previous lesson | table of contents | final lesson
The purpose of this lesson: To stress the importance of Jesus Christ to God's purposes and our salvation
A person will not be exposed to the message of the Bible unless that person sees the whole of the Bible as a single unit. For a number of reasons, including study with the objective of acquiring knowledge of periods, modern studiers of Bible scripture tend to divide scripture into segments or compartments. The result is that people tend to see only the objective of the Bible in terms of the periods they have studied. If we are not careful, we wind up with a jumbled mess in which there is no connection between the sections OR some sections are considered so unimportant that those sections are not worthy of consideration.
It is essential for us to see the Bible as a whole, a single unit. Many of the struggles and misunderstandings Christians have today can and should be traced to Christian failure to recognize the Bible to be a single unit.
That was not the situation when Christianity spread in the first century. The scripture (especially among Jewish converts) was what we, today, would refer to as the Old Testament. The events of the Old Testament were understood to be (a) the rich soil that gave meaning to what God did in Jesus Christ, (b) the verification that Jesus was made the Christ because of God's work, and (c) the evidence that Jesus Christ should be recognized as Lord because he is the fulfillment of God's purposes and intent. In your studies of what we know as the New Testament, have you noticed how often an Old Testament reference was used by a writer to prove the validity of a Christian concept? Remember, God worked through Abraham to produce Israel; He worked through Moses to teach and to lead Israel; He worked through Israel to give the world Jesus; He worked through Jesus to produce the Christ; He worked through the Christ to give the world salvation.
The earliest Christians had only what we call the Old Testament as scripture. The primary question confronting the earliest Christians was this: was Jesus the Christ (Messiah) God promised? What we would call the Old Testament was used to verify Jesus was. Those scriptures did not cease being scripture because Paul and others wrote. God's work should be seen as an unfolding work that fulfilled God's intent by giving the world Jesus.
What is the unifying theme of the Bible? That theme is that God by plan and intent sent Jesus to be the Christ. The alienation that was created by early sin was reversed in the reconciliation and redemption that God made possible in the life, death, resurrection, and enthronement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The persistent God did that in spite of the failures of people, the sins of Israel, the rejection of Jesus by God's chosen people, and the misplaced focus of humanity.
Christians need to see God's work continuing (at least from Genesis 12:3b) until Jesus was resurrected from death. (That is not intended to declare that God does not continue to work in implementing the salvation He brought us in Jesus Christ.) God succeeded in spite of humanity, not because of humanity. He does not owe us; we owe Him.
God was determined to reclaim His creation and in the process give humanity a Savior. By that Savior He offers people (a) reconciliation and (b) redemption. Those two conditions are not a choice for those in Christ—the redeemed are reconciled to God. Both occur through the acts of God in Jesus. The foundation of both is God's grace and mercy, not human goodness. (This is not a rejection of the importance of obedience. It declares obedience to be a loving response to God's love for us. Obedience is a response to God's goodness, not confidence in our own human goodness.)
Reconciliation of people to God and redemption of people from sin were two basic objectives God had—consider 2 Corinthians 5:18-21. One without the other cannot exist! A person could not be an idolater and be redeemed, or hate sin and be estranged from God. Reconciliation and redemption "held hands" in understanding God's purposes in Jesus. Through Jesus we understand God's rightful position as a Creator of good and we understand the human need to be delivered from sin.
Without Jesus, there is no reconciliation, no redemption. Without Jesus, there is no cleansing from sin. Without Jesus, there is no access to God. Without Jesus, there is no hope. Without Jesus, human acts are powerless. Jesus links together all that God intended and all that God does (consider Philippians 2:5-11). Jesus did what God intended and what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus was not an accident or a fortunate circumstance! Jesus was the plan and intent of God! In this intent God refused to abandon His plan in spite of human failures! We have nothing to brag about, but everything to praise God for! We claim salvation through recognition of what God did by responding to our needs through Jesus Christ!
Through Jesus, God is in the process of achieving the ultimate reconciliation (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) and extends to us redemption (Romans 3:21-26). Neither would occur without Jesus. Christians need to understand that Jesus makes reconciliation and redemption possible. These things did NOT just happen—both are the result of the plan and efforts of God.
The Bible declares it is not possible for us to exaggerate what God did through Jesus! The Christian never loses awareness of the truth that we are reconciled to God because of what God did in Jesus' death and resurrection!
It is not possible for humans to overemphasize what God achieved in Jesus. The more people understand what God did in Jesus, the closer those people come to God.
In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is presented as God's intent, God's plan. Jesus is declared to be [1] God's spokesman (1:2); [2] superior to angels (1:4); [3] the universal Savior (2:9); [4] the author of human salvation (2:10); [5] the deliverer (2:15); [6] the Christian's trustworthy and merciful high priest (2:17); [7] God's aid to the tempted (2:18); [8] bigger than Moses (3:3); [9] the access to God's rest (4); [10] a high priest like Melchizedek (5); [11] superior to Abraham (7); [12] the perfect high priest (7:26-28); [13] the mediator of a superior covenant (8:6); [14] the access to God (9:24-28); [15] the perfect access to God (10); [16] the changeless one (13:8); and [17] the great Shepherd (13:20). The book of Hebrews declared that God met every human spiritual need—from the spiritually weakest to the most advanced spiritual person who exists. No human can "out need" what God has provided for us in Jesus Christ.
The roles ascribed to Jesus in the book of Hebrews stress Jesus' importance to God's purposes and our salvation.
No matter how difficult your situation or how bad your circumstances, Jesus is still there. Because he is there, there is nothing you can experience that God cannot understand. If you are weak, God understands. If you are tempted, God understands. If you spiritually fail and repent, God understands. Not only does God understand, He is delighted to make you a part of His family. You have no reason to be ashamed of Him, for He is not ashamed to have you as a part of His family. It always will be a matter of faith in Him because of Jesus, never a matter of physical circumstances.
God did not patiently plan the work of Jesus and send him in order to fail in the life of the person who places confidence in God's work in Jesus. Can a person in Jesus Christ separate himself (herself) from Jesus Christ? Yes! Accepting Jesus does not destroy that person's ability to chose (consider 2 Peter 2:20-22). Is that separation achieved easily? No! Consider Hebrews 10:36-39 in the context of the book's focus.
FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION
1. To see the message of the Bible, a person needs to do what?
The person needs to see the whole Bible as a unit.
2. What were the scriptures of the earliest Christian converts?
Scripture to the earliest Christians was what we call the Old Testament.
3. What we know as the Old Testament was understood to be what three things?
(a) The rich soil that gave meaning to what God did in Jesus Christ. (b) The verification that Jesus was the Christ because of God's work. (c) The evidence that Jesus Christ should be recognized as Lord because he is the fulfillment of God's purposes and intent.
4. What are you encouraged to note in what we call the New Testament?
You are encouraged to note its use of Old Testament scriptures/references.
5. What was the unifying theme of the Bible?
The unifying theme is that God sent Jesus to be the Christ.
6. How were reconciliation to God and our redemption made possible?
Both were made possible in the life, death, resurrection, and enthronement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
7. What two things was God determined to do?
God was determined to (a) reclaim His creation and (b) to provide humanity a Savior.
8. The foundation of reconciliation and redemption is what, NOT what?
The foundation is God's grace and mercy, not human goodness.
9. Without Jesus, what four (or five) things could not exist?
(a) There would be no reconciliation and redemption, (b) no cleansing from sin, (c) no access to God, (c) no hope, and (d) no human acts of power.
10. Jesus links together what?
Jesus links all that God intended and all that God does.
11. We have nothing to brag about, but everything to what?
We have everything to praise God for.
12. The Bible declares it is not possible to do what?
It is not possible for us to exaggerate what God did through Jesus.
13. List seventeen things the book of Hebrews states Jesus is.
14. List three things God understands. He is delighted to make you what?
He understands (a) your weakness, (b) that you are capable of being tempted, and (c) that you are capable of failing and repenting. He is delighted to make you a member of His family.
15. It is always a matter of what, not what?
It is always a matter of faith, never a matter of physical circumstances.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 13
previous lesson | table of contents | final lesson