Storyline Biblical Theology 09 - Genesis 25-35 - "Wrastlin' with God: Hang on for your life!"

I felt like I was hanging on for my life as I was being thrown around like a rag doll! A few summers ago, I had the opportunity to go tubing behind a very large boat on the waters of Lake Huron. Unlike normal lakes, this Great Lake is very choppy and wavy. With the boat pulling me and another rider on a tube at ridiculously high speeds, we were literally hitting the waves and being thrown at least 5 feet into the air. I wasn’t just hanging on to the tube to have more fun, but I was hanging on for the sake of my life. I knew that hitting the water tubeless could mean an injured body, severe eye damage, or the risk of being eaten by a sea creature!

In Genesis 32:22-32 (please read), Jacob is doing the very same thing: hanging on for his very life. Jacob’s life is found between the pages of Genesis chapters 25-35, and it is characterized by wrestling. In the womb of Rebekah, Jacob was struggling with his brother Esau (25:22). In the midst of his birth, Jacob hung on to the heel of his older brother (25:26). Some years later, Jacob struggled with Esau to gain his blessing and birthright (25:33). Jacob wrestled with Laban to marry the woman of his dreams (ch. 29). Jacob’s wives grappled with each other over who Jacob would love most (chs. 29-30). Also, Jacob struggled with his father-in-law once again for his wife, children, and due possessions (Gen 30-31). Now, Jacob fears that he is about to enter the most fierce wrestling match of his life as he draws near to Esau after many years, but Jacob is wrong. His greatest wrestling match will be with God Himself (Gen 32:22-32).

Because he fears Esau’s grudging wrath from decades before, Jacob divides up his family and possessions into different groups while they travel closer to where Esau lives. Jacob didn’t want to lose everything. Gen 32:22-24 tells us that Jacob stays the night alone away from his family and begins wrestling with a man all night long. This man is obviously stronger than him as he even dislocates Jacob’s hip by merely his touch. Jacob’s wrestling quickly turns into clinging. Jacob hangs on to the man with everything in him for one reason: he desperately wants the blessing of God! The covenant blessing of God has been driving Jacob his whole life. His opponent pleads Jacob to let go since daybreak is approaching. Who is Jacob wrestling, and why does the unknown figure not want to be seen? The man is no other than God Himself, and Jacob could not look upon His face or He would die (32:30). Jacob clinches his fist and fights back his painful tears to hold onto God as tight as possible because He knows God’s covenant blessing is his only hope for his life to amount to anything good, worthy, and purposeful.

In the life of Christ we also see struggle and wrestling. In the wilderness, Christ wrestles the Tempter, and He walks away pure in every way. During His ministry, Christ wrestles with the Jews over His “Messiah-ship,” and continues to preach the Gospel concerning Himself. But Jesus’ greatest wrestling match came in the garden with His own Father as He begged God to go about things another way (Matt 26:36-46). We know that Jesus went willingly to the cross in full submission to His Father as He passionately hung onto God’s promise for His own exaltation.

Just like Jacob here is going through a transition into which he is owning his faith in God, so must we. He may not even remember, but I had a close friend (Jason Wood) who challenged me when I was 19 to believe and think for myself rather than to just repeat answers and verses that I had been spoon fed by my pastor, teachers, and parents. God used that night to change my life as I personally pursued His Son by His Spirit through His Word! You see, Jacob had come to terms that not only was the covenant his grandfather’s (Abraham), and his father’s (Isaac), but it was now passed onto him as prophesied (Gen 25:23). We too must be willing to take on Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, believe the Truth, defend the Truth, think according to the Truth, live the Truth, struggle for the cause of the Truth, study the Truth, and discuss the Truth. By hanging on to the covenant for his very life, Jacob was clinging to Christ. We too must hang on to the Person of Jesus Christ for our very lives!

Framework Systematic Theology 07 - Doctrine of Jesus Christ - His Resurrection

Imagine you’re a missionary sharing the gospel with a village who has never heard about Jesus. You begin with creation, move through the sinful fall of man, and continue to the gospel of Christ. Just as you have finished teaching them about the death of Jesus that paid the penalty for their sin, a villager stands up, draws back his bow, and pierces an arrow through your heart, which leaves you dead on the ground. If this village never sees a Bible or hears the gospel again, can they be saved without knowing that Jesus rose from the dead? Hmmmm?

Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important? “Resurrection” is the act of coming back to life from the dead. I fear that many Christians don’t see the importance of resurrection in their Bibles, in the way they witness, or in their own daily living. Paul says that a person must believe that God raised Christ from the dead in order to be saved (Romans 10:9-10). He also says that Jesus’ resurrection is of “first importance” concerning the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Wow!

All of the promises God made throughout the Old Testament hinged on a resurrection to new life. After Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, God said He did that so that they could not eat of the Tree of Life and live forever in their sin (Gen 3:22). He had a better eternal life planned! Abraham was willing to stab and burn his promised son to death because he believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead to keep His promises (Heb 11:17-19). Ezekiel watched God reconnect bones to make skeletons and add muscle, tissue, and skin to make an army (Ezekiel 37). God said this was a sign of His promise to bring His people back to life from their sin. God started this promise with one Israelite, Jesus Christ, when He raised Him from the dead. The truthfulness and fulfillment of all the Bible is based on the resurrection of Jesus!

If that is true, what does the resurrection of Jesus really prove? It proves everything we have talked about in the Doctrine of Jesus Christ up to this point!
Jesus’ Deity – God raised Jesus from the dead because He found Him guiltless of His sin. Jesus’ Humanity – Jesus really is a man, not just a spirit. His human body was raised (Luke 24). Jesus’ Offices – He is the true Prophet. His Priestly sacrifice was accepted. He rules as King. The Covenants – All of the OT covenants were eternal promises fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus’ Atonement – Jesus truly paid the debt of sin by His death, and He was raised in glory.
The resurrection proves that all the Bible is true and everything Jesus claimed of Himself is right.

Jesus’ resurrection is important. His resurrection is the climax to the storyline of Scripture. His resurrection proved the truthfulness of God and Himself. If we say we believe something because it is true, the way we know we truly believe is the way we live by it. True belief always results in a changed life. So, how can we apply the resurrection to our lives?
1. The resurrection gives us power over sin and death. I know teenagers who are scared to death to die. I also know many who think they can’t overcome their sins of pride, lust, anger, etc. We have a more powerful resurrected Savior than any entangling sin with which we may struggle.
2. The resurrection gives us peace over guilt and shame. I remember sitting across from someone who was pounding their fists into the table wishing that “this sin” just wasn’t true of them. God’s forgiveness is total and absolute as all of our sin was paid for by Jesus’ blood.
3. The resurrection gives us purpose for our bodies. Our body isn’t just our shell that will waste away. We await our resurrection at the return of Christ when our present bodies will be glorified and rejoined with our souls. It matters what we do with our bodies. Cremation is neither respectable to the human body, nor does it picture the hope of that body rising from its grave.
4. The resurrection gives us perspective for eternal life. Jesus’ resurrection assures us that He will make all things new again. Our best life isn’t now. Our best life is later. Eternity isn’t the afterlife, but it’s the after-death. Live sacrificially now for your glory in Jesus to come.

Look down. There is no arrow piercing you. Share the gospel with His resurrection now.

Framework Systematic Theology 06 - Doctrine of Jesus Christ - His Atonement

Think back to when Jesus said: “You’re all evil. There’s no hope. That’s it. Thank you.” Well of course you don’t remember Him saying that in the Bible, but if you watched the video above this article you heard “Him” say it. Isn’t it amazing how many Christians don’t spread the gospel? Not sharing is just saying, “You’re all evil and there is no hope for you.” Many believe that Jesus just lists off sins to condemn the world rather than giving His life to save the world. How deeply do we believe in the Father’s forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice?

All throughout the Bible, there is a storyline told that drips with bloody deaths. After eating the fruit of the tree, God’s words pierce into Adam’s soul as He tells him, “You will surely die.” Also in Genesis, Able’s sacrifice of blood and death was accepted by God while Cain’s plant sacrifice was rejected. As soon as Noah steps off the ark, he sacrifices a life to God. Abraham believes and obeys God even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his son, his only son to God. Through the rest of the OT, God instructs Israel to make daily and annual animal sacrifices to Him as His treasured people. In the prophets, one writes of the Servant of God who was wounded and killed for the sin of humanity which He bore in Himself (Isaiah 53).

The Scriptures are constantly interwoven with stories of sacrifice because God is continuously pointing us to the need for the sacrifice of Jesus. When thinking on the sacrifice of Jesus, we must ask the question, “Why did God have Jesus die?” You may be amazed to know that there have been many different answers to this question throughout history. Some say that God sent Jesus to free sinners from Satan. Others hold that God sent Jesus to show sinners His love. God sent Jesus to show sinners how to love is the view of a few. Some others believe that God sent Jesus to show sinners His law. Many say that God sent Jesus to show sinners who He loves. And several believe that God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for sinners. Which statement out of the six would you say is the most true? In fact, if you take out the one, it makes all the rest false. The answer is the last one: “God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for sinner.” This is called the Penalty-Substitution View. The main purpose for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was both for God and for man. The sacrifice of Jesus paid for the penalty of sin which satisfied the wrath of God over sinners. Therefore, Jesus died as a substitute (in the place of) for sinners. A sinner must believe in the penalty-substitution sacrifice of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. To reject the penalty would be denying sinfulness, and rejecting substitution would be denying His perfection. After centralizing the penalty-substitution death of Christ, there is truth in the others.

The next question that begs to be answered throughout history is, “For whom did Jesus die?” Those holding to “Universalism” would say that Jesus died for the whole world, the whole world is forgiven by His death, and the whole world WILL be saved in Him. Others holding to “Limited Atonement” would say that Jesus died only for the elect, only the elect will be forgiven by His death, and only the elect will be saved in Him. Those holding to “Unlimited Atonement” would say that Jesus died for the world, only those who believe will be forgiven, and only those who believe will be saved in Him. Personally, I hold to “Unlimited Atonement” since 1 John 2:2-3 says that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, but only those who follow Him are saved. Therefore, Jesus died for everyone, but His death is only applied to genuine believers.

Lastly, how do we bring all of this into our daily lives now? First, make sure that you have placed your faith into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and turn away from your sin to receive salvation. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone. As a Christian, keep believing that! Secondly, practice forgiveness based on the death of Christ. Forgiving someone isn’t saying, “That’s okay.” Forgiving someone is saying, “Your sin has been freed from the wrath of God by Christ’s sacrifice.” Therefore we should always say, “I forgive you.” Praise God for the hope we have in the sacrifice of Christ even when we’re evil!

Storyline Biblical Theology 08 - Genesis 17-27 - "What's So Funny?: The Story of the Son of the Covenant"

Talk about a laughing stock! As I was snow skiing in California this past weekend, I got onto the lift with my buddy, Justin. I felt some pressure on my feet, looked down, and my skis got caught and snapped off as we were going up. So, the operator stopped the lift as we were about 100 feet away going up the mountain. Everyone turned to see as to why the lift had stopped. He climbs up the the icy mountain to us with my skis, reaches up, and pops both of them into my boots. Everyone clapped as he was the hero and laughed at me as the idiot. Haha!

As we look at the story of Isaac, it is amazing to catch how much God recorded laughter. The story begins with God reaffirming and further explaining His covenant to Abraham as God was going to make Abraham’s name great, cause a great nation to come from him, and give them a place to dwell as His people (Gen 17:1-8). Abraham’s response was falling on his face in worship (17:3). Then God explained that these promises would come from Abraham’s 90-year-old wife, Sarah. Abraham’s response to that was falling on his face again, but not in worship this time…instead, in laughter (17:17). Abraham suggests to God that his son Ishmael by Hagar should be the son of the covenant since there is no way that Sarah could have a baby in her old age. God promises to bless Ishmael as well, but the son of Sarah would be the son through which His covenant continues (17:15-21). God’s covenant cannot be stopped!

The story continues as the Lord appeared to Abraham somehow in the form of three men. I’m not even going to pretend I know how to explain this…I just believe it! Abraham starts running around from the excitement of this visitation. He frantically tells Sarah to get some food together for their guests. While Sarah was at the door of the tent, Abraham was under the shade of the oaks with the three men. She heard them tell Abraham that she would have a son this time in the next year. Have you ever had a 90-year-old woman in your church stand up and say, “Please pray for me because I’m pregnant”? Well, if you have, you surely took her to the hospital. Not to the birthing wing, but to the mental ward! Even in the time of Abraham, that was impossible. After hearing the prophecy, Sarah laughs to herself thinking this has gone far enough. How am I supposed to have a baby at 90? My ability to give birth is long gone! Even though Abraham didn’t hear her, God heard her. He asks why she laughed. Then another pointed question comes straight from God, “Is anything too impossible for Me to do?” God affirms that Sarah will surely give birth by this time. Overhearing the whole conversation and trying to cover her skepticism, Sarah denies her doubtful laughing. There was no doubt on God’s part as He directly says to her, “No Sarah, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:1-15).

Isaac is the chosen son through which God’s covenant will continue with God’s people. But remember, all Scripture points to Christ. Through the story of Isaac, God is preparing His people for the true Son of the covenant. The unity between the stories is remarkable. When the angel, Gabriel, comes to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus, Mary doesn’t laugh. Instead, she mutters in bewilderment, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Gabriel gives her a familiar answer, “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:34-38). Like Mary, Sarah is filled with amazement when Isaac is born. She laughs again, but this time in faithful joy (Genesis 21:6-7).

We cannot escape from the theme of laughter in this story. Are you one who may think the ways and people of God are silly, and so you laugh? Please know, nothing is impossible with God! Could you be reading this and you lack laughter in your life because you are void of joy from focusing on life’s troubles over God’s works? Find your joy in Christ once again! It is possible that you are reading this and your greatest fear as a Christian is people laughing at you for your faith, so you live avoiding humiliation. Even if it brings laughter, live in such a way that you are serving Christ to bring Him joy even though it may seem silly to an unbelieving world. The glory of Jesus, the Son of the Covenant, will spread through our joyful faithfulness!

Storyline Biblical Theology 07 - Genesis 12-25 - "You Must Be Trippin: Calling, Blessing, and Struggling

I often like to think back on the journey God has taken me through to get to where I am now. I grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. From there I spent time in Pensacola for college, back in Tuscaloosa for more college, northeast Pennsylvania to graduate college, northwest Michigan for three summers of camps, Detroit for a year long youth ministry internship, Louisville for the masters degree, southeast Indiana for my first full-time youth pastorate, and now I live in the Huntsville area of Alabama for my dream job. God certainly did not tell me at the beginning that I would end up here, and I’m glad He didn’t. If He had, I may have been tempted to skip a few stops along the way which would mean I wouldn’t have met all the wonderful people in my life. Ultimately, I would have not grown from every experience He took me through.

As we study the life of Abraham, we see that God did tell him the future. He would bless Abraham by making his name great and giving him a great nation of descendants, but God didn’t tell Abraham where He would be taking him (Gen 12:1-3). Abraham is said to be the second most important man in all the Bible. Throughout all the Scriptures, God constantly refers back to Abraham, his faith, and His covenant-promises to Abraham. Abraham (called Abram at this time), is approached by God whom he did not know. Many say that Abram was worshipping false gods at this time. When God calls Abram to leave for a land He’ll show him later, Abram went (Gen 12:4). What was God promising this 75 year old man? Everything! Just as God had promised Adam and later Noah rulership over the earth and fruitfulness of children, He is continuing this covenant thru Abram. God is telling Abram that if he will trust Him, He is going to make him a great nation through which He’ll bless all other believing nations, give Abram land for his nation to live, and make Abram’s name great throughout all the earth and all history. God is bringing the blessing of salvation through this one man.

This means we have to understand what blessing means as well. We are often told to live right so that God will grant us blessings. When we think about this passage, we aren’t to connect with Abraham but with his descendants. The reason his descendants are blessed is because God had promised Abraham these covenant-blessings. God’s blessing comes through one man. Abraham isn’t the ultimate receiver of God’s blessing. Everything God promised to Abraham was just a small picture of how God would bless an entire universe through the final Man, Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3). God is giving to Jesus an earth full of followers, an entire planet for a land to rule, and a name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9-11). Does God bless us for the good things we do? I think it is safe to say that He does, as long as we understand that the good we do is Christ’s righteousness being worked out in our lives and not our own. Therefore, God always blesses through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ and not our own.

Isn’t it frustrating how faithless our lives for Christ can be? Our struggle of faith can often leave us in seasons of doubting our salvation. “How can I be a Christian and do this and think that,” we ask ourselves. It is comforting to see how God repeatedly brings up the name of Abraham in the Bible when referring to faithfulness. It is comforting because we see that Abraham’s faith goes up and down more than a Six Flags rollercoaster. He follows God, then he calls his gorgeous wife his sister! He believes God, then has a baby by another woman! The life of faith is no picture of perfection, but rather it is a repetition of always coming back to God in belief of His covenant-promises. When Abraham asks God how he can know for sure if He is going to be faithful to His promises, God made a blood-covenant by having many animals torn in two and walking in the midst of them which signifies, “If I break My covenant, may this be done to Me.” God of course never breaks His covenant, but there was a greater final covenant to come. The sacrifice of His own Son was to seal the deal for eternity. As we struggle with doubt, we must remember our assurance isn’t found within us, but in the work of Christ (Prov. 24:16).