Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the
dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant,
even Jesus our Lord
The writer of Hebrews references the the eternal foundation of God's salvation by the words: "The Eternal Covenant". It is this Eternal Covenant that gives the background and foundation for what would be God's redemptive plan of salvation. This "Covenant of Redemption" merits our focus in today's blog, since apart from it we cannot have a complete picture of God's plan of salvation revealed in Scripture. The Covenant of Redemption, or the Eternal Covenant as it is termed here in Hebrews, was an agreement between the God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A quick tour of scripture reveals how the Triune God planned salvation in eternity.
1. God the Father planned redemption.
As we see in the text above, the "God of Peace" is the One who planned redemption. God the Father is the Author, the Architect and Grand Planner of salvation. Titus 1:2 states - "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began." (King James Version) This Covenant of redemption was worked out before He spoke the worlds into being. 2 Timothy 1:9 reveals - "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began"
As God the Father planned salvation, He entered into Covenant with God the Son. We know the Son has been with the Father from all eternity, sharing the same Divine nature and loving relationship. (John 1:1; Hebrews 1:1-2) There were no angels, no people, no created things. Only God. The Triune God. God the Father wanted to give the Son a love gift, a redeemed humanity. God the Son in turn responded, indicating His desire to pay the price for this redemption.
2. God the Son agreed to purchase redemption
With God the Father planning redemption, God the Son agreed to purchase redemption. Hebrews 13:20 tells us - "Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord". As early as John 1:29 we see Jesus Christ identified as "the Lamb of God" who takes away the sins of the world. The Apostle John would further clarify Jesus Christ as the Lamb who "has been slain before the foundation of the world". (Revelation 13:8)
The cross and redemption were not a reactionary "Plan B" following the fall, but rather an eternal well organized plan by the Father, with the Son agreeing to pay the price with His blood. Acts 2:23 reveals - "Him, being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain". Both Old and New Testament scriptures tell us that the Son was the Chosen One to pay the purchase price of salvation. (Isaiah 53:3-7; 1 Peter 1:20)
The cross was no plan "b", it was the only plan, the "plan A" of God. God the Father planned redemption, and God the Son willingly agreed to purchase it. But notice thirdly....
3. God the Holy Spirit agreed to apply redemption
According to Ephesians 1:11, the plan of redemption was based upon God's "counsel". This determinate counsel was like a board meeting of the Trinity. We know in looking at other texts such as Galatians 4:4 and Ephesians 1:9-10, that God the Son came into this world to take upon Himself human flesh. John 3:16 reveals - "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, the whosoever believe on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."
So how is it that anyone would believe upon the Son who purchased their redemption and the Father who planned it? The Holy Spirit is revealed as the applier of redemption. Jesus states in John 16:8-11 concerning the Holy Spirit -8“And He, when He comes, will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9concerning
sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10and
concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;
11and concerning judgment, because the ruler of
this world has been judged."
The Holy Spirit is the one who brings the grace of God to sinners, brings the divine giftings of faith and repentance wherein the sinner believes on Christ and repents of their sins. (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:25-26). Faith alone is sufficient and necessary for salvation. The decision of the human will occurs in the context of the Holy Spirit's convicting work. Following saving faith, the Holy Spirit continues to apply the sanctifying work of redemption to the child of God. The Spirit of God makes clear the scriptures which He authored through the Prophets and Apostles. (2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 1:20,27). He aids prayer and preserves the child of God unto the end. (Romans 8:26; Jude 24-25; 1 John 1:20,27).
No doubt the Christian is the one living the Christian life, while at the same time it is the Holy Spirit communicating to the believer the Person and work of Christ. (Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Peter 1:8) By the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, Christ's power and Personal presence are imparted to the Child of God. Like a sweet aroma, Christ is made progressively known to the Christian by the Holy Spirit by way of scripture, the people of God and prayer. (2 Corinthians 2:14-17)
Christian salvation is made possible by the Eternal Covenant of redemption: whereby the Father planned it, the Son purchased it and the Spirit applies it.
Welcome to Growing Christian Resources, where you can search over 2,500 resources pertaining to your Christian walk, the explanation and defense of the Christian worldview. For those desiring to dig-deeper into the scriptures, please check out www.biblicalexegete.wordpress.com.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Bible: Book of Books centers around the King of Kings
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and
in many ways, 2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
I wanted to expand upon what I wrote yesterday regarding how the Bible - The Book of Books, reveals the Unique Person of Jesus Christ. In yesterday's post I divided up the Old and New Testaments into there repsective sections - noting that each Testament can be divided into four sections - each revealing Jesus Christ in some fashion.
Today I wanted to give some specific examples of each of those sections to give the reader a tool by which they can see the unity and coherence of God's Word as centered around the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
1. The Law Points to Christ
-He is the "Seed" Promise in Genesis 3:15 and 12:7
-He is the Burning Bush and Water from the Rock in Exodus
-He is the One pointed to by the various sacrifices in Leviticus
-He is pointed to by the raising of the Serpent on the pole in Numbers 21 (compare John 3:14-15)
-He is the Future King and Prophet pointed out in both Deuteronomy 13 and 18
2. The Historical Books Picture Christ
-He is Joshua's Captain of the Lord of Hosts in Joshua 5 and Ruths Kinsmen Redeemer
-He is the "Seed" of David in 2 Samuel 7
-In the historical books we see Christ pictured primarily through three historical offices of prophet, priest and King
3. The Poetic Books Personify Christ
-He is Job's Intercessor in Job 9
-He is the Psalmist's Eternal Son and King in Psalm 2 and 110 and Solomon's Son of God in Proverbs 30:4-5
-He is shown on the cross in Psalm 22
-He is the beloved Bridegroom in Song of Solomon
4. The Prophets Predict Christ
-He is Isaiah's Wonderful King in Isaiah 9 and Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53
-He is predicted to be the Good Shepherd in Jeremiah 23
-He is Daniel's Son of Man in Daniel 7
-He is predicted to be born in Bethelehem in Micah 5
-He is the Son of Righteousness at the end of Malachi
5. The Gospels Portray Christ
-Matthew shows Him as King
-Mark shows Him as the Suffering Servant
-Luke 19:10 tells us He is the Son of Man that came to seek and to save that which was lost
-John 1 shows Him to be the Eternal Son of God
6. Acts Preaches Christ
-Almost 20 sermons are recorded in Acts, centering around the person and work of Christ
-Peter speaks about Him Theologically in 5 sermons
-Stephen preaches about Him historically in Acts 7
-Phillip preaches Him evangelistically in Acts 8
-Paul speaks 11 times about Him redemptively
7. The Epistles Explain Christ
-Romans reveals Him to be the believer's righteousness
-He is Christ Crucified in 1 Corinthians 2 and Christ Risen and returning in 1 Corinthians 15
-2 Corinthians 11 shows us Christ as the faithful Husband
-Galatians states He is the Seed of Abraham in Galatians 3:16
-Ephesians tells us He is the Husband of the Church
-Philippians tells us He is God in human flesh
-Colossians tells us He is Christ God over all
-1 and 2 Thessalonians reveal Him to be coming again
-1 and 2 Timothy and Ttitus reveal Him as the Chief shepherd over His church
-1 and 2 Peter reveal Him to be the spotless lamb of God
-1,2,3 John reveal Him to be the Love of God personified
8. Revelation shows Christ Pre-eminent
-Revelation 19 reveals Him to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
-Revelation 21 shows Him as the Lamp of God
-Revelation 22 shows Him to be the Bridegroom along with the church calling sinners to repentance
I wanted to expand upon what I wrote yesterday regarding how the Bible - The Book of Books, reveals the Unique Person of Jesus Christ. In yesterday's post I divided up the Old and New Testaments into there repsective sections - noting that each Testament can be divided into four sections - each revealing Jesus Christ in some fashion.
Today I wanted to give some specific examples of each of those sections to give the reader a tool by which they can see the unity and coherence of God's Word as centered around the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
1. The Law Points to Christ
-He is the "Seed" Promise in Genesis 3:15 and 12:7
-He is the Burning Bush and Water from the Rock in Exodus
-He is the One pointed to by the various sacrifices in Leviticus
-He is pointed to by the raising of the Serpent on the pole in Numbers 21 (compare John 3:14-15)
-He is the Future King and Prophet pointed out in both Deuteronomy 13 and 18
2. The Historical Books Picture Christ
-He is Joshua's Captain of the Lord of Hosts in Joshua 5 and Ruths Kinsmen Redeemer
-He is the "Seed" of David in 2 Samuel 7
-In the historical books we see Christ pictured primarily through three historical offices of prophet, priest and King
3. The Poetic Books Personify Christ
-He is Job's Intercessor in Job 9
-He is the Psalmist's Eternal Son and King in Psalm 2 and 110 and Solomon's Son of God in Proverbs 30:4-5
-He is shown on the cross in Psalm 22
-He is the beloved Bridegroom in Song of Solomon
4. The Prophets Predict Christ
-He is Isaiah's Wonderful King in Isaiah 9 and Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53
-He is predicted to be the Good Shepherd in Jeremiah 23
-He is Daniel's Son of Man in Daniel 7
-He is predicted to be born in Bethelehem in Micah 5
-He is the Son of Righteousness at the end of Malachi
5. The Gospels Portray Christ
-Matthew shows Him as King
-Mark shows Him as the Suffering Servant
-Luke 19:10 tells us He is the Son of Man that came to seek and to save that which was lost
-John 1 shows Him to be the Eternal Son of God
6. Acts Preaches Christ
-Almost 20 sermons are recorded in Acts, centering around the person and work of Christ
-Peter speaks about Him Theologically in 5 sermons
-Stephen preaches about Him historically in Acts 7
-Phillip preaches Him evangelistically in Acts 8
-Paul speaks 11 times about Him redemptively
7. The Epistles Explain Christ
-Romans reveals Him to be the believer's righteousness
-He is Christ Crucified in 1 Corinthians 2 and Christ Risen and returning in 1 Corinthians 15
-2 Corinthians 11 shows us Christ as the faithful Husband
-Galatians states He is the Seed of Abraham in Galatians 3:16
-Ephesians tells us He is the Husband of the Church
-Philippians tells us He is God in human flesh
-Colossians tells us He is Christ God over all
-1 and 2 Thessalonians reveal Him to be coming again
-1 and 2 Timothy and Ttitus reveal Him as the Chief shepherd over His church
-1 and 2 Peter reveal Him to be the spotless lamb of God
-1,2,3 John reveal Him to be the Love of God personified
8. Revelation shows Christ Pre-eminent
-Revelation 19 reveals Him to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
-Revelation 21 shows Him as the Lamp of God
-Revelation 22 shows Him to be the Bridegroom along with the church calling sinners to repentance
Saturday, September 22, 2012
The Bible is Book of Books because of its Central Person
Matthew 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from
David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the
deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
The Bible is the Book of Books. It is the book of books because of its authority, its inerrancy, its unity and its prophecies. Truly the scriptures cover much ground, history, and represent as diversity of writing styles while remaining unified. From whence does this unity derive? The Bible as God's written word is centered around Jesus Christ the Living Word. As can be seen in the passage above, all history, prophecy, types and shadows of Old Testament thought culminate in Christ.
When we consider the Old and New Testaments, we can divide each of them up into four sections in our English Bibles:
Old Testament's Four Main Divisions
1. The Law = Genesis through Deuteronomy
2. History = Joshua through Esther
3. Poetry = Job through Song of Solomon
4. Prophecy = Isaiah to Malachi
New Testament's Four Main Divisions
1. Gospels = Matthew through John
2. Acts
3. Epistles = Romans through Jude
4. Revelation
Now as you look at each of the testaments and their respective divisions, we can classify these two groups of four under four main headings:
Old Testament New Testament
1. Foundations: The Law Gospels
2. History: Joshua-Esther Acts
3. Writings: Job - Song of Solomon Epistles
4. Prophecy Isaiah to Malachi Revelation
Now in considering each of the Testaments in their respective divisions, watch what occurs when we consider Christ as the central figure of scripture.
Old Testament
1. The Law points to Christ
2. The Historical Books picture Christ
3. The Poetic Books Personify Christ
4. The Prophetic Books Predict Christ
Thus by the time you get to the end of the Old Testament, you know that it is pointing to something, that something is pictured in various ways, that something is someone, and that Someone is the subject of prophetic thought.
It is when we come to the New Testament that we discover the following:
New Testament
1. The Gospels portray Christ
2. Acts is full of sermons which preach about Christ
3. The Epistles Explain Christ
4. Revelation shows the Prominence of Christ
Throughout the Bible Christ is central, predominate and key to understanding all 66 books. As He said Himself in Luke 24:37 and 24:44, the scriptures, in the whole and parts, speak about Him. He is the Central person.
The Bible is the Book of Books because it reveals the King of Kings. Let me close today's blog with this quote from the last book of the Bible in Revelation 19:16 - "And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
The Bible is the Book of Books. It is the book of books because of its authority, its inerrancy, its unity and its prophecies. Truly the scriptures cover much ground, history, and represent as diversity of writing styles while remaining unified. From whence does this unity derive? The Bible as God's written word is centered around Jesus Christ the Living Word. As can be seen in the passage above, all history, prophecy, types and shadows of Old Testament thought culminate in Christ.
When we consider the Old and New Testaments, we can divide each of them up into four sections in our English Bibles:
Old Testament's Four Main Divisions
1. The Law = Genesis through Deuteronomy
2. History = Joshua through Esther
3. Poetry = Job through Song of Solomon
4. Prophecy = Isaiah to Malachi
New Testament's Four Main Divisions
1. Gospels = Matthew through John
2. Acts
3. Epistles = Romans through Jude
4. Revelation
Now as you look at each of the testaments and their respective divisions, we can classify these two groups of four under four main headings:
Old Testament New Testament
1. Foundations: The Law Gospels
2. History: Joshua-Esther Acts
3. Writings: Job - Song of Solomon Epistles
4. Prophecy Isaiah to Malachi Revelation
Now in considering each of the Testaments in their respective divisions, watch what occurs when we consider Christ as the central figure of scripture.
Old Testament
1. The Law points to Christ
2. The Historical Books picture Christ
3. The Poetic Books Personify Christ
4. The Prophetic Books Predict Christ
Thus by the time you get to the end of the Old Testament, you know that it is pointing to something, that something is pictured in various ways, that something is someone, and that Someone is the subject of prophetic thought.
It is when we come to the New Testament that we discover the following:
New Testament
1. The Gospels portray Christ
2. Acts is full of sermons which preach about Christ
3. The Epistles Explain Christ
4. Revelation shows the Prominence of Christ
Throughout the Bible Christ is central, predominate and key to understanding all 66 books. As He said Himself in Luke 24:37 and 24:44, the scriptures, in the whole and parts, speak about Him. He is the Central person.
The Bible is the Book of Books because it reveals the King of Kings. Let me close today's blog with this quote from the last book of the Bible in Revelation 19:16 - "And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Friday, September 21, 2012
The Bible: The Unique Book of Books in its prophecies
Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (KJV)
Yesterday we began noting the Bible's unique role as the Book of Books. We noted that it alone is authoritatively God's Word, that it is inerrant or without error and that it is unified in its parts and whole. Today we want to continue on considering further reasons as to why the Bible is uniquely the Book of Books.
The Bible is unique not only because of its authority, its inerrancy and its unity but also...
The Bible is unique due to its prophecies
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 makes this statement under its article "The Bible": "It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried."
How can a book not only "be" but "remain" into the future the true center of Christian union? I have all sorts of books on my shelves that are constantly being updated to new editions. Even the Baptist Faith and Message itself, as wonderful as it is in summarizing the Christian faith, has went through three revisions (1925, 1963 and 2000). Creeds are authorities, but not final authorities. They are confined to either the past or the present.
Science books also fall into this category. Theories of the nature of physical reality are being constantly tweaked as new evidence comes in and replaces former understandings. Again, science as a discipline is confined to the past or present and can at best attempt to predict the future.
Scan what you can of every religious book. All of those books are confined to either the present or the past. Not a single one contains any example of fulfilled predictive prophecy. As much as Mormonism claims to be a revealed religion, not one example of fulfilled prophecy exists in its three main works (Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price nor Doctrine and Covenants).
So what of the Bible? Does it have predictive prophecy? Consider the facts below:1
-1/5 of the Bible is about Bible Prophecy
-1/3 of Bible prophecy is about Jesus Christ and His second coming
-There are over 600 prophecies
-109 are confirmed, fulfilled prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ's first coming
-224 prophecies point to His second coming
-Of the 46 Old Testament prophets, 10 speak of the 1st coming, 36 speak of the second coming.
-There are over 1500 Old Testament passages and 1 out of every 25 New Testament passages that speak of Christ's second coming
Did you catch that? Hundreds of examples of fulfilled predictive prophecies exists in the Bible. Outside of text of scripture, not one example can be found. You tell me, which book in all the world is not confined to the past and present, but also is accurate about the future? I'll tell you - the Bible!
No Doubt, the Bible is the Unique Book of Books
The Bible is the Book of Books due to its hundreds of fulfilled predictive prophecies. Is it no wonder that Matthew wrote what he wrote in his opening section of his Gospel? In fact, even in his work there is already the appearance of prophecy as early as Matthew 1:21, where the name of the Christ child was to be Jesus: "since He will save His people from their sins."
The Bible as a Book of Books is uniquely authoritative. Again Matthew assumes this to be so, otherwise he would not had wrote what he did in Matthew 1:17 - "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations."
Thirdly, the Bible is uniquely authoritative due to its inerrancy. Matthew trusted the text of the Old Testament to compile his geneaology. Jesus Himself in Matthew 5:18 and 24:35 asserts biblical inerrancy (without error).
Then finally, the Bible is unique due to its unity. In Matthew's opening statement, the time from Moses writing about Abraham to Samuel's writing about David represents over 400 years, from David to the deportation is nearly 300 or so years and from the deportation to Jesus' day would had been nearly 600 years. In our English Bibles we have 39 books in the Old Testament. These are the works from whence Matthew drew. To see all of that history presented so seemlessly in its diversity and unity is possible only if the Book itself is Divinely authored through the 40 authors.
End Notes
I got these stats from a sermon I heard preached by Dr. John MacArthur.
Yesterday we began noting the Bible's unique role as the Book of Books. We noted that it alone is authoritatively God's Word, that it is inerrant or without error and that it is unified in its parts and whole. Today we want to continue on considering further reasons as to why the Bible is uniquely the Book of Books.
The Bible is unique not only because of its authority, its inerrancy and its unity but also...
The Bible is unique due to its prophecies
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 makes this statement under its article "The Bible": "It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried."
How can a book not only "be" but "remain" into the future the true center of Christian union? I have all sorts of books on my shelves that are constantly being updated to new editions. Even the Baptist Faith and Message itself, as wonderful as it is in summarizing the Christian faith, has went through three revisions (1925, 1963 and 2000). Creeds are authorities, but not final authorities. They are confined to either the past or the present.
Science books also fall into this category. Theories of the nature of physical reality are being constantly tweaked as new evidence comes in and replaces former understandings. Again, science as a discipline is confined to the past or present and can at best attempt to predict the future.
Scan what you can of every religious book. All of those books are confined to either the present or the past. Not a single one contains any example of fulfilled predictive prophecy. As much as Mormonism claims to be a revealed religion, not one example of fulfilled prophecy exists in its three main works (Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price nor Doctrine and Covenants).
So what of the Bible? Does it have predictive prophecy? Consider the facts below:1
-1/5 of the Bible is about Bible Prophecy
-1/3 of Bible prophecy is about Jesus Christ and His second coming
-There are over 600 prophecies
-109 are confirmed, fulfilled prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ's first coming
-224 prophecies point to His second coming
-Of the 46 Old Testament prophets, 10 speak of the 1st coming, 36 speak of the second coming.
-There are over 1500 Old Testament passages and 1 out of every 25 New Testament passages that speak of Christ's second coming
Did you catch that? Hundreds of examples of fulfilled predictive prophecies exists in the Bible. Outside of text of scripture, not one example can be found. You tell me, which book in all the world is not confined to the past and present, but also is accurate about the future? I'll tell you - the Bible!
No Doubt, the Bible is the Unique Book of Books
The Bible is the Book of Books due to its hundreds of fulfilled predictive prophecies. Is it no wonder that Matthew wrote what he wrote in his opening section of his Gospel? In fact, even in his work there is already the appearance of prophecy as early as Matthew 1:21, where the name of the Christ child was to be Jesus: "since He will save His people from their sins."
The Bible as a Book of Books is uniquely authoritative. Again Matthew assumes this to be so, otherwise he would not had wrote what he did in Matthew 1:17 - "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations."
Thirdly, the Bible is uniquely authoritative due to its inerrancy. Matthew trusted the text of the Old Testament to compile his geneaology. Jesus Himself in Matthew 5:18 and 24:35 asserts biblical inerrancy (without error).
Then finally, the Bible is unique due to its unity. In Matthew's opening statement, the time from Moses writing about Abraham to Samuel's writing about David represents over 400 years, from David to the deportation is nearly 300 or so years and from the deportation to Jesus' day would had been nearly 600 years. In our English Bibles we have 39 books in the Old Testament. These are the works from whence Matthew drew. To see all of that history presented so seemlessly in its diversity and unity is possible only if the Book itself is Divinely authored through the 40 authors.
End Notes
I got these stats from a sermon I heard preached by Dr. John MacArthur.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The Bible as the Unique Book of Books
Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham. (KJV)
Today's blog is going to speak on the subject of the Bible: Book of Books. Here in the Gospel of Matthew, the King James Version renders the beginning of the New Testament with these words: "The Book". No doubt Matthew is writing about the Gospel he is going to present to us about the King Jesus Christ.
Whether we are talking about Matthew, or the other 65 books that make up the Bible, the term "Bible" is theological shorthand for referring to what I term "The Book of Books". The Bible is God's Divine library - featuring His mind in words, focusing on the revelation of Himself in the Second Person of the Trinity Jesus Christ and the power of His presence in the Third Person - the Holy Spirit.
Today I want to take this first verse of Matthew and unpack why it is that the Bible alone can be called "the book of books"
The Bible is a unique book.
Matthew's Gospel shares in common with the other 65 books the unique designation of being the "Word of God". Why? What makes the Bible Unique? In using Matthew's words of Matthew 1:1 we can note the following reasons:
a. The Bible's Authority as the Book of Books.
Matthew 1:1-17 gives us a 2,100 year summary of the history between Abraham and Jesus. 52 names, divided up into three sets of 14 generations, presents the broad sweep of redemptive history. Matthew is utilizing the entire Old Testament Canon in drawing up this opening of His Gospel. He is trusting the Bible to be uniquely authoritative in all matters of history, science, culture and faith.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us - "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." As God's Word and God's words, the Bible alone is authoritative. It is profitable for teaching me how to be right; for reproof - or telling me when I'm not right; for correction - or telling me how to get right and for training - or telling me how to stay right.
b. The Bible's inerrancy as the Book of Books
In Matthew's text we read after the words "the Book" the next set of words "of the generation" (KJV), or as it says in the NASB "the genealogy". Matthew, as we already mentioned, lays out three sets of fourteen generations. In order for this to be a reliable geneaology, all of the history and the events of each of these names had to be without error in order to demonstrate Jesus' legal right to the throne of David. Biblical inerrancy lies at the center of Biblical authority.
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 makes this statement pertaining to the Bible's inerrant authority:
"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy." To say that the Bible is the Word of God and yet to deny its inerrancy is to contradict oneself. Proverbs 30:5 tells us - "Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." In Matthew 5:18 and 24:35 Jesus asserted the perfection and soundness of the Biblical text.
James Montgomery Boice and J.I Packer wrote a little book called "Does Inerrancy Matter?" 1 These were the reasons they gave for the importance of biblical inerrancy:
-Inerrancy meets the Christian's need authority
-Inerrancy meets the Preacher's need for preaching
-Inerrancy is behind the health of a local church
c. The Bible's Unity as the Book of Books
As you continue reading Matthew 1:1, note the middle words: "Jesus Christ." Only the Bible can claim the title of being uniquely unified above all other would be contenders. Consider some of the following statistics:
-Over 1500 years of time needed to write it
-40 different authors = i.e farmers, prophets, Kings, Priests, statesmen, a former texcollector, a medical doctor, a scholar, a fisherman and others wrote as the were moved along by the Spirit of God. 2 Peter 1:21
-Three different languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek were used.
-The Bible was composed on three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa
-The Old Testament has 39 books, 929 chapters, 23,214 verses and 593,493 words
-The New Testament has 27 books, 260 chapters, 7959 verses, 181,253 words
The miracle of the Bible is as much in its diversity as its unity. Its central person is Jesus Christ. I've read other books claiming to be Divine revelation. The three marks of authority, inerrancy and unity do not exist in any other book like they do in the Bible. The Quran - the book of Islam, does not have it. The Book of Mormon has no flowing progression of thought. The Upanishads and Bhagavad-gita, the books of Hinduism, have neither logical progression nor unity. All these other books have one author, were written on one continent and were written in a period of years or decades. They are books of men, representing a tainted collection of religious philosophy.
Yet the Bible alone is unified, took a millennium and a half to write, has diversity of human authorship and is truly an international, transcultural book, Divinely inspired, authoritative and inerrant.
More tomorrow....
End Notes:
1. James Montgomery Boice and J.I Packer - "Dooes Inerrancy Matter?" International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. Oakland, CA. 1977
Today's blog is going to speak on the subject of the Bible: Book of Books. Here in the Gospel of Matthew, the King James Version renders the beginning of the New Testament with these words: "The Book". No doubt Matthew is writing about the Gospel he is going to present to us about the King Jesus Christ.
Whether we are talking about Matthew, or the other 65 books that make up the Bible, the term "Bible" is theological shorthand for referring to what I term "The Book of Books". The Bible is God's Divine library - featuring His mind in words, focusing on the revelation of Himself in the Second Person of the Trinity Jesus Christ and the power of His presence in the Third Person - the Holy Spirit.
Today I want to take this first verse of Matthew and unpack why it is that the Bible alone can be called "the book of books"
The Bible is a unique book.
Matthew's Gospel shares in common with the other 65 books the unique designation of being the "Word of God". Why? What makes the Bible Unique? In using Matthew's words of Matthew 1:1 we can note the following reasons:
a. The Bible's Authority as the Book of Books.
Matthew 1:1-17 gives us a 2,100 year summary of the history between Abraham and Jesus. 52 names, divided up into three sets of 14 generations, presents the broad sweep of redemptive history. Matthew is utilizing the entire Old Testament Canon in drawing up this opening of His Gospel. He is trusting the Bible to be uniquely authoritative in all matters of history, science, culture and faith.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us - "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." As God's Word and God's words, the Bible alone is authoritative. It is profitable for teaching me how to be right; for reproof - or telling me when I'm not right; for correction - or telling me how to get right and for training - or telling me how to stay right.
b. The Bible's inerrancy as the Book of Books
In Matthew's text we read after the words "the Book" the next set of words "of the generation" (KJV), or as it says in the NASB "the genealogy". Matthew, as we already mentioned, lays out three sets of fourteen generations. In order for this to be a reliable geneaology, all of the history and the events of each of these names had to be without error in order to demonstrate Jesus' legal right to the throne of David. Biblical inerrancy lies at the center of Biblical authority.
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 makes this statement pertaining to the Bible's inerrant authority:
"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy." To say that the Bible is the Word of God and yet to deny its inerrancy is to contradict oneself. Proverbs 30:5 tells us - "Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." In Matthew 5:18 and 24:35 Jesus asserted the perfection and soundness of the Biblical text.
James Montgomery Boice and J.I Packer wrote a little book called "Does Inerrancy Matter?" 1 These were the reasons they gave for the importance of biblical inerrancy:
-Inerrancy meets the Christian's need authority
-Inerrancy meets the Preacher's need for preaching
-Inerrancy is behind the health of a local church
c. The Bible's Unity as the Book of Books
As you continue reading Matthew 1:1, note the middle words: "Jesus Christ." Only the Bible can claim the title of being uniquely unified above all other would be contenders. Consider some of the following statistics:
-Over 1500 years of time needed to write it
-40 different authors = i.e farmers, prophets, Kings, Priests, statesmen, a former texcollector, a medical doctor, a scholar, a fisherman and others wrote as the were moved along by the Spirit of God. 2 Peter 1:21
-Three different languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek were used.
-The Bible was composed on three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa
-The Old Testament has 39 books, 929 chapters, 23,214 verses and 593,493 words
-The New Testament has 27 books, 260 chapters, 7959 verses, 181,253 words
The miracle of the Bible is as much in its diversity as its unity. Its central person is Jesus Christ. I've read other books claiming to be Divine revelation. The three marks of authority, inerrancy and unity do not exist in any other book like they do in the Bible. The Quran - the book of Islam, does not have it. The Book of Mormon has no flowing progression of thought. The Upanishads and Bhagavad-gita, the books of Hinduism, have neither logical progression nor unity. All these other books have one author, were written on one continent and were written in a period of years or decades. They are books of men, representing a tainted collection of religious philosophy.
Yet the Bible alone is unified, took a millennium and a half to write, has diversity of human authorship and is truly an international, transcultural book, Divinely inspired, authoritative and inerrant.
More tomorrow....
End Notes:
1. James Montgomery Boice and J.I Packer - "Dooes Inerrancy Matter?" International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. Oakland, CA. 1977
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Covenant for Day and Night
Jeremiah 33:20 “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My
covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed
time,
Today we want to consider what the Bible calls: "the covenant for day and night." God's creation is a covenant based work - meaning He has committed Himself to see it through to the end. (Romans 8:18-25) The significance of this covenant lays the groundwork for the laws God wrote to govern our universe, life and humanity. Just some thoughts below out of Jeremiah 33:20-26 reveal to us what God did in the creation of the heavens and the earth through this Covenant of "day and night".
1. God wrote the laws of creation. Jeremiah 33:20 When God speaks about day and night's "appointed time", He is speaking literally about the sequence and regularity of the earth's rotation on its axis and its orbit around the sun. Laws of gravity, mass, the speed at which the earth itself goes around the sun were taken into consideration. The earth rotates at a rate of over 1,000 miles per hour, orbits the sun at over 60000 miles per hour and takes 365 1/4 days to make one orbit. Not only that, but God also created the moon on the fourth day in Genesis 1, which we know from modern Astronomy functions to regulate the tides. The moon, being roughly one quarter of the size of our planet, is some 240,000 miles away, orbiting our planet every 29 days. The sizes and shapes of our planet and moon were factored into the processes that God made to sustain life on our world.
2. God made the creation to have consistency. Scientists call this feature of our physical laws "constants". The laws governing the earth orbiting the Sun in an ellipitical orbit, which enables it to be closer to the sun in the summer months and further away from the sun in the winter months.
3. God determined the size of our universe. Jeremiah 33:22 states - "As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’” When you look at the creation account of Genesis 1:6-8, it speaks of Him creating an "expanse", a stretched canopy of atmosphere over our planet. The idea of "stretching" our space is found over fifteen times in the Bible. At this present moment, all Astronomers can do is estimate how many stars are in our universe:
a. The size of our universe is estimated to be over 70 billion light years across
b. Our own Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to be some 100,000 light years across.
c. Estimates between 100 billion to 400 billion stars are given for the amount of stars in our Galaxy, with and estimated 100 billion galaxies stretched across our universe
d. Our sun, a medium size star, is gravitationally connected to 30,000 other stars in our particular portion of the Milky Way Galaxy.
These numbers defy the human mind in terms of their sheer enormity. The Bible is right, we cannot pin down the exact numbers. Why so much? One answer - to put on display the glory of God! (Psalm 19:1-6)
4. God preserves the creation that He made. Jeremiah 33:25 tells us - 25“Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established. " The underlined word here in Jeremiah 33:25 is the same Hebrew word that we sometimes see translated elsewhere in scripture as "statutes" or "laws". (Psalm 119:23) A statute is an instruction in God's Word that tells me "how I ought to live for God from day to day by means of His preserving grace". Thus think of the "statutes" or physical constants as God instructing the universe on "how" to function under the Sovereign, providential work of preservation made possible by the direct supervision of God the Son. (Colossians 1:16-17)
When God completed the creation of the Heavens and the earth in six days, the Bible says He "rested", meaning He established Himself as King over all he had made. All of the laws, constants and sizes of things went from being created to regulated - preserved. Thus God is no longer creating things, rather He is, through God the Son, preserving and sustaining all He has made. (1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16-17).
Application - The Principles of Creation also carry over into how the Lord deals with His people.
In citing this covenant of "day and night", Jeremiah is using it to illustrate two covenants that He made with His people in the Old Testament - The Covenants with Abraham and David. Note how the principles above tie into and correspond to how God deals with believers on a daily basis:
1. God wrote His will down for our lives in the words of scripture. (Deuteronomy 29:29) God's Word is reliable, and His promises sure. Just as His promises to the Jewish people will be fulfilled (the main point of Jeremiah 33 in evoking the covenant of "day and night"), so it is concerning the promises of God to believer's living life here in the 21st century. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
2. God's Word is the constant for the Christian, providing the means by which to regulate and maintain our Christian growth. (2 Timothy 3:17)
3. Jesus Christ is the author and Finisher of the Christian's faith. He determines which trials will enter into our lives to test and grow us, and what blessings to remind us of His great love for us. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
4. The Lord is preserving the believer until the day of Christ's appearing. A Christian is defined as a new created creature at salvation. (2 Corinthians 5:17). Following the miracle of regeneration at faith and repentance, the ongoing growth in Christ is what we call sanctification. God the Holy Spirit is preserving us as we go through process. All true Christians will make it, will persevere and be presented faultless and blameless before His throne with great joy. (Jude 24-25)
Today we want to consider what the Bible calls: "the covenant for day and night." God's creation is a covenant based work - meaning He has committed Himself to see it through to the end. (Romans 8:18-25) The significance of this covenant lays the groundwork for the laws God wrote to govern our universe, life and humanity. Just some thoughts below out of Jeremiah 33:20-26 reveal to us what God did in the creation of the heavens and the earth through this Covenant of "day and night".
1. God wrote the laws of creation. Jeremiah 33:20 When God speaks about day and night's "appointed time", He is speaking literally about the sequence and regularity of the earth's rotation on its axis and its orbit around the sun. Laws of gravity, mass, the speed at which the earth itself goes around the sun were taken into consideration. The earth rotates at a rate of over 1,000 miles per hour, orbits the sun at over 60000 miles per hour and takes 365 1/4 days to make one orbit. Not only that, but God also created the moon on the fourth day in Genesis 1, which we know from modern Astronomy functions to regulate the tides. The moon, being roughly one quarter of the size of our planet, is some 240,000 miles away, orbiting our planet every 29 days. The sizes and shapes of our planet and moon were factored into the processes that God made to sustain life on our world.
2. God made the creation to have consistency. Scientists call this feature of our physical laws "constants". The laws governing the earth orbiting the Sun in an ellipitical orbit, which enables it to be closer to the sun in the summer months and further away from the sun in the winter months.
3. God determined the size of our universe. Jeremiah 33:22 states - "As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’” When you look at the creation account of Genesis 1:6-8, it speaks of Him creating an "expanse", a stretched canopy of atmosphere over our planet. The idea of "stretching" our space is found over fifteen times in the Bible. At this present moment, all Astronomers can do is estimate how many stars are in our universe:
a. The size of our universe is estimated to be over 70 billion light years across
b. Our own Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to be some 100,000 light years across.
c. Estimates between 100 billion to 400 billion stars are given for the amount of stars in our Galaxy, with and estimated 100 billion galaxies stretched across our universe
d. Our sun, a medium size star, is gravitationally connected to 30,000 other stars in our particular portion of the Milky Way Galaxy.
These numbers defy the human mind in terms of their sheer enormity. The Bible is right, we cannot pin down the exact numbers. Why so much? One answer - to put on display the glory of God! (Psalm 19:1-6)
4. God preserves the creation that He made. Jeremiah 33:25 tells us - 25“Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established. " The underlined word here in Jeremiah 33:25 is the same Hebrew word that we sometimes see translated elsewhere in scripture as "statutes" or "laws". (Psalm 119:23) A statute is an instruction in God's Word that tells me "how I ought to live for God from day to day by means of His preserving grace". Thus think of the "statutes" or physical constants as God instructing the universe on "how" to function under the Sovereign, providential work of preservation made possible by the direct supervision of God the Son. (Colossians 1:16-17)
When God completed the creation of the Heavens and the earth in six days, the Bible says He "rested", meaning He established Himself as King over all he had made. All of the laws, constants and sizes of things went from being created to regulated - preserved. Thus God is no longer creating things, rather He is, through God the Son, preserving and sustaining all He has made. (1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16-17).
Application - The Principles of Creation also carry over into how the Lord deals with His people.
In citing this covenant of "day and night", Jeremiah is using it to illustrate two covenants that He made with His people in the Old Testament - The Covenants with Abraham and David. Note how the principles above tie into and correspond to how God deals with believers on a daily basis:
1. God wrote His will down for our lives in the words of scripture. (Deuteronomy 29:29) God's Word is reliable, and His promises sure. Just as His promises to the Jewish people will be fulfilled (the main point of Jeremiah 33 in evoking the covenant of "day and night"), so it is concerning the promises of God to believer's living life here in the 21st century. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
2. God's Word is the constant for the Christian, providing the means by which to regulate and maintain our Christian growth. (2 Timothy 3:17)
3. Jesus Christ is the author and Finisher of the Christian's faith. He determines which trials will enter into our lives to test and grow us, and what blessings to remind us of His great love for us. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
4. The Lord is preserving the believer until the day of Christ's appearing. A Christian is defined as a new created creature at salvation. (2 Corinthians 5:17). Following the miracle of regeneration at faith and repentance, the ongoing growth in Christ is what we call sanctification. God the Holy Spirit is preserving us as we go through process. All true Christians will make it, will persevere and be presented faultless and blameless before His throne with great joy. (Jude 24-25)
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
God created space, time and matter
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 states in the first sentence of its article entitled "God": "There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe."
This statement of course derives from such passages as Genesis 1:1. In the original Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1 seven words begin God's revelation of the Book of Ages - The Bible.
In these seven words we find the most compact, most accurate and comprehensive statement anywhere regarding the origin of the universe:
1. God created time: The Hebrew text could be translated: God created "in the beginning" - that is "time". Time is what God created to give the flow of "past, present and furture". As will be seen below, God also created two other elements: space and mass.
2. God created space: The next phrase in Genesis 1:1 is "the heavens". The plural word "heavens" indicates there to be multiple areas or "spaces" in the creation. The Bible calls these spaces "the heavens" and identifies three of them: the 3rd Heaven (God's abode, and on the outer boundary, the invisible realm; the 2nd Heaven (the visible universe) and the 1st Heaven (earth's atmosphere)
a. Third Heaven. In 2 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul speaks of being caught up into "The Third Heaven". This third Heaven speaks of the very dwelling place of the Triune God. Admittedly this realm of space is as mysterious as it is vast. With the term "third heaven" used to refer to God's throneroom, we can by implication from scripture draw the conclusions that there are two other created spaces called "heaven" (which scripture does indeed call the visible universe and atmosphere around our planet).
God is no doubt infinitely above and unique from the invisible angelic realm which He created to serve Him (Psalm 104) and believers (Hebrews 1:14). God created this space whereby He could set forth His decrees and Sovereign rule over the remaining "two heavens" or spaces. The Bible reveals to be the invisible realm that functions as the "hinterland" or outer edges that connect the third heaven to the second heaven. King Solomon stated at the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 8:27 that the "heaven" and "heaven of heavens" cannot contain God.
God's presence suffuses throughout every square inch of the third heaven and invisible realm, and the visible realms of the second and first heavens. Yet God is infinitely different and unique from all he created.
b. The Second Heaven. Since there is a "third Heaven", we can by implication say then there to be a second heaven. The "second Heaven" we could classify as the visible universe. This visible universe is called the "visible realm" in passages such as Colossians 1:16-17. Scripture indicates that the "second heaven" of the visible realm and the invisible realm that is connected to the third heaven are innerconnected. Colossians 3:1-3 speaks of "things above" and "things here below". It is this second heaven that is the familiar space/mass/time universe.
Astronomers tell us that there are an estimated 100 billion galaxies, each with 100 billion stars. In having viewed Hubble photographs of the Galaxies stretching across vast expanses of our visible universe, the Galaxies appear to be grouped together in what Astronomers call clusters. Those clusters are in turn part of even larger structures of Galaxies called "Super-clusters" - stretching for hundreds of millions of light years. Between these super-clusters are empty "voids", wherein there are no stars or galaxies.
This pattern throughout our universe roughly corresponds to what happens when a pebble is droped into a bowl of water - with ripples of ever-increasing circumference. The Galaxies are grouped in concentric shells, with empty areas of space in between. This tells us that when God created everything, there is a discernable center to our universe.
c. First Heaven. This realm refers to the atmosphere or sky surrounding our planet. It too is translated "heaven" in scripture. In comparison to the first two "heavens" or "order of space", this realm is extremely small. God's greatness in creation is not only seen on the canvas of the large, but also on the canvas of the very small. We see God's purposes and plan executed on the globe that is surrounded by this "first heaven".
3. God Created Mass or Matter: We now come to the last two words here in Genesis 1:1 - "the earth". This refers mainly to our planet earth and by extension all of the sub-atomic particles and physical laws that He devised to bring into being the "stuff" of our visible universe or "matter".
Understanding how God set Space, time and mass in motion
God's creative abilities are indeed amazing. Whenever he created time, He wove into the fabric of time itself a direction - past, present to future. In order to have a way of displaying this property of time - God created space, and wove time into the space of the invisible and visible realms. God alone can operate and see all times and places at the same time. Within our universe, God made physical matter to interract with the "space-time" through a force called gravity.
Trampolines, Bowling Balls and Marbles
Think of the vastness of our visible universe like a trampoline, with the masses of stars and planets sitting on that trampoline. Lets say I place a bowling ball into the middle of that trampoline to represent a large star like the sun. If I roll a marble (which we'll pretend to be a planet) onto that trampoline, it will go about in an elliptical orbit. If I were able to keep that marble rolling around at a constant speed (which astronomers call angular momentum), that little marble would continue in an elliptical orbit around that bowling ball.
From Genesis 1:1 we can see that God's creation of time, space and mass set the stage for the remainder of what we see in the Bible. He set all things into motion (creation) and governs every moment and space of creation (providence). Truly God our Creator is worthy to be praised!
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 states in the first sentence of its article entitled "God": "There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe."
This statement of course derives from such passages as Genesis 1:1. In the original Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1 seven words begin God's revelation of the Book of Ages - The Bible.
In these seven words we find the most compact, most accurate and comprehensive statement anywhere regarding the origin of the universe:
1. God created time: The Hebrew text could be translated: God created "in the beginning" - that is "time". Time is what God created to give the flow of "past, present and furture". As will be seen below, God also created two other elements: space and mass.
2. God created space: The next phrase in Genesis 1:1 is "the heavens". The plural word "heavens" indicates there to be multiple areas or "spaces" in the creation. The Bible calls these spaces "the heavens" and identifies three of them: the 3rd Heaven (God's abode, and on the outer boundary, the invisible realm; the 2nd Heaven (the visible universe) and the 1st Heaven (earth's atmosphere)
a. Third Heaven. In 2 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul speaks of being caught up into "The Third Heaven". This third Heaven speaks of the very dwelling place of the Triune God. Admittedly this realm of space is as mysterious as it is vast. With the term "third heaven" used to refer to God's throneroom, we can by implication from scripture draw the conclusions that there are two other created spaces called "heaven" (which scripture does indeed call the visible universe and atmosphere around our planet).
God is no doubt infinitely above and unique from the invisible angelic realm which He created to serve Him (Psalm 104) and believers (Hebrews 1:14). God created this space whereby He could set forth His decrees and Sovereign rule over the remaining "two heavens" or spaces. The Bible reveals to be the invisible realm that functions as the "hinterland" or outer edges that connect the third heaven to the second heaven. King Solomon stated at the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 8:27 that the "heaven" and "heaven of heavens" cannot contain God.
God's presence suffuses throughout every square inch of the third heaven and invisible realm, and the visible realms of the second and first heavens. Yet God is infinitely different and unique from all he created.
b. The Second Heaven. Since there is a "third Heaven", we can by implication say then there to be a second heaven. The "second Heaven" we could classify as the visible universe. This visible universe is called the "visible realm" in passages such as Colossians 1:16-17. Scripture indicates that the "second heaven" of the visible realm and the invisible realm that is connected to the third heaven are innerconnected. Colossians 3:1-3 speaks of "things above" and "things here below". It is this second heaven that is the familiar space/mass/time universe.
Astronomers tell us that there are an estimated 100 billion galaxies, each with 100 billion stars. In having viewed Hubble photographs of the Galaxies stretching across vast expanses of our visible universe, the Galaxies appear to be grouped together in what Astronomers call clusters. Those clusters are in turn part of even larger structures of Galaxies called "Super-clusters" - stretching for hundreds of millions of light years. Between these super-clusters are empty "voids", wherein there are no stars or galaxies.
This pattern throughout our universe roughly corresponds to what happens when a pebble is droped into a bowl of water - with ripples of ever-increasing circumference. The Galaxies are grouped in concentric shells, with empty areas of space in between. This tells us that when God created everything, there is a discernable center to our universe.
c. First Heaven. This realm refers to the atmosphere or sky surrounding our planet. It too is translated "heaven" in scripture. In comparison to the first two "heavens" or "order of space", this realm is extremely small. God's greatness in creation is not only seen on the canvas of the large, but also on the canvas of the very small. We see God's purposes and plan executed on the globe that is surrounded by this "first heaven".
3. God Created Mass or Matter: We now come to the last two words here in Genesis 1:1 - "the earth". This refers mainly to our planet earth and by extension all of the sub-atomic particles and physical laws that He devised to bring into being the "stuff" of our visible universe or "matter".
Understanding how God set Space, time and mass in motion
God's creative abilities are indeed amazing. Whenever he created time, He wove into the fabric of time itself a direction - past, present to future. In order to have a way of displaying this property of time - God created space, and wove time into the space of the invisible and visible realms. God alone can operate and see all times and places at the same time. Within our universe, God made physical matter to interract with the "space-time" through a force called gravity.
Trampolines, Bowling Balls and Marbles
Think of the vastness of our visible universe like a trampoline, with the masses of stars and planets sitting on that trampoline. Lets say I place a bowling ball into the middle of that trampoline to represent a large star like the sun. If I roll a marble (which we'll pretend to be a planet) onto that trampoline, it will go about in an elliptical orbit. If I were able to keep that marble rolling around at a constant speed (which astronomers call angular momentum), that little marble would continue in an elliptical orbit around that bowling ball.
From Genesis 1:1 we can see that God's creation of time, space and mass set the stage for the remainder of what we see in the Bible. He set all things into motion (creation) and governs every moment and space of creation (providence). Truly God our Creator is worthy to be praised!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Covenants and Dispensations - Biblical Binoculors
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and
in many ways, 2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Being able to see up close in 3-D
A set of binoculors enables a viewer to peer at our world through two eyepieces. Whenever we think of how the human brain processes visual information - it is quite remarkable. If you take one of your hands and hold up a finger at arm's length - close one eye, and then alternate with the other eye while watching your finger move back and forth. God has designed a region in your brain called "The Occipital Lobe". Located in the back of the brain, it is the chief area where visual information is taken in by the eyes, through the optic nerve, and through electrical impulses transforming information into three-dimensional images. Truly our God is to be praised, since the wonders of creation ever proclaim his glory and wonder! (Psalm 19:1-6)
Biblical Binoculors
A pair of binoculors is designed around this feature of human vision. We need two eye pieces to get not merely a better view, but a better three-dimensional view of objects. Why? Depth perception, range of motion and other features God has so built into our world to reveal His glory. Whenever I look at the Bible as both the Book of Ages and the Book of Covenants, I'm looking through a set of binoculors. By means of both the dispensations and covenants, I can by the Spirit's help see God's plans and purposes in all their depth and range of motion - so as to appreciate the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
Sampling scripture's outline through the biblical binoculors
So when I look at the Bible as both a Book of the Ages and Book of Covenants, what features stand out? Below is a suggestion:
Bible Book of Ages (Dispensations) Bible Book of Covenants
1. Beginning Age-----------Adam---------------Covenant of Works
The Fall
2. Old Testament Age----Adam & Eve-------Covenant of Grace
Preflood era------Adam to Noah--------Noahic Covenant
Post-flood era----Shem---Abraham
Patriarachal era--Abraham--Moses----Abrahamic Covenant
Giving of the Law---Moses and Israel---Mosaic Covenant
History and Kings--------------------------Davidic Covenant
Prophets-------------------------------------New Covenant
John the Baptist and Jesus
Cross and Resurrection--closing out Old Testament
3. New Testament Age----Pentecost---------Birth of the church
(New Covenant is
inaugurated in church)
4. Kingdom Age------Christ's Return, Israel restored, Christ reigns
1,000 years
(New Covenant
fulfilled completely
in restored Israel)
5. Age to Come---Final Judgment----Eternal state
Like our pair of eyes or like a pair of eye-pieces on a set of binoculors, the ability to see in three dimensions is accomplished by "overlapping areas" on each side. When viewing the Bible through the ages, the ages will lead one into another. The Covenants too will see initial and then ultimate fulfillments.
The whole point of today's blog is not only to see the Bible as a whole pictured in its unity and diversity of major themes, but to begin seeing it as God's moving picture of Divine revelation revealed in words. The thumbnail sketch above is not meant to be exhaustive - however I pray that the reader has been moved to see the grandeur of scripture through the binoculars of Covenants and Dispensations.
Being able to see up close in 3-D
A set of binoculors enables a viewer to peer at our world through two eyepieces. Whenever we think of how the human brain processes visual information - it is quite remarkable. If you take one of your hands and hold up a finger at arm's length - close one eye, and then alternate with the other eye while watching your finger move back and forth. God has designed a region in your brain called "The Occipital Lobe". Located in the back of the brain, it is the chief area where visual information is taken in by the eyes, through the optic nerve, and through electrical impulses transforming information into three-dimensional images. Truly our God is to be praised, since the wonders of creation ever proclaim his glory and wonder! (Psalm 19:1-6)
Biblical Binoculors
A pair of binoculors is designed around this feature of human vision. We need two eye pieces to get not merely a better view, but a better three-dimensional view of objects. Why? Depth perception, range of motion and other features God has so built into our world to reveal His glory. Whenever I look at the Bible as both the Book of Ages and the Book of Covenants, I'm looking through a set of binoculors. By means of both the dispensations and covenants, I can by the Spirit's help see God's plans and purposes in all their depth and range of motion - so as to appreciate the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
Sampling scripture's outline through the biblical binoculors
So when I look at the Bible as both a Book of the Ages and Book of Covenants, what features stand out? Below is a suggestion:
Bible Book of Ages (Dispensations) Bible Book of Covenants
1. Beginning Age-----------Adam---------------Covenant of Works
The Fall
2. Old Testament Age----Adam & Eve-------Covenant of Grace
Preflood era------Adam to Noah--------Noahic Covenant
Post-flood era----Shem---Abraham
Patriarachal era--Abraham--Moses----Abrahamic Covenant
Giving of the Law---Moses and Israel---Mosaic Covenant
History and Kings--------------------------Davidic Covenant
Prophets-------------------------------------New Covenant
John the Baptist and Jesus
Cross and Resurrection--closing out Old Testament
3. New Testament Age----Pentecost---------Birth of the church
(New Covenant is
inaugurated in church)
4. Kingdom Age------Christ's Return, Israel restored, Christ reigns
1,000 years
(New Covenant
fulfilled completely
in restored Israel)
5. Age to Come---Final Judgment----Eternal state
Like our pair of eyes or like a pair of eye-pieces on a set of binoculors, the ability to see in three dimensions is accomplished by "overlapping areas" on each side. When viewing the Bible through the ages, the ages will lead one into another. The Covenants too will see initial and then ultimate fulfillments.
The whole point of today's blog is not only to see the Bible as a whole pictured in its unity and diversity of major themes, but to begin seeing it as God's moving picture of Divine revelation revealed in words. The thumbnail sketch above is not meant to be exhaustive - however I pray that the reader has been moved to see the grandeur of scripture through the binoculars of Covenants and Dispensations.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
What I find mostly helpful about Covenant Theology
We have noticed for the past couple of days the value of looking at the Bible as both a "Book of Ages" and a "Book of Covenants". Yesterday I wrote regarding what I find mostly helpful about dispensational theology. As a system of biblical theology, dispensationalism is "mostly helpful", however there are parts about it with which I do not find to be helpful. In like manner, Covenant theology, or the viewpoint that understands scripture through the various covenants, is an incredible system. Yet like dispensational theology, Covenant theology has its strengths and weaknesses too. Today I want to mention some things I find helpful, and a few things I don't agree with when it comes to Covenant theology.
Why I like Covenant Theology
1. Unity of the scripture. Covenant theology emphasizes the grand unity of the Biblical text. Through almost all of the the covenants we find the unifying idea of "promise" and a "descendant" or "seed". That promise and that seed focuses the Christian upon Christ, who came and fulfilled the covenants in a grand way in His first coming, and who will come and fulfill them in a final way in His second coming.
2. Focus on Salvation. The great work of salvation is the chief topic of discussion in all forms of Covenant Theology. Adam breaks the original covenant of works - consigning all of his descendants to a curse. God in turn issues a second covenant - a covenant of grace. The basis of that covenant was grace, the grounds was to be the shedding of blood and the means of reception - faith. This pattern characterizes Biblical salvation from Genesis to Revelation.
3. Focus on Christ. The strength of dispensational theology is God's glory in Christ. In covenant theology, the focus is God's salvation culminating in Christ and His work.
4. God's Sovereignty. Some of the greatest writers of present and past who have written on God's comprehensive control of all places and times (Sovereignty) have espoused Covenant Theology. Along with the Bible's teaching of human responsibility, I applaud this much needed emphasis of God's Sovereignty. 1 To know that God is the one reaching down to man into this lower story of existence is truly a comforting thought.
5. The emphasis of progressive revelation. Much like dispensational theology, Covenant theology sees God progressively revealing and unfolding His plan of redemption. Every covenant represents the unfolding of another detail of the grand saga of redemption.
Some weaknesses of Covenant Theology
Despite the rich heritage and insights that can be gained by viewing the Bible through the lenses of the covenants, there are some weaknesses which I must point out:
1. Confusing Israel and the Church. Many Covenant Theologians that I have read deny the distinction between Israel and the Church - called by their critics "replacement theology". Those who equate both cite passages such as Galatians 6:16 and Ephesians 2:15-16, which on first glance seem to indicate that the Church has indeed replaced Israel. This is one aspect of Covenant Theology that I find non-helpful. Why? For one thing, Paul is comparing the Church to be "like Israel". It is far different to say that the Church is "like Israel" as compared to saying Church "is" Israel or that she has "replaced" Israel.
Often we will see Christian conversion being called "circumcision of the heart" (Colossians 2:12-13) or the distinction between one who is a Jew "outwardly" versus one who is "inward". (Romans 2:29) These again are "comparisons", not equatings of Israel and the Church. The Church has not replaced Israel, as seen in passages that promise Israel's restoration (Romans 11:25-26), as well as the classification of Gentiles, Israel and the Church in 1 Corinthians 10:32. To deny these distinctions is (in my mind), to confuse passages which speak clearly about the church versus those which promise the restoration of Israel.
2. Stressing too much the continuity between Old and New Testaments. If not regulated, Covenant theology's tendency to stress unity will blur what are some legitimate areas of distinction in the Bible (i.e Israel and the Church, initial fulfillment versus ultimate fulfillment of prophecies). This second weakness is taking the strength of Covenant theology (the unity of scripture) and almost ignoring the diversity that also exists between the Old and New Testaments. A small bit of dispensationalism can help counterbalance this trend. Passages like Colossians 2:12-13 are comparing both, saying that one is "likened" to another. However to say that there is total continuity is going, in my estimation, beyond the intent of the text. Placing Christ and His work at the center of our understanding of the relationship between both Old and Testaments will enable us to know best how to identify both similarities and the differences between both. Note #2
Just like in yesterday's blog on why I mostly agree with dispensationalism, I would say that I mostly agree with Covenant theology.
Why does this matter, and how much does it matter?
On the one hand issues such as Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology are not "Heaven and Hell issues" - meaning that holding to one or another will not determine one's salvation. With that said, it is important to understand how one is going to approach God's Word in understanding God's dealings with His world and with His people. Does God keep His promises or break them? Which portions of God's Word have been fulfilled by Christ and if those portions have been fulfilled, then how do I still use them in my Christian life today?
Questions such as these are one's we must continually ask as we grow in Christ and in His Word. As a Christian, I desire to better understand how God's Word does fit together, and how my life is to be shaped and molded by it.
End Notes____________
1. Dispensational teaching attempts to do this as well, with newer forms of dispensationalism doing better than older versions. I attribute this mainly to the fact that over the decades, movements within dispensational theology such as Ryrie's Revised dispensationalism of the 1960's and Progressive Dispensationalism of the 1990's aimed to be more precise in communicating the overarching purposes of God through the ages.
2 To say for instance that Old Testament circumcision is to be equated with New Testament baptism is going too far. Practices such as Infant Baptism build its case off of the circumcision of infants carrying over into the New Testament baptism of infants as covenant children. As a practice, infant baptism constructs its arguments more off of drawing parallel points between the Old and New Testaments, rather than direct biblical commands concerning the baptism or sprinkling of infants (none of which exists in the scripture). In other blogs I have written more at length on believer's baptism by immersion, which with direct statements from scripture, word studies and church history demonstrates it to be the biblical mode of baptism.
Why I like Covenant Theology
1. Unity of the scripture. Covenant theology emphasizes the grand unity of the Biblical text. Through almost all of the the covenants we find the unifying idea of "promise" and a "descendant" or "seed". That promise and that seed focuses the Christian upon Christ, who came and fulfilled the covenants in a grand way in His first coming, and who will come and fulfill them in a final way in His second coming.
2. Focus on Salvation. The great work of salvation is the chief topic of discussion in all forms of Covenant Theology. Adam breaks the original covenant of works - consigning all of his descendants to a curse. God in turn issues a second covenant - a covenant of grace. The basis of that covenant was grace, the grounds was to be the shedding of blood and the means of reception - faith. This pattern characterizes Biblical salvation from Genesis to Revelation.
3. Focus on Christ. The strength of dispensational theology is God's glory in Christ. In covenant theology, the focus is God's salvation culminating in Christ and His work.
4. God's Sovereignty. Some of the greatest writers of present and past who have written on God's comprehensive control of all places and times (Sovereignty) have espoused Covenant Theology. Along with the Bible's teaching of human responsibility, I applaud this much needed emphasis of God's Sovereignty. 1 To know that God is the one reaching down to man into this lower story of existence is truly a comforting thought.
5. The emphasis of progressive revelation. Much like dispensational theology, Covenant theology sees God progressively revealing and unfolding His plan of redemption. Every covenant represents the unfolding of another detail of the grand saga of redemption.
Some weaknesses of Covenant Theology
Despite the rich heritage and insights that can be gained by viewing the Bible through the lenses of the covenants, there are some weaknesses which I must point out:
1. Confusing Israel and the Church. Many Covenant Theologians that I have read deny the distinction between Israel and the Church - called by their critics "replacement theology". Those who equate both cite passages such as Galatians 6:16 and Ephesians 2:15-16, which on first glance seem to indicate that the Church has indeed replaced Israel. This is one aspect of Covenant Theology that I find non-helpful. Why? For one thing, Paul is comparing the Church to be "like Israel". It is far different to say that the Church is "like Israel" as compared to saying Church "is" Israel or that she has "replaced" Israel.
Often we will see Christian conversion being called "circumcision of the heart" (Colossians 2:12-13) or the distinction between one who is a Jew "outwardly" versus one who is "inward". (Romans 2:29) These again are "comparisons", not equatings of Israel and the Church. The Church has not replaced Israel, as seen in passages that promise Israel's restoration (Romans 11:25-26), as well as the classification of Gentiles, Israel and the Church in 1 Corinthians 10:32. To deny these distinctions is (in my mind), to confuse passages which speak clearly about the church versus those which promise the restoration of Israel.
2. Stressing too much the continuity between Old and New Testaments. If not regulated, Covenant theology's tendency to stress unity will blur what are some legitimate areas of distinction in the Bible (i.e Israel and the Church, initial fulfillment versus ultimate fulfillment of prophecies). This second weakness is taking the strength of Covenant theology (the unity of scripture) and almost ignoring the diversity that also exists between the Old and New Testaments. A small bit of dispensationalism can help counterbalance this trend. Passages like Colossians 2:12-13 are comparing both, saying that one is "likened" to another. However to say that there is total continuity is going, in my estimation, beyond the intent of the text. Placing Christ and His work at the center of our understanding of the relationship between both Old and Testaments will enable us to know best how to identify both similarities and the differences between both. Note #2
Just like in yesterday's blog on why I mostly agree with dispensationalism, I would say that I mostly agree with Covenant theology.
Why does this matter, and how much does it matter?
On the one hand issues such as Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology are not "Heaven and Hell issues" - meaning that holding to one or another will not determine one's salvation. With that said, it is important to understand how one is going to approach God's Word in understanding God's dealings with His world and with His people. Does God keep His promises or break them? Which portions of God's Word have been fulfilled by Christ and if those portions have been fulfilled, then how do I still use them in my Christian life today?
Questions such as these are one's we must continually ask as we grow in Christ and in His Word. As a Christian, I desire to better understand how God's Word does fit together, and how my life is to be shaped and molded by it.
End Notes____________
1. Dispensational teaching attempts to do this as well, with newer forms of dispensationalism doing better than older versions. I attribute this mainly to the fact that over the decades, movements within dispensational theology such as Ryrie's Revised dispensationalism of the 1960's and Progressive Dispensationalism of the 1990's aimed to be more precise in communicating the overarching purposes of God through the ages.
2 To say for instance that Old Testament circumcision is to be equated with New Testament baptism is going too far. Practices such as Infant Baptism build its case off of the circumcision of infants carrying over into the New Testament baptism of infants as covenant children. As a practice, infant baptism constructs its arguments more off of drawing parallel points between the Old and New Testaments, rather than direct biblical commands concerning the baptism or sprinkling of infants (none of which exists in the scripture). In other blogs I have written more at length on believer's baptism by immersion, which with direct statements from scripture, word studies and church history demonstrates it to be the biblical mode of baptism.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
What I find mostly helpful about Dispensational theology
Colossians 1:25-27 25Of this church I was made a minister
according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I
might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26that is, the mystery which has been
hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to
His saints, 27to whom God willed to make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory.
Two days ago we considered what exactly frames the Bible's message - namely God's Administrative reign. In Ephesians 3:1-10 we looked at the word translated "administration" or "dispensation", noting that a dispensation is a period, an age, an arrangement whereby God orchestrates history to progressively reveal His purposes to man. Today I want to outline what I find mostly helpful about dispensational thought. Like all theological systems - dispensationalism is not perfect (which is why I find it "mostly helpful"). As always, I believe we need to evaluate all our systems of belief, cherished or otherwise, by the only standard of faith and practice - the Bible. In today's blog I have included some endnotes for those who may want more information and/or resources for further research.
Viewing God's Creation and redemption as a house ran by the Owner
The word translated "stewardship" in Colossians is the same Greek word we find in Ephesians 3:9 by the term "administration". A house in the Bible times was operated under the authority of a Master, with a person called a "steward" running the affairs of the house when the Master was out of town. Joseph in Genesis 39:4 was made an "overseer", a "steward" of Potiphar's house. We see this similar idea of a steward (albeit a very poor one) taking care of his master's estate in one of Jesus' parables of Luke 16. In viewing the Bible as the Book of ages, dispensational teaching views creation as God's house, and man as His steward.
God's plan of the ages - the hallmark theme of dispensational teaching
In the above passage of Colossians 1:25-27, we see key ideas that zero us in on the plan of God for the ages. First, God administrates or "rules" over the "house" of His world. A dispensation has to do with how He "dispenses" His providential reign throughout history. Second, we see a particular "mystery", hidden in former ages but revealed in this present age. I would classify this mystery as the church. (compare Ephesians 3:9-10; 5:23) Thirdly, we see a progression of revelation from older ages to this age to the world to come. Then finally, see see an ultimate purpose, namely the revelation of Christ in you - the hope of glory.
How Bible teachers have communicated the Bible as the book of ages, the story of God running the house of creation and redemption
Early Church History
The idea of understanding God's progressive revelation of His word through successive ages is not a new idea. A chief example of this is in the writings of the fourth century church father Augustine. In his massive summary of redemptive history: "The City of God", Augustine closes out Book 22 with the following outline of Biblical history:
1. From Adam to Noah = 10 generations
2. From Noah to Abraham = 10 generations
3. Matthew's Gospel begins with Abraham to David = 14 generations
4. From David to the Jews exile into Babylon = 14 generations
5. From the return from exile to Jesus' day = fourteen generations
1600's to 1700's
The idea of God running his world as a house is captured by the word "administration" or "dispensation". In times past, Bible teachers used this term to describe God's administrative rule. For instance, the Baptist Confession of Faith, written in 1689, describes God's providential rule as His governing history to accomplish His most wise and holy ends through successive ages or "dispensations". Throughout the history of the church, viewing the Bible as the Book of Ages has aided God's people in better understanding the whole of scripture.
1800's
The 1800's saw the teaching of men like John Nelson Darby adding the features of the sharp distinction of Israel and the Church and dispensations as periods of testing for man to the DNA of dispensational theology.1 It at this point we see the more modern and recent development of dispensationalism as an interpretive system. In the early twentieth century, men like C.I Scofield produced the widely popular "Scofield Study Bible" - which built its study notes around a more developed concept of dispensations in the spirit of Darby's teachings.2
1800's to 1900's
Other teachers like Lewis Sperry Chafer had been influential in the founding of Dispensational schools like Dallas Theological seminary, influencing a whole generation of preachers who combatted liberalism in much of American's pulpits. Chafer championed the idea of making sharp distinctions between Israel and the Church and major differences between the Old and New Testament revelation. In the 1960's another influential and respected Bible Scholar, Charles Ryrie, produced His "Ryrie Study Bible" - building its notes around a modified form of dispensational understanding of the Bible. Dr. Ryrie later on wrote a book called "Dispensationalism Today", which was revised in 1995 under the shorter title: "Dispensationalism". 3
Strengths and Weaknesses of Dispensational Teaching
Charles Ryrie in his book: "Dispensationalism", defines a dispensation as a distinguishable economy wherein we see the outworking of God's purpose. An earlier teacher, Harry Ironside, stated that dispensational teaching views scripture as a succession of ages, where in each age we may see particular conditions or patterns prevailing more or in different forms than in other ages. So far such an idea is undoubtedly biblical. We obviously don't need to offer sacrifices anymore, since the Old Testament Age has passed, and the New Testament era was ushered in by Christ and the sending of His Spirit. (compare Hebrews 8-10)
To keep things as simple as possible, I'll identify three essential points that are emphasized by both earlier and later forms of dispensational thought. These three assumptions are ones that I find helpful in understanding the scope of scripture:
A. Distinction of three groups of people in the Bible - The Gentiles, the Church and Israel. (1 Corinthians 10:32) Dispensational teachers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries tended to make Israel and the Church two separate peoples of God (what they called Israel the earthly people and the church, the heavenly people) In recent years, dispensationalism as a Bible study movement has been in a process of revising and improving upon its earlier excesses.4 In working one's way through the Bible, I would advise folks to retain the distinctions between Israel, the Church and the Gentiles.
B. Following, as much a possible, a literal reading of Bible prophecies and letting the Historical, Grammatical and literary (or as some call it rhetorical) context of scripture govern our interpretation. I by and large advocate this approach to Bible interpretation. I would also emphasize reading both Testaments in light of the Person and work of Christ.5
C. God's progress of revelation of His redemptive plan, with God's glory in Christ as being the goal of the Biblical message. Men like Dr. Charles Ryrie has outlined these essentials in what I would term to be a mostly helpful book: "Dispensationalism". 6
With these agreements, I also find a couple of weaknesses, or at least areas where I would find small differences with Dispensational teaching.
A. God's main means for forwarding history is heavily dependant upon God offering man His revelation, man's failure to obey that revelation, with the final part of the cycle being judgment. Dr. Ryrie states that Dispensationalism on the one hand sees history forward through the dispensations or "ages" by the Divine purposes of God. Yet so much of his dispensational system is (at times) heavily dependant upon the actions of man. Though we do see judgment and man's failure in every age, yet God's forwarding of His purposes is due moreso to Christ's return and Revelation of Himself at the end of history.
B. Dispensational theology by nature likes to divide and make distinctions. If not regulated, dispensationalism can end up making too sharp of distinctions, failing to define the unity of scripture that it labors to achieve.7
I clearly, by and large, find much help in viewing the Bible "dispensationally". However, I do think that God's dealings with creation and mankind by way of Covenants needs to be also equally emphasized. More on that in later blogs.
End Notes:
1 John Nelson Darby was a Bible Teacher who came from the Plymouth Brethren movement. It was by teachings such as his that Bible Conferences sprung up on American Soil in the late 1800's. Whether or not readers may agree with what came out of those conferences, God used such movements to combat the deadly forces of liberalism that were threatening churches in the early twentieth century.
2. C.I Scofield was the first Bible teacher to take the various strains of more modern dispensational teaching and put it together in a coherent system of notes in the widely read "Scofield Study Bible". In the 1960's the notes were revised and later on at the end of the twentieth century "The Scofield III" Study Bible was produced. Scofield popularized the notion of Israel being God's "earthly people" and the church being His "Heavenly people".
3. Dr. Charles Ryrie taught for many years at Dallas Theological Seminary. His "Ryrie Study Bible" is a very good Study Bible. I by and large have great respect for Dr. Ryrie as a Bible teacher, and by and large agree with him on major points.
4. In the 1960's men such as Dr. Charles Ryrie and Dr. John Walvoord began to soften the distinctions between the Church and Israel and show the unity of redemptive thought running through the Bible. In the 1990's a movement called "Progressive Dispensationalism", further softened the sharpened distinctions, saying that the church is distinguished from Israel in terms of the types of blessings received. Men such as Dr. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock have been the chief proponents of this viewpoint. The Church, in their view, has blessings flowing from its relationship to Christ post cross, whereas Israel, set aside for the moment, will receive blessings in the future (Christ's thousand year reign) that were promised Pre-cross. Both the Church and Israel in Eternity will then enjoy equal blessings.
5. Older forms of dispensational teaching tended either to not emphasize or limited the reading of the Old Testament through the lense of Christ's Person and work. Thankfully newer forms of dispensational thought have considered more seriously the centrality of Christ, especially as He fulfilled the promises to both Abraham and David. As the fulfillment of those covenants, Christ dispenses those blessings spiritually via the New Covenant to the Church and will dispense the physical blessings to Israel when He returns to reign for 1,000 years.
6. Charles Ryrie. "Dispensationalism". Moody Press. 1995
7. Scofield in the first editions of his study Bible made such a sharp distinction between the Old and New Testament that his study notes attached to John 1:17-18 unwittingly communicated two ways of salvation: by way of the law and by way of Christ. Extremes such as these were corrected in later editions.
Two days ago we considered what exactly frames the Bible's message - namely God's Administrative reign. In Ephesians 3:1-10 we looked at the word translated "administration" or "dispensation", noting that a dispensation is a period, an age, an arrangement whereby God orchestrates history to progressively reveal His purposes to man. Today I want to outline what I find mostly helpful about dispensational thought. Like all theological systems - dispensationalism is not perfect (which is why I find it "mostly helpful"). As always, I believe we need to evaluate all our systems of belief, cherished or otherwise, by the only standard of faith and practice - the Bible. In today's blog I have included some endnotes for those who may want more information and/or resources for further research.
Viewing God's Creation and redemption as a house ran by the Owner
The word translated "stewardship" in Colossians is the same Greek word we find in Ephesians 3:9 by the term "administration". A house in the Bible times was operated under the authority of a Master, with a person called a "steward" running the affairs of the house when the Master was out of town. Joseph in Genesis 39:4 was made an "overseer", a "steward" of Potiphar's house. We see this similar idea of a steward (albeit a very poor one) taking care of his master's estate in one of Jesus' parables of Luke 16. In viewing the Bible as the Book of ages, dispensational teaching views creation as God's house, and man as His steward.
God's plan of the ages - the hallmark theme of dispensational teaching
In the above passage of Colossians 1:25-27, we see key ideas that zero us in on the plan of God for the ages. First, God administrates or "rules" over the "house" of His world. A dispensation has to do with how He "dispenses" His providential reign throughout history. Second, we see a particular "mystery", hidden in former ages but revealed in this present age. I would classify this mystery as the church. (compare Ephesians 3:9-10; 5:23) Thirdly, we see a progression of revelation from older ages to this age to the world to come. Then finally, see see an ultimate purpose, namely the revelation of Christ in you - the hope of glory.
How Bible teachers have communicated the Bible as the book of ages, the story of God running the house of creation and redemption
Early Church History
The idea of understanding God's progressive revelation of His word through successive ages is not a new idea. A chief example of this is in the writings of the fourth century church father Augustine. In his massive summary of redemptive history: "The City of God", Augustine closes out Book 22 with the following outline of Biblical history:
1. From Adam to Noah = 10 generations
2. From Noah to Abraham = 10 generations
3. Matthew's Gospel begins with Abraham to David = 14 generations
4. From David to the Jews exile into Babylon = 14 generations
5. From the return from exile to Jesus' day = fourteen generations
1600's to 1700's
The idea of God running his world as a house is captured by the word "administration" or "dispensation". In times past, Bible teachers used this term to describe God's administrative rule. For instance, the Baptist Confession of Faith, written in 1689, describes God's providential rule as His governing history to accomplish His most wise and holy ends through successive ages or "dispensations". Throughout the history of the church, viewing the Bible as the Book of Ages has aided God's people in better understanding the whole of scripture.
1800's
The 1800's saw the teaching of men like John Nelson Darby adding the features of the sharp distinction of Israel and the Church and dispensations as periods of testing for man to the DNA of dispensational theology.1 It at this point we see the more modern and recent development of dispensationalism as an interpretive system. In the early twentieth century, men like C.I Scofield produced the widely popular "Scofield Study Bible" - which built its study notes around a more developed concept of dispensations in the spirit of Darby's teachings.2
1800's to 1900's
Other teachers like Lewis Sperry Chafer had been influential in the founding of Dispensational schools like Dallas Theological seminary, influencing a whole generation of preachers who combatted liberalism in much of American's pulpits. Chafer championed the idea of making sharp distinctions between Israel and the Church and major differences between the Old and New Testament revelation. In the 1960's another influential and respected Bible Scholar, Charles Ryrie, produced His "Ryrie Study Bible" - building its notes around a modified form of dispensational understanding of the Bible. Dr. Ryrie later on wrote a book called "Dispensationalism Today", which was revised in 1995 under the shorter title: "Dispensationalism". 3
Strengths and Weaknesses of Dispensational Teaching
Charles Ryrie in his book: "Dispensationalism", defines a dispensation as a distinguishable economy wherein we see the outworking of God's purpose. An earlier teacher, Harry Ironside, stated that dispensational teaching views scripture as a succession of ages, where in each age we may see particular conditions or patterns prevailing more or in different forms than in other ages. So far such an idea is undoubtedly biblical. We obviously don't need to offer sacrifices anymore, since the Old Testament Age has passed, and the New Testament era was ushered in by Christ and the sending of His Spirit. (compare Hebrews 8-10)
To keep things as simple as possible, I'll identify three essential points that are emphasized by both earlier and later forms of dispensational thought. These three assumptions are ones that I find helpful in understanding the scope of scripture:
A. Distinction of three groups of people in the Bible - The Gentiles, the Church and Israel. (1 Corinthians 10:32) Dispensational teachers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries tended to make Israel and the Church two separate peoples of God (what they called Israel the earthly people and the church, the heavenly people) In recent years, dispensationalism as a Bible study movement has been in a process of revising and improving upon its earlier excesses.4 In working one's way through the Bible, I would advise folks to retain the distinctions between Israel, the Church and the Gentiles.
B. Following, as much a possible, a literal reading of Bible prophecies and letting the Historical, Grammatical and literary (or as some call it rhetorical) context of scripture govern our interpretation. I by and large advocate this approach to Bible interpretation. I would also emphasize reading both Testaments in light of the Person and work of Christ.5
C. God's progress of revelation of His redemptive plan, with God's glory in Christ as being the goal of the Biblical message. Men like Dr. Charles Ryrie has outlined these essentials in what I would term to be a mostly helpful book: "Dispensationalism". 6
With these agreements, I also find a couple of weaknesses, or at least areas where I would find small differences with Dispensational teaching.
A. God's main means for forwarding history is heavily dependant upon God offering man His revelation, man's failure to obey that revelation, with the final part of the cycle being judgment. Dr. Ryrie states that Dispensationalism on the one hand sees history forward through the dispensations or "ages" by the Divine purposes of God. Yet so much of his dispensational system is (at times) heavily dependant upon the actions of man. Though we do see judgment and man's failure in every age, yet God's forwarding of His purposes is due moreso to Christ's return and Revelation of Himself at the end of history.
B. Dispensational theology by nature likes to divide and make distinctions. If not regulated, dispensationalism can end up making too sharp of distinctions, failing to define the unity of scripture that it labors to achieve.7
I clearly, by and large, find much help in viewing the Bible "dispensationally". However, I do think that God's dealings with creation and mankind by way of Covenants needs to be also equally emphasized. More on that in later blogs.
End Notes:
1 John Nelson Darby was a Bible Teacher who came from the Plymouth Brethren movement. It was by teachings such as his that Bible Conferences sprung up on American Soil in the late 1800's. Whether or not readers may agree with what came out of those conferences, God used such movements to combat the deadly forces of liberalism that were threatening churches in the early twentieth century.
2. C.I Scofield was the first Bible teacher to take the various strains of more modern dispensational teaching and put it together in a coherent system of notes in the widely read "Scofield Study Bible". In the 1960's the notes were revised and later on at the end of the twentieth century "The Scofield III" Study Bible was produced. Scofield popularized the notion of Israel being God's "earthly people" and the church being His "Heavenly people".
3. Dr. Charles Ryrie taught for many years at Dallas Theological Seminary. His "Ryrie Study Bible" is a very good Study Bible. I by and large have great respect for Dr. Ryrie as a Bible teacher, and by and large agree with him on major points.
4. In the 1960's men such as Dr. Charles Ryrie and Dr. John Walvoord began to soften the distinctions between the Church and Israel and show the unity of redemptive thought running through the Bible. In the 1990's a movement called "Progressive Dispensationalism", further softened the sharpened distinctions, saying that the church is distinguished from Israel in terms of the types of blessings received. Men such as Dr. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock have been the chief proponents of this viewpoint. The Church, in their view, has blessings flowing from its relationship to Christ post cross, whereas Israel, set aside for the moment, will receive blessings in the future (Christ's thousand year reign) that were promised Pre-cross. Both the Church and Israel in Eternity will then enjoy equal blessings.
5. Older forms of dispensational teaching tended either to not emphasize or limited the reading of the Old Testament through the lense of Christ's Person and work. Thankfully newer forms of dispensational thought have considered more seriously the centrality of Christ, especially as He fulfilled the promises to both Abraham and David. As the fulfillment of those covenants, Christ dispenses those blessings spiritually via the New Covenant to the Church and will dispense the physical blessings to Israel when He returns to reign for 1,000 years.
6. Charles Ryrie. "Dispensationalism". Moody Press. 1995
7. Scofield in the first editions of his study Bible made such a sharp distinction between the Old and New Testament that his study notes attached to John 1:17-18 unwittingly communicated two ways of salvation: by way of the law and by way of Christ. Extremes such as these were corrected in later editions.
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