Once I wrote a post called Sin, the Promise, the Law and the Word of God. (If you click on that highlighted text, it will link you to it.) It is a piece wherein I hashed out some of my most frustrating questions, and somehow arrived at answers that I found satisfying.
It's a post where I explain my understanding of the story of the Bible, in broad scope. Although it is not exhaustive, it tackles certain questions that often seem to go unanswered. Sometimes we flail awkwardly with regard to the Law, or the Torah, not grasping what we should do with this ancient and original section of the Bible, and why it is in the Bible.
Over the weekend, Shawn and I visited one of our children's churches, and heard an excellent message on the Transfiguration from Mark 9. (Okay, I'm sorry. This is an abrupt transition. Please bear with me.)
In Sunday's sermon, the pastor pointed us to Jesus, standing on the mountain where He was transfigured. Mark tells us:
His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus . . . Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!" (Mark 9:3-4, 7)
Other teachers have pointed out that the enveloping cloud signifies the presence of Holy God, just as it did on Sinai long ago in Exodus:
The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you" . . . On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightening, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on it with fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. (Exodus 19:9, 16-19)
I saw for the first time the absolute parallel of what God was doing here. It reminded me of a paragraph I'd written in Sin, the Promise, the Law and the Word of God:
The Law was the first revealed Word of God, but Jesus was the ultimate revealed Word of God (see John 1). What the Law showed us in part on tablets of stone, Jesus showed us completely in a life lived in the flesh. What the Law promised, Jesus fulfilled.
No wonder the story of the Transfiguration is repeated throughout Matthew, Mark and Luke, while John alludes to it in John 1:14. This is a life-altering event, where God transfers the authority of His Word to the promised prophet that Moses had spoken of:
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to Him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." The Lord said to me: "What you say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account." (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)
Humanity could not face the presence of God and live, so Jesus Christ humbled Himself to become one like us, from among our brothers, born a human baby from a human mother. He took on human flesh so He could bring us the living Word of God in a form that we could grasp.
Jesus said:
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. (John 5:24-25)
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:49-50)
I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)
Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise, the source of life, the true word of God, the hope of all creation. Jesus is everything.
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:20-22)
. . . through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:2-4)
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. (John 3:17)
. . . which leads us to Romans 8:1 --
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!
So anyway, that is what I learned this weekend. The Transfiguration shows us how God glorified His Son, Jesus Christ, and demonstrated that He was the promised prophet who would speak God's words. Jesus is the one we must listen to. Jesus comes to us with the words of life. Jesus fulfills every promise and opens heaven to all who will believe.
And of course this leads us again to the gift of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, who comes to dwell in the hearts of every believer. Jesus doesn't leave us as orphans, but sends His own Holy Spirit to abide in us, uniting with our spirits so that we are one with Christ, who is one with God. (John 14:18-20)
That, however, is moving on to another subject.
(All Bible quotes that I typed out in this post were from the NIV84; underlined emphasis is mine.)
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