The Cosmic Scope of the Resurrection at Easter

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!

The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ

How does Christ's kingdom come into this world? Do we think of America as a holy nation like Old Testament Israel? Does America advance the influence of righteousness and God's glory through the conquest of surrounding nations? I believe when people are put to this question, they would probably say no - but I think maybe subconsciously, many in America think along these lines. Maybe this is why we think we should have a Christian president, or that schools should allow us to pray and read the Ten Commandments, or why people continually reference back to our "Christian" forefathers - we inwardly believe that the nature of God's kingdom should be external and visible in America. I would like to offer a few Scriptural points to think about -

1. The nature of Christ's kingdom is one of suffering and persecution - "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12).
2. The nature of Christ's kingdom does not come with signs to be observed - "The kingdom of heaven is not coming in ways to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of heaven is in the midst of you" (Luke 17:21).
3. The nature of Christ's kingdom is one of righteousness, peace, and joy - "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men" (Romans 14:17-18).
4. The saints of Christ's kingdom do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against demonic powers - "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:11-12).
5. The saints of Christ's kingdom do not wage war with swords and guns but with the gospel that destroys strongholds - "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

The theocracy of Israel in the Old Testament was established as a typological pattern, meant to teach both Israel in the past and us today what the kingdom of Christ might look like. It is similar in many ways...but not exactly the same. It taught us that God is the sovereign King, that his people are redeemed by the gracious work of his Son, and they obey his Law and worship by means of the Holy Spirit as a royal priesthood in the sanctuary of the Lord forever. The implications of what I am saying is that the kingdom of Christ is present in grace but not yet consummated in glory - we live in the "wilderness" between exodus (being liberated from the bondage of our sin at the resurrection of our Lord) and conquest (the final judgment of sin and evil at Christ's return, along with the vindication of the righteous, the revealing of the sons of God, and the renewal of all things), in the tension of the already and not yet.

As a side note, I spoke of this topic in an earlier post about the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent from Genesis 3. It can be found here.

SDG

Jubilee and the Year of the Lord's Favor

In a time when honing in on the "servant leadership principles" from Paul's epistles or using the teachings of Jesus as a means of "self-improvement" have become normative in our Sunday morning sermon, I believe a more relevant question for the church today is - how can we gain a more holistic understanding of God's workings throughout biblical history (or as Paul would call it in Acts 20:27, "the whole counsel of God")? For example, what do we make of the celebrations observed by the Israelites in the Old Testament?  In an article about preaching Christ from the Old Testament, David Murray describes the purposes of what happens typologically in the OT in this way:

The coming of the Messiah was delayed for many centuries after the Fall so that God could prepare and train His “infant” church for Christ’s coming. And the method of instruction best suited to their state of childhood was teaching through pictures of who and what was to come. By proceeding from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, the future was brought into their present. Through the types’ resemblances to the higher future things, the realities of Christ’s kingdom were made present to their faith, acting as very natural and easy stepping-stones.

One such example is the correlation between the Old Testament celebration of the year of Jubilee and what Jesus referred to as the year of the Lord's favor. Look in Luke 4, after his temptation in the desert, Jesus walks into the synagogue on the Sabbath, opens the scroll to quote a series of Messianic passages from Isaiah, and declares that "today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). See what Jesus says in vv. 18-19a,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has annointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Here the Lord establishes his presence and the treasures he brings with his atoning sacrifce as the fulfillment of the Old Testament regime of the year of Jubilee - the fiftieth year when the trumpet is blown and proclamation is made throughout the whole land of the liberty of slaves, of the recession of debts, and the restoration of possessions to the original families (see Leviticus 25:8-13). But as wonderful as the year of Jubilee was to the Hebrew people, there was a sense that there was something greater to come in the future. A true feeling of relief and rest only comes with Christ - the year of the Lord's favor when the One annointed with God's Spirit would proclaim the infinitely better gospel message of liberty to the slaves of sin and death.

SDG

The Schoolmaster and the Teacher

I read a blog today about the necessity of nuance when teaching and discerning Scripture. It got me to thinking about how we come to understand the truth about God - is it from us "searching" that truth out or is it revealed and taught to us? And if the latter, then from where does that truth come? I believe it has been through progressive revelation that God has disclosed himself (Hebrews 1:1-2). Though it is an imperative for us to receive this revelation by faith (a discussion for another time, perhaps), I think it is God who communicates to man, by whatever manner he chooses. The initiative is all his - we are but his creatures, gratefully receiving his Word.

Paul says that the Law was put forward to Israel in the OT "as a schoolmaster until Christ came" - this term "schoolmaster" (or guardian, Galatians 3:24) is translated in the Greek as paidagogos. It was designed to highlight and restrain transgression, while also foretelling the coming of Christ, the true Teacher. The schoolmaster disciplined the children, restrained evil, and pointed them forward to the future hope.

Jesus says earlier in the gospel account of Matthew that we have one teacher, the Christ (didaskalos, Matthew 23:8). As the one true Teacher of the Church, Jesus is the great revealer of all truth. The law was "but a shadow of the good things to come" (Hebrews 10:1) - whereas, "the substance belongs to Christ" (Colossians 2:17). Where the Law could only teach with types and patterns, the incarnate Word proves to be "the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints" (Colossians 1:26-27).

SDG

Jacob's Ladder and Jesus

In Genesis 28, Jacob has a dream where "there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!" (v. 12). Jacob realized that the ladder symbolized the meeting place between heaven and earth - a reunion between God and man. But it was only a dream, meant to emphasize the promissory oath God gave to Jacob. It looked forward to a day when a mediator would bring about this reality.

Jesus revealed the mystery of Jacob's ladder while speaking to Nathanael in John 1, when he told him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (v. 51). The ladder Jacob envisioned - Jesus identifies as himself (i.e. "the Son of Man"). He is the greater way of access between heaven and earth - the true mediator between God and man. And what better title to give himself, than "the Son of Man" - that title given to the God-man prophesied of in Daniel 7:13-14? The ancient mysteries the prophets of old gazed upon were now being unfolded and revealed to all in Christ. All without distinction are being blessed "with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3).

SDG

Something Greater Than...

I was reading through Matthew 12 last night and came across a phrase repeated three times - "something greater than...", uttered from the mouth of Jesus to his disbelieving audience. Maybe upon a cursory read, this might not mean much, but upon closer examination, looking through the lens of the Hebrew mind that was steeped in OT language, these statements must have been shocking.

First, Jesus says to the Pharisees, "something greater than the temple is here" (Matt. 12:6), in reference to the priests' ministry in the temple on the Sabbath. He also says that he is "the lord of the Sabbath" (v. 8). A couple things must have come to the Pharisees' mind when he said this -

1. The temple is a symbol of God's indwelling presence with Israel - nothing greater than this exists.
2. The Sabbath is declared holy by the Law, and we are all subservient to the Law.

But Jesus says it. The mystery hidden for ages was being revealed right before their eyes. The "true form" (Hebrews 10:1) that Moses saw upon the mountain was the reality standing before the Pharisees that day. The tent that Moses erected served only as a shadow of what he saw on the mount (Heb. 8:5-6). With reference to the Sabbath, Jesus says that the priests themselves were profaning the temple in their service on the Sabbath, and yet, they were still counted guiltless. What the Pharisees did not see was that Jesus was the true form Moses looked upon - the "reality of the good things to come." As "lord of the Sabbath," he then authoritatively interprets the meaning of the Law concerning the Sabbath to them - to bring about abiding rest. But more particularly, the Sabbath is so associated with Jesus' presence that a chapter earlier, he could tell the crowds, "Come to me...and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). So really, the OT institution of the Sabbath merely anticipated the rest we would experience in repenting and believing in Christ.

Second, Jesus tells some of the scribes and Pharisees that "something greater than Jonah is here" (Matt. 12:41), when asked to provide a sign to them. Jesus retells the high points of Jonah's ministry - three days and nights in the belly of the fish and then, the preaching of repentance to the people of Ninevah. The words of Jesus invoked a feeling that he was similar to the prophet in both the message he preached and the fate he would suffer, but on a much greater magnitude. Jonah served merely as a type - both the message Jesus preached and the death he would die would accomplish more than anyone could ever imagine.

Finally, Jesus says that "something greater than Solomon is here" (Matt. 12:42), in reference to the wisdom with which he claimed to speak. The renowned queen of Sheba journeyed all the way to Jerusalem to hear the legendary wisdom of King Solomon - Jesus says that this queen, having heard the wisdom of Solomon, would rise up to condemn the Pharisees for rejecting someone distinctly greater than Solomon. Maybe when Jesus said this, they might have recalled Proverbs 8:22-31 concerning Lady Wisdom (probably written by Solomon himself). Wisdom is personified by the author, saying, "the LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work...when he established the heavens, I was there...when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him....and I was daily his delight." Yes, someone greater than Solomon is here - Wisdom Incarnate. He was with the Father before the creation of all things, and the Pharisees were confronted with him that day - Jesus Christ, our Lord.

SDG