Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. The question is whether you bow the knee now, cheerfully in repentance and faith and thanksgiving, or you will bend the knee in holy terror at the end because the end is coming. Theres something pretty nice about that, isnt there? Some of us have been believers for a long time, but weve sneakily begun to cherish sin again and we are ashamed. Even the most spectacular of our high-rise cities does not look cube like. Most of us are not going to be crucified in that literal sense, but we follow a Master who was. In the wake of this rebellion, God pronounces three curses. Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. But he had already been captured by Jesus, full of grace and truth, who displays his glory profoundly in the cross and becomes the meeting place between God and sinners because he dies the sinners death. For this God gathers and transforms his people. Those whose deeds seemed to indicate they were righteous were those whom God denied ever having known as His children (Matthew 7: 15-23). There is no way on Gods green earth that he is condemning moral discernment and priority. He was in the world [i.e., the world that he had made], and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. If youre a psychologist, what you need is an army of counselors. If the most brutalized victims of the Nazis are dead, then there is no one qualified to pronounce forgiveness, so there is no forgiveness to the Nazis. Not one has come down to us. (Revelation 20:910). God is always consistently Godly. God is not defined by the term righteous, as much as the term righteous is defined by God. It is Jesus himself. I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. Hes also the God who does not leave the guilty unpunished. P So when Paul writes to Christians in the city of Corinth about the middle of the first century, he describes Jesus being the king with all of Gods sovereignty mediated through King Jesus: For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. (Romans 3:2930). To set the stage for John 20:23, it is now the evening of Resurrection Sunday. Be strong and courageous. In particular, in the next verses he explains how all of this is grounded in the love of God. We have already seen that the Bible presents human beings to be horrible contradictions with so much potential reflecting something of the goodness of creation and the glory of God and on the other hand corrupt, abusive, twisted, and, above all, self-focused. This falls in the New Testament, which begins with the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) followed by the Acts of the Apostles (which follows on from Christs resurrection through the first three decades or so of the church) and then a sheaf of letters written by the apostle Paul. Today he holds America and China to account. What will you eat? There may be nations that rise up against your nation. Flagellate yourself with some whips to show that youre really sorry. The Scribes and Pharisees, who thought themselves so righteous because of their rigorous attention to external matters, proved to be just the opposite when judged by our Lord: 28 Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Lovely to see your name, have missed you. I dont have it.) Were back in the Bibles storyline. This change, this new creation, this handiwork of God within us is precisely so that we will do good works, not because the good works have secured out place in God but precisely because they are the inevitable outcome of it. OK. Wed better bow the knee. No, what it means is that you have some of the fiercest fighting left because Jesus has not yet defeated all of his enemies. Is that what this is about? (I really havent mentioned much about the Spirit yet; theres more to come.) But Paul assumes the truth of election and the possibility that some might object on the grounds that election would make God unjust. You can barely talk. Two-and-a-half more centuries go by, and the Northern kingdom never has established a dynasty. I am not what I one day will be. Youre actually just hopelessly weak, dying, and damned on a cross.. But when it is not used in that way, in our culture it means something like personal, subjective, religious choice. 33 See, for example, Matthew 23; Luke 16:15; Philippians 3:1-11. The first of the long trajectories of bloody sacrifices that reach all the way down to the coming of Jesus that was announced by one who comes just before him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He had made something, and it was good. He made something else, and it was good. He made the whole thing, and it was very good. For God has this sovereign, grounded-in-infinite-knowledge-ability to pronounce what is good. Fear him. Is God the God of Jews only? Its a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. Then after talking about how the Lord has disclosed himself in this created order, he talks about how the Lord has disclosed himself in Scripture. Its wisdom preaching. He didnt know how it was put together. We are back at the language of the new birth. But I do know this: sometimes God picks up something that is already there and uses it in a new symbol-laden way. The Proposer should inform the Candidate to attend wearing a dark suit, white shirt and collar, black tie and shoes; to bring his Master Mason apron. But Jesus comes to die and rise again. There is a cleaning up in the life. It has been granted (that is, a gracious gift, a grant) to you who are Christians not only to believe (that is a gift) but also to suffer for Jesus. And the only way out of it is not by digging out yourself but by the provision that I myself make. Then Moses said to him, If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. (Exodus 33:15), What any people must have is the presence of the living God. Did you give me any wisdom on how to cast the constellation Orion into the heaven? Do you want to know what the wrath of God is like? So that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.. Our shame and our guilt are addressed because he dies in our place. (2) Psalm 1:2 describes the righteous positively. Well what are they like? Do you want to know what the holiness of God is like? He doesnt have the right to do that. (2) Genesis 3 does not think of evil primarily in horizontal terms but in vertical terms. . . Introduction. Its a little one that we call 1 John. What we need is new people, not mere displays of power. What I really need is a lawyer. When you think of the biographies of important people, whether artists or football hunks, an Einstein, a political figureit doesnt matternever is there any suggestion that they were born in order to die. You will see change in the life. (Isaiah 9:67). I wish I had time just to expound those two chapters to you. If He is infinitely pure, then He must be opposed to all sin, and that opposition to sin must be demonstrated in His treatment of His creatures. . The disciples were given the authority to proclaim that a persons sins have been forgiven through Jesus. Thats the nature of the promise that is given here. How has this become a plague among Western Catholics; how could it be remedied? They assume that theyve been misunderstood because of their thick accent, so he said it more clearly and more loudly, Where is Jesus Christ?. he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. (Genesis 3:1415). He is God. All these notions of kingdom center on Jesus the king. As the account unravels, you discover here that there is no hint in Genesis 12 of death or decay, butchery, malice, hate, one-upmanship, arrogance, pride, or destruction. Human beings were made in the image of God. Genesis 3:15 is sometimes called in Christian circles the protevangelium, that is, the first announcement of the gospel, the first announcement of good news. You cant deny them. Thats what kings do. But its only where theres a confluence of streams, not intermittent water, with a guaranteed water supply that you have trees whose leaf never withers and that brings forth its fruit in its season. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look! He knew they were wicked. Such a stir occurred that Peter, John, and the lame man were arrested by the temple guard. Now if you have walked in here for the first time and you have come from an utterly secular background and you hear some joker at the front of the room quoting lines like this, you think, Has he taken leave of his senses? They kick off their sandals and feel the wet sand squish between their toes. He is the God of Jews and Gentiles alike. I love him unconditionally. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. One Old Testament writer named Hosea around the eighth century before Christ presents Godits hard to believeas the ultimate cuckold, the ultimate betrayed husband, because his own people abandon him and chase other gods even though he has given them life. God does not owe salvation to anyone, and thus He is not unjust in saving some and choosing not to save others. He is the one who will build a house for my Name [i.e., Solomon would build the temple], and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Its the rebellion. What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth? (Exodus 33:16). Do you want to know what God looks like? Except that once Adam and Eve are made, then he actually addresses them and gives them some responsibilities: This is what you are to do. Havent we seen this already? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servantand this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a human being! Their day of judgment is rapidly coming upon them, and justice will prevail. but because he has set forth his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. . (Galatians 5:1318). Or you say, You remember the third film in the Star Wars series where something or other happens? Hell quote the whole thing. The videoand companion leaders guide helps evangelistic study groups, small groups, and Sunday school classes make the best use of this book in group settings. He takes the full responsibility for the fulfillment of the covenant all by himself. (Note this passage well. Is it not I, the LORD? Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, Jesus answered him, What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.. We do not finally ingest physically this Christ. In that sense my love was quite conditional, thank you. God is also righteous for judging all those who refuse to accept His offer of salvation in Christ. Therefore wait for me, declares the Lord, for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. After all, the people of Israel did go into exile. We divide the passage in to. But many will say, Psalm 23. You might not be able to explain all of the dynamics and all of the physical forces that brought it to pass, but you cant deny the effects. Jesus gave this proclamation to His disciples after His resurrection. You dont lose one-third of the population of Cambodia because of Christianity but because of communism. Isaac eventually marries, and his wife gives birth to twins, and before the twins are born, God says to them mother, You have twins inside you. If devotion to angels would increase, devotion to the Eucharist would also increase, said Seitz, who has been a priest for 20 years. / Getty Images, Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 25, 2022 / 05:37 am (CNA). And, of course, theres death. We start thinking that it is our due. I have a friend in Australia who has a bit of a reputation for engaging in talking about Christ a bit like a bull in a china shop. The twelve months remind us of the twelve tribes (one more time) and of the twelve apostles: all the people of God. Then almost as if our faith needs to be reassured, He who was seated on the throne [that is, God himself] said, I am making everything new! Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true., He said to me: It is done. Its just a hint. That is the change of heart. Any manifestation of Gods wrath that you have seen so farthe exile, for example, plagues in the Old Testament, disease, warany of these things that you have seen as horrible manifestations of Gods wrath, that was the diluted form. What he might well do is come along and buy you back. But the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known (John 1:18). In other words, when Jesus says something as important as Judge not that you be not judged, there are always contexts. So his dependence made him stronger than he would have been otherwise. David wanted to build a house, that is, a temple for God. Those who are victorious [in this book, this refers to those who persevere to the end in confidence in Jesus; it does not refer to the kind of Christian who sails through life with nothing ever sticking to them; to be victorious in Revelation means that you persevere in faithfulness by Gods grace to the very end] will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. Why should I obey God? But shes no better: Its not my fault, God. God is not interested in a legalistic keeping of the Law, as though one might make himself righteous by so doing. But when we have so much in the West, then our hearts follow so much here that it is difficult for our hearts to go pitter-patter and become really excited about whats over there. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Or we might start analyzing what Christians in various parts of the world believe. Joseph, when the baby came, was to give the baby the name Jesus. (Ecclesiastes 12:1, 1314). The Russians were moving in from the East. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Already we have seen that God made it all. Thats all a judge is. Our angels, as many Church fathers say, are prostrating before our Lord, who becomes present on the altar, said Seitz. Now because much of twenty-first century culture is convinced that contemporary scientific thought is fundamentally incompatible with the opening chapters of Genesis, Id better say something about the approach I adopt here. It is merely the mark of a transformed life. All I ask, dear God, sovereign Lord, is that you keep your promise.. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? There was a time in the Western world when many people had read the Bible reasonably thoroughly, and therefore they knew how it was put together. With four other crewmen, he bailed out. A new survey shows that Catholics are more likely to profess belief in guardian angels than belief in the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist. Thats why the system works in theory in polytheism. Therefore, because God is propitiated by the work of Christ, He is free to justify the sinner and accept him into His presence (Rom. Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. It is faith in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross that one can be saved. And you receive the benefit of this not by trying harder or being ultra-religious but by believing in Jesus. No one has seen God at any time, but we have seen Jesus. If youre royalty, youre concerned to preserve the family line, the dynasty, the housewhether the house of Windsor (for her majesty Queen Elizabeth II) or here, the house of David. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. So the eternal gospel is what this angel says in verse 7: Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. If your heart keeps beating, its because Gods sanctions it. He has rescued us from our selfishness and its horrible endpoint, hell. And its not yet come. In the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 57, Jesus said, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal [or where the stock market can erode it all]. We who are Christian pastors and preachers sometimes get this wrong ourselves. The sacred meeting-place. At that point its the wildest speculation, which causes a critic named Berlinski to write, A lot of stuff that gets into print is simply nonsensical. Thus, when the Bible enjoins us to give glory to his glorious name as in Psalm 72:19, it is to give glory to God. When the prophet Nathan is sent by God to confront King David for this cleverly concealed adultery and murder, because the king is at the end of the day an autocrat, Nathan approaches with a certain amount of care, and he tells a parable. Push me far enough, and I too will collapse? (Genesis 15:810). They had received temporal punishments of some sort or another. I know that in some of our Western literature the city can be seen as the cesspool of iniquity, but in the Bible it can be seen both as a sink or a reservoir of evil and it can be seen as a glorious place of beauty where God lives with his people. The picture is that even Satan himself is a dependent being, a created being. We could easily spend the rest of our fourteen hours together merely unpacking all the things that God says of himself: I am who I am. And now he begins to flesh out what he is. I chair The Gospel Coalition. They hold that certain things are true and that certain things are not true. Did you see Mel Gibsons film The Passion of the Christ? But in this light Jesus is clearly saying, in effect, is this: What we need is new men and women, not new institutions. But that not all there is in the Bible. . Now you might begin by saying, Boy, oh boy, what kind of God wants someone to sacrifice his own son? In the pagan religions of the time, it was not all that uncommon for parents to sacrifice their own sons. The stories are told in many different ways. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it (Genesis 3:6). . Were made in his image. And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Y R.I.P. Stop doubting and believe., Thomas said to him, My Lord and my God! (John 20:2628). Why? ( A strange wisdom ) Gary Smith says that "These verses were spoken by an unidentified we, us, our group of people mentioned repeatedly in Isaiah 53:1, 46. Is God the God of Jews only? The Bibles storyline, we have discovered, has set up from the opening chapters of Genesis a massive tension: cosmic in scope but descending all the way down to the level of the individual. There are but two choices: a man can look to his Creator and say, Thy will be done, or God can look upon the created and say, Thy will be done.. I want to reflect on how this fits into the Bible and into our lives. (5) Everything God makes is goodvery good. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by . Do you know what they said in the first century? And we will so be transformed in this beatific vision that we will know experientially what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. And the very heart of our rebellion is the desire to be god instead of you, to run things ourselves, to barter with you. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. Because I pulled out more and more, there was less and less that I could think about. God is really not open to our suggestions about how to run the universe, and that is in effect his first objection: Go and tell my servant David, This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? But now there is a righteousness from God that meets our needs. As it is written [and now you get these quotations, all snippets from the Old Testament Scriptures]: There is no one righteous, not even one; Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness., There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:918). But still he fluttered pulses when he said. I will obey you. For all the failures in Abrahams life and in your life and mine, God provides the sacrificial lamb. He sees this as Gods reign, Gods power, in some sense. Who knows? From the woman, from the human race, will come ultimately a seed that will crush the serpents head. Seeing he died for us, we should honour Him in our entreaties and praise. K . Its true for Gautama the Buddha. He does not come to be fawned over but to serve, to serve finally by giving his life a ransom for many. Thats what God had done, if you recall. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. J Thats how much he chooses to love us. Self-professed Catholics inconsistent beliefs about the Eucharist have been the focus of many catechetical and devotional efforts. Theyve got him all figured out. As you can imagine, that expression image of God has over the millennia generated endless discussion. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). And for those who reject the goodness and mercy of God at Calvary, they must pay the penalty for their sins because they would not accept the payment Jesus made in their place. The first recorded application of John 20:23 is recorded in Acts 2. But Christians look back and see that they are not what they were. Even when he is being arrested and dragged away, his disciples wonder if the place of courage now is to pull out a sword and slash at one of the attackers. The word propitiation is the more focused. That should cause one to tremble. They were not a sea-going people. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.. Thats irony. You read it and reread it and see more and more connections. The justice of God means that when He establishes His kingdom on earth, it will be a kingdom characterized by justice. Curtis Klinglehas authored several articles in the forensics field, but his real passion is for souls. So you have your faith, and I have my faith. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him lifeto those who commit sins that do not lead to death. Now what things should Nicodemusbecause he was the grand mufti, the theological senior professor in the landhave understood? There is a righteous anger, which is not sinful. Now God presents himself as sovereign over all the nations in the Old Testament in any case. Dont you find that, where you find yourself parched, not nourished at all by the word of God as streams of water flooding through your whole system? But never do we speak of someone being born in order to die. E Paul is writing to believers in the city of Ephesus, and he describes their conversion. I am who I am. This blood of bulls and goatsits picked up a little later. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. A new beginning? The sufferings of the church are useless. Nothing about, Make sure you say enough ritual Hail Marys. Make sure you do a lot of penance. Its not like this mortal life; it is eternal life, which is the product of new birth. He doesnt need our praise bands. This is probing at a level much beyond mere women and snakes. And at the end of the description: And God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:25). We would like to have exactly the same sort of constitutional arrangement. God says, All right, you asked for it. And John, the seer, the visionary, weeps. The only explanation is that it is from God. The witnesses multiply. You dont see a blessed thing. Then maybe that god will give you what you want. (2) Earlier on in this book in two spectacular chapters, Revelation 45, John has a vision that shows us what the gospel really is, what it looks like. There are other passages in Johns Gospel that make that pretty clear. Basically, the covenant said, We will look after you. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is the fianc, and the church is his fiance waiting for the final consummation, the final union, the marriage supper of the Lamb. . They are an island-community. Now on the second Sunday, we read these words: Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. No danger, no curse, no sin, no rebellion. But still whatever kings or monarchs there are in the world, were pretty glad theyre over there. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him and Jesus replies, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again (John 3:23). What is depicted here is the descent of Moses from Mount Sinai when he is first bringing down the Ten Commandments chiseled onto tables of stone. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Otherwise we slink into what one philosopher has called self-referential incoherence. What he means by this is that we compare ourselves with ourselves. He is the just one, and he is the offended party. 19 For I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him (Genesis 18:17-19, emphasis mine). But before we actually look at these verses, we should remind ourselves where they fall within Pauls letter to the Romans. Theres broken fellowship with each other, too. And thats what I pray for you.. If there were it would be superior to God, for only a superior power can compel obedience. Its bound up with loss. Outside of the tent there is a place for sacrificing animals; inside this tent, this tabernacle, there is a variety of accoutrements: a lampstand, a place where bread is set out week by week, and other matters that we wont go into. Synonyms for return include go back, come back, backtrack, get back, retreat, backpedal, come home, revisit, arrive home and arrive back. It is only by the grace of the gospel that we know anything different. In what sense does the bull itself offer a sacrifice? Then Jesus says some very strange things: Im not going to die as a martyr. He trusts in God. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. Find more similar words at wordhippo.com! Jesus is our place of atonement. But, he said, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. (Exodus 33:1920), Sometimes Lord occurs in small capital letters because in Hebrew there is a set of four letters (YHWH or Yahweh) by which God himself has disclosed himself: I am who I am. God proclaims his own name. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Thank you for your generosity! By and large the New Testament does not talk of God dying. God must not be domesticated. Some of them want a king simply so that they can be like the pagan nations all around, all of whom have their petty kings. Then when the new covenant is promised, God says, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. So you find God addressing Israel in the Old Testament when the nation is particularly perverse, saying, Turn, turn, why will you die? For example, imagine if you will, a final state of things, a new heaven and a new earth, perfect righteousness, resurrection existence, absolutely sin or death or decay anywhere. It worth reflecting on the fact that the two verbs that are used are used together as a pair in only one other place within the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), namely, in the next chapter. Are the righteous those who can be likened to a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season and whose leaf never withers? Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 18 Theres a wonderful chapter, John 17, that is sometimes called Jesus high priestly prayer, where there is a kind of extended meditation on the fact that in eternity past the Father loved the Son in a perfection of love. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. And they try to say that the Christian documents are basically shaped along the lines of those Babylonian myths. Two-thirds of it is set off from the last-third, which is thus a perfect square. Don Carson explains Exodus 20, Leviticus 16, and Exodus 32-34. before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, I find no pleasure in them . THE ROYAL ARCH EXALTATION CEREMONY . It makes us see that were defying God. Youre gonna destroy a temple and build it in three days? I need to be stroked up here. He doesnt need our worship. That is, by his bloody sacrificeby his deathwe are covered over. At the very end of the last one, Deuteronomy, the last chapter, Moses himself does not get into the promised land. If your presence does not go with us, whats the point in the exercise?, How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mothers womb to be born! (John 3:4). He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of Godchildren born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands will, but born of God. 1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. Theres going to be judgment. So sometimes God comes not only upon his covenant people with judgment, but the God of the Bible is the God of all the nations so he holds all the nations to account. Thats fine. I mean, theres nothing in me not to love, is there? But this is already so far removed from the storyline of Scripture that we have to rethink it again. So much has happened in a single day. That sacrifice of a bull and of a goat cant ever deal finally with sin? It is faith in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross that one can be saved. Christians never ever have the right to say, Im smarter than you are because Christians deep down know that theyre never more than fools who have been shown forgiveness and grace. They believed that he was Lord. And the wheat and the weeds are growing up together. Infinity. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God members of every tribe and language and people and nation. There is a ratcheting up of expectations until this consummation of perfection. History in the Bible is teleological. Gods righteousness in His dealings with the nation Israel has various manifestations. In other words, it is completely unlike what a Gospel is in the New Testament. He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? I hold that this is transparently a mixed genre that feels like history and really does give us some historical details. Thats an implicit judgment on those who dont. Your personalityit is so wonderful. This is why biblical Christianity has always had within its heritage the capacity to challenge and reform. We got in one of these guided toursthirty of us being brought around to the rotunda at the back where the library is, and the senate chambers, and the house of commons, the rogues gallery of Canadian prime ministers from Sir John A. McDonald and so forth. There was a perfection of love in eternity past. You must understand that this writing is another source; we often call it apocalyptic literature, full of symbolism and figures that you dont find in other kinds of writing. The people were idolaters before the law was given. Neither of those models squares very well with the Bible. But the most offended party is always God. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. So he specifies, Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.. There is a sense in which that wrath must be set aside. Unless he made me. Elsewhere hes clearly part of the angelic number who rebelled against God; the angels had their own forms of rebellion we learn elsewhere. Its not whether there are many good things are done (e.g., pieces of art, a wonderful symphony, self-sacrificing doctors on the frontier of a horrible disease, and much much more). One of the hard things that a strict materialistic Darwinism must face is Where do morals come from? In the hierarchy of being, they are the highest of creatures, by nature, created by God.. Hes the Regius Professor of Divinity. But God sets up the system. That is to say, he could say, Of course, its not the Father, but it is the Son of God, Jesus, who is himself God, and because he is God and because he does give his life and shed his blood, therefore, it is appropriate to say that God sheds his life. If you have to unpack it, thats what is meant. A lot of the argument in Galatians is parallel to the argument in Romans: what justification is, what the cross achieves. As Peter preached, he pointed out that it was in Jesus that sins would be forgiven. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Whos the fool? So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Verse 5 is souped up a bit more from see to enter, but its still in the same sort of sweep. The Cross! You offer the appropriate sacrifices, and you hope and pray therefore that the god of the sea will keep the sea calm and that you have a safe trip. In the first century crucifixion was so awful that handbooks were actually written on the responsibility of parents not to talk about crucifixion to their children, not to show crucifixion to their children. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. To have a right sense of how to live under the sun must begin with God and his self-disclosure. Hes the one that brought it all to being in the first place. He doesnt say, Take off those stupid fig leaves. If justice is to be done, you must find me innocent. Hail, King Jesus. Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you. A Basic Introduction to the Christian Faith and the Big Story of Scripture. But they are not imagery of nothing. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com. All those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. and he is the propitiation for our sins. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. Its the standing over against God. And you start seeing how light now has overtones not of physical light and the nothingness that existed before the creation. Without this transformation the Christianity so-called that you perceive is no Christianity at all. He does respond to us, but he responds not out of some intrinsic need in his own being or character but out of the entire volition of his perfections and willnot because he does not foresee the future, not because he has let things get out of control, not because he has abandoned his sovereignty, not because he is not sovereign, not because he is psychologically damaged, not because he needs somethingbut out the perfections of all that he is with all of his characteristics and attributes, he responds always in line with all of his attributes all the time. Whipped and beaten and broken, he cries, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). You offer the appropriate sacrifices. Now God comes along in John 3:16: God so loved the world. What is he saying? Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. It just begins, In the beginning God. Now if human beings are the test of everything, this makes no sense at all because then we have the right to sit back and judge whether its likely that God exists, to evaluate the evidence and come out with a certain probability that perhaps god of some sort or other exists. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. There must be transformation. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus can use that fact to say, If God can send his Son and his rain upon the just and the unjust, then you shouldnt make all these fine, fine, fine distinctions about whos your friend and whos your enemy and only love your friends and hate your enemies. So there is a sense in which Gods love can extend so generously to friend and foe alike. If God is for us, who can be against us? And this new race, this new covenant community will show the world what its like to be in right relationship with you. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And thats the way it is once you and I become a disciple of Jesus, that is, it changes us from within so that our moral categories change. The righteousness of God, one of the most prominent attributes of God in the Scriptures, is also one of the most elusive. But now Ezekiel is promising a new covenant. Print. Its not even mentioned here. So you have the beginning of all idolatry. But Jesus goes on to say, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. And some friends bring along a paralyzed friend. What would it be like never ever ever to have lied about anybody or anything? Francisco and Jacinta. Each of us falls short of Gods holiness (Romans 3:23), but God made a way by sacrificing His son, Jesus (Romans 6:23), to be the propitiation, or atonement for our sin. If youre interested in such matters, Ill be glad to give you more bibliography. By this point this is about 1000 BC. Indeed, the most spectacular part of the whole vision is found in verse 45. But now it is a new Jerusalem without taint or corruption or being taken over by the Babylonians or anything like that. (Genesis 15:1118). In a few moments we are going to look at Romans 3:2126. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. And in the person of his own dear Son he absorbs the penalty on behalf of the people who put their faith in him. 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