Ocean of Grace (23): THURSDAY – Fury is Made Gentle (p80ff)

 Lent Book: https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/an-ocean-of-grace

 

My jottings:

 

(Comments welcome)

 

Ocean of Grace (23): THURSDAY – Fury is Made Gentle (p80ff)

 

We have said before that all the Bible is ultimately about Jesus. It is Jesus we really need. All the promises of God are yes and amen in him (2 Corinthians 1:20). It is in the Scriptures that we meet him, enabled by his Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus fulfils many specific prophecies of Scripture (which are worth a Google) but he also fulfils many of the patterns or picture of Scripture, what theologians sometimes call “types” (“typology”).

 

For more on Jesus as the true and better Adam, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rock of Moses, Job, David, Esther, Jonah, Passover Lamb, Temple, Prophet, Priest, King etc. see this video / animation by Dan Steven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGFtfqgBQkM

 

Or this from Tim Keller “The Bible Is Not About You” – The Gospel Coalition Video address: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154660677507723 – text below:

 

“Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you—it’s about him”

 

There is really a wonderful artistry to the Bible, so gloriously presenting Christ to us in so many different ways. To my mind, this is a very strong argument for the divine inspiration of Scripture: that forty different authors writing over many centuries provide such a unified and variegated portrait of Jesus.

 

Hymn: Join All The Glorious Names

 

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdHoPwp07LM

 

Words etc.: https://hymnary.org/text/join_all_the_glorious_names