's revelation. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there to hear the risen Messiah expound on the meta-narrative of the scriptures--God's Big God-Story? What on earth do you imagine He said to them exactly? Do you think that maybe some of His insights were captured by His apostles and later recorded in the gospels and apostolic epistles? And...if they were...how important and authoritative do you imagine Christ's insights into the Old Testament actually are? (I hope you're getting a little inspiration at this point!)
We actually can receive and comprehend the very personal insight of Jesus and His apostles into the Old Testament by simply studying cross-references to it in the New Testament and then allowing the implications of those passages to shape and, if necessary, re-shape, our theological presuppositions and paradigms. This long and fascinating journey will not only blow our minds, it will cause our hearts to burn within us.
However...the importance and impact of this on our macro-view of God's eternal purposes has not deeply translated into creating sufficiently "wondrous hearts" in many Christ-followers. Yet, we, who have been born since the first coming of Christ, have a tremendous advantage in decoding the Old Testament scriptures. Not because we are so wise (this is for sure), but in that we have much personal, clear and divinely-inspired commentary of both Jesus and his first apostles in the New Testament on the specific ways that a vast amount of Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled through the first coming of the Messiah. For us, it's like being able to take an "open book" test. It's even more like, obtaining the answer key to the big test ahead of time. (God knows that we need some special help in order to get a passing grade given our track record!)
Still, too many preachers and believers throughout history have not taken the time to deeply study and comprehend the "answer key"--the New Testament writings--which become for us an interpretive template that can be "laid over" the Old Testament writings. (There is an old adage that captures this concept: "The New Testament is in the Old concealed. The Old Testament is in the New revealed.") We would be wise to strive to understand how Jesus and His first apostles understood the Old Testament story-line, it's characters and prophecies, the implications of Him "showing up" on earth that way He did and the historical/theological implications of His Message. This Message was not, in any way, disconnected from all that went before. But who He was, what He did and how He re-framed and illuminated biblical theology and eschatology (the doctrine of the end of this age) was not, and could not have been, fully anticipated by any of the biblical scholars or religious sects of His day--St. Peter said even the prophets who wrote these kinds of words didn't understand the fullness of what they were referring to. More tragically, it has not been well understood by many Bible teachers, preachers and religious movements since He came. We desperately need this fact to change!
The point I have been referring to is illustrated beautifully in the mysterious encounter of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus with the risen Jesus.
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself... Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:25-27, 30-32)
Jesus and His apostles established their Message to the people groups of all the earth around this dynamic of "opening the [Old Testament] Scriptures" to clueless people and causing their hearts to burn within them through the fire of the Spirit's revelation. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there to hear the risen Messiah expound on the meta-narrative of the scriptures--God's Big God-Story? What on earth do you imagine He said to them exactly? Do you think that maybe some of His insights were captured by His apostles and later recorded in the gospels and apostolic epistles? And...if they were...how important and authoritative do you imagine Christ's insights into the Old Testament actually are? (I hope you're getting a little inspiration at this point!)
We actually can receive and comprehend the very personal insight of Jesus and His apostles into the Old Testament by simply studying cross-references to it in the New Testament and then allowing the implications of those passages to shape and, if necessary, re-shape, our theological presuppositions and paradigms. This long and fascinating journey will not only blow our minds, it will cause our hearts to burn within us.
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