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Bible.05: That is Written About Me

The starting bid on ebay for a “signed” copy of the Bible was $1,000,000.69.  That’s ridiculous for anyone who knows anything about the Bible–even if Jesus purportedly used a blue Expo marker and dotted the ‘i’ in ‘Christ’ with a heart!

Yet, God in the flesh did appear to two disciples on the way from Jerusalem to Emmaus and “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets” reportedly “explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”  Besides being an incredible Old Testament study that most of us would have loved to be a part of, Jesus here confirms the inspiration and authorship of 39 books and reveals their purpose: Him.

I. Acts 2:16-36.  The Old Testament was the only Bible that 1st Century Christians had, outside of up-to-the-minute revelations through the Holy Spirit, to proclaim and confirm the gospel.  A look at the gospel sermons used in the New Testament shows how deeply they mined this resource.  God inspired and preserved the Old Testament through the centuries.  On stone, clay, leather, and eventually papyrus scrolls and codexes, the recording of God’s Word was commanded and maintained by God’s servants until the time of Ezra who, returning from the Babylonian captivity, organized these writings.  Just before Jesus was born, the Greek translation of the Old Testament (that He most often quoted from), the Septuagint, was written and the Qumran community stored away every book but Esther in clay jars near the Dead Sea.  When these were discovered in 1947, the careful copying of the Masoretes through the centuries would be proved true.

II. Romans 15:4.  So, what’s a New Testament Christian’s relationship with the Old Testament?  Why do we still have Genesis through Malachi attached to our Bibles?  The Old Testament deepens our understanding of the gospel (Hebrews 9:1-15).  Without it, we would not truly know God holiness, man’s sin and separation from God, God’s grace in taking a people and giving them priests, a temple, sacrifices, and laws.  We would not understand God’s plan to redeem sinful man from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses & Aaron, David, Ezra, and Jesus.  We would not learn from the past (1 Corinthians 10:1-13) and so know better how to live our lives in Christ.

III. Matthew 5:17-18.  The New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament.  An illustration I use is that it was my law when our kids were young that they couldn’t go near the road.  Now that they are grown, they go there all the time but do not break my law.  How?  Safety has always been at the heart of it.  When they were little, they did not know how to be safe near the road, but now they do.  The book of Hebrews compares the covenants and explains how the new is, in every way, better than the old.  Jesus, God in the flesh, fulfills all (Hebrews 8:5-13).

And so, the expression, “the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed,” is true … and it’s all about Jesus (Luke 24:44-49).

 

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Come, O Lord!

God of ages past and eras to come,
God who is the fullness and the sum,
See us, your people’s suffering, every one,
Come save, O Lord, come save us!

Creator of earth and heaven, creatures all,
Of stars and moons, that centered burning ball,
Reach down to touch and heal the weak and small,
Come love, O Lord, come love us!

Sustainer of flocks and herds and animals wild,
The one who knows the harm of man and child,
Eternal God of nation long exiled,
Come live, O Lord, come live among us!

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Not Even Solomon

The song, “He’s got the whole world in His hands …,” really puts God’s sovereignty and love for His creation into perspective.  It’s when we believe ourselves abandoned or rejected by God (because of our sins or insignificance) that we turn to our own resources to handle the struggles of life.  Worry is a reliance on self while concern is a reliance on God.  Worry, then, is really a submission problem.

I. Luke 12:4-34.  We worry because we fear the devil or what others think more than we fear God.  We think too much of ourselves and too little of God’s love or our worth to Him.  Possessions and things that are temporary are too important to us.  But, God tells us that … worry is a selfish focus, He will provide for us more than ravens, worry causes us great harm, and He will take care of those things we are powerless to control.  The world that doesn’t know God worries, but we must trust Him!

II. 2 Chronicles 9:5-28.  Everyone can see the simple yet intricate beauty of a lily, yet Jesus tells us that Solomon during the golden age of Israel, with all of his wealth, position, and power, had nothing compared to God’s attention to this temporary flower.  Since nothing is impossible with God or beyond His notice or concern, we can take heart that He finds such great worth in us and takes better care of us than lilies!  Made in His image, we are more precious to Him than anything in creation.

III. James 4:7-10.  Since this is so, we must submit ourselves fully to Him.  If we seek His Kingdom first rather than our own interests, we will have an upward rather than a downward focus … and He promises that He knows our needs and will take care of them.  He tells us that to do that, we must have our treasure stored in heaven rather than here, so that our hearts will be focused on eternal things rather than temporary.  To submit we must trust God fully and let Him handle all of life’s struggles.

There’s an expression that has been around awhile: let go and let God.  To truly let Him take control of our lives, we have to truly let go of any facade of control that we think we might have.

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Empty Our Souls

Isaiah 41

Clear away the fog that we,
O Lord of lights, might glory in you.
May we rejoice in the Holy One
who sweeps away the enemy’s hate.

We have your promise, God and Father,
that you will not abandon your people.
Let water spring from desert sand,
and luscious fruit from barren earth.

Uproot all idols from our hearts,
Created things we made our gods.
Empty our souls of vain ambition,
That you, and you alone, remain.

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Where Rainbows Die

O God,
no harsher word
and none more fearful
than being lost,
where hope vanishes
and love dribbles away,
where rainbows die
and laughter is unknown.

Lead us into this valley,
O Lord, to feel
perdition’s cold fingers.

Abandon us not
in that dark place,
but bring us out
to where the sun
shines without
a shadow of cloud.

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Grant to Me the Keen Desire

Lord, grant to me the keen desire
to live in love and seek your face;
May I recall my good Supplier,
And share abroad your saving grace.

Make every leaf and creature sing
Of goodness from your sovereign throne;
And if your thanks we fail to bring,
Let praise arise from rock and stone.

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Soul and Body

Romans 12.1-2

Soul and body, the heart of me,
Belong to you, O Lord — an offering,
A sacrifice of praise — Be pleased
To receive it, bought by Jesus’ suffering.

Mind and will and deepest thought,
Are yours, my God — I hold back nothing —
All is given — your will I’ve sought —
For bread and drink in hope I’m trusting.

Head and feet, in stillest hour,
Our Father, and in busiest moment;
Be with me — worries let faith devour,
And I, on earth, your best proponent.

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Speak in Our Ears

O God of truth — speak in our ears —
let us hear with sharpest hearing,
hanging on your every word.

O God of words — speak and create
in us a new creation — Being —
transformation of heart and soul.

O God of life — speak softly of love —
bring healing touch and caring hand,
that we might never leave your presence.

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Bible.04: But Men Spoke from God

A parent leaves a kid at home with a note that reads “Clean your room!”  The kid respects the parent’s authority and so obeys the command, but if he interprets the note how he wants by stuffing toys out-of-sight in the closet or clean clothing under the bed, is he truly pleasing to his parent?  No, of course not!  Yet, even if we all can agree that God’s Word is authoritative over our lives but interpret it however we would would like, can we be pleasing to God?

I. 2 Peter 1:19-21.  Authority came from the Father to the Son to men inspired to write God’s Word for us to obey.  Just as a cop cannot interpret the law however he wants, we cannot make God’s Word mean whatever we would like it to or best suits our lifestyle.  Rather, we must discover what God intended for us to understand and obey.

II. 1 Corinthians 11:17-29.  Good Bible study techniques must be applied.  Who’s speaking?  To whom is the passage being spoken?  What is the type of literature and language being used?  What testament and book does it appear in?  What’s the general, specific, and historical context?  Is there a clear command?  For an example, take the issue of when to take the Lord’s Supper.  Is there an approved example (Acts 20:7)?  Is there an inference about how often Christians met (1 Corinthians 16:1-2)?

III.  Ephesians 5:19.  We must treat biblical silence as prohibitive rather than permissive.  We can get into much trouble when we say, “God didn’t say we couldn’t ….”  Once we open a door, where does it end?  If I order coffee at a restaurant, I expect the waitress to bring me a mug of black coffee.  If she puts in several packs of sugar and whitens it with cream, I would not be pleased.  Those things are innovations (something new introduced) rather than an expedient (a means to get to the command).  Thus, the mug is an expedient for me to have coffee in the same way that a songbook or pitchpipe would aid us in singing.  An addition of a guitar or choir in worship, however, would be an innovation.

So, to please the parent, the kid should ask himself, “How would mom want me to clean my room?  What would she want me to do with these toys and clean clothes?”  God’s inspired Word, just as the parent’s note, can never mean what it never meant.

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Hundredfold

We’ve little idea, O Lord, of limitless power —
humans who’re bound by sight and flesh —
we who fall and fail — the sour
taste of defeat in our mouth still fresh.

Rock by rock, and clod by flying clod,
the mountain moves to fall in the sea —
and brick by towered brick, we’re awed,
in growing faith, by the mustard tree.

Omnipotent God — I believe —
forgive my unbelief —
in Christ all things we can achieve —
a hundredfold of harvest sheaf.