The Bible is big; and long. There are a lot of words and I have never read them all. But, in going through some of these prophets and their role in the Bible, I have seen and read scripture that I have never even thought about reading. Who reads Malachi? or Zephaniah? In all my overlooking them, I thought I was missing out on dusty words of ancient prophets. BUT what I was missing, was Jesus in all of this. He is the one the prophets all spoke of, and He is the one that all of scripture is directing us to... even the "boring stuff"... it points to Jesus.
From Genesis 3:15 on, every word in the Bible seems to scream, "Jesus! The Savior!" It either says, He is coming, He is here, or He tells it Himself, that He is the One. I knew the Gospels, and some of Isaiah's prophecies were about Jesus, but Jesus is everywhere. I cannot believe that I lived all these years as a believer and did not realize the magnitude and significance of the life of our savior. Literally thousands of years before Christ actually came, the stage was being set for Jesus to come. From the Garden of Eden, Jesus was on the way. Then, through thousands of years God orchestrates the events and circumstances that needed to transpire for Jesus to be born the way that it was told.... And He did it because He loved a sinner like me. He used Abraham, Isaac, and David, and even King Herod to fulfill the prophecies in order that Jesus would come in all of His glory to redeem that which was lost.
Praise God for His faithfulness throughout the ages. He did everything because He loved us from the beginning with a love that is above everything we can know. It is truly a beautiful story. I am amazed more and more at how big God is and how big His story is. Outside of the faith that God has given me, I would say it is unbelievable.
Peace
2 comments:
Joel, Reid read your latest email to me at church last night, and I asked him to forward your blogspot to me. Thanks for spending your summer with us and for influencing my sons, especially Jeremiah.
I really enjoyed your thoughts about the prophets and how the entire Bible, from Genesis to Maps, screams, "Jesus!" Years ago I heard a great message by an elderly evangelist in which he read the story of the scarlet chord Rahab hung from her window in Jericho. He talked about how Rahab's "thread" was the symbol that she had entered into the covenant with God's people. She even became an ancestress of Christ! Then the old preacher began to trace what he called the "scarlet thread of redemption" through the entire Bible, beginning with Genesis. He turned to each book of the Bible and showed where you could find Jesus in direct Messianic reference, in prophecy, or in "type". It really made an impact on me. For the first time, I saw actual verses and words in books like Ezra and Haggai that shouted "Jesus" from the distant past. One thing he said in that sermon was, "The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed - and it's all about Jesus." Wow.
I join you in being overwhelmed by a love that would set things in motion thousands of years ago so that my sorry soul could be saved. And just think - you are a part of that plan for somebody where you are today. You are talking about the Savior, revealing His identity, being a prophet, like a modern-day Nahum or Micah...or Joel! Thanks for being out there and sharing your journey with the rest of us. Keep the faith.
Joel, it's amazing to read about what God is doing in your heart while you are in Africa. I just finished reading all of the blogs that you have posted and I'm just blown away. I'm glad to see how you are growing and becoming more submissive and obedient to Christ in your life. Your example presents a real challenge to me. Your mom read your latest blog to us in Sunday School this morning and it was really awesome to think about how all of Scripture points to Christ. I'll be interested in going back through the OT and seeing how passages I have read over and over point to Jesus.
I don't want to say this to make you uncomfortable or anything, but I just want you to know that I really respect you and admire how deep your faith in Christ has become. I can truly see Him in you and you are a witness for Him. I'll be keeping you in my prayers and hope that God continues to teach you many amazing things.
Sincerely,
Stacie
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