Today is Good Friday, the day in accordance with the Jewish lunar calendar when Christ was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. I know there will be devoted Christians everywhere who will get slightly offended when the world commercializes the idea of Easter for their capitalistic benefit. They respond with the patented answer, "Easter is about Christ's crucifixion and resurrection!" I agree wholeheartedly, but, in the same breath, Easter is a celebration with cosmic implications - not just concerning the resurrection in isolation, but what the resurrection means and represents throughout the ages. To be sure, we as Christians rejoice at the idea of the empty tomb, not because of the act in and of itself, but because it is the wonderfully anticipated climax of all the promises of God in the Old Testament. The resurrected Christ is the true son of Abraham through whom all the nations are blessed, the Passover Lamb offered up for the sins of many, the true Temple where God meets with man to forgive transgression, and the true son of David through whom the Lord establishes his kingdom forever. But in Scripture, there is yet another event tied in with the cosmic story of Easter Sunday - namely, that of the story of our origins, of Adam and Eve in the garden.
The resurrected Christ is the second Adam who crushes the serpent's skull. Something mysterious occurred in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned. It had cosmic implications for not just Adam and Eve but all of human posterity afterwards. All of humanity without exception born into this world would be born into sin, under the curse of the first Adam. As a result of this event, the Lord told the ancient serpent of old that there would be an Offspring from Eve that would rise up and crush his skull (Genesis 3:15), that he would deal Satan such a blow as to render him impotent. John expands on this in Revelation by saying that it was Christ who dealt this blow to Satan by the powerful workings of his own resurrection. John records that on the grounds of his own blood, Jesus cast down the ancient serpent from heaven, that he might not accuse the brothers in the courtroom of the Lord any longer. Prior to this, the great Deceiver accused the brothers day and night to the Lord (see Job 1) and deceived the nations from knowing the one true God, but now, by the power of his resurrection, Jesus has crushed the serpent's skull, rendered his efforts ultimately ineffective, and confined him to gloomy chains (Revelation 12:9-11, 20:1-3). But that is not all - Paul says further that the second Adam also succeeds where the first Adam failed. Where the first Adam disobeyed, Christ perfectly submitted to the will of his Father. And in this one act of righteousness - namely, that of offering himself up as a penal substitute for sinful man on the cross - he now gives grace that abounds to eternal life for those who by faith identify themselves with him (Romans 5:12-21).
With the resurrection, the second Adam reverses the curse of the first Adam. Adam's disobedience pervades into Israel's own story, as they move from exodus through the wilderness to attempt to claim the promised land. It was because of Israel's own disobedience, echoing the failure of their father Adam in the garden, that they could not maintain their kingdom habitation in Canaan. The second Adam and true Israel of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, succeeded where his historical types had failed. His bodily resurrection from the grave, conquering sin and death and thereby inaugurating his kingdom into this world, comes to us in the powerful message of the gospel today.
Happy Easter - soli Deo gloria!
Showing posts with label Promise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Promise. Show all posts
Friday, April 6, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Covenant of Promise - Abraham, being saved by faith, and Genesis 15
Paul wrote a convicting indictment to the church at Galatia - they were adhering to a gospel that was false...a gospel that Paul did not teach them. If you have ever read the letter to the Galatians, Paul comes right out of the gates in chapter 1 to let the church know how upset he is about the circumstances in which they put themselves, and then, he spends the rest of the letter fleshing out his argument - namely, that there is a significant difference between looking to the Mosaic covenant for life and looking to the promise given to Abraham for life. Before looking at what Paul says in Galatians 3, a quick glance at Genesis 15 might help shed some light on things.
In Genesis 15, Abram (not yet called by the name "Abraham") is pondering the promise made to him by God that he would bear a child in his old age and that he would be a "blessing to all the nations" (Genesis 12). God assures him again that he will fulfill his promise to him, in due time. Abram wants a sign. In ancient Near Eastern treaties, those who establish a covenant together ratify the covenant by a ceremonial sign. This ceremony is performed here by God in Genesis 15. God tells Abram to take different animals (i.e. a heifer, female goat, ram, turtledove, and young pigeon), cut them in half, and lay the halves one against the other, creating a bloody alleyway. What typically happens next is the two parties who have covenanted with each other ratify this agreement by walking side-by-side through the cut halves, thereby invoking a curse upon themselves, as if to say, "if my party does not fulfill all the requirements established in this covenant, then let me become as these cut up animals." This same ceremony is mentioned in Jeremiah 34, as God charges the leaders of Israel for not obeying his covenant. He says, "the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts..." (Jeremiah 34:18). These Israelite leaders confirmed the agreement between them and Yahweh by walking through a split calf - so when they transgressed his covenant, the curse they invoked during the ceremony came upon them.
The same scenario is established here - only God does not allow Abram to walk with him through the cut up sacrifices. God causes a deep sleep to fall upon Abram (Gen. 15:12), so that only God walks through the sacrifices. Verse 17 explains it this way, "when the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces." The smoking fire pot and flaming torch are symbolic of God's glory - resembling the pillar of cloud and fire that would later lead Israel through the wilderness.
So what exactly is going on here? God burdens the entire weight of the covenant on himself. If either side fails to adhere to the requirements of the covenant, God will bruise himself. Consequently, he invokes the curse upon himself. The fact that Abram "believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6) has now been sealed with this covenant ceremony where God takes full responsibility for its complete fulfillment. This is what theologians traditionally call the covenant of promise. Now let us go back to what Paul says to the Galatians who are struggling with trying to be Christians by looking to the Mosaic law for their eternal inheritance.
Paul says in Galatians 3:15-18, "To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise." Paul says, in essence, "Galatians, why are you looking to the law for life, as if that is God's normative manner for saving his people? If God made a promise to Abraham - a promise made 430 years before the covenant made with Moses - then that promise is not annulled, seeing that it has already been ratified by God. The promise made to Abraham still stands today!"
What do we learn here? We learn that although the Old Testament people of Israel were given the law by Moses, "the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.'" (Galatians 3:12). The promise established with Abraham transcends the Mosaic standard, so that all people, Jew and Gentile, "might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24b) and "there is neither Jew nor Greek...for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" (Gal. 3:28-29).
SDG
In Genesis 15, Abram (not yet called by the name "Abraham") is pondering the promise made to him by God that he would bear a child in his old age and that he would be a "blessing to all the nations" (Genesis 12). God assures him again that he will fulfill his promise to him, in due time. Abram wants a sign. In ancient Near Eastern treaties, those who establish a covenant together ratify the covenant by a ceremonial sign. This ceremony is performed here by God in Genesis 15. God tells Abram to take different animals (i.e. a heifer, female goat, ram, turtledove, and young pigeon), cut them in half, and lay the halves one against the other, creating a bloody alleyway. What typically happens next is the two parties who have covenanted with each other ratify this agreement by walking side-by-side through the cut halves, thereby invoking a curse upon themselves, as if to say, "if my party does not fulfill all the requirements established in this covenant, then let me become as these cut up animals." This same ceremony is mentioned in Jeremiah 34, as God charges the leaders of Israel for not obeying his covenant. He says, "the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts..." (Jeremiah 34:18). These Israelite leaders confirmed the agreement between them and Yahweh by walking through a split calf - so when they transgressed his covenant, the curse they invoked during the ceremony came upon them.
The same scenario is established here - only God does not allow Abram to walk with him through the cut up sacrifices. God causes a deep sleep to fall upon Abram (Gen. 15:12), so that only God walks through the sacrifices. Verse 17 explains it this way, "when the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces." The smoking fire pot and flaming torch are symbolic of God's glory - resembling the pillar of cloud and fire that would later lead Israel through the wilderness.
So what exactly is going on here? God burdens the entire weight of the covenant on himself. If either side fails to adhere to the requirements of the covenant, God will bruise himself. Consequently, he invokes the curse upon himself. The fact that Abram "believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6) has now been sealed with this covenant ceremony where God takes full responsibility for its complete fulfillment. This is what theologians traditionally call the covenant of promise. Now let us go back to what Paul says to the Galatians who are struggling with trying to be Christians by looking to the Mosaic law for their eternal inheritance.
Paul says in Galatians 3:15-18, "To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise." Paul says, in essence, "Galatians, why are you looking to the law for life, as if that is God's normative manner for saving his people? If God made a promise to Abraham - a promise made 430 years before the covenant made with Moses - then that promise is not annulled, seeing that it has already been ratified by God. The promise made to Abraham still stands today!"
What do we learn here? We learn that although the Old Testament people of Israel were given the law by Moses, "the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.'" (Galatians 3:12). The promise established with Abraham transcends the Mosaic standard, so that all people, Jew and Gentile, "might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24b) and "there is neither Jew nor Greek...for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" (Gal. 3:28-29).
SDG
Monday, January 30, 2012
The Significance of Seth
Seth is often glossed over in Genesis. We go from Adam and Eve to Cain and Abel, skip forward to Noah and the flood, maybe touch on Babel, and then go ahead with the story of God's calling of Abraham. But Seth is a figure to consider - especially within the context of Luke's mentioning of him in Jesus' genealogy (see Luke 3:38, Jesus is the "son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God").
Things are not looking so good as the reader moves from Adam and Eve's sin to Cain's murder of his brother Abel, and then, to the corruptness of Lamech. As Moses in the wilderness unfolds the drama to Israel of their origins, the people might have been left with a feeling of despair - where is our hope? But then Moses ends Genesis 4 with the transition, "And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, 'God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him'...at that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD" (Gen. 4:25-26). The child of hope is born. His presence was a source of comfort to Adam and Eve, because previously evil seemed to have impeded the purposes of God. But the promise that one day Eve's offspring would rise up to crush the serpent's skull would not be thwarted (Gen. 3:15). Seth's birth brought about the beginning of true religion - that of calling upon the LORD's name.
But how do we know that Seth is special? If one continues to read into Genesis 5, Moses explains. Adam was created in the image and likeness of God. This image is composed of both structure and function. In the fall, while we retained the structure (i.e. intellect, reason, speech, physical and emotional faculties, etc.), our image no longer functioned in such a way as to glorify God. They were redirected to serve the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1). All men born after Adam retained this same perverted image. But now we read that while Cain may have retained the image, the likeness and image of Adam were particularly reflected in Seth (Gen. 5:3). He is distinctly different from Cain in that it pleased God to have the younger son, Seth, be the heir of the divine promise instead of Cain. Cain was passed over, while Seth would be listed among the chosen vessels to carry the genealogy of our Savior to fruition.
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