"But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away."
In a certain sense, you will never fully understand the New Testament unless you understand the Old Testament. The Scriptures of the Old Testament find their fulfillment in the new. Each and every text in the Old Testament is a theological statement about God, whether it be Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. However, you will also never fully understand the Old Testament without the New Testament.
Paul says in this verse that without Christ, there is a veil over the "old covenant", meaning the promises made to God's people Israel (and the entire world through them). There is truth beyond the original truth and beyond the historical contexts. Actually, it would be a mistake to read the Old Testament as simply an accounting of the history of the Jewish people. The Jews did not so painstaking preserve the Scriptures over thousands of years just to have a record of their history. Rather, what they recorded were God's self revelation through His interactions with his people. Each and every text is a theological statement, not a historical synopsis. And without the Spirit of Christ, no one will understand the greater overarching truth of God because Christ is the full revelation of an invisible Father.
So then, just as every text reveals something about Christ, Christ reveals everything about all texts.
Showing posts with label theology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theology. Show all posts
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Deuteronomy 29:29
"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."
Our very knowledge of God is bounded by only the extent to which he has revealed himself to us. There are many great mysteries far too great for above our comprehension. What he has revealed is all we needed to know for our salvation and benefit. More importantly, God's truth as it is revealed through God's Word (both the Incarnate Christ and the Scriptures) belongs to us and our children.
God in the fullness of his revelation is a God for us purposed in Jesus Christ. Theology, therefore, is just a restatement of what God has already said of himself. We know nothing unless God reveals it, for the secret things are his. Theology is synonymous with "Christianity" because Christ is the image of the invisible God and the fullness of God in Man. So every Christian is a theologian for Christ is revealed to each one.
Truly, because of the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we can know God in the same way God knows himself, if only in miniature. And yet, even with all this revelation, it is but the tip of an infinite God for we still say with all sincerity, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Rom 11:33)
Our very knowledge of God is bounded by only the extent to which he has revealed himself to us. There are many great mysteries far too great for above our comprehension. What he has revealed is all we needed to know for our salvation and benefit. More importantly, God's truth as it is revealed through God's Word (both the Incarnate Christ and the Scriptures) belongs to us and our children.
God in the fullness of his revelation is a God for us purposed in Jesus Christ. Theology, therefore, is just a restatement of what God has already said of himself. We know nothing unless God reveals it, for the secret things are his. Theology is synonymous with "Christianity" because Christ is the image of the invisible God and the fullness of God in Man. So every Christian is a theologian for Christ is revealed to each one.
Truly, because of the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we can know God in the same way God knows himself, if only in miniature. And yet, even with all this revelation, it is but the tip of an infinite God for we still say with all sincerity, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Rom 11:33)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Revelation 3:15-16
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
I have heard these words preached twice in my life. The first time I was a teenager in Catholic Mass and the message went something like this, "God wants you to be so completely for Him or completely against Him. Those who are lukewarm he will vomit out of his mouth (i.e. reject as something vile)." I said to myself, "If God is this divisive, then I will be against him. I do not know him well enough to be for him."
The second time I heard the message, I was a young man who had just received Christ in college and joined a new church. It went like this, "God wants you to be useful. Cold water is good for some things and hot water is good for others, but there really is no use for lukewarm water." The message was healing. It was gospel. This is the difference in proper study of God's word.
So my friends, be careful of every single word you say. Think theologically. Think about what exactly it is you are saying about God lest you speak lies and slander His holy name by which you are saved. You never know who might be listening lest you cause one of these little ones to stumble.
I have heard these words preached twice in my life. The first time I was a teenager in Catholic Mass and the message went something like this, "God wants you to be so completely for Him or completely against Him. Those who are lukewarm he will vomit out of his mouth (i.e. reject as something vile)." I said to myself, "If God is this divisive, then I will be against him. I do not know him well enough to be for him."
The second time I heard the message, I was a young man who had just received Christ in college and joined a new church. It went like this, "God wants you to be useful. Cold water is good for some things and hot water is good for others, but there really is no use for lukewarm water." The message was healing. It was gospel. This is the difference in proper study of God's word.
So my friends, be careful of every single word you say. Think theologically. Think about what exactly it is you are saying about God lest you speak lies and slander His holy name by which you are saved. You never know who might be listening lest you cause one of these little ones to stumble.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Isaiah 45:22-23
"Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the Earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear"
God is self existent and self sufficient. God has life in and of himself. Everything God does is an act of grace because God does not have to do anything. He is perfect and content as he is and everything he does is thus "for his good pleasure". (Eph 1) God can never fail, and thus his grace never fails.
At any given moment, we are always already immersed in God's grace, our own existence a manifestation of it. However we do not realize it just as a fish does not understand that it is wet. There is only One God by which we can be saved for only one exists and as surely as the LORD lives, he is God over all people. It is only when we recognize and confess grace through the revelation of God that we are brought to faith by God and thus salvation.
He swears by himself because there is nothing greater to swear by. He is who He is and the only prerequisite for his being is his being the great unchanging "I AM" God's existence is an essential characteristic. He cannot "not be" for he is existence in and of itself.
all you ends of the Earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear"
God is self existent and self sufficient. God has life in and of himself. Everything God does is an act of grace because God does not have to do anything. He is perfect and content as he is and everything he does is thus "for his good pleasure". (Eph 1) God can never fail, and thus his grace never fails.
At any given moment, we are always already immersed in God's grace, our own existence a manifestation of it. However we do not realize it just as a fish does not understand that it is wet. There is only One God by which we can be saved for only one exists and as surely as the LORD lives, he is God over all people. It is only when we recognize and confess grace through the revelation of God that we are brought to faith by God and thus salvation.
He swears by himself because there is nothing greater to swear by. He is who He is and the only prerequisite for his being is his being the great unchanging "I AM" God's existence is an essential characteristic. He cannot "not be" for he is existence in and of itself.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Daniel 7:13-14
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
"Who do people say the Son of Man is?" was Jesus's first question, no doubt with this verse in mind. Was it John the Baptist? Elijah? Jeremiah or some other prophet? No doubt this question was more than likely a hot topic among Rabbi's and Jews of the age.
"Who do you think the Son of Man is?" Jesus's second question should've logically followed from the first, but his actual question "Who do you say I am?" seems to both teach and inquire from Peter. A rhetorical question, however Peter's response seems to catch Jesus off his guard.
"You are the Christ, Son of the Living God." You might have expected Peter to say "You are the Son of Man." in typical Sunday School fashion where "Jesus" is the answer. Peter doesn't say Jesus is the Son of Man, but Jesus calls him blessed because God has revealed to Him this truth. Jesus is not only the Son of Man, but the Son of the Living God, a mysterious marriage of earthly and divine.
Amazing!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Jeremiah 32:27
"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything to hard for me?"
Do you know what ultimate power is? It isn't the ability to do whatever it is you want, rather it is the ability to accomplish whatever you set out to do without fail. This is the Omnipotence of our God, that his will is sovereign over all other wills, powers, and principalities. That is to say, ultimately all wills are made to accomplish God's will.
When God sets out to create for himself mankind in his image, he does so knowing of our inevitable rebellion. And still he creates us because he is sovereign, because he knew he could do it. He sent his Son as the express means by which his will would be fulfilled in the world, that namely fully free human beings would come to love their creator God, that from them he would get Glory for himself through his awesome works. Creation and the fall were just the beginning of God's plan to create for himself a kingdom of believers.
God has promised salvation to all those who love him and has given us his spirit as a deposit and guarantee of what is to come. It is not our place to question how God chooses to act. Can the clay criticize the potter? We don’t always know how God accomplishes his will but we can be assured of this: As surely as the LORD lives, He will do it.
Do you know what ultimate power is? It isn't the ability to do whatever it is you want, rather it is the ability to accomplish whatever you set out to do without fail. This is the Omnipotence of our God, that his will is sovereign over all other wills, powers, and principalities. That is to say, ultimately all wills are made to accomplish God's will.
When God sets out to create for himself mankind in his image, he does so knowing of our inevitable rebellion. And still he creates us because he is sovereign, because he knew he could do it. He sent his Son as the express means by which his will would be fulfilled in the world, that namely fully free human beings would come to love their creator God, that from them he would get Glory for himself through his awesome works. Creation and the fall were just the beginning of God's plan to create for himself a kingdom of believers.
God has promised salvation to all those who love him and has given us his spirit as a deposit and guarantee of what is to come. It is not our place to question how God chooses to act. Can the clay criticize the potter? We don’t always know how God accomplishes his will but we can be assured of this: As surely as the LORD lives, He will do it.
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