Images of the Savior (48 -- Conclusion)

Dear ones in Christ, we have now finished our survey of the books of Moses, and we have had many weighty things impressed upon us. Let us now take a few moments to consider what we have heard, in order that we might be very careful not to drift away: “for if the word which was spoken through angels was firm, and every transgression and disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape, having been careless of so great a salvation, which began to be spoken of by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by those who heard, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and apportionings of the Holy Spirit according to his will” (Hebrews 2:2-4)? But we trust that it will not be so, but rather, having witnessed the beginning of the gospel of Christ, which Moses testified to, we will run all the more assiduously to the fullness of the gospel in the broad daylight, which God has now spoken to us perfectly through his Son (Hebrews 1:1-4).

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Images of the Savior (47 -- The Final Song and Blessing of Moses)

We have now come to the conclusion of Deuteronomy, and with it, the conclusion of the five books of Moses, which are of such foundational importance to the entire bible, that it might be said without exaggeration that the whole divine plan of redemption and the schematic for all of history is here laid out, so that all the prophets who should later arise could speak no new thing, but only apply and exegete what Moses had already said; and even the Christ himself, when he came, set about to do only what God had before promised and signified by the hand of Moses so long before; and in these final chapters, although the superiority of Moses is again signaled (Deuteronomy 34:10-12); yet what is particularly emphasized is his inadequacy and failure, and the need for someone greater than he, to do what he could not. And so, as he admits his incapacity to do in earnest what he had spoken of and seen afar by the Spirit of prophecy, at the same time, he commits the people to God, who he trusts should go before them, and do himself what Moses had not been able to do, through another greater Moses.

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Images of the Savior (46 -- The Second Confirmation of the Covenant)

At the conclusion of the book of Deuteronomy, which has been a book marked by very many repetitions and second affirmations of things, there is also a second confirmation made of the Covenant which was originally confirmed on Mount Sinai, in Horeb (see Deuteronomy 29:1). On the occasion of this confirmation, Moses takes great pains to describe many notable things about this covenant, what benefits and advantages it holds forth, wherein it is essentially inadequate, and so on; and when he is coming to the climactic conclusion of his speech, he is very emphatic to drive home Christ to the people, that they might take comfort in the certain hope of his mercy, and not be overwhelmed by the strict demands of the Law. Let us look to the comforting words quoted above, to see how well they are designed to lead the children of Israel, who were under the Law, to Christ their Savior, who should free them from its demands and enable them to obey it; but first, we must notice a few significant things about the nature of this Covenant of Law that Moses is here confirming; for it may seem to many minds to be in such opposition to the gospel of Christ, that it is enigmatical or even impossible that it should at one and the same time hold him forth so freely to the people. But this is a confusion that we will certainly clear up, by the Spirit's illuminating grace.

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Images of the Savior (45 -- The Blessings and Curses Upon Mounts Gerizim and Ebal)

Before the children of Israel had entered the promised land, when Moses was still giving his final instructions to them, he commanded them, when they had once crossed over the Jordan River, to set up an altar of unhewn stones on Mount Ebal; and then, when they were all gathered together, to stand six tribes on Mount Gerazim and six tribes on Mount Ebal, the former to call out the covenant blessings and the latter to call out the covenant curses. In this arrangement, we may see several things which are intended for our instruction: first, that the covenant did not just threaten curses or promise blessings, but that it held forth both to the people; second, that even within the twelve tribes, there were those who, by divine choice, should be made to experience the curses, and those who should inherit the blessings; and we may note here, that all those whom God commanded to stand on Mount Gerazim for blessing were children of the free women of Jacob, that is, of Leah and Rachel, and not of their servants Bilhah and Zilpah; and so we may be instructed by this, that only we who are children of the free woman by faith, and not those who are children of slaves by the works of the flesh, shall know the covenant blessings (cf. Galatians 4:22-31); and third, that those who were chosen for blessing would escape the curses not by their own efforts, but only through the divinely-supplied sacrifice of grace; for the altar of burnt offering was made of unhewn stones, as if to say, God himself will provide a sacrifice not made with hands; and it was placed upon Mount Ebal and not Mount Gerazim, as if to say, “Mount Gerazim with its blessings is for you because Mount Ebal with its curses is for my Sacrifice”; who is, of course, the Christ.

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Images of the Savior (44 -- The Prophet Like Moses)

When the people saw the Lord come down upon Mount Sinai in great power, so that the very mountains shook, and there were thunderings and lightnings, and a very thick darkness, and raging tempests and fires (Exodus 19:16-19; cf. also Hebrews 12:18-21), then the people were terrified, and were not only too afraid to go up the mount into the presence of the Lord, but they even asked of him not to speak to them again in so dreadful a way, and not to show them again this merest glimpse of his terrible glory (Exodus 20:18-21). God then told Moses that they were right to request this of him, thereby acknowledging that it was too much for the people to bear to have any glimpse of him or any word from him, except it should be given through a Mediator. Now, Moses himself was this mediator for a time, and he went up into the holy mount and brought down God's words to the people; but he was inadequate for the task, and could not at all bring the people up to God, nor yet give them sufficient words in order to be a complete and satisfactory self-revelation; and so, God promised to send another Prophet like Moses, who should be greater than he, and reveal God in full, and make the people fit to come to him (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). This promise ranks among the greatest in all the Pentateuch, and its fulfillment was ardently hoped for by all Israel until the coming of Jesus, of whom the apostle John said that, “the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17), thereby confirming that Jesus was greater than Moses, and was that Prophet of whom Moses had spoken so long before.

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Images of the Savior (43 The Second Giving of the Law)

Immediately after God first gave his Law to the people whom he had chosen, and established his covenant with them, they showed their unworthiness by transgressing his commandments, and building a golden calf to worship in his stead. But instead of casting off his people, God brought them through forty years of testing in the wilderness, and thereafter, when he was about to bring them into the land that he had covenanted to give them, he gave them the Law a second time, through Moses his servant, and reminded them in many ways of all the blessings he had promised their fathers to give to them, which they had not yet received; and he therefore enjoined the strictest obedience upon them most ardently, in order that they might enter into the joy of the promised blessings. This second giving of the Law, after the failure of Israel to obey it when it was first given, is recorded for us in the final book of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy; which is a name that simply means “second law”.

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Images of the Savior (42 -- The Levitical Cities of Refuge)

As we saw previously, the book of Numbers opened up with an account of the census of Israel, just before they set out from the foot of Mount Sinai, to cross the wilderness and enter the Promised Land; and now, as we have come to the end of the book of Numbers, we shall see that it likewise concludes with a census of the people, after they have wandered for forty years in the wilderness, during which time the entire generation of Israelites who refused to enter the land were destroyed, saving only Joshua and Caleb alone. So the title “Numbers” is very appropriate after all, drawing our attention as it does to the significance of these two censuses: for we may learn, when we reflect upon them, that if God's people are faithless, and rebel, they will not live, nor ever experience the promised blessings of his grace; but this faithlessness of the people does not nullify God's own faithfulness (cf. Romans 3:3-4), for he will not allow his covenant to be broken, but will raise up in their place another generation that will know the grace that he had promised. Thus, even after killing all the Israelites twenty years of age or older, including 603,550 men able to go to war, from the eleven tribes excepting Levi (Numbers 1:46-47), he raised up in just forty years time another multitude, including 601,730 men of war (Numbers 26:51); and this was just a foreshadow of what he would do in later times, casting off the unbelieving nation of Israel, so that he might graft in by faith another generation of Gentiles, in order that his covenant should not be fruitless, but that they should inherit the blessings promised to Abraham (Romans 11). Only, we must learn from this not to be highminded, but to fear (Romans 11:20): for if this generation of Israel which heard the gospel did not enter into God's rest because of unbelief, neither will we, who have been given the same gospel, enter in if we do not persevere in true faith (Hebrews 4:1-2); so that, if we would learn from the example of the Israelites destroyed in the wilderness, we must not be as they, but looking unto Jesus, we must press on through every difficulty, hoping in his sure covenant, and so find his promised rest at last.

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Images of the Savior (41 -- Balaam's Prophecy)

In all the Old Testament scriptures, there are very few prophecies of the coming Messiah that shine with a greater brilliance or more explicit certainty than the testimony of Balaam, the false prophet who sought to destroy Israel, but ended up blessing her and confirming her great victory through the light-bearing, scepter-wielding Christ. How all this came about, that he who sought to frustrate God's redemptive design was constrained to render an indisputable testimony to the final triumph of the Church through Christ, and how God caused Israel to prosper at every turn, and protected her with his might, we shall now observe from the account at hand.

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Images of the Savior (40 -- The Serpent in the Wilderness)

After the instructions concerning the ministry of the tabernacle were given to the sons of Levi in general and the priestly class in particular, which was marked out by divine appointment as comprising the family of Aaron alone, following the rebellion of Korah, and after provision was then made for the fabrication of the water of separation, through the ashes of a red heifer, which things were made necessary by the assault on the divine institution which Korah and those who were with him had waged in their deception, the text then turns once more to a historical account of the final stages of Israel's forty-year journey through the wilderness, before they enter the promised land; and in this account, we may discern several very notable types of the Savior, both in the second striking of the rock, in the opposition of Edom to the children of Israel, and most especially in the matter of the fiery serpents which God sent among the people, and the remedy he provided, through a brazen serpent lifted up as an ensign in the wilderness, upon which, if one even looked, he would be healed of his malady and live.

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Images of the Savior (39 -- The Red Heifer)

In the ninth chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, the author proclaims that Christ has made an eternal redemption for his people, by offering himself up, once-for-all, as a perfect sacrifice for their sins; and he goes on to prove his assertion by reflecting that, “if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, being sprinkled on them who were defiled, sanctifies unto the purification of the flesh, how much more does the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself up blameless to God, purify our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13-14). In this way, he makes clear the typological function of the red heifer, which Israel was commanded of old to sacrifice and burn, and to make of its ashes a water of purification, not as though there were anything especially salubrious in the ashes themselves, but that they were a foreshadow of the sufferings of Christ, which really did cleanse the conscience, and purify those who had been dead in trespasses and sins. As we look to the account in Numbers, in which this ceremonial action is commanded, we must immediately be struck with how many details and instances were perfectly adapted to show forth, in a figure, the perfect redemptive work of Christ, both in its execution and its purifying results, as we shall now observe.

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Images of the Savior (38 -- Korah's Rebellion)

Immediately after the account of Israel's failure to enter the land of Canaan, and her being cursed, therefore, to wander about in the wilderness for forty years, until that entire generation which disbelieved God's promises should be utterly consumed, excepting only Caleb and Joshua, who had a different spirit; God then immediately sees fit to set forth in summary the laws that Israel must obey when she had entered into the Promised Land, and the means of the forgiveness of sins committed in ignorance, through an atoning sacrifice. In this way, after so devastating an occurrence, he holds forth both a solemn warning and a certain hope, as we shall now make clear.

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Images of the Savior (37 -- The Failure to Enter the Promised Land)

In the events following Israel's first setting out for the Promised Land, from the foot of Mount Sinai, we are instructed in many particulars of the dangers of grumbling and rebellion, the several ways in which the Lord responds to these treacherous dispositions, and the serious and devastating consequences of continuing in such a frame of disbelief; and we see, moreover, the consolatory and beneficial ministry of Moses, who mediates, intercedes for, and guides the people, as a type of the Messiah, together with the favorable effects of this office, but only upon the believing remnant within the largely apostate Church. In the confluence of these two lessons, we are taught to fear, and not to be highminded at all; but also, to hope for and be confident of victory, though all the world should oppose us, if we continue steadfast in the faith. Let us now see how the scriptures holds forth these lessons to us.

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Images of the Savior (36 -- The Formation of the Kingdom)

When we arrive at the book of Numbers, in our journey through the five books of Moses, a very considerable portion of the Pentateuch has passed since Israel first arrived at Mount Sinai, comprising half of Exodus and the entire book of Leviticus. But in spite of this lengthy segment of text, we find the hosts of Israel still gathered together at the foot of Mount Sinai, so that, for the entirety of one and a half of Moses' five books, they have made no progress in their journey whatsoever. This very fact emphasizes the utterly crucial and significant nature of what took place on Mount Sinai; for the Holy Spirit has seen fit to devote a very large part of the foundational books of the Law to detailing the events of that one monumental episode. As we move into a consideration of the book of Numbers, therefore, it would behoove us to give a little reflection to what had in fact transpired at the Holy Mount of Yahweh, and how the thing that had there taken place undergirds and gives meaning to the next event in Israel's history, when she sets out from the mountain to journey across the wilderness. In this reflection, we will learn much of the nature of the Church, and see many glimpses of the Savior, which will serve to encourage and instruct us today, as we move across the wilderness of this world, a united body and kingdom of priests, under the headship of Christ.

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Images of the Savior (35 -- The Covenant Blessings and Curses)

Throughout the entire book of Leviticus, we have seen demonstrated in many ways that the peculiar blessedness of God's people consists only in this, that he is their God, and has taken them unto himself to be his own people; and likewise, the land which he had promised to their fathers to give to them, was a blessing ultimately in this respect, that it was the land where God's tabernacle would dwell, the land where his presence would abide in the midst of the people. Accordingly, it is a matter of utmost seriousness, which extends far beyond the mere horrors of physical famine, fruitlessness, and subjugation to enemies, that the covenant curses at the end of the book hold forth to the people, if they disobey his law: for these are but fruits of a much vaster problem, viz., that God himself is displeased with his people, and cannot dwell with them favorably anymore. And likewise, the blessings held forth to the people, as long as they keep his covenant, are far greater than mere physical ease and prosperity, which things even the nations enjoy at some times and to some degree; for they signify that God is not only dwelling in the midst of the people, but that he is pleased to do so, and rejoices to be with them, and is favorably disposed to provide them with any good thing of which they might have need. So that, the essence of the covenant blessing consists most fundamentally in God's favorable presence; and the essence of the covenant curses consists in God's wrathful presence, so that he cannot endure anymore the sight and proximity of those whom in their rebellion he abhors.

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Images of the Savior (34 -- The Year of Jubilee)

In all the Levitical laws concerning the sabbaths and solemn feasts, the children of Israel were reminded to look backward to the wonderful works of God in the past, by which he had created the world in perfect splendor and made it altogether suitable for man's joyful habitation; and then, after mankind's first rebellion, had made great promises of a better restoration, and taken great steps to that end; but also, they were admonished by these holy times to look forward to the true fulfillment and culmination of the redemption thereby testified to and sealed, and even tasted, as it were, if but for a day. Thus, on the day of the Sabbath, the Israelites remembered God's perfect creation, and how he entered into the joy of resting in what he had accomplished, and likewise brought in his image-bearing creature, man, to enjoy that rest together with him; and they also would remember, a little later, how Joshua had brought them into their promised land of rest (save only that generation that murmured and doubted, and were destroyed in the wilderness); but even after that entrance into Canaan, the Psalmist spoke of another rest that remained for the people (Psalm 95:7-11; Hebrews 4:7-10); by which he meant that rest which Christ would accomplish for those who are his, working so that they might rest in his sufficiency, and so be brought in to the eternal rest in the New Jerusalem. In the same way, as we have just seen, the feasts taught the people to remember God's redemptive works in the past, and to look through them to the anti-typical redemptive works of Christ in the future, which should provide for and ensure the eternal enjoyment of those things the feasts merely symbolized and hinted at.

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Images of the Savior (33 -- The Holy Feasts of Israel)

In many ways and at many different places in the book of Leviticus, we have encountered the theme of holiness to the Lord as that one central motif which binds everything together, and gives all the diverse regulations a unity and singularity of purpose: in the tabernacle, the children of Israel had a holy place, where they might meet with their holy God; in the laws of morality and cleanness, they were shown the way to be set apart from sin and the world as a holy people, among whom the holy God might dwell; in the laws concerning the sacrifices and the priesthood, they were given a way to be cleansed and made holy in spite of all their failures to follow God's Law, so that the tabernacle might remain a holy place, and they might continue to be a holy people living in the presence of the holy God. Of course, all this emphasis on holiness led the children of Israel straight to their promised Messiah, who would be the true tabernacle, bringing the very presence of the holy God down to men; and also the true Sacrifice, offered up to make men holy, the true Priest, bringing them out from the world of sin and uncleanness, the true Law-keeper, able always to stand in the thrice-holy presence of God, and so on. In light of this history, it should come as no surprise that the next portion of Leviticus, in which the sacred feasts of Yahweh are detailed, is likewise underscored by the need for holiness, and designed to lead to Christ the Savior: just as the people of Israel were to be a holy nation; just as the tabernacle was to be a holy place; and just as all the worship rituals were to be holy activities; so the appointed feasts were to be holy times. And furthermore, even as all the elements preceding the discussion of these feasts pointed ahead to a better and more lasting fulfillment in the days of the Messiah, so it was with the feasts too: just as, when the Messiah came, he would make his people utterly holy, cleansing their conscience indeed (Hebrews 10:9-14); and just as he would make the whole world their holy place, ensuring its entire recreation as a world where righteousness dwells (John 4:21-24; 2 Peter 3:13); so also would he make all the time of his people holy time, and would ensure an eternity set apart for them to enjoy his holy presence (Hebrews 4:9-11).

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The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

The following is an excerpt of a discussion here on Reformation Theology following in response to John Samson's fine essay on Wrestling with Predestination and Election. If this current post is of interest to you then I would encourage you to go there afterwards to read Pastor John's post and the interesting discussion that follows.

Question:
John. Thank you for your reply, which has got me thinking (esp. the part about why some respond to the gospel and others don't). There is one issue I would love to hear your thoughts on. Calvinists always talk of the bondage of the will, etc and how one cannot come to Christ apart from a supernatural work (regeneration). How then does one explain the fact that some men found favour with God in the Old Testament, when they were unregenerate. Eg Joshua and Caleb whom the Lord said had a "different spirit" about them. Where did this believing spirit come from? Or what about Abraham, the father of our faith. The Bible holds him up as the ultimate example of faith, and yet he was unregenerate. Or why did Jesus marvel at the centurion's faith (if this faith was, according to calvinists, from God in the first place). In all these cases, it would seem the person themself found favour with God without being regenerated first (or at all). In fact, the whole Old Testament needs to be explained (with some believing and some not)as no one was regenerated then. I look forward to your thoughts.

Answer:
Thanks again for your important question which deserves an answer....

you said >>>>>How then does one explain the fact that some men found favour with God in the Old Testament, when they were unregenerate.

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Images of the Savior (32 - Holiness to the Lord)

Of all the things we have observed so far from the book of Leviticus, the sum is this: God is a pure and holy God, and if he should have any people at all, and should stoop to dwell in their midst, they must be made holy as well, so that he might walk among them, and not consume them altogether in his righteous fury against sin and uncleanness. This shows just how important holiness to the Lord is: for the true substance of every redemptive blessing is only the presence of God, and fellowship with him; and that goal can only come through sanctification, that is, through being made holy, as God is holy. As we shall see presently, this observation must ultimately lead us to Christ, and drive us to cast ourselves upon him alone, who sanctified himself to his redemptive mission, that we too might be sanctified in the truth (John 17:17-19). In order to unfold these principles more minutely, let us touch first upon the greatness of that one redemptive principle, that God should dwell among his people; then, show how necessary a thing holiness is to that end; and finally demonstrate how those two great truths, which form the core of the book of Leviticus, lead us to Jesus Christ.

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Images of the Savior (31 - The Day of Atonement)

The Day of Atonement, coming as it does in the middle of the festive cycles, and in the heart of the calendar year, being observed on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is the month having the greatest symbolic and ceremonial significance; and being described most minutely, moreover, in the heart of the most intricate elaboration of the Law, which comprises the book of Leviticus, and which is itself at the center of the Pentateuch; must therefore take on a character of utter centrality and solemn importance from the very outset. With regard to the festive cycles, it is distinct in that it alone is a day of solemn affliction and mourning over sin (Leviticus 16:29-31); and yet, its observance prepares for the celebration of the most joyful of feasts, that of Tabernacles (see Leviticus 23:26-43); by which we may learn that it constituted the deep and solemn foundation for all the feasts of joy by which Israel's entire year was structured – without its time of sorrow and affliction, there would be no times of joyous fellowship in the presence of God. And then, it is likewise set apart from all the other feasts in the book of Leviticus, where it is described in great detail in chapter sixteen, in the midst of the laws and regulations governing cleanness and holiness; even though it is also described again in chapter twenty-three, where all the feasts of the Lord are discussed. In this way, its distinct character is emphasized, and especially its relationship to the heart of the Law, which existed to show God's people what it was to be clean and holy, so that he might dwell among them. The Law described what it is to be holy in God's sight: and in the midst of the Law, lest its overwhelming and unyielding demands should terrify and discourage the people, God enjoins upon the people this solemn feast, as if to say, “Although you are insufficient to keep my holy statutes, I have prepared a way for you to be made clean and holy again, so that I might continue to dwell among you”.

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Images of the Savior (30 - The Laws of Clean and Unclean)

The very heart of the Levitical laws, being summed up in this one phrase, “You shall be holy, as I the Lord your God am holy,” signified the need for God's people, in the midst of whom he had condescended to dwell, to be separate from all that was common, or tainted with the manifold deleterious effects of sin and the curse. And of the many ways in which this basic truth was taught to the children of Israel, one of the most instructive was the elaborate system of laws making a separation between the clean and the unclean, and governing the way in which God's people had to go about their daily lives, if they should continue in his presence without being consumed by his wrath. In this symbolic code, we may learn very poignantly, and in very concrete and exemplary fashion, the truth that, if we should be permitted to enjoy God's fellowship, we must distance ourselves from all that is contrary to his nature: God is a God of order, life, wholesomeness, and consistency; and nothing that is chaotic or commingled in a disorderly fashion, nor anything tainted by death or the curse, nor anything unwholesome or abnormal may be found in his presence. We may also learn, moreover, that these unclean elements which God will not tolerate are all around us, ever barring us from his courts; but that he has provided a way to restore, renew, and cleanse us again, and make us separate from the defiling agents of sin and its loathsome consequences. Of course, this cleansing is to be found only in Jesus Christ, as we shall soon observe.

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Humility and the Kingdom of God- Rev. Charles R. Biggs

This week we celebrate the 491st anniversary of the Reformation of the 16th century. As part of my meditation on the Reformation, I wanted to think more about how Reformed truth should bring humility to believers, especially as Reformed Christians seek to make the gospel known and build Christ's Kingdom.

It is so easy to lose our focus on what truly matters as Christians, and oftentimes rather than humility in Christ, we can find ourselves waging war as the world does.

What does this Reformed-Kingdom-Building project look like, and how is it accomplished? I think we have the answer in Philippians 2:1-11. HAPPY REFORMATION DAY!

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Images of the Savior (29 - The Strange Fire of Nadab and Abihu)

Although the book of Leviticus is largely full of very detailed instructions for the priestly class, teaching them how to approach God with acceptable sacrifices, how to make a distinction between clean and unclean, and between holy and unholy, at what time and in what ways the solemn festivals are to be observed, and so on, it contains as well a historical prelude immediately following the first series of regulations concerning the offering up of sacrifices, in which Aaron, having been consecrated for his work, offers up the first acceptable sacrifice to the Lord, for his people Israel; and then his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, offer up unacceptable incense, and are put to death. This account serves to underscore the seriousness of the instructions which are detailed everywhere else throughout the book, emphasizing both the vastly salutary and effective nature of the true sacrifices, and the vastly devastating consequences attendant upon approaching Yahweh in any other way. As we have already observed how particularly the priestly class, ministrations, and vestments speak of Jesus Christ the High Priest; and how the various sacrifices speak most clearly of Christ the spotless Lamb of God; we may learn most importantly, from this historical account, of what immeasurable importance those christological types are: for those priests and sacrifices that are in accordance with God's commands, which everywhere foreshadow Christ, are effective to reconcile his people to himself, and to facilitate his presence and good pleasure among them; but those that do not come from himself he is very displeased with, and instead of being propitiated by them, he responds only in great wrath and fury. So true religion ever begins with God, and comes down by his own initiative, and in his own way, and through his own Christ; every other religious work, which originates in the heart of man, is utterly abominable to him.

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Images of the Savior (28 -- The Levitical Sacrifices)

At the end of the book of Exodus, God has just given Moses his servant very careful instructions for the building of the tabernacle, and for the institution of the Levitical priesthood to serve in it, in order to make atonement for the people, and bring them into the presence of the holy God; and in precise accordance with those instructions, Bezaleel, filled with the Spirit of God, has built the tabernacle and prepared the vestments for the priestly class, whom Moses has just finished consecrating for their ministry. Now, in acceptance of their careful adherence to his instructions, God has been pleased to establish his presence in the midst of Israel, filling the newly constructed tabernacle with his glory, and calling out to Moses from the midst of it, with the detailed instructions for its ongoing service and ministry that will take up the entire book of Leviticus. This book, then, has a very definite centrality and culminative nature both in the Pentateuch and the entire Old Testament: it is placed in the center of the Pentateuch, and at the shadowy climax of God's fulfilling his long-awaited promise that he should bring a people back to himself, and be their God, and dwell in their midst; and it is the most intricate and detailed typological intimation of just how he should accomplish that promised reconciliation in the searing daylight of the Gospel, elaborating as it does the sacrificial system for which the tabernacle and the priests existed and served day and night. Let us be very clear about the significance of this book of Leviticus, before we venture into its sacred pages: the very heart of the entire scriptures consists of that utterly crucial principle of substitutionary sacrifice and resulting atonement and reconciliation. This is what God first promised and signified to Adam and Eve after their sin in the Garden, this is what was typified and foreshadowed in countless ways throughout the history of God's people in the Old Testament, and this is precisely what was actually accomplished through that one great work for which all of history was designed, the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of the Son of God. And there is no more elaborate description of that absolutely central reality of all history than the sacrificial instructions contained within the book of Leviticus. If the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ stands at the pinnacle and climax of redemptive history, the very crux of that tree, casting its shadow backwards through the pre-incarnational history of the people of God, falls precisely upon the first seven chapters of the book of Leviticus. Father, if we cannot see Christ here, then where will we see him? Open our eyes to our spotless sacrificial Lamb!

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John 1:12, Regeneration and Adoption

A visitor named Rey was reading an essay on Monergism.com and sent the following:

You say "Monergism is the biblical doctrine that regeneration (the new birth) both precedes and elicits faith in Christ"

Excuse me, my friend, but have you ever read John 1:12? I don't think you have.

John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,"

It is clear that belief comes first, THEN they receive the right to become children of God. He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe. He did not make those who are already children of God believe. You have reversed the passage. But not only that! He only gave the right to become children of God to those that believe. He did not actually make them children of God yet. He gave them the right, or as the KJV says, "the power." Now, where or when is this "right" or "power" utilized?

Galatians 3:25-27 "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor, because you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, because all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

The right that he gave to all who believe is uses when they submit to believers baptism. To all who believe he gave the right or power to become sons of God. And this right or power they used in baptism, for which purpose Paul says we are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus (because that's when we received the right to be regenerated or reborn) because we were baptized (because that's when we actually used the right to be reborn and were then born "of water and of the Spirit"). Of water because we were dunked in water in the name of the Trinity, and of the Spirit because we received the Holy Spirit inside believers' baptism, as Peter says in Acts 2:38 "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Response:
Hi Rey

Thanks for your email. I actually agree with you that one must believe the gospel to be justified and an adopted child of God. You do well in pointing out the important text John 1:12 which shows this very thing. I fear however that you may be confusing the concepts of regeneration and justification and that this is simply another case of reading a verse in isolation and building a theology around it without looking at the immediate context. The very next verse (V.13) of John chapter one actually qualifies the statement about how be become adopted children of God in verse 12. It does this by asserting that this gift does not come about by the will of man but through the new birth or regeneration.

Lets read the whole thing in context:

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Images of the Savior (27 -- The Institution of the Aaronic Priesthood)

Although the priestly office of Jesus Christ our Savior is most properly to be thought of in the order of Melchizedek (see Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 6:20), who stands as the pre-eminent Old Testament type of Jesus our High Priest, yet the Aaronic priesthood, as well, although not precisely in continuity with Jesus' priestly ministry, is nevertheless full of images and symbols that speak of the later work of the Messiah, and foreshadow his mediatorial, intercessory, and reconciliatory roles. We may obtain an overview of the diverse and numerous ways in which this is so from a cursory examination of the instructions given to Moses on Mount Sinai, pertaining to Aaron his brother, in which regulations concerning the persons, the vestments, and the ministries of the priestly class are enjoined upon him in some detail; and of which we may read in Exodus chapters twenty-eight through thirty.

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Images of the Savior (26 -- The Tabernacle)

When Moses met with God on Mount Sinai, and was given instructions to make a tabernacle where God might dwell among his people, he was strictly enjoined to make it precisely in accordance with the pattern that God had shown him. This is because the tabernacle was symbolic of heavenly realities, and was intended to instruct the people of God concerning his holiness and the way into his presence through Jesus Christ, every part and arrangement answering to the true dwelling place of God and the manner in which his people might come before him (cf. Hebrews 9:23-24). The ways in which the tabernacle symbolized God's presence among his people are many, but every way is united and brought into harmony in the person of Jesus Christ: for the tabernacle was in one sense a microcosmic model of the entire universe, in which God created the earth for the habitation of men, the heavens where they might behold his glory, and the highest heavens in which is his very throne room, and into which they might not at all enter; and in another sense, it is constructed to depict the process of redemption, in which, through the shedding of blood, the washing of water, the fragrant incense of intercessory prayer, and so on, a sinner is brought from profane earth into thrice-holy heaven; and yet again, it depicts the movement of redemptive history as a whole, being reminiscent of the original paradise in Eden, prophetic of the New Covenant Church of Christ, and answerable to the final city of New Jerusalem, in which all history will find its fitting conclusion. But in all these things, there is brought about an admirable unity in Christ, through whom the universe was created, redemptive history is realized, sinners are brought to God, and New Jerusalem becomes the place of God's dwelling among men. But let us reflect on these things a little further.

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Images of the Savior (25 -- The Intercession of Moses)

Of all the offices and ministries that the Son of God has undertaken to enter into for his people, one of the most precious and comfortable is that of his unceasing intercession for those who belong to him. What troubles may not be vanquished, what doubts may not be dispelled, what fears and misgivings may not be put to flight, when the most desperate criminal but glimpses the Savior standing before the holy Father and pleading with him, “Let this sinner be forgiven! For I was indeed blotted out from the land of the living, that he might not be forever.”? Of this most precious office of Christ Jesus our Savior, the most outstanding type is Moses; and in this typical role, he shines the most brilliantly in his activity immediately following Israel's great sin with the golden calf.

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Images of the Savior (24 -- The Giving of the Law)

The occasion of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, when God went down in terrible glory to meet with his people whom he had redeemed, and to speak with them audibly, and to declare to them all his will and commandments, would forever afterward shape the character of the nation of Israel, and serve as the unalterable foundation upon which she was built, dictating the nature of her relationship with God, showing with manifold precision the way in which she must ever conduct herself, and forecasting with implacable exactness the response that Yahweh would have to any covenant unfaithfulness that should be found in her. It was the Law that should serve as the greatest self-revelation of Yahweh until the coming of his perfect and final self-revelation in the eternal Word; and so it was the Law that should come to the fore again and again in all the poetic writings of David, in the thundering condemnations and announcements of judgment that the prophets brought down against rebellious Israel, and in the sweet glimpses of conquering mercy and steadfast covenant love with which they bound up the remnant of grace. The Law was the very backbone of God's pre-incarnational revelation: and so it is most appropriate that the Law should prefigure and teach of Christ in several diverse ways, which we will now consider.

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Images of the Savior (23 -- The Church in the Wilderness)

After God had redeemed his people from their slavery in Egypt, and destroyed Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea, it is very significant that he did not immediately whisk them away to the promised land, but rather brought them first by slow degrees through a barren wilderness, where they sojourned and camped as pilgrims, and by heavenly supply fitted them with all the necessary provisions for their journey until they had finally reached their destination in Canaan. In this arrangement, we see an indication of the state of the Church on earth, which has already been redeemed, and for whom the victory has already been won, but which must nevertheless press on through the wilderness of sin as a company of strangers and pilgrims until she should finally reach her home in the promised land of God's presence. It is most fitting, therefore, that this time of wandering is filled up with so many precious glimpses of the person and various ministries of Christ, who continually sustains his Church in the time of her sojourn. About these diverse types and images, we will now inquire in a little more detail.

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Images of the Savior (22 -- The Crossing of the Red Sea)

The effectuation of God's delivering his people from their bondage in Egypt, as we have often observed before, tended in many particulars to two diverse, yet complementary ends: which are the glory of his just wrath and fury, which is displayed in his fierce judgments against the Egyptian people; and the glory of his free mercy and covenant faithfulness, which is displayed in his redeeming the children of Israel, and bringing them out from the house of slavery. These two facets of God's glory, as different as they are, do not detract from each other, but rather serve to set each other off with a more distinct and brilliant luster, the severity of the judgments underscoring the depth of the calamity that awaits those who have not known mercy, and thereby magnifying the greatness of God's grace, which, when sin and wrath abounded in full measure, still abounded even more (cf. Romans 5:20-21). The stubbornness of Pharaoh, whose heart God had hardened for this purpose, brings out this various glory in greater measure; for the heavy and unyielding hand which he laid upon God's people made necessary a very strong and admirable salvation, if God were to bring them out from his cruel oppression, and at the same time provided cause for the ongoing and ever-increasing displays of God's wrath and punishment upon the land of Egypt. This twofold glory was most poignantly displayed in the first Passover, when the Angel of the Lord, who is Christ, poured out God's final cup of wrath upon his enemies, and put them all to a violent death; and yet, on the day of judgment, he mercifully passed over all those who were covered by the blood of the Passover Lamb, who underwent his bloody judgment in their place. Now, as the great and manifold glory of Christ was admirably displayed in the climax of the redemption from Egypt, that is, in the Passover celebration; so would it also be displayed in the culmination of the redemption from Egypt, in at least two marvelous ways, which are, first, the appearance of the pillar of cloud and fire; and second, the crossing of the Red Sea. And thus, in order that this diverse excellence of Christ might be brought to its final display, God hardened Pharaoh's heart yet again, so that he pursued the children of Israel into the wilderness, after he had once let them go.

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Images of the Savior (21 -- The Passover)

The course of history has been arranged by the minute sovereignty of God to no other end than the accomplishment of the great redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. This is the center of all worlds, that which binds everything together in a unified whole, the heart and life of the great self-revelation of the diversely glorious God which he designed creation and history to be. So it is that the great climax of history was the Son of God's taking on human flesh to display the glory of the godhead in all its brilliance; and the pinnacle of that climactic act was the cross of Calvary, where every various perfection of God was displayed in the full and infinite magnitude of its splendor. Much in the same way, the economy of the Old Testament, during which time God was pleased to prepare for and foreshadow this great pinnacle of history through the typology of his chosen people Israel, was brought to a corresponding climax in the redemption from Egypt; and the pinnacle of that climactic redemption was the passover feast. If we would see the very reason for all existence painted before us in concrete images and splendid colors, if we would look upon the nature of God graphically displayed in all its economical fullness, then we can do no better than to look here. To understand the one message here displayed is to be a true Christian, a scholar in the heavenly wisdom, an immovably grounded divine. To miss this one message is to be a blind and hardened pagan under the eternal and fiery judgment of God. Father of Lights, send us your Spirit that we might look upon our Passover Lamb and find eternal life and joy in him!

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Images of the Savior (20 -- The Ten Plagues)

When we look to our God and Savior, with a heart of faith and eyes that have been opened by his Holy Spirit, we must be struck immediately and overwhelmingly with a sense of the diversity and excellence of his character, which joins together every trait that could be desired or admired, no matter how different one might be from another, in a manner that admits of no internal contradiction, but in such a glorious fashion that every delightful property most brilliantly complements and enhances the others around it, so that the peculiar wonder of each lovely quality is displayed in a striking and perfectly proportioned splendor. This we see in all its inexhaustible wealth in the shining face of Jesus Christ, who is at once the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (see Revelation 5:5-6); and of all the Old Testament images of the Christ, there are few that show forth this diverse excellence more abundantly than the operations of Yahweh in his bringing the children of Israel out from their bondage in the land of Egypt. In that event, we see the meek and lowly servant of the Lord, Moses, who had no brilliant oratorical ability or comely form to commend him to the people, taking on the role of God for Pharaoh and for the people of Israel. Thus Christ became a lowly and humble man, despised above all, in order to bring the true nature of the Godhead both to his people, that he might save them, and his enemies, that he might destroy them. But also, in this event, we see the dreadful Angel of the Lord passing through the land with a terrible fury, and judging all the firstborn of the people, save those who are covered with the blood of the Passover Lamb; and this Angel is also Christ, sent by the Father to judge the world (John 5:22-23; Acts 17:31); and so is the Passover Lamb, whose blood saves God's people from his own wrath, an evident type of Christ. And so, in a very diverse manner, we have a picture of a very diverse Christ, who would go about through very diverse methods to redeem his people: he is a lowly man speaking the word of God in the world and confirming his messages with signs and wonders; he is the righteous Judge, exacting vengeance on all who have opposed him; he is the innocent Lamb, giving up his life freely in exchange for the lives of his people; he is the Savior who delivers his own people while destroying their enemies; and his power is ever shown in his lowliness and humility: for his greatest deliverance of all, being a deliverance not just from Pharaoh or from the Serpent he typified, but from his own implacable and boundless wrath, was wrought by his humblest and lowliest act of all, in offering up his body as an atoning sacrifice for his people. Ah, what a Savior this is! Let us now examine the account in more detail.

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Great is the Lord...

Let your soul feast and meditate on the greatness of the Lord as you watch this short video put together by Bob Kauflin and featured at his Worship God Conference:

Images of the Savior (19 -- The Call of Moses)

The deliverance of the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt would become the greatest redemptive act of God in all the Old Testament, and so would serve as the great illustration of Israel's peculiar blessedness throughout the rest of her history, and be the act of covenant love which she would remember more ardently than any other, and cling to as an immovable assurance of her future salvation, no matter what trouble she was in (see, for example, Deuteronomy 15:15; Psalm 66:5-6; 74:10-15; 78:13; 105:26-38; 106:7-12; 136:10-15). In fact, it was not until the coming of the Messiah himself that a greater deliverance would be accomplished, which should forevermore eclipse the glory of this one; and so it clearly stands as an unsurpassed type of the final redemptive work of Christ (see Jeremiah 16:14-16). It is therefore most appropriate that the circumstances surrounding this particular event, more especially than almost any other event in the life of Moses, should be filled with glimpses of the coming Savior; and so in fact we find, from the time when Moses was first called out by God to deliver his people from Egypt, that he confirmed and illustrated his calling with many notable and instructive signs, upon which we will now reflect.

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Images of the Savior (18 -- The Birth of Moses)

In all the Old Testament scriptures, there is perhaps no more notable and central person than Moses, the giver of the Law, the prophet who spoke with God face-to-face, the author of the Pentateuch, which serves as the foundation of all the bible, and the key figure of all that portion of it which follows Genesis (see Deuteronomy 34:10-12). It is to be expected, then, of so central a character, that his life should especially show forth the coming Messiah, who is in actual fact the central Person, not just of the Pentateuch, but of all the scriptures, in both the Old and New Testaments. And indeed we find, that when Moses was about to die, and was giving his final words of exhortation to the Jewish people, just before they crossed over into the land of Canaan, he promised them that God would raise up a prophet like himself, but vastly superior (Deuteronomy 18:15-19); and so he made that very role which most exceptionally marked him as an unsurpassed hero in God's redemptive works to be but a foreshadow of a greater Hero who should come. This prophecy was of course fulfilled in the coming of the Son of God, the eternal Word, who revealed God so much more fully than Moses had, that it could be said of him that he alone brought grace and truth to the people of God (John 1:14-18; see also Hebrews 1:1-4). As we turn to the book of Exodus, therefore, and examine the life of this man Moses, let us be careful to consider what we may learn thereby of the life of Christ, which it anticipates and typologizes.

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Images of the Savior (17 -- The Life of Joseph)

Although the promise of the coming of the Messiah, in whom Israel and all the world should be blessed, had devolved upon Judah, of the twelve sons of Jacob, who thereby obtained a very prestigious position of ascendancy over his brothers, as we observed in the last lesson (cf. Genesis 49:8-12); yet, at this time, the possessors of the Messianic blessing had already begun to expand, whereas before they had been ever more restricted with each passing generation: for the promise had been made first to Abraham and his offspring; then to Isaac and his offspring alone, of Abraham's children; then to Jacob and his offspring alone, of Isaac's children; but now, the promise would not be to Judah alone, but through Judah would come the Messiah who would belong to all of Jacob's children alike, and all of them would have some role in preparing the way by which he should come into the world, and in signifying and foreshadowing his advent. The next episodes we encounter in our journey through Genesis serve to confirm this point; for hereafter, the entire book is devoted to an account of the life of Joseph, the eleventh and most beloved son of his father Jacob, whose history would foreshadow the entire earthly ministry of the promised Seed far more exactly and minutely than any other history had done up to this point in time, and more exactly indeed than the life of any other person until the coming of David himself.

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Images of the Savior (16 -- The Birth of Perez)

When Jacob had first been driven out of the promised land by the wrath of his brother Esau, the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham seemed in every way to be in jeopardy: for he had received both the birthright and the blessing, and the Abrahamic promises were therefore all bound up in his own future and fruitfulness; and not as yet having any offspring by which the Messianic line could advance, nor any wife by whom he should raise up a seed, nor even any goods and possessions to sustain him in his wanderings, his life was in imminent danger, and the likelihood of his entering again into the land where the fulfillment of the promises was centered seemed very small. It was, therefore, a most gracious and powerful operation of God that some twenty years later, after many trials and dangers had been overcome, he would again enter the land of Canaan with wives, goods, possessions, and twelve sons through whom God had purposed to build a mighty nation, and through one of whom he intended to bring about the One who should fulfill every promised blessing, that is, the Messiah. Until this generation, God had seen fit to pass along the Abrahamic promises to one sole heir of each father, first to Isaac alone instead of Ishmael, and then to Jacob alone instead of Esau. But now, returning to Canaan with twelve sons who should all be possessors of the promise, the question of how the Messianic blessing should be passed on is in some manner changed, and hence becomes, “Which of the twelve brothers shall gain ascendancy over all the rest, and be chosen to bring about the Seed in whom all alike shall be blessed?”. The several histories of this time immediately after Jacob's leaving Laban have all to do with the answer to that one question.

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Images of the Savior (15 -- Jacob at Peniel)

Everywhere in the Law and the Prophets we see Christ and his gospel-work symbolized, prophesied, and foreshadowed in many marvelous ways: but only a very few times, and at the most critical junctures of redemptive history, do we see our Savior, before his advent in Bethlehem, appear in visible form to his saints. Jacob’s encounter at Peniel, just prior to his return to the land of promise, is one of these occurrences; and in this history, we may learn much of our blessed Redeemer, and of the true religion which alone prevails with him. To this end, we now turn our attention to the account at hand.

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Images of the Savior (14 -- Jacob and Laban)

As we continue to follow the life of our father Jacob, we see that at every step, God causes him to flourish and increase, no matter what contingencies might face him. So it is that, having been driven out from the promised land by the rage of his brother Esau, God used his sojourn in another land to make him into a great family, which should later issue forth in a mighty nation, and eventually, the Christ himself. And likewise, in every cheat and deception that he endured from Laban his uncle, he always prospered and grew stronger, rather than weaker, due always to God's particular care and governance. The time that Jacob spent with Laban, although necessitated by a brother's persecution and marked throughout by hardship and unjust treatment, was the very time when he sprang up in the faith, and began to put forth those buds which would eventuate in the mighty boughs of the Kingdom of God. We would do well to learn from this, for the same mystery is at work even today, among those who are Jacob's heirs and possessors of the promise.

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Images of the Savior (13 -- Jacob and Esau)

In all the accounts of God's dealing with the patriarchs thus far, we have been primarily struck with these two things, first, God's absolute sovereignty in choosing and calling out the subjects of his redemptive blessing; and second, the surprising and unexpected ways in which he does so, which may be seen both in the choice of the vessels which he should prepare for mercy, and the means by which he should bring this mercy to bear in their lives. Thus, God called Abraham alone, when he had many and mighty nations and nobles which he might instead have chosen; he called Isaac and not Ishmael, although Ishmael was Abraham's eldest son, and begotten of natural and expected means, whereas Isaac was younger and begotten in a most surprising way; and he ensured and ratified the blessing which he had sworn should come through Isaac by commanding that he be put to death on Mount Moriah, before he had been able to extend Abraham's line. In these and in many other ways beside, we see those two notable truths everywhere confirmed and illustrated. Now, as we look to the account of the next generation of the patriarchs, and observe the early life of Jacob and Esau, we will see again the same truths most admirably displayed.

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Images of the Savior (12 -- The Provision of a Wife for Isaac)

It is altogether fitting that Abraham’s promised Son, Isaac, should be set forth as a type of our Savior in every notable event of his life: for, first of all, his birth was of so miraculous a nature as to reinforce to Abraham the truth that the promised Seed, who would bless all the nations of the earth, could never come naturally, by the efforts of the flesh, as Ishmael came. On the contrary Isaac came by the divine promise, and through the divine power, which is even able to bring life out of death. And so that son in whom was said to be the promised Seed, Christ our Savior, was, even from his birth, a type of the Savior, by virtue of his life which was brought out of death, through the power of God, and in accordance with his covenant promise. And second, in the account of Abraham’s testing, we have as clear a personal type as can be found in all of scriptures, of the substitutionary sacrifice and the rising again of our Savior; by means of which test, Abraham demonstrated his faith in the coming Messiah, whom he knew that God would certainly raise from the dead, and thus received his own promised son, “in a figure,” back from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19). And so, if in two marvelous and unsurpassed ways this man Isaac served to foreshadow the life of our Savior, then we may with some reason suppose that the next notable circumstance in his life, the means by which he obtained his wife, may also convey some truth to us about the coming work of the true Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. In pursuance of which expectation, we will now turn to the account in Genesis, chapter twenty-four.

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Images of the Savior (11 -- The Offering Up of Isaac on Mount Moriah)

We have already observed how perfectly fitted the miraculous conception and birth of Isaac was to foreshadow the virgin birth of Abraham's true promised Seed, Jesus Christ; and now, as we continue to examine the details of his later history, we come to find as well that God was pleased to arrange circumstances in such a way as to make his life prefigure in an astonishing and unsurpassed manner the substitutionary offering of Christ on the cross. This truth, from the outset, should serve to underscore the illimitable worth and precise centrality of the atoning death of Christ: his virgin birth, as sweet and awe-inspiring as it was, had no other end than the bloody death of Calvary which should follow it some thirty-three years later. The virgin birth was a mighty and necessary step toward a great end; but the end itself was Calvary. We see this relationship hinted at also in the life of Isaac, Abraham's first promised seed, who was given a miraculous birth just to have it taken away from him violently and unseasonably (in a figure) by the very God who had brought him into the world in the first place.

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Images of the Savior (10 -- The Birth of Isaac)

Of all the notable things that could be said of the life of Abraham our father, without a doubt the most outstanding is only this: he was promised by the God of heaven, to whom nothing is impossible, that he should be given a Seed who would bless all the nations of the earth, and bring down the very presence of God to mankind. It stands to reason, then, that of all the types that we see displayed in Abraham's calling, wanderings, the covenant ceremonies he went through, and so on, one of the most notable should pertain to his being given a seed, quite apart from natural human means, as a testimony to the life-giving and promise-fulfilling power of the God who first called him out from his land and kindred. And in actual fact, this is precisely what we encounter in the birth of Isaac, Abraham's promised heir, and the most remarkable type of the virgin birth of our Savior in all the Old Testament histories.

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Images of the Savior (9 -- The Destruction of Sodom)

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven, Lot's gracious deliverance from that judgment, and Abraham's mediation for him, provide a very notable glimpse of the future destruction of the world, and the deliverance of the righteous from the midst of God's burning wrath, through the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (see 1 Timothy 2:5); as we shall see in several particulars noted in the paragraphs below.

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Images of the Savior (8 -- Abraham's Victory and Melchizedek's Blessing)

In the next episode of Abraham's life, in which he arises in behalf of Lot, his nephew, who had been taken captive by Chedorlaomer and the other kings with him, and wins a very great victory over this confederation of kings, slaughtering them in the valley of Shaveh, and thereafter, is blessed by Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, we may discern two very notable images of the coming Savior: for first of all, Abraham's slaughter of the kings is a type of the Messiah's later victory, in several specific instances; but even more notable yet is the image of the Savior which we encounter in the person of Melchizedek, who stands out as one of the foremost types of Christ in all the Old Testament. From these two related events, Abraham's victory and Melchizedek's bringing a blessing, we will now see what we may learn of Abraham's Seed, who is our great High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

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Images of the Savior (7 -- Abraham's Sojourn in Egypt)

Given the unique status of the patriarch Abraham, who was called out to be the first in the line of the people of God, and the father of all those who should later believe, and from whom it was also said that the promised Seed of the woman should come, it is to be expected that his life should prefigure and anticipate the life of the faithful, that is, of the Church as a whole and all her members in particular, and most especially, the life of Christ himself, the Seed through whom he would inherit his eternal blessing. And as we study the life of Abraham, after his first calling, with this principle in mind, we are eminently justified in our supposition; for the first account we are given of his subsequent life, in which he is driven to sojourn in Egypt by a fierce famine, is very much like the later history of God's people, and also foreshadows the life of Christ himself. In what ways this is so, how Abraham's experiences are a type both of the Church's journey to paradise and of the Messiah's work of redemption, we will now make clear.

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Images of the Savior (6 -- The Promise Made to Abraham)

Of all the promises and foreshadows of the coming of Christ and his accomplishing his mighty work of redemption, there is none in all the Old Testament that is more foundational than the promise made to Abraham, when God called him out from the land of his people and brought him into the land of Canaan, and there entered into a solemn covenant with him, promising to be his God and his exceeding great reward. This calling and promise was so monumental as thoroughly to govern the course of redemptive history from that point on, and to shape forever afterward the nature and substance of the blessings which the promised Christ's redemption should provide. Thus it is that, at the conclusion of the history of God's redeeming his people, the final proclamation, sealing up every blessing and fulfilling every promise, will come in these words: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and he shall be God with them, their God” (Revelation 21:3). This is a conclusion that was most explicitly marked out in the calling of Abraham, and serves only as the actual accomplishment of all that was promised at that time; and at the heart of that promise, we see Christ himself, who should become “Immanuel,” that is, “God with us,” and so provide in himself the substance of every good thing which God had covenanted to give to Abraham and his offspring. It would certainly behove us, therefore, to look in more detail at this monumental occasion, in which the promise of a conquering Seed takes on a history-shaping clarity and significance.

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Images of the Savior (5 -- Noah's Ark)

The Kingdom of God, composed as we have seen of all those who had placed their faith in God's promise of a coming Seed who should deliver them from sin and the Serpent, began to grow greatly from its small beginnings, when it was represented only by Adam and Eve and the first martyr, Abel. For soon after Abel had given his life for his testimony of faith, God added another seed to Eve, namely Seth, to strengthen her faith, and through whom he should continue the line from which she still hoped the Messiah should come. From Seth, God was in fact pleased to cause his Kingdom to continue, and whenever she began to be in any desperate straits, or on the brink of extermination, he blessed her with whatever grace she needed to survive and persevere. For first of all, we find the first report of a great revival among God's people in the days of Enosh, the son of Seth (Genesis 4:26). We must suppose that at this time the Church had grown very cold and hardhearted, as she has done many times throughout her history; but rather than let her love grow entirely extinct, God sent his Spirit to stir up the hearts of his people to call upon the name of the Lord. This is the first of what would soon become very many times of corporate revival, such as those in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29-31) and Josiah (2 Chronicles 34-35), or much later, those now known as the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century after Christ.

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Images of the Savior (4 -- The Life of Abel)

Very soon after God had made his first promise to mankind that he would send a Deliverer, he began to advance his redemptive design along several different lines, all of which would eventually culminate in the advent and work of the promised Seed, and his gathering together in himself a multitude of people, whom he had undertaken to bring back to God. This era of redemptive history is characterized by a series of highly notable firsts, which would set the stage for the promised coming of salvation by putting in motion those forces which should prepare the way for the coming of the Seed, and ultimately bring about the fullness of time in which God should finally send him; and also, they whisper ahead of time the way in which this Savior, when he had finally come, should go about his work of saving his people. Of these firsts, one of the most significant is the life of Abel, the first man born twice, which we will look into in due time; but for now, let us mention a few other notable circumstances that God had already brought about.

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Images of the Savior (3 -- The First Gospel)

After our first father Adam had rebelled against the word of God, thereby losing all of the blessings and privileges of the glorious state into which he had been created, and inheriting instead a most fearful curse, the promise of death, and an expectation of the terrible wrath of God; instead of receiving only the judgment which he deserved, he was immediately comforted with a promise so rich in the gospel truths of Christ, that theologians have long referred to it as the “protoevangelium,” which is a designation meaning simply, “the first gospel”. It would be hard to overestimate the importance of this first gospel promise: the rest of the scriptures, both in the old and new testaments, simply unfold the meanings which inhere in this brief statement, and make good upon the promises which it contains.

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Images of the Savior (2 – The Garden of Eden)

Immediately after his account of God's creation of the world, Moses goes on to describe the creature in whom would be centered God's design for creation, namely, the man whom he had formed; and likewise he describes the place in which the fulfillment of this design would be possible, namely, the Garden in Eden. In this description, we encounter a very notable and foundational glimpse of the coming Messiah, in at least two basic ways: first of all, in the general design and features of the Garden we have an image of the perfect state which Christ's work of redemption should accomplish for its subjects; and second, we have a foreshadowing of the means which Christ would employ in bringing about this final state of blessedness. Let us now reflect upon several specific things in which this twofold foreshadowing may be observed.

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United to Christ in His Death AND Resurrection

"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."—Romans 6:4.

We are united to Christ not only in his death but also in His resurrection. Not only have we been forgiven from the guilt of our sins, but have also been delivered from their power. The fasle notion that the grace of God should lead us to lawlessness should distasteful to every Christian. Our regeneration ... our union in Christ's resurrection ... our new heart and new life in Christ means that, by nature, we now despise doublemindedness and rebellion. We cannot live in it for our union with Christ makes this repelling. The concept or idea that the the grace we have in Christ gives license to sin, does not come from our new resurrected nature, but from the Devil. Though we are, at times, deceived by sin and stil suseptable to it, we detest it more deep than words can express. "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live in it any longer."

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Meditation on Grace in Psalm 119

“You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.” – Micah 6:15
 
Among the curses God gave as a warning to Israel for their disobedience was that they would sow, but not reap; they would tread the grapes they had grown but never have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Consider this text carefully, because it means that we can labor for something, and externally do everything necessary to expect a positive result (good crops in this instance), but unless God blesses the effort, our labors will come to naught. We can plow, sow and water, but only God, who either showers blessing or withholds it, can ultimately cause the growth. To extend this farming analogy to another realm, God likewise calls us to labor and pray for the souls of all those around us by indiscriminately casting forth the seed of the gospel to those He places in our life’s path. We know not whether we cast the seed on fallow ground or on ground that the Lord has prepared. Our labor, therefore, is not in vain, for God has called the church to gather up his elect from the ends of the earth in this way. Through the hearing of the gospel are the nations reached, but only the Spirit of God can open or leave hardened the hearts of those to whom we cast seed. It is important to remember that election, of itself, saves no one. Election, rather, is the blueprint of God for what He plans to do on earth in time through the redemptive work of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit ...and this through the preaching of the word (Rom 10). Our work is, therefore, a necessary and an integral part of God's plan. Souls will not come to Christ without the participation of the the church whom God uses to gather His elect. So we should labor as if all depended on us while knowing that the final fruit ulimately rests with God. Our witness and our preaching alone will do nothing, and that is why we pray to the Lord to bless it to His good and perfect ends.

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Images of the Savior (1 -- The Creation of the World)

When Jesus offered up for all believers his high-priestly prayer in their behalf, he summed up the essence of his request thus: “Father, I desire that those whom you have given me might be with me, where I am, in order that they might behold my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). From which circumstance we may learn that the very essence of what Jesus died to provide us with is nothing less than a rapturous gazing upon his glorious person, as we dwell in his presence forevermore. Heaven is nowhere but where Jesus dwells in his glory, and eternal life is nothing besides the sight of this glory. This is why Jesus had earlier defined eternal life as this: “that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). True life is that which fulfills the purpose for which man was created, namely, to know and enjoy fellowship with God; and Jesus Christ is the only One who is able to reveal the nature of God to mankind, as we may learn from John chapter one, verses 14 and 18: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as from the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth....No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him.” If we would be eternally satisfied, we must learn to behold the glory of Christ. And if we would be among those who for all eternity will indeed be in the joy of God's presence, we must learn to seek Christ's glory even now, as we live upon the earth.

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Its about Him

"Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." Luke 24:27

"Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you — it’s about Him."

(quoted by Tim Keller at a Resurgence 06 seminar entitled "Preaching the Gospel")

The Hidden Treasure (8 -- Giving Away the Gold)

It is a singular characteristic of the wealthy men of this world, that they are almost without exception parsimonious, and cling tightly to the great riches they possess. It would seem a dictate of logic that, according as one could give without jeopardizing his own security and position, he would feel more free to do so with indifference. In reality, it is often those most pressed for necessary finances, and those whose ability to provide for themselves the most basic wants is in question from day to day, who are the most willing to give to others. Thus, the wealthy tend to preserve their wealth through greediness, and the poor tend to discourage any accumulation of wealth through liberality.

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The Hidden Treasure (7 -- Wearing the Gold)

Although the labor represented by an intricately-wrought chain of gold is enormous and eminently various, the gold ore having been digged up and refined and painstakingly crafted through many thousands of hours, the final end to which all this diverse toil has been directed may be expressed in this one thing, that the chain be worn about the neck as an ornament of grace and beauty. The woman who delights in fine jewelry is not at all satisfied to rejoice in the beauty of her ornaments as they hang upon the pegs of her jewelry box, but must use them to adorn her own person, so that their own innate loveliness is imparted in some measure to herself. The beauty of the jewelry is never so great as when it enhances the beauty of its owner.

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Coming to Christ

Before I saw Christ, oh, how I feared to come to God! He was holy and I was sinful. He was righteous and I was guilty. He was wrathful and I was a child of wrath, deserving of every eternal torment. But then God's merciful Spirit opened my eyes to the King of Glory, and my heart was changed forever. Before, I had seen every reason to flee from God, and was overcome with despair at the realization that I could not escape his presence. Afterwards, I saw every reason to come to God, and found no other delight than that I could never be out of his sight. Jesus changed my perspective entirely, so that what had been my misery and despair became my only joy and unshakeable hope. I found in him every reason to come to God, and no reason to forbear.

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The Hidden Treasure (6 -- Admiring the Gold)

In the world of men, there are two basic classes of wealth which are ever sought. The first class is composed of those substances which have an inherent worth and beauty, such as silver, gold, and diamonds. The second class is composed of those substances which, though inherently worthless, may be traded for other things of value, such as the ugly paper dollar which might readily be exchanged for all goods and services under the sun, and which is therefore highly prized. The difference between the two is that the latter class only allows one to delight in something other than itself – a man with dollars may find joy in the fine dining and fancy houses for which he might trade them, but little values the look of the paper itself. But the former class inspires admiration by its own intrinsic properties. A diamond dazzles the eye, and is therefore sought for itself, and not just to be traded for other things.

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The Hidden Treasure (5 -- Fashioning the Gold)

The reason for the surpassing value of gold is to be sought in a unique combination of its various qualities, including such things as its limited availability, imperviousness to corruption, usefulness for a wide array of applications, and not least of all, unrivalled beauty. This last quality is an unexceptional characteristic of valuable materials. In terms of sheer functionality, pewter lacks nothing that sterling silver may boast. But the latter is always prized more highly simply because it is more beautiful. Pewter may be used to feed the body of man just as well as silver; but it can never feed his beauty-starved soul. Pewter may be useful to the trader of household wares, but silver is required by the jeweler or artist.

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The Hidden Treasure (4 -- Refining the Gold)

As difficult and arduous as are the labors of bringing out the precious minerals from their hiding places in the depths of the earth, any miner will affirm that, once they have been so gathered up, his labor is not at all done. For the gold and silver to gleam with all their beauty and be valued at their full worth, they must first be purified and refined; which is just to say that, any substance which is not true to their nature, must by various means be teased out and discarded. This process of refinement is unexceptionally necessary in the pursuit of earth’s buried treasures, for the desired minerals are never found thoroughly pure, but always mingled with some degree of unwanted substances, the worthless dross, to be rid of which is the design of the refinement. A miner who takes a sack of gold ore into a store might gain some use from his riches, but not nearly so much as he who takes a refined and certified ingot.

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The Hidden Treasure (3 -- Finding the Gold: C. A Survey of the Fields in Which it is to be Sought)

In the art of prospecting for gold, it must ever be kept in mind that, according to the various natures of the fields in which one is searching, the nature of the processes employed must be adapted. When gold is sought from the flowing streams, a steady hand and discerning eye must be taken advantage of, and through the patient perseverance of the seeker, many precious nuggets might be panned out from the midst of the worthless bits of sand and rock. But the deep mines want a strong arm and energetic pick, which might extend the tunnels many miles into the bosom of the earth, and find out the deepest veins hidden far away from the surface. So is it with the labor of seeking the gospel-gold from the fields of God’s word: that pursuit which might be successful in the histories will little profit in the psalms. The method most likely to obtain good results in the prophets will advance but little in the proverbs. A thorough knowledge of the diverse fields in which one is working, and the strategies best adapted for those fields, must always be remembered

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Psalm 1

Blessed is the man / who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, / nor stands in the way of sinners, / nor sits in the seat of scoffers; / but his delight is in the law of the LORD, / and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree / planted by streams of water / that yields its fruit in its season, / and its leaf does not wither. / In all that he does, he prospers. / The wicked are not so, / but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, / nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; / for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, / but the way of the wicked will perish. [Psalm 1]

Many preachers use Psalm 1 to try to get people to read their Bibles. "Be like the prosperous man who delights in the law of the LORD," they say. "Don't be like the wicked who will perish," they say. But this Psalm uses no prescriptive language whatsoever. There are no imperatives, no commands. Psalm 1 is entirely descriptive. That fact alone ought to give us pause when we go to use it like a hammer and chisel to sculpt religious behavior.

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The Hidden Treasure (3 -- Finding the Gold: B. In What Manner it is to be Sought)

It is a necessary quality for our pursuit of spiritual riches, if we would be successful, that we understand what the treasure consists of, so that we might recognize it when we see it; and as we have observed, man’s true spiritual good is to be found only in the knowledge of Christ. He is the gospel-gold, the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field. But merely understanding this will not be sufficient to fill our coffers, for we must likewise be instructed in the manner of searching, when we have once arrived in the fields of God’s Word. Suppose a prospector came to California, ready to distinguish between true gold and fool’s gold, and thinking that he should soon make himself rich, he forthwith began to scrutinize the tree-tops, to see whether he would find the gold in the highest boughs. For all his knowledge, he would not soon be successful. So too, the Christian who has been taught to seek Christ in all the scriptures, but does not know how, may wander over many a page without uncovering the deepest veins of silver; or may even fabricate treasures of dubious value, supported only by tenuous reasonings, far-fetched allegories, or the impulses of his own heart.

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The Hidden Treasure (3 -- Finding the Gold: A. Wherein it Consists)

When news of the gold rush of 1849 began to spread from California, passing eastward on the lips of men who had made their fortune and could not contain their joy nor hold back the good news, many countless prospectors were encouraged by tales of great riches to be had for the taking, to leave behind their homes, and set off to California, where they hoped they would strike it rich. But as is often the case, far more of these prospectors ended up rather squandering all their goods than finding their fortune, for the riches were not so great as to satisfy the lusts of every miner, and those few fortunate enough to have discovered the rich veins horded up vast treasures, while the rest starved on a pile of worthless sand. This can never be the case among those who are seeking the riches of wisdom from God’s Word; for as much as is uncovered, there is always more yet, and however many miners make their fortune by their toils, they leave the fields not a whit less rich for those coming behind them. However, notwithstanding the inexhaustible richness of the gospel-field, many prospectors of wisdom have undertaken to dig there, and have returned without a trace of the precious metal. How can this be?

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The Hidden Treasure (2 -- Setting Out for the Field)

When a man desires to build a tower, he must first sit down and calculate what he should require to bring the project through to completion, and determine if he is both able and willing to spend so much. How foolish would they consider that man who, having concluding that he had just enough to build, and no more, laid the foundation and then consumed the rest of his stores on riotous living, and was never able to complete what he had begun! But are not very many professors of religion so foolish even today? They want the consolation of the gospel, and would fain be disciples of Christ, and so they set out to follow him, but scarcely give him one day a week, while spending the rest of their passions on worldly and ephemeral amusements. They have not counted the cost, nor considered that, if one would be accounted Christ’s at all, he must belong to him wholly. He must forsake father and mother and goods and kindred, yes, and even his own life, and press hard behind him to the ends of the earth. But those who make a show of seeking him, when they have not counted the cost, will find out in the judgment that they do not have him at all. Oh, how bitter will be those words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who work iniquity”!

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The Hidden Treasure (1 -- Introduction)

At the beginning of the second chapter of the book of Proverbs, King Solomon, instructed by the Holy Spirit, admonishes those who would be his spiritual children how they might find wisdom, what value it should hold forth to them, to what advantages they may put it, and the means by which they should seek it, under the figure of hidden treasure, or a vein of silver buried in a hillside. It is at once manifest, by this colorful mode of expression, that Solomon intends to paint wisdom as that which one might spend all his time and strength in pursuing, to good effect. For just as hidden gold, being so much valued by men that they are willing to exchange for it all necessary goods, services, amusements, etc., well rewards all efforts spent in procuring it, so wisdom, when one once has it, is profitable to any spiritual end, providing strength and joy, blessing and prosperity, and the manner and means of ordering one’s life suitably for his eternal good. For this reason, it is not at all amiss for a man to spend his days searching for hidden gold, if he has a reasonable suspicion that he might find it in such a place as he is digging, for he looks ahead to the value which it shall afford him, which should more than make up for his labors expended in procuring it. But if it be so advantageous to seek gross earthly profit assiduously, of how much more industry ought we to avail ourselves in seeking that which offers us the most divine and inextinguishable pleasures of heaven, seeing that we have clearly been directed to the place where we might find it indeed?

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Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread

When we read this plea in the prayer our Lord has given us, it reminds us of our utter dependence on Him for everything we have, including our spiritual gifts and the grace to persevere to the end. When we were unregenerate and without God in the world, our conversion only took place when God opened our eyes to despair of any help from ourselves that we might look to Christ for His mercy. So also as Christians we live by the same principle since only by losing of all confidence in ourselves do we grow in grace; Christians do not become more mature in such a way as to gain more confidence in our spiritual abilities. On the contrary, the mature Christian, becomes even more conscious of his own frailty, and will turn unto the Lord for all his/her daily graces. It is only when we are weak, that we are strong (2Co 12:10). In other words, if we are to be effective at all, there must first be a consciousness of our weakness and innate spiritual bankruptcy.

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Images of the Savior (Conclusion)

Dear reader, we have spent many hours walking through the gospel accounts of the only Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We have seen him in his divine majesty, whose birth was announced by the most glorious angels, who was worshiped in his manger bed by the kings of the earth, and who appeared in radiant light with Moses and Elijah. We have seen him in his meekness and humility, walking as a despised and rejected man, full of sorrows, often weary and full of the most human emotions. We have seen much of his mercy, and have marveled at his signs of grace and forgiveness, his healing of all, his casting out demons, his calm control over winds and waves. We have seen the foretastes of his coming terrible wrath against arrogant sinners, as he fearlessly denounced the Pharisees and hypocrites, and spoke of his future judgment of the entire world. And we have seen him in the grand and culminative display of these various attributes as he was lifted up on the cross for the sins of the world, at one and the same time showing forth the infinite depths of his obedient humility and accomplishing the mightiest and most resounding victory of the ages, putting all the forces of darkness to open shame, and winning an eternal Kingdom of grace, and the Name which is above all names.

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Images of the Savior (50 - His Appearances to his Followers)

We have followed our great Savior with tears and trembling to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he poured out his soul in unspeakable sorrow, we have wept in shame at the kiss of the betrayer, melted in horror at the perversion of justice which he encountered in all the courts of the land, cried out against the shame and mockery and cruel stripes that were laid upon him, seen him lifted up in our place as a curse and sin-bearer, and finally taken our stand at the empty tomb where the bitterness and agony give way to the unspeakable joy of everlasting victory in those most blessed of all utterances, “He is risen, just as he said”. What more then can we say? How can further reflection on the earthly life of our Savior and God be anything but an anti-climactic end to a story that has already concluded with the greatest news in history? And yet, upon further consideration, we are convinced that the very earth-shaking, eternity-shaping significance of Jesus' death and resurrection demands a final chapter. These events were too mighty to have an end in first-century Palestine: their monumental effects still reverberate throughout the world, and will continue to create in their beneficiaries the glorious fruit of sincere worship for all eternity. Just what the great effects of this greatest of all events should be has yet to be mentioned, as well as how they should come about. To this end, then, we follow our Redeemer for one last chapter, as he makes his post-resurrection appearances to his followers, and instructs them in light of his superlative accomplishment.

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The Eschatological Advent Season- Rev. C. R. Biggs

Dear People of God,

One famous Christmas song gleefully declares: "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" That of course means different things to different people. For the Christian, this "most wonderful time of the year" should be a time of celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and the fact that God truly dwelled in human flesh "with us". This time of year should also be lived in eager anticipation and joyful expectation as we await the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

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Images of the Savior (49 – His Resurrection)

When Jesus had poured out his soul as an offering for sin, having accomplished the Father's will and satisfied his wrath, he cried out, “It is finished!”, and laid down his life; and in those words, we have a certain hope that nothing remains for our salvation to be complete. The work has been done, the price has been paid, and we who have looked upon him are free from our sin and guilt forevermore. However, that climactic utterance was only half the story; and if the great event of the following Sunday had not occurred, it would have been stripped of all its power, and we would have remained “of all men most miserable” (I Corinthians 15:17-19), still lost in our sins, with no Hero to look to who could strip the devil and hell and death itself, and bring us out from under their authority. The resurrection of Christ from the dead is his final crown of victory, and the culminating stamp of approval from the Father: his work had been sufficient, his matchless power had been triumphant, he had won the day, and henceforth had but to wait at the Father's right hand, on his throne of glory, until all things were brought under his feet (Ephesians 1:19-23). The resurrection of Christ seals the greatest victory in history, and is the illimitable source of speechless joy, flowing forth in waves of delight and flooding his children with peace and happiness for all eternity. Come to the empty tomb with me, and let us lift up our voices in wonder at the blessed hope of the ages!

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Images of the Savior (48 – His Crucifixion)

As we follow our Savior to the hill of Calvary, we have come to the very time and place for which history was designed. This is the only reference point which gives meaning to all time and reality; no verse in all of scriptures and no event in all of history makes sense until it is related to what took place here. Consider for a moment how all the Old Testament scriptures prepare for this event, from the first prophecy of the Messiah given in Genesis 3:15, to the clothing that the gracious God made for Adam and Eve, to the blood sacrifice of Abel and all the rivers of blood that followed from that point on. Consider the tension built up to a mighty paradox, that the essential nature of God is that he has mercy upon thousands of generations, and yet will not at all acquit the wicked (Exodus 34:6-7), those two great attributes of the Lord that cry out for a resolution, a resolution which is pictured and foreshadowed in many countless ways in prescribed Jewish worship, and yet never adequately accomplished. Consider how central this event was to the life of Christ, the God-Man, whose every step he took was self-consciously a step closer to this climactic and dramatic sacrifice. Consider how central it was to the writers of the New Testament, whose gospel consisted only of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (I Corinthians 15:3-4), how central it is to all the centuries following, in which the full fruits of that mighty work are being gathered from the nations, and how central it will be in all eternity, when the blood-bought multitude sings the praises of the Lamb who was slain in never-ending worship. What is your trouble today? It may be resolved in only one way: looking to the pierced side of our Savior, which flowed with the blood of substitution, for our forgiveness; and the water of purification, for our cleansing. This is all our hope: let us live at the foot of the cross every day of our lives, until our merciful Savior takes us to the home that he prepared for us on Golgotha! Let us now reflect a little further on the centrality of this event.

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Images of the Savior (47 – His Trials and Scourging)

From the days of righteous Abel, unto whose blood sacrifice the Lord had respect, how many millions of sacrificial lambs had been led to the foot of the altar and there slain? And of them all, how many had lifted up their voice in protest, demanding that they who had done the crimes should receive their own just reward? In the same way it was fitting that our true and final sacrificial Lamb, whose blood really did take away sin, should be like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, not opening his mouth before his accusers (Isaiah 53:7). Oh, let us tremble in wonder as we see the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, meek and silent before his oppressors, led away without protest to the bitter scourge and the cruel tree! For it was because of our iniquities, which the Lord had laid upon him, that he was so fiercely reproached and beaten and slain; and the stripes which bloodied his back flowed forth red in healing and peace for us all (Isaiah 53:5-6). Oh, how can our hearts not melt in everlasting worship as we see our Savior condemned against justice so that we who ought to have been condemned might be acquitted indeed? To this account we now turn; and every step we take, from here to the cross, we are treading upon holy ground, and entering into the mysteries of the Godhead; let us do so in fear and with trembling joy!

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Images of the Savior (46 – His Prayer in Gethsemane)

O reader, we have followed our dear Savior many places, and have seen him in many lights, as the divine Son of God speaking with power and authority, as the great Physician tirelessly working his miracles of healing and deliverance, and as a man of deep and perfect human emotions, angry with the hypocrites, compassionate to the helpless, weeping with the bereaved. But never before have we seen the depths of sorrow that Jesus would plummet this night, as abandoned by all his friends, betrayed by him who ate at his table, and assailed by all the forces of darkness he cried out to his Father whom he had always pleased in every way, and received from him only the answer that he must indeed drink to its dregs the bitter cup of wrath. Oh, who will not mourn with him, this fairest among ten thousand, who deserves nothing but the infinite joy of the ever-blessed Godhead, but willingly takes into his bosom instead the greatest suffering that all the accumulated sins of mankind have ever merited? Wonder of wonders, that the God of the universe should become a man of sorrows! And wonder of wonders, ah, how far beyond words, that he should do so for us. Let the hardest heart of stone break into a million pieces, and melt into tears of sorrow and gratitude for all that this man has become, sharing in our infirmities so that we might share in his glory!

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If the Gospel wasn't clear and we couldn't actually know what it was...

If the Gospel was not clear and we could not know it was... then Paul was so very wrong in writing as he did to the churches of Galatia. If theological precision and accuracy concerning the nature of the Gospel is not particularly important for unity amongst "brothers", then it would follow that the following imaginary letter to Paul would needed to have been written (found at Dr. James White's web site) to correct his extreme narrow mindedness:

Dear Paul:

In reviewing your letter to the churches of Galatia, we, the modern men of the 21st century, have come to the conclusion that you truly missed the point in your very pointed and, may we say, unloving comments regarding the faithful brothers with whom you had but a minor theological difference. We are in particular offended that you would identify men who clearly confess faith in Christ and who have risked their lives for their faith "false brethren." Who are you to make such a harsh judgment, in light of their many evidences of faith? These men are Christians, and to call them false brethren is a serious sin! You are bearing false witness against them! And to dare to read the intentions of their hearts so as to say they were "sneaking" into the fellowship is simply beyond the pale. You should be ashamed of yourself! All you disagree on is a minor point of theology! They believe in Christ! They believe in His resurrection! They simply believe one should be circumcised so as to be a part of the covenant people of God! How narrow of you to exclude them from the fellowship of faith simply on the basis of such a minor thing as this! Why won't you focus upon the areas of agreement you have? Why focus only upon differences, the negatives? Don't you realize you will never win people to your views if you continue to act in this fashion? We seriously request that you apologize to the faithful brothers you anathematized in your ill-advised letter to the churches of Galatia. By this, true peace and unity might be achieved!

Selah (stop, think and meditate) - with Scripture alone as our firm foundation we affirm that justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, all to the glory of God alone. - JS

Images of the Savior (45 – His High-Priestly Prayer)

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest, having offered a sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people, would bring the blood of the sacrifice into the Holy Place, and place it upon the horns of the altar of incense, the smoke of which would ascend before God; and then, he would pass through the veil into the Holy of holies, bringing the blood of the sacrifice to the mercy seat, and thus atoning for the sins of the people (See Leviticus 16). In this circumstance, we see that the sacrifice was not considered effective until it had been joined with the intercession of the High Priest: the smoke from the blood which the priest placed upon the altar of incense rose up before God as a symbol of his prayers in behalf of the people, on the basis of the sacrifice that he had made for them; and only then did God accept his offering. But in the continual observance of this Day of Atonement, year after year, together with the ongoing presence of the veil, we see that no sacrifice and no high-priestly prayer had yet been finally sufficient to atone for the people's sins, and bring them into God's presence. There still remained the need both for a perfect sacrifice and a perfect High Priest, who could join his effective intercession with his sufficient offering, and thus tear down the veil which barred men from entering God's presence forevermore. As we look to our account today, let us rejoice in Jesus our High Priest, who joined his effective pleas with his perfect blood, and so rendered our salvation doubly secure!

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Images of the Savior (44 – His Last Supper)

Oh, how many a weary sinner, after having been born again through the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5), has soon found himself in desperate straits once more, hard-pressed by his besetting sins, dirtied with the filth of the world, hungering and thirsting after the true righteousness which he had tasted of before, and apart from which he can no longer be satisfied! To such a weary pilgrim, as each of us has more than once been, there is no more welcome sight than a table spread in the wilderness with that richest of all feasts, the broken body of Christ, through which comes nourishment, sustenance, forgiveness, and true righteousness; and the wine of his blood, bringing peace, joy, and covenant-life. Let us rejoice at this marvelous dispensation of grace, and make earnest and frequent use of it! A child having just been born has life indeed, but he will not be long sustained without his necessary food; and so a child having been born into the family of God, which birth is symbolized by baptism, in which he is united with Christ in his death and resurrection, still has a daily and pressing need to be sustained with the body and blood of Christ throughout the time of his pilgrimage home. Baptism signifies the impartation of life, and the Lord's table the sustenance and nourishment of that same life; and we cannot do long without this necessary means of grace. Let us then look to the account of our Lord's last supper with great joy, and recognizing those great realities that he holds forth in the bread and the cup, to us as well as those first disciples, let us be diligent to observe the same as often as we gather together with the body of Christ; for in doing so, we will be vivified and strengthened with true righteousness and spiritual life.

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Images of the Savior (43 – His Unfolding the Events of the Future)

Jesus our Savior, when he walked upon the earth, fully recognized the central position that his life had in all of history, and was not at all loathe to indicate that the future times and seasons of the world had all to do with his Kingdom, and his coming again in glory; thus, he indicated to Pilate and the Pharisees, as well as to his own disciples, that the consummation of world history would be the final realization of the Kingdom upon earth, which he had already begun to establish in his lifetime (John 18:36; Matthew 26:64; Luke 22:16-18). The future would be all about the advance of this newly in-broken Kingdom until it had spread throughout the world, and ultimately about the return of the Son of Man in glory to judge the earth, establish his Kingdom fully and finally, and deliver it over to the Father (see I Corinthians 15:23-28). It is a most fitting circumstance that, as the time of his departure drew near, he would take occasion to instruct his disciples of these future events, so that they might be well-prepared for their task of Kingdom-spreading, the final commission with which he left them (see Matthew 28:18-20). The key occasion in which he did this is when, after having foretold the utter destruction of the beautiful Temple, he sat on the Mount of Olives, and answering his disciples' questions, related to them many great and marvelous events of the future, and at the same time drew out many practical applications.

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Happy 490th Anniversary of the Reformation

HAPPY REFORMATION ANNIVERSARY!

Are you despairing of your own righteousness today, realizing that you are more sinful before God than you had thought before? Are you realizing that when all is said and done you just are not righteous before God? Or perhaps you are thinking more highly of yourself and your good works before God?

If you are doing either of these things, you are looking to yourself and your own righteousness to affirm and assure yourself before God. When you look to yourself you make null and void the work of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:21).

If you have sought your salvation and righteousness in yourself, and you have realized the depth of your sins before God in words, thoughts, and deeds, then you know how Martin Luther felt when he cried out to his friend John Staupitz, saying: “Who can abide the Day of the Lord’s coming? And who shall stand when he appears?!” (Mal. 3:2).

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Exposing my traditions

Acts 10:34-35 KJV Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Acts 10:34-35 NASB Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

Acts 10:34-35 NIV Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

Traditions are very strong and those most blinded by them are those who do not think they have any. When I first began to seriously evaluate what the Bible teaches about divine election, I have to say, certain texts surfaced in my mind which seemed to negate some of the other texts I was reading. When I saw texts that spoke clearly of God sovereignly and unconditionally electing an individual to salvation, texts such as the one above came to mind. If God shows no partiality or favoritism then quite obviously, I thought, God would have to show the same measure of grace to every person on planet earth, and then leave it up to the individual to make the choice of either rejecting or accepting the message of the Gospel. That seemed logical and so very much more acceptable to me than to believe that God just chose one person and not another for salvation (though God does in fact do this - 2 Thess. 2:12, 13), but it was something I have to admit that I believed for more than 20 years as a Christian. However, I kept coming up against the scriptures that quite clearly portray God showing mercy to whom He will and leaving others to encounter His justice (Romans 9 for example).

What did I do then? Well, for many years, I spoke of this being some great mystery (which it certainly is, of course) but yet looking back, I realized that I was embracing a view that was entirely inconsistent and in fact, contradictory.

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Images of the Savior (42 – His Wise Answers to Questions of Trickery)

It is a fact as certain as the day that, in this world which is under the power of the devil, whenever anyone comes speaking the truth, he will be fiercely opposed, and often beset with insincere questions that arise not from a heart desiring to learn, but out of trickery, and in an attempt to lay a trap by which he might be tripped up, so that the power and truth of his message may be obscured. That this was so to an eminent degree in the life of him who did not just bring the truth, but is himself very Truth (John 14:6), is everywhere evident throughout his ministry; but the most notable example of all comes just before his final hour, when all the forces of Satan were stirred up in a tremendous rage, and casting forth every snare that subtle sophistry can devise, so as to conjure up in the unblameable One a charge that they might bring before the court of Pilate. How utterly they failed to overcome the Wisdom of God may be seen in the results of their frantic endeavors; to which end we will look, so as to rejoice in him who is made to us wisdom from God (I Corinthians 1:30), and likewise to learn how we ought to respond when we are beset with similar deceitful traps.

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Images of the Savior (41 – His Cursing the Fig Tree)

In Isaiah chapter five, the Lord tells of a vineyard to which he had given every peculiar advantage, preparing for it a very fertile place which he had cleared of all stones and debris, planting in it the best vines, and preparing within it a watchtower and a wine vat, in order to protect it and provide it with the necessary means to put its fruit to the best use; but when the time came for it to produce good grapes, it produced wild and unusable grapes instead. For this cause, the Lord destroyed every advantage of the vineyard, ensuring that, from henceforth, it would produce only thorns and thistles. In verse seven, Isaiah makes the application that, “the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah are that which was planted for his pleasance; and he waited for justice, but behold, bloodshed! for righteousness, but behold, a cry!” As we shall now see, on the occasion of his cursing of the unfruitful fig tree, our Savior was acting in much the same way, and expressing much the same truth. Let us observe what transpired on this occasion, as well as the use to which Jesus put the event, or the lesson which he drew from it.

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Images of the Savior (40 – His Triumphal Entry)

The writings of the prophets are filled with predictions of a coming glorious king, from the line of David, who would once again take up the scepter, destroy the enemies of the people of God, and reign in righteousness forevermore (e.g. II Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 11:1- 16, Jeremiah 23:5-6). These same prophets also speak much of a coming servant of the Lord, who would suffer much, and be despised and rejected by his own people (e.g. Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:6-13; 52:13-53:12). In Jesus, these two distinct prophetic lines converge with admirable precision, his everlasting kingship being loudly proclaimed by the same people who, a few days later, would reject him indeed, and leave him to drink alone the inexpressible cup of the Father's wrath, a man afflicted beyond measure and full to the brim with sorrows surpassing the imagination. But herein lies the wonder: these two remarkably diverse characteristics of the person and ministry of the Son of David do not co-exist in an unnatural and forced juxtaposition, but rather complement and give meaning to each other, in a relationship that bursts all conceptual bounds of true glory and praiseworthiness that had ever before been dreamed up, extending the dominion of the Kingdom of the Christ into realms that no king had ever before conquered. The unique glory of Christ consists in part of his humility and suffering; and through his time of humiliation, he became the king of death and hell, victorious over sin and the devil, even as before he was the king of life and righteousness. The deepest lowliness won the highest glory, and cast across the illimitable regions of the shadow of death the splendor of the noon-day sun, transforming them into a fruitful and fair place, and bringing them forevermore into the eternal Kingdom of peace. Every spite and thorn and cruel stripe that Jesus bore wrought for him in the fires of divine justice and mercy another rare and marvelous jewel for his crown, the likes of which no other king has ever worn, nor indeed could bear, for it is fitted for one brow alone, that which once bled with the chastisement of our peace, and now irradiates the divine majesty, lighting the New Jerusalem toward which we press on in the wonder of hope.

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Images of the Savior (39 – His Coming in to Zacchaeus' House)

In all the gospel of Luke, we may encounter no more concise and compelling description of the Messianic task than that which we meet with at the end of this account: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). In this declaration we may learn something of the person of Jesus, and his peculiar office: for he is the Son of Man, that is, the divine Messiah whom Daniel saw in his glory (Daniel 7:13-14). We may also learn of the nature of his work, which is to seek and to save. How appropriate it is that both these elements should be so admirably joined together, for we can no more seek for a Savior, than we can save ourselves (see Romans 3:10-11). Jesus did not come to a world that was clamoring for his grace, and then give it to them in response to their pleas. No, he came unto his own, and was despised and rejected (See Isaiah 53:3; John 1:11); he came unto a world that hated and opposed him, and was mocked and derided by all. Therefore, if he would save anyone, he must first seek him out and draw him. An effectual call must be joined to his effective sacrifice, or else the salvation transaction will never be completed. Ah, let us be grateful that Jesus did not merely come to announce a general offer of salvation, but that he came to seek the individual sinner, and to save him indeed! And finally, we may learn of the subjects of this mighty work of mercy: who are none other than the lost. Many there be in this world who do not consider themselves lost, and see no need of a Savior. Let us be certain that these will be lost indeed before they are ever saved. Jesus saves none but lost and hopeless sinners; and so we who are the chief of sinners may all the more fervently rejoice, for no other quality does the Savior require of men, than that they be as we, and unable to help save themselves.

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Images of the Savior (38 – His Receiving the Little Children)

Those of us whom our heavenly Father has blessed with children of our own may fully appreciate the immeasurably deep yearnings of parental love, which would have for our offspring nothing less than the eternal joy of knowing Christ our Savior, whom we have found in our own souls to be so satisfying; which is indeed the very compassion by which these who had found the delight of knowing Jesus were driven to bring their infant children to him, so that he might but touch them. Therefore, the Savior's response to these compassionate parents, and the manner in which he received their little children, quite contrary to the expectation of his disciples, is to us who are in the same circumstance a most precious glimpse indeed. And we may likewise be sure that all of us, whether we have children or not, may be most wonderfully instructed by the tender love of Jesus, and his words of wisdom which he takes opportunity to apply to all who would enter his Kingdom. Let us note precisely what it is that Jesus intimated on this blessed occasion, attempt to show how admirably consistent his comfortable doctrine is with the customary dealings of the Father throughout redemptive history, and finally draw a few applications from what we have learned.

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Images of the Savior (37 – His Raising of Lazarus)

Although we have already seen before the divine power of Jesus the Savior displayed in the raising of the dead, this case is the most notable example yet, first, by virtue of the explicit instruction about his own person with which he illuminates its significance, and second, by virtue of the marvelous circumstances surrounding it, through which we may learn much of what sort of man this Jesus truly is. There had never been a more notable resurrection from the dead than this, nor would there be until Jesus himself was raised by the power of God (Romans 1:1-4), the true firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18) inasmuch as he was the first man raised, not to die again, but to the glory of an incorruptible life. Let us rejoice today that the eternal resurrection life which Jesus himself won, having arisen finally victorious over death and the grave, is a life which he won for all of us who partake of his sufferings, and hence are assured as well of a share in his resurrection power (Philippians 3:10-11; I Corinthians 15:20-24)! To all of these truths our text today speaks, and so we will turn there now to learn the source of this amazing sign; its ultimate goal, or purpose; and finally, the instruction which we might derive from its unusual and typical circumstances.

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Images of the Savior (36 – His Eating with a Pharisee)

Whenever we see our Savior in his dealings with the Pharisees and experts in the law, we must be struck with the immeasurable wisdom and authority that he possesses, as well as the boldness and clarity with which he denounces their wicked teachings and practices. Let us note that they who consider themselves religious leaders, and who bind others with very many rules and regulations that God never commanded, always demand of others unquestioning loyalty and obedience; and if it is not forthwith rendered by anyone under their sway, they threaten him with the terrible curses which are due to anyone who turns aside from God's own commandments, and wresting from their clarifying contexts many verses about the godliness of submitting to those in authority, they demand submission on the basis of God's word, when in fact their doctrines set aside God's word; and it is utterly manifest that no person on earth has the religious authority to command God's children to do other than that which he has prescribed for them in his holy scriptures – although we admit that the civil government has authority from God to demand things which are indifferent with respect to inherent morality, and not in violation of God's positive commands. Now let us be sure that, no matter how loudly such may assert their authority to bind other believers with things that God has not said, it is never godly to submit to such a perversion of true religion; and if we would follow the example of our Savior, we must rather expose and condemn it on the basis of the scriptures, which God has vested with authority beyond that of any man on earth. To see how our wise and fearful Savior thus exposed the folly of these wicked men, and laid out the progression that false religion would ever follow, let us now look to the text.

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Images of the Savior (35 – His Parable of the Good Shepherd)

One of the most blessed prophecies ever given to the prophets of old may be found in Ezekiel thirty-four. In that notable passage, the Lord first berates the false leaders of his people Israel, who ought to have been as good shepherds, protecting them from the wild beasts, guiding them lest they wander astray, and leading them to good pastures. But instead, they had destroyed and killed the flock of God. In response, God promises that he himself will come and be a shepherd to his people, guiding, protecting, and nourishing them; but when he comes, he will judge the false shepherds, and distinguish between the true sheep of his flock, who are oppressed and down-trodden, and the fat and cruel sheep, who destroy all the provision and leave no sustenance for the others. These latter will share the same fate of condemnation as the false shepherds; but God's true sheep will be delivered and brought to a place of peace and fruitfulness forevermore, where God will be their God, and dwell among them. At this point in the prophecy, God refers to the Shepherd of the people as David his servant. From which circumstance we may learn that one would arise who is both the offspring of David and indeed God himself; and he will shepherd the true people of God, but judge their oppressive leaders and those sheep who are not truly his.

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Images of the Savior (34 – His Giving Sight to the Man Born Blind)

Throughout Israel's history God had done many marvelous works in her behalf, sending to her his prophets and miracle-workers, who brought down bread from heaven (Exodus 16:4), subdued the bitterness of death-bearing poisons (II Kings 2:19-22; 4:38-41), stopped the mouths of lions (Daniel 6:16-23), and even raised the dead (II Kings 4:32-37). But there was one miracle so astounding in its divine potency, and so indicative of the true essence of the Messianic accomplishment, that it had never before been performed in sacred history, but only promised as a sign of the final age of blessing, in which the Christ should bring the very Kingdom of God to earth; and that sign was, the giving of sight to the congenitally blind (Isaiah 35:4-5; 42:6-7). As we look to this next account, therefore, we may encounter as clear a glimpse of the person of Christ in his Messianic office as any of his miracles are able to unveil before our eyes. Spirit of God, do not let us come away unravished from this text! Lead us to the Sun of Righteousness, where we might bathe our dark and sorrowing souls in the glory of the Light divine! As sunflowers that ever turn their faces full to the sun of their love, let us turn now our hearts to the light of glory, which beams from the face of the Son of God. In order to do so, we will consider, first, what it means that Jesus is the Light of the World; second, how it is that he accomplishes his Messianic task of bringing light to the world; and third, the diverse effects that this work of light-bringing has upon various classes of people in the world.

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Images of the Savior (33 – His Teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles)

Of all the gospel-blessings and benefits that were given to Israel in ancient times, so as to distinguish them from all the other nations of the world as the people upon whom God had set his special, elective love, one of the greatest was the joyful feasts and celebrations that it was enjoined upon them to observe, coming up to Jerusalem three times a year for a solemn and joy-filled assembly. These feasts were a bountiful and merciful gift of God both in that they contained within the manner of their observance a rich instruction of things pertaining to the coming of Christ, and the redemptive blessings that he should provide for his people; and also, in that they provided a foretaste, as it were, of these blessings themselves, as all the people of God were enabled therein to cast off the cares of this cursed world, for a time, and rejoice together in unity before the God of their salvation. Will not the consummation of all things be an anti-type of these joyful feasts, in which all God's people from every nation of the world rejoices together in the presence of Christ their Savior, and feasts upon the rich banquet that their heavenly Father has provided for them (see Isaiah 25:6-12)? And it is a further point that the most joyful feast, and one of the most richly instructive in gospel truths, was the last great feast of the year, that of Tabernacles. As we turn to our next account, therefore, we must first labor to understand the symbolism of this feast, and how Christ intimates that it is fulfilled in him; and then to notice in brief the basic heads of the message that he was proclaiming at this feast.

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Images of the Savior (32 – His Teaching on Life in the Kingdom)

Among all peoples, they who are considered greatest in a kingdom or government are they who are in the most prominent positions, who command great honor and respect, and who use their authority to exercise dominion over all those beneath them (see Matthew 20:25-27). It was a most natural circumstance, therefore, that the disciples who had heard so much of Jesus' Kingdom would begin to dispute and argue among themselves as to who should hold the highest position in this Kingdom, sitting at the right hand of Jesus when he ascended to the throne of David (Mark 9:33-34; 10:35-37). But Jesus' Kingdom was not to be like the kingdoms of men; for in the wonder of divine wisdom, the greatest glory is gained through the deepest humility, and the most selfless and lowly servant is indeed the highest of all. The King of kings won his throne through the emptying of himself, taking on the form of a servant, and being found obedient unto death, even the shameful death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-11). But if even the all-glorious Son of Man “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), then what sort of men ought his followers to be? Let us take these truths to heart, and be attentive to the richly instructive words of Christ, as he takes the opportunity of this dispute among the disciples to open up to us the mystery of the Kingdom, the way in which it is ever to be entered, and the manner in which life within its borders is to be conducted.

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Images of the Savior (31 – His Transfiguration)

The great mystery of the work of redemption, and the matchless wonder of the Redeemer himself, consists of the diverse excellencies displayed to infinite degrees in the accomplishment of the work. Consider into what depths of humility Christ plummeted, as he followed his Father's will to purchase back a people from their unimaginably deep sin and rebellion: he, the infinitely high and happy God, took on human form, lived a life subject to all human weaknesses and temptations, suffered rejection, despite, shame, and mockery at the hands of his creatures, and bore in his own body the full mass of putrid sin which we had heaped up to heaven, together with the full cup of the Father's holy wrath against this sin. This is humility inexpressible and illimitable! But consider what great glory he has won through such ignoble means: he has won the greatest victory in all the history of the world, against the greatest enemy of all that is good and right who has ever had existence – that old Serpent, the devil. He has fully displayed the infinitely glorious and diverse majesty of the invisible Godhead, whom no man has ever seen, in such a manner that the weakest of men might see God's true form and glorify him. He has won a people for his everlasting inheritance, and wrought the unspeakable work of making them who had been horribly disfigured and marred into the very image of himself, and a spotless and pure bride. And he has done what by all accounts should be impossible for the infinitely glorious God to do; he has gained a glory which did not inhere in the Godhead before, and obtained a name which did not previously belong to him; for the glory of Mediator, Redeemer, Perfect Man, Immanuel, and, in short, Jesus, who saves his people from their sins, did not from eternity belong to the Godhead; but in consequence of the perfect work of the Christ, the new and glorious name Jesus has been added to the eternal and glorious name Yahweh, in the person of the eternal Son of God – for is this not what is expressed in the words of Paul: “Wherefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above ever name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on the earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11)? In our next account, that of the transfiguration of Jesus before his disciples, we see the first glimpse of the infinitely high glory which should adhere to Jesus in consequence of the infinitely low position to which he stooped, contrary to all human reason or expectation.

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"I've Been Reading...": Quotable Quotes from Excellent Books, Issue 7- C. R. Biggs

Calvin on To Whom we Belong and the Necessity of Prayer

May you be greatly encouraged by some selections on God's love for us and the necessity of prayer today from Calvin's Institutes. We are a privileged people who have so great a Savior and Lord. As Mary says in Luke 1:46ff in what has come to be known as the "Magnificat": "My soul rejoices ("magnifies" or "in enlarged") in the LORD..." Mary's soul is enlarged, she is full of the knowledge and love of God, as she reflects on what God has done for her and for all believers in the Person and Work of Christ.

Let us also be reminded that to reflect upon our Great God is to have our own souls "enlarged" and to rejoice, praying unceasingly as we live as His people! To that end, may the quotations to day be a blessing to you.

Calvin writes:
"We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God's: let us therefore live for him and die for him. We are God's: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God's: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal [Rom. 14:8; cf. 1 Cor. 6:19]....

Let this therefore be the first step, that a man depart from himself in order that he may apply the whole force of his ability in the service of the Lord. I call 'service' not only what lies in obedience to God's Word but what turns the mind of man, empty of its own carnal sense, wholly to the bidding of God's Spirit." - John Calvin, 'Institutes', III.vii.1

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Images of the Savior (30 – His Giving the Keys of the Kingdom)

During his time on earth, Jesus himself was preaching the gospel of the eternal Kingdom of Heaven, opening it to whom he would open it, and shutting it against whom he would shut it. But at the same time, he was also preparing his disciples to carry on this Kingdom-work when he should return to the Father, and begin to reign from God's right hand, sitting on the throne of David. He was then announcing the gospel and opening the Kingdom in his physical body; but he would soon be announcing the gospel and opening the Kingdom in his mystical body, the Church. For this reason, it was necessary that he take the keys of his kingly authority, and bestow them upon some representative (or representatives), to continue his work in his name, and with his authority, until the end of the age. Our account relates the details of this solemn bestowal of authority; and, although it has been much abused and perverted throughout Church history, its true meaning and importance must not therefore be minimized. We trust that the Spirit of God whom the Father has sent to us in the name of Jesus will protect us from all misunderstanding as we pursue the true meaning of his word today.

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Images of the Savior (29 – His Answering the Syro-Phoenician Woman)

Of the many lessons we may learn about the Savior from this account, the most notable is his utter resignation to the will of the Father, and his firm resolve not to do anything related to the work of redemption except in its own proper time; from which circumstance we may learn that all the acts of mercy and grace from the beginning of the world are indeed planned out by the sovereign counsel of the Father, and minutely executed by the Son. In this account, we may see this truth borne out, first, by Jesus' unswerving commitment to the temporal priority of the children of Israel to the nations, in God's redemptive design; and second, by his manner in responding to the personal request of a woman whose daughter he knew from the beginning that he should heal. In this latter circumstance we may find much that is well-suited to personal application, and so we will spend the greater part of our time on that point. But first, let us note what Jesus intended by his saying, “I am not sent except to the lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).

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Images of the Savior (28 – His Dispute with the Pharisees over Ceremonial Uncleanness)

We may observe in this account both the essence of false religion, which the Pharisees displayed in their encounter with the disciples of Jesus, and with Jesus himself; as well as the proper response to this sort of deceptive false teaching. For Jesus, when he had seen their hypocritical indignation over the violation of their man-made regulations, first destroyed the foundations of their religious system, rendering them without an answer or excuse; and second, built in its place the just principles of true religion, on the solid foundation of God's revelation; taking occasion, moreover, to instruct his true followers more thoroughly in these right principles, when they were alone. We ought to learn from this example, first of all, to be certain that our religion is in accordance with God's own will, and not founded upon our own uncertain speculations; and second, how to respond to false doctrine when we or those near us in the Church are confronted with it.

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Images of the Savior (27 – His Walking on the Water)

As we turn to our next account, we must be aware of its close connection with the account immediately preceding it, in which Jesus presents himself as the true Bread from heaven, given for the life of the world; and hence, the fulfillment of the tabernacle imagery of the table of the bread of the presence. For just as the table signified the provision of the necessary substance of life, which Jesus portrayed as having its ultimate fulfillment in his own body that he would offer up for the life of the world, in illustration of which he provided this bread in the wilderness for the crowds that had gathered around him; so also it signified the ongoing provision and guidance that God offered to his people for their journey, through his own sustaining presence in their midst; which is indeed why the bread was called specifically the bread of the presence. But this element, too, Jesus would portray as having its ultimate fulfillment in himself, when he appeared miraculously to his disciples and brought them along on their journey through the power that his own abiding presence imparted to them. Let us now look at these truths in a little more detail.

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Images of the Savior (26 – His Feeding the Five Thousand)

In this remarkable account, we see our Savior signifying through a gloriously bountiful act of generosity the eternal life and joyful feasting in the presence of God that he would soon provide for those whom the Father had given to him, by the offering up of his own body for their life and sustenance; and in the process, we are confronted with an image of Christ the Savior as the perfect fulfillment of the tabernacle imagery of the table of the bread of the presence (Exodus 25:23-20); as the end and goal of the celebratory feasts of the Jews, and that of Passover in particular (note John 6:4), which looked ahead to the joyful feast of the end times, in the presence of God (see Isaiah 25:6-12); and also, as the true fulfillment of the manna that sustained the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. Moreover, we have this wondrous sign expounded to us in great wisdom by the very words of Jesus, as he explains to the Jews its true meaning and significance. Let us then be richly instructed in these eternal truths, as we look to the account at hand.

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"I've Been Reading...": Quotable Quotes from Excellent Books, Issue 3

Humility from the Perspective of Screwtape and Wormwood- C. S. Lewis

Today's quotation is from a classic C. S. Lewis book entitled 'The Screwtape Letters'. For many of you this is perhaps a favorite book to read and re-read. For those who may be unfamiliar with the book, it is a book written from the perspective of Screwtape, a senior and seasoned devil, writing to his younger devil apprentice named Wormwood. The perspective of the book is from the "devils' point of view" and therefore the "patient" to whom he refers is the Christian and the "enemy" is God himself. Enjoy - -and be humbled by God's grace!

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Images of the Savior (25 – His Sending Out the Twelve)

Immediately before Jesus sends his disciples to go throughout Israel from city to city, healing, casting out demons, and preaching the good news of the Kingdom, we are given a glimpse of his deep compassion for the scattered and wayward crowds, a compassion which works mightily in his tireless ministry of healing and evangelizing. This precious glimpse is the foundation and fountainhead for the mission of the twelve, which follows. It is likewise the foundation for our own mission, which trades the cities of the world for the villages of Israel, and substitutes the innumerable band of faithful witnesses for those first twelve disciples. If we would learn anything from this account, let us assure ourselves, above all else, that Jesus' compassionate person, which manifested itself in his mighty works, done according to the will of the Father, is the sole and illimitable source from which the ever-widening streams of gospel-mercies flow, and shall continue to flow through the Church, until the whole world is full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14).

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"I've Been Reading....": Quotable Quotes from Excellent Books, Issue II

Image and Reality

What is real? What is image? Many people today spend much of their time in 'virtual reality'. It is axiomatic that 'virtual' reality is not true reality. In fact, my dictionary defines 'virtual' (as in virtual reality) as that which is "practically a reality, but not a reality in actuality, only in name." Christians must be discerning of the difference between image and reality. Image is what we seem to be. Reality or our character is who we truly are.

It would be simple to say that image is concerned with the external person, what ideas about oneself one wishes to convey to another. In contrast, character is something developed internally over time (by God's grace) and manifests externally (quite naturally) in our character ("You will know the tree by the fruit it bears" suggests that there is a difference between real fruit and 'virtual fruit').

Here are three quotations submitted to you today that hopefully will help you to reflect on your image and your reality. Our hope in Christ is that our image and our reality will be harmonious. In other words, what we seem to be and who we are will not be in tension. First a quotation from social historian Daniel Boorstin, from his great book 'The Image' (1963) where he defines the expectations of modern man in the real world and how this reality tends toward making images more attractive to us.

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Images of the Savior (24 – His Raising of Jairus's Daughter)

Within the account of Jesus' marvelous resurrection of the only daughter of Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, we find another marvelous miracle-account embedded, in which he frees a woman from a twelve year discharge of blood, from which she had been able to find relief in no other way. The conjunction of these two accounts teach us of Jesus' great mercy and compassion for all sorts of believers – the greatest as well as the weakest. He responds to great faith by causing it to grow and become greater yet; and he responds to weak faith in the same way, causing it to grow up until it is healthy and flourishing. Let us take heart at this truth! No matter how smoldering the wick of our faith may be, Jesus will not quench it, but will gently blow upon it with the soft breath of his mighty words and works, until it bursts once more into a flame of passionate devotion and steadfast trust in him alone (see Isaiah 42:3). But ah, let us examine ourselves, to see whether we have any faith at all: for the thronging crowds, who followed Jesus out of impure motives, not because they loved him or supposed that they could obtain their spiritual good from him, received no good thing from the Lord. Are we blindly following along with the crowd of professing believers, walking where they walk because they are many? Or is our one desire to reach Jesus, whether the crowds be with us or against us? If our heart truly yearns to touch him in whom is our healing and hope, then no matter how timid our faith may be, he will see us and strengthen us to come to him. But if we have no true longing to receive from him our every good, then throng about him as we may, he will give us no heed. Let us learn this lesson well: there will always be crowds thronging about Jesus, whether to mock or to offer insincere flattery; but few there be whose yearnings reach out to him alone.

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"I've Been Reading...": Quotable Quotes from Excellent Books, Issue I

"I've Been Reading..." - Rev. C. R. Biggs, Issue I

For the next few weeks, I would like to post brief quotes I have collected from excellent books that I have read and books that I am presently reading for study as a pastor. These quotations are offered as reflections on the Church and our present culture primarily with hopes that it will stimulate our thought and perhaps even suggest some good books (old and new) that you would like to read.

My first quote is from Alexis de Tocqueville:

In the early 1840s, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote on his observations of American culture, from politics to religion. In the book 'Democracy in America' he claims in the preface that he writes as a "friend" to Americans, from one who has objectively observed the culture as an outsider from France.

He claimed that his main purpose in writing the book was to warn Americans of one issue that he believed would be destructive to a society and culture. The issue was INDIVIDUALISM>. We should reflect on how individualism also negatively can affect Christ's Church in the way we think of our identity as Christ's people, our fellowship together, our corporate worship (especially the hearing of the Word and participation in the Sacraments), and our call to bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:1-2, 8-10):