Christ Church

Savior of the World #5

Joe Harby on

INTRODUCTION:

In this series of messages we have been presenting what is, for many, a very different way of looking at the Scriptures. We have been talking about historical optimism, as opposed to the rampant historical pessimism of the modem evangelical world. But we must be careful in using phrases like “way of looking at the Scriptures.” This refers to what is called our hermeneutic, which refers to the art of interpretation, and so we must take some time to consider this. The word comes from Hermes (otherwise known as Mercury), the god of messages. But he was also the god of thieves, which is why we need to be careful.

Now if we presuppose the biblical hermeneutic in order to come to the Bible, then have we really derived it from Scripture? And if we come to the Bible without a hermeneutic in order to learn what our hermeneutic should be, then how can we learn anything? This applies to more things than eschatology, but it certainly applies there.

UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURE:

We must understand the nature of words, the nature of communication: Words are never spoken into a void. All communication presupposes at least a speaker, a message, and a recipient. Communication needs these three elements as a bare minimum. If you assume communication, you are assuming these three things. And without a hermeneutic a man is as deaf as a post.

The Word of God is not spoken into the Void. The Bible is the Word of the self-revealing triune God, who thereby reveals Himself to man. The Bible is not the Word of God suspended in the sky. It is the Word of God to man. Thus we have the three dements necessary to communication—the speaker is God, the message is the Word, the recipient is man. And man, in order to “hear,” must have a built-in hermeneutic, given to him by God. As Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15). Logocentric discourse is therefore inescapable—God, in giving us language, has seen to it.

HERMENEUTICAL DISCIPLES:

So our pattern should be that of allowing the New Testament to provide commentary on what passages in the Old Testament mean. We have the basic hermeneutic already, which is then refined and sanctified as we calibrate it according to Scripture.

For the apostles not only teach us about Jesus. For example, the apostles also teach us about particular passages, as in Deuteronomy, say.

Because our subject is historical optimism, we will be looking at places which deal with this subject, but the process should govern all our studies. Allow the New Testament to

teach you the Old Testament. The Bible teaches Bible—and so let us consider here Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah.

Psalm 2—The second psalm is quoted in multiple places in the New Testament (Acts4:25-26; Heb. 1:5; 5:5; Acts 13*33; Rev. 227; 19:15). The psalm has twelve verses. The first two are quoted in Acts 4 and applied to the crucifixion. God’s response is one of laughter. He then declares Himself concerning His Son. Verse 7 is quoted three times in the New Testament, and in each instance, the reference is to Christ’s becoming something after His completed work. Acts13:33 makes this explicit in the resurrection. In verse8, right after the resurrection, Christ is given the nations. The next verse (9) is quoted at least twice in Revelation; the first time Christ shares His authority with those believers who overcome, and the second time it is applied to Christ alone. The psalm concludes with an appeal to the kings of the earth to make their peace with the Christ.

Isaiah—the great vision of glory and peace is given in Isaiah, and we know it well. The lion will lie down with the lamb. But when will this happen? Let the New Testament tell us. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious” (Is. 11:9-10). Notice how Paul quotes this passage in Romans 15:12. “Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written . . . And again, Isaiah says: ‘There shall be a root of Jesse; and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope’” (Rom. 15:8-9, 12). Simply put, Paul tells us that Isaiah’s vision began to come to fruition in his day, in his mission to the Gentiles.

Deuteronomy—Through Moses God promises the people of Israel a prophet like Moses. This is quoted by Stephen in Acts 7:37 and applied to Christ. Acts 322-23 makes the same identification, but with more information. “Jesus Christ . . . whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities” (Acts 3:19-26)

The psalmist again—Psalm 110 is also quoted many times in the New Testament (Matt: 22:44; Mk 1236; Lk 20:42-43; Acts 2:34-35; Heb. 1:13; 5:6; 7:17, 21). The psalm ends with Christ crushing the rulers of the whole earth. But how is this to be done? In the gospels Christ quotes the psalm to show that David’s Lord is also David’s son. But in Acts2:33-35, the passage is applied to the present reign of Christ at the right hand of the

Father. The rest of the quotations refer to Him as both prince and priest in terms of a present reality. This means that He will remain at God’s right hand until His gospel work is accomplished.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Read Full Article

Savior of the World #4

jtgrauke on

INTRODUCTION:

Many Christians want to avoid millennial wrangles, and in an important sense, they are quite right. It makes little sense to fight with one another about when the divine peace will come. But other Christians want to avoid debate on the subject because they believe it to be unimportant.

“After all, is not ‘the millennium’ found only in one chapter of the book of Revelation, a notoriously difficult chapter in a notoriously difficult book? Shouldn’t we just walk away from all such fractious debates?” If we were limited to the word millennium, this might have some weight. But what happens when we consider the word kingdom?

THE TEXT:

“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Matt. 4:23; cf. 9:35).

PREACHING THE KINGDOM:

The kingdom of God is simply an immense subject—as great as the love of God, which is to say, as great as the gospel. And a central theme in scriptural references to the kingdom would be what we would call eschatological. This means our gospel preaching must contain that eschatological element if it is to be biblical. But how often do modem Christian evangelists “preach the kingdom?”

We are to preach a kingdom gospel—“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). We are to declare kingdom repentance—“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at

hand!’” (Matt. 3:2)

Our teaching should be kingdom teaching—“to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

Our sermons should consist of kingdom preaching—“But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (Acts 8:12; 20:25; 28:31).

When we reason with unbelievers, we should use kingdom apologetics—“And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8).

SO WHAT IS THE KINGDOM?

The kingdom of God is nothing less than the rule and realm of the Lord Jesus Christ, manifested in history according to His will and pleasure. Is He not the king? Is this not how we pray? “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 )?

His good pleasure is that His kingdom start small and gradually grow. “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his held, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches’” (Matt. 13:31-32).

When the kingdom has grown to its appointed size, the Lord will come. “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:24-26).

In short, when you have a king, there must be a kingdom. Jesus is that king. Jesus is our king.

NARROW THE WAY?

As attractive as all this may sound, doesn’t the Bible contain any contrary verses? It does contain passages which may look contrary— at first glance. This would include passages like, “Narrow is the way . . .” But we need to learn the ways of the kingdom.

“And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11).

Consider Luke 13:22-30. The narrow gate was for the remnant of the Jews of the first century, and then the Gentiles would stream into the kingdom. Jesus was asked if only a few would be saved. His answer was “that’s right—few of you.” But after you have rejected the one who taught in your streets, a broad way will be opened for all the nations, and they will stream in to sit down with Abraham in the kingdom. “Few of you. Many Gentiles.”

In another place, Jesus teaches the Jews, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matt. 21:43). The doctrine of the remnant is not a universal truth about the kingdom. It was a truth that was grounded in the first century rejection of the Messiah by the people of the Messiah. Only

a faithful remnant, prophesied by Isaiah, accepted Him. And this was a blessing for the entire world. The narrow way is the reason the way is broad.

CHARACTER OF THE KINGDOM:

This great kingdom is not an earthly kingdom established by carnal rule. It is not just another kingdom; as a kingdom it is different in kind—“now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36). It is not from here, but it most certainly is for here.

Read Full Article

Savior of the World #3

Ben Zornes on

Introduction:

As Scripture instructs, we must be adult in our understanding. But we must also cultivate what Luke records in the books of Acts when he says that the early Christians ate their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart. We may be refreshed with both when we come to understand the water of life.Plant From Bible

The Text:

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:10–13).

Summary of the Text:

When did this happen? It is easy to read superficially and think that it is all still in our future. But note three things. The day of the Lord is the kind of thing that Peter says has already happened once(v. 6). Noah lived through an exciting time, but he did not live through the dissolution of the space/time continuum. Second, Jude talks about the same thing, citing Peter’s words, and is plainly talking about his generation (Jude 17-19). And last, this meltdown ushers in the new heavens and new earth, and the prophecies concerning them have a time stamp on them.

According to Promise:

We know enough about scriptural language that we do not think the dissolution of the old heavens and the old earth consists of a meltdown of the periodic table. What we mean by “elements” is not what they meant by elements. Peter’s word is stoicheia, which I would submit should be referred to the elementary “gods”—earth, water, air, and fire. Plato was perhaps the first to describe these four with the word stoicheia, along with aether, a possible fifth element.

Before redemption, mankind was in bondage to such elementals as Paul says in Gal. 4:3-8. There is perhaps a reference to two of them in Eph. 2:2 and Rev. 14:18. We have now been set free from them—their power has melted away.

But what does this passage mean positively? The interpretive key is found in Peter’s phrase “according to His promise.” Where were we promised a new heavens and a new earth? Where does the Old Testament talk about this?

Isaiah’s Glory:

At the great conclusion of the book of Isaiah, the prophet tells how reprobate Israelites would be rejected, and the Gentiles brought in. “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, Unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people” (Is. 65:l-2a). God promises to call His elect by another name—Christian, as it turns out—and the basis of this is His promise. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind” (Is. 65:15-17). This is where the promise which Peter is claiming is made (Is. 66:22).

Among other things, what do people do in the new heavens and the new earth? Well, if we read our Bibles thoughtfully, we should notice that they die (Is. 65:20). This means that the new heavens and new earth should not be confounded with the eternal state after the last resurrection. After the last resurrection, there is no death. We are in the new heavens and new earth now.

But do not look for a material fulfillment. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?’” (Is. 66:1). We are the temple (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19), we are the living stones (1 Pet. 2:4-5); we are the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 9).

Living Water:

When Jesus teaches us about living water, we have all learned enough scriptural truth not to look in the bucket. This “water” is everlasting life (John 4:13-15); this “water” is the Holy Spirit of God (John 7:37-39). “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” Most notably, Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But where does Scripture talk about rivers of living water?

Ezekiel’s Temple:

“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east . . . and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed . . . When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live . . . Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine” (Ez. 47:1-12).

This river of Ezekiel is the Holy Spirit; it is everlasting life, and it flows out over the threshold of the Christian Church.

The Bridal City:

Now the parallels between Ezekiel’s temple and the New Jerusalem make it dear they are a vision of the same thing—the holy Christian church. But how does John introduce his discussion of it?

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev. 21:1).

The last two chapters of the Revelation are a glorious description of a justified and perfect Church, with healing for the nations.

Come:

“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). This water of life was not given to individuals so they could keep a thimbleful in their hearts. This water is meant to inundate the world.

Why were these waters sent? So that the world would be filled up with Jesus, as the waters cover the sea (Is. 11:9; Hab. 2:14). The knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea, and Jesus is the knowledge of the Lord (Eph. 1:17-23).

Read Full Article