In these modern times, we live as though we are in the ‘Woods between the Worlds.’(1)
It seems like we are in an intermediate, secular state surrounded by stories mediated through movies, books, games, imagination, etc. But we live in a setting that is hazy and dreary, no idea what our role is and how to accomplish it. So we usually react in two ways: One way is that we seek to find ourselves in the stories and imitate them, usually to the detriment of ourselves and others. Another way is that we invest ourselves into the stories as much as possible, trying to escape our world into some fantasy.
So the Gospel might be interpreted by many to be just another story among others; just something to play with on Sunday or dive into for relief from reality. But the Gospel portrays differently.
According to the Gospel given from what we as Christians call God’s word, we were in state of cosmic rebellion. The Creator of the universe, who we call God, had created a perfect universe by His Word without pain and death. All creation obeyed the ordinances of God. To crown His creation, God made a symbol of His being to glorify Himself in worship. He made Adam in the persons of man and woman in a garden and made him a steward over creation.
But an evil being, filled with envy and malice towards God, rebelled and invaded creation in the form of a serpent. With cunning speech he beguiled the woman and used her to provoke the man to rebel as well, in hopes that they would be like God. We too, in the person of Adam, rebelled; in response, God cursed creation and death entered into the world. God essentially gave us the silent treatment; we could not have an intimate relationship with Him.
After a cycle of rebellion and restoration and a disappointing monarch, God raised up a man patterned after His own heart, David as Israel’s king. David had demonstrated his passion for God and His people first with slaying of Goliath the giant with a stone from his sling. He wrote many songs about God and His works, including Psalm 110, the most quoted passage in the New Testament. He filled many roles as a king, a priest, and a prophet. Yet his failures proved him to be a mortal sinner; but prophets since then looked to David’s reign as a model of a redeemed creation and longed for when his Descendant would restore the throne and finish what David started.
God then split His nation into two: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Israel quickly descended into idolatry; Judah fluctuated in faith and eventually fell. At this point the world stage was changing and empires were raging to be preeminent around the Mediterranean Sea. Through His prophets, God spoke not only to Israel and Judah but surrounding nations; He revealed more about Himself and the coming Messiah. After Assyria fell, Babylon arose; then the Medes and the Persians, then the Greeks, then finally the Romans.
At this point when time was at its fullest, God stepped from glory and took on human flesh. First, He sent His angel Gabriel to announce His conception and the rise of His Kingdom to the Virgin Mary. God chose to be born under the law of a woman in the town of Bethlehem during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He was called Jesus because He will save His people from their rebellion towards God and one another.
When He grew up in faithfulness and obedience, Jesus submitted Himself to baptism by John the Baptist, inaugurating His earthly ministry and proving God’s approval of Him as the Anointed One, the Christ. (It was at this point that God began to fully reveal Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.) Afterwards Jesus was driven into the wilderness; and was tested by Satan the Slanderer for forty days. Jesus proved Himself obedient to the word of God and began proclaiming the arrival of His Kingdom; He chose twelve followers to be His disciples. He demonstrated His Messianic office by many signs and wonders such as healing the misfortunate, casting out demons, and proclaiming audacious, incredible claims about Himself yet being virtuous.
By being obedient to the will of the Father and to His scripture to the fullest, Jesus got in trouble with the organized religion of His day. At this time in history, Israel after the flesh had returned from Babylonian captivity, rebuilt the temple, and been patiently waiting for the Messiah to come. Despite a robust commitment to monotheism, Israel had been building an anti-biblical tradition in how they followed the law and performed their rituals. Jesus told the religious leaders that the same satanic rebellion that Israel behaved throughout its history was incurring in them as well. These charges, as well as His audacious claims to be the I AM, God Himself, incited them to bring Him by the betrayal of one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot to the Romans.
Although the procurator Pontius Pilate declared Jesus to innocent, the crowd demanded Him to be given the worst punishment that the Romans had, namely crucifixion. By God’s permission, they prevailed and Jesus was crucified on the cross, in fulfillment of the promises of God to His people. The disciples despaired and feared for their lives, not understanding why Jesus came to Israel.
But God did something that changed the course of history and displaced the spiritual powers that reigned; He raised Jesus from the dead, proving Him to be the Messiah, God’s equal. God stirred the hearts of the women to visit Jesus’ tomb. Despite their lack of credibility in the eyes of society at that time, the women became the first witnesses to see Jesus alive after His death. Then in series He appeared to His disciples as well as a crowd of over five hundred people. He expounded to His disciples from the law and the prophets concerning His suffering and glory. After He declared that He had given authority in heaven and on earth, He commissioned the disciples to baptize and teach the nations and ascended into His Father’s presence.
Then Jesus sent His Spirit on the day of Pentecost; The Apostle Peter, once a cowardly fisherman, had morphed into a bold fisher of men and he proclaimed the message that Jesus had arisen, pricking the hearts of the Jewish crowds. When God gave His law on Sinai to Israel, three thousand people died because of their sin; when God gave His Holy Spirit on Pentecost, three thousand people were saved because of Christ’s righteousness; this is the contrast between the age of flesh and the age of the Spirit. Persecution arose, spreading disciples across the known world; and the Church, despite its flaws, turned the world upside-down and proclaimed the Gospel to this present day.
God has breathed out a collection of writings from His prophets and apostles in what we call today the Bible. In these Scriptures we have all that we need to know Jesus Christ and keep His commandments. Creation is still awaiting the manifestation of the children of God; we still do not see all things under the Lordship of Christ. But we do see Jesus who purchased us with His blood and overcame the principalities and powers in high places. He calls all humanity to turn away from their rebellion, to follow Him in discipleship, and to seek the beauty of seeing His glory. Will you?
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 ESV)
Footnotes:
But God had a plan before time began to save a particular people to the praise of the glory of His grace; and to undo the works of that Slanderer, Adversary (or as he is often called today, Satan) in the created order. First, the Lord revealed Himself to Abraham and made a bonding contract (called a covenant)
(2)
that through his descendant all the families of the earth would be blessed. God delivered faithful Abraham’s descendants through Moses out of Egypt with signs and wonders; He gave them the law to know Him and His commandments and made them a kingdom of priests to Him. Despite a disappointing beginning of disobedience, Israel was lead by God through Joshua to destroy the wicked Canaanites and inherit the land.
After a cycle of rebellion and restoration and a disappointing monarch, God raised up a man patterned after His own heart, David as Israel’s king. David had demonstrated his passion for God and His people first with slaying of Goliath the giant with a stone from his sling. He wrote many songs about God and His works, including Psalm 110, the most quoted passage in the New Testament. He filled many roles as a king, a priest, and a prophet. Yet his failures proved him to be a mortal sinner; but prophets since then looked to David’s reign as a model of a redeemed creation and longed for when his Descendant would restore the throne and finish what David started.
After David came Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. He took off where David left and built a temple to offer God a physical house to inhabit, something even Solomon knew was silly.
(3)
Like David, Solomon fell into a life of indulgence and tyranny, his most serious sin being seduced to idolatry by pagan wives.
God then split His nation into two: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Israel quickly descended into idolatry; Judah fluctuated in faith and eventually fell. At this point the world stage was changing and empires were raging to be preeminent around the Mediterranean Sea. Through His prophets, God spoke not only to Israel and Judah but surrounding nations; He revealed more about Himself and the coming Messiah. After Assyria fell, Babylon arose; then the Medes and the Persians, then the Greeks, then finally the Romans.
At this point when time was at its fullest, God stepped from glory and took on human flesh. First, He sent His angel Gabriel to announce His conception and the rise of His Kingdom to the Virgin Mary. God chose to be born under the law of a woman in the town of Bethlehem during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He was called Jesus because He will save His people from their rebellion towards God and one another.
When He grew up in faithfulness and obedience, Jesus submitted Himself to baptism by John the Baptist, inaugurating His earthly ministry and proving God’s approval of Him as the Anointed One, the Christ. (It was at this point that God began to fully reveal Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.) Afterwards Jesus was driven into the wilderness; and was tested by Satan the Slanderer for forty days. Jesus proved Himself obedient to the word of God and began proclaiming the arrival of His Kingdom; He chose twelve followers to be His disciples. He demonstrated His Messianic office by many signs and wonders such as healing the misfortunate, casting out demons, and proclaiming audacious, incredible claims about Himself yet being virtuous.
By being obedient to the will of the Father and to His scripture to the fullest, Jesus got in trouble with the organized religion of His day. At this time in history, Israel after the flesh had returned from Babylonian captivity, rebuilt the temple, and been patiently waiting for the Messiah to come. Despite a robust commitment to monotheism, Israel had been building an anti-biblical tradition in how they followed the law and performed their rituals. Jesus told the religious leaders that the same satanic rebellion that Israel behaved throughout its history was incurring in them as well. These charges, as well as His audacious claims to be the I AM, God Himself, incited them to bring Him by the betrayal of one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot to the Romans.
Although the procurator Pontius Pilate declared Jesus to innocent, the crowd demanded Him to be given the worst punishment that the Romans had, namely crucifixion. By God’s permission, they prevailed and Jesus was crucified on the cross, in fulfillment of the promises of God to His people. The disciples despaired and feared for their lives, not understanding why Jesus came to Israel.
But God did something that changed the course of history and displaced the spiritual powers that reigned; He raised Jesus from the dead, proving Him to be the Messiah, God’s equal. God stirred the hearts of the women to visit Jesus’ tomb. Despite their lack of credibility in the eyes of society at that time, the women became the first witnesses to see Jesus alive after His death. Then in series He appeared to His disciples as well as a crowd of over five hundred people. He expounded to His disciples from the law and the prophets concerning His suffering and glory. After He declared that He had given authority in heaven and on earth, He commissioned the disciples to baptize and teach the nations and ascended into His Father’s presence.
Then Jesus sent His Spirit on the day of Pentecost; The Apostle Peter, once a cowardly fisherman, had morphed into a bold fisher of men and he proclaimed the message that Jesus had arisen, pricking the hearts of the Jewish crowds. When God gave His law on Sinai to Israel, three thousand people died because of their sin; when God gave His Holy Spirit on Pentecost, three thousand people were saved because of Christ’s righteousness; this is the contrast between the age of flesh and the age of the Spirit. Persecution arose, spreading disciples across the known world; and the Church, despite its flaws, turned the world upside-down and proclaimed the Gospel to this present day.
God has breathed out a collection of writings from His prophets and apostles in what we call today the Bible. In these Scriptures we have all that we need to know Jesus Christ and keep His commandments. Creation is still awaiting the manifestation of the children of God; we still do not see all things under the Lordship of Christ. But we do see Jesus who purchased us with His blood and overcame the principalities and powers in high places. He calls all humanity to turn away from their rebellion, to follow Him in discipleship, and to seek the beauty of seeing His glory. Will you?
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 ESV)
Footnotes:
1. C.S. Lewis "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew"
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2. It is true that there are similarities between a covenant and a contract. (e.g. agreement, terms, etc.) But covenants in Scripture have a more federal structure and can last generations. So it is very inaccurate to describe the Hebrew covenants as merely a "contract."
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3. "But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!" (2 Chronicles 6:18 ESV)
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