1 Story. 4 Parts. 8 Sections.

Never thought it'd be possible to chart the story line of a 2,000 page book from A-Z in only 3 pages! Can't imagine the benefits the completion of this project will provide, both in my life and in conversation with others. Very enlightening!

Quick Intro:

Comprised of 66 individual books written by over 40 Holy Spirit-led authors (2 Tim 3: 16, 2 Peter 1: 21), the Bible tells the story of Jesus Christ as creator (John 1: 4) and redeemer (Isaiah 60: 16) of all things.


I. CREATION

The Pattern of the Kingdom: Genesis 1 & 2

God is eternal (Isa 26: 4) and created all things by his Word (Gen 1: 3). He created man in His image, both male and female, beginning with Adam and Eve (Gen 1: 26, 2: 22). They lived in the Garden of Eden (Gen 1: 8) under His rule, receiving blessings from Him through His spoken word (Gen 1: 28-30, 2: 16-25).


II. FALL

The Perished Kingdom: Genesis 3-11

At the serpent’s temptation, Adam and Eve brought sin into the world (Gen 3: 6-7). So, God banned them from the garden and sentenced them to suffering and death (Gen 3: 16-19). He foretold His redemptive plan by prescribing the destruction of the serpent (3: 15). Adam and Eve’s offspring included Cain, Abel and Seth (Gen 4, 5), the latter of which connected Adam’s lineage to Noah. Stemming from human rebellion, God wiped out humanity (excluding Noah and family) through a flood (Gen 6-9) and gave rise to many nations by dispersing His people at the Tower of Babel (Gen 11). At this time, God’s people (Noah’s line) were under God’s rule, outside of Eden, enjoying only some of God’s blessings (due to sin).


The Promised Kingdom: Genesis 12-50

Next, Abraham (of Noah’s line) was chosen by God and promised land and descendants through whom He’d bless the entire world (Gen 12: 2-3). His lineage continued with Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s twelve sons (Gen 12-50). Israelites had reached 70 in number. In Egypt due to famine, they awaited God’s deliverance to His place, their promised land of Canaan.


The Partial Kingdom: Exodus-1 Kings 10

Here, God released his people from bondage under Pharoah (Exo 14: 21) and established His covenant with them through Moses at Mount Sinai (Exo 19: 5-6). His people, however, continued to rebel against him (Exo-Jgs). At their behest, God provided them with a king, Saul (1 Sam 9: 16-17), who God later rejected due to disobedience (1 Sam 13: 13-14). He then chose David, with whom He established an eternal covenant (2 Sam 7: 9-16). Israel’s most prosperous days were enjoyed under David’s son, King Solomon. In these years, the Israelites were a multitude and inhabited Canaan. God’s blessings or curses were conditional upon their obedience or lack thereof.


The Prophesied Kingdom: 1 Kings 11-Malachi

As a result of Solomon’s sin, wickedness increased, leading to the split and subsequent decline of Israel. Removed from God’s land, the Israelites faced a variety of exiles (most notably Babylon), were deprived of blessings and refused His rule. In faithfulness to Abraham, God brings them back to their land (Isa 48: 20), where they waited in anticipation for hundreds of years the fulfillment of God’s promise of restoration. These were the days when prophets such as Isaiah presented a vision of God’s Kingdom coming through His Chosen Messiah.

III. REDEMPTION

Present Kingdom: Matthew-John

Those prophecies were fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Messiah, who proclaimed the arrival of the Kingdom (Matt 4: 17). Through the power of the Holy Spirit in Him (Matt 3: 16), as well as by his death, burial, resurrection and ascension, Jesus redeemed God’s people. At this time, followers of Jesus, regardless of location, were God’s people, receiving His blessings through forgiveness and living under His rule through His teachings.


Proclaimed Kingdom: Acts-Jude

Since Jesus’ ascension, His followers have become an international community of people scattered throughout the earth, awaiting His New Creation and living under His rule (through the Bible). They are blessed securely in the new covenant (Jeremiah 31: 31-34) with Christ, who poured out the Holy Spirit on the church equipping them to spread his gospel to people all over the earth.

IV. NEW CREATION

Perfected Kingdom: Revelation

In the New Creation (God’s place), will be people from every tongue, tribe and nation (Rev 7: 9). They will live under His rule and blessing forever. “He who began a good work” will have seen it “through to completion (Phi 1: 6).” Where the first Adam failed miserably, our Creator and Redeemer Christ excelled perfectly.

Resources: The Bible (NIV), Dr. Aaron O'Kelley (Union) and G. Goldsworthy (According To Plan).

"The Song of the Vineyard"

OK - scratch the comment about how difficult it was to summarize Romans 3: 21-26. I've never worked as hard on a paper as I did this one! Trying to discern the meaning of an Old Testament prophet and then boil it down to 2 pages has now taken the top spot as the ultimate biblical writing challenge. Something tells me there will be frequent turnover at that position. Dalton - Road House: "Pain don't hurt."

INTERPRETATION of ISAIAH 5: 1-7

Isaiah wrote “The Song of the Vineyard” in Isaiah 5: 1-7 imploring Israelites in Jerusalem and Judea to repent of their wicked ways, obey the LORD and produce good fruit for His Kingdom. To spur them to action, he spoke sharply of God’s impending judgment on those who enjoy His provision yet produce only bad fruit. Gifted with His words (6: 8-10), he prophesied: “Now I will tell you what I am going to do with my vineyard: I will take away its hedge…I will break down its wall…I will make it a wasteland…I will command the clouds not to rain on it (v. 5-6).”

Stated five times consecutively, Isaiah’s declaration “I will” attested to the severity of God’s looming discipline. However, detailing the story’s symbolism remained necessary for him to make his point. Therefore, he specified: “The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in (v. 7).” This provided important yet distressing context to the figurative content preceding it. Further, it had retrospective significance for his Jewish audience, as King David’s post-exodus imagery was synonymous: “You transplanted a vine from Egypt…You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land (Psa 80: 8-9).”

Israel’s historical cycle of faithless disobedience and subsequent discipline also provided an agent for this parable’s relevance. Following the aforementioned miraculous exodus from Egypt, for example, the Israelites complained about God’s provisions for food (Exo 16: 17) and questioned the certainty of His covenant to deliver them to the Promised Land (Num 14: 1-4). Cognizant of their stubborn unfaithfulness, Moses prophesied: “But those who hate Him He will repay to their face by destruction… Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today (Deu 7: 10-11).” This caution carried pertinent substance, as the success in inhabiting Canaan was contingent on following God’s instructions (Deu 7: 2-5).

Much occurred between the above warnings of Moses and those of Isaiah in this passage. Most importantly, the Israelites had taken possession of the land under Joshua’s leadership (Jos 21: 43-45), but their continual rejection of God’s decrees (Jgs 1: 27-36) resulted in a series of further exiles (Jgs 10: 7-17, 13: 1). Isaiah hoped his harsh prophecies would lead the Jews to repentance, obedience and production of good fruit (4: 2, Gal 5: 22) en route to a peaceful, prosperous and permanent stay in their homeland.

To provide an encouraging counterbalance, Isaiah opened and closed this prophecy illustrating God’s love, provision and hope. His own intimacy with God is revealed in verse 1: “I will sing for the one I love, a song about his vineyard.” He underscores God’s care of the vineyard in verse 2: “He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.” Finally, in verses 2 and 7 he spoke of God’s looking for “good grapes” and “justice,” respectively. In the original Hebrew text, the specific word Isaiah used for “looking” was “qavah,” denoting hopeful expectation.

Woven throughout Isaiah is the interplay between God’s justice and grace in the context of Israel’s disobedience. Sadly, the Jews continued to struggle with infidelity to God both during and after Isaiah’s writing, just as we do today. Several hundred perplexing years passed until the arrival of Jesus Himself, an event Isaiah didn’t mention specifically in this passage. However, whether directly or indirectly, it is Him as salvation for humanity to which all of Isaiah’s writings point (42: 1, 52: 13-15, 53).

SALVATION FOR ALL

Now this is classic. How's this for an assignment?: "Summarize the entire Bible." Well believe it or not that's what it feels like to try and recap Romans 3: 21-26. At any rate, here's the attempt:

INTERPRETATION of ROMANS 3: 21-26

Paul wrote Romans 3: 21-26 to Jews and Gentiles of the church in Rome to fortify their faith in Jesus Christ and magnify His all-sufficient redeeming propitiation for the whole of mankind. He emphasized these foundational overarching principles in verses 22-24: “This righteousness from God comes through faith to all those who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

            To the Jews, Paul’s message carried with it unique significance. First, given his Jewish status and heritage, he was keenly aware of the self-righteous morality that had plagued his people ever since God established covenants with their forefathers (Abraham, Gen 12: 2-3; Moses, Ex 19: 5-6; David, 2 Sam 7: 9-16). Pride of this sort was not in congruence with the faith and did not glorify God, as He had not chosen Israel based on the righteousness of its people (Deu 7: 7, 9: 6). As Paul clarified throughout this letter, the gospel is both “first for the Jew” and “then for the Gentile (2: 16).” Second, Paul knew past inter-faith disputes on the issue of Jesus’ deity, in combination with Rome’s politically charged and spiritually conflicted culture, had led to the previous expelling of Jews from the city at the ruling of Emperor Claudius (Acts 18: 2). In light of this, he understood unity specifically amongst the Jews in the church played a key role in ensuring its security, stability and longevity (3: 1-2).

Addressing both issues, Paul began this particular passage connecting the highly regarded Torah with its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify (v. 21).” Undoubtedly, Jews received both encouragement and admonishment through Paul’s writing, as he validated Mosaic Law, but did so by linking it to Jesus Christ as the Messiah! In these remarks, Paul attempted to prevent Jewish overemphasis on adherence to religious rituals and encourage them to maintain unified belief of Jesus’ divine identity. Gospel writer Matthew, also a Jew, echoed this to his audience when scribing Jesus’ words: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them (Matt 5: 17).”

            Romans 3: 21-26 also had special implications for Gentiles, who were as sinful as the Jews (3: 11) but by definition were not part of God’s original “chosen” Israelite family. As if to comfort them and answer any doubts they had regarding their salvation, Paul wrote in verses 25 and 26: “God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood…to demonstrate justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Christ Jesus.” In essence, here Paul detailed that God’s justice for human sin was not ignored. Rather, it was paid in full through Jesus. Paul wrote on this topic directly to the Gentiles in 11: 11, stating: “salvation has come to the Gentiles,” a revelation that certainly provided much needed sustenance and refreshment. In Him they were ransomed! It should be noted, however, Paul later takes a different angle, warning the Gentiles against feelings of superiority (11: 18). Again, neither salvation nor sin was reserved for the Jews!

Jews and Gentiles at the church of Rome were of differing historical and spiritual backgrounds. Yet, Paul’s meaning in Romans 3: 21-26 triangulated both groups towards unified faith in Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of His sacrificial death as redemption for all of mankind. 

The Roman Centurion

Here's my 2nd crack at this one. Got some good feedback on the first draft from "the Prof" and was given clearance to increase the length from 1 page to 2. Shazam.

INTERPRETATION of MATTHEW 8: 5-13

Matthew wrote of the centurion’s faith in Matthew 8: 5-13 in exhortation to his Jewish readers that their salvation was not granted on the basis of their hereditary Israelite lineage, nor by extrapolation their legalistic efforts to adhere to Old Testament law. Key evidence of this is found in verses 11 and 12, wherein Jesus said: “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. But the subjects of the Kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The foundation for Matthew’s argument was laid through opposing, yet parallel contexts, the first of which involved Jewish history. Through covenants established by God with their Israelite forefathers Abraham (Gen 12: 2-3) and David (2 Sam 7: 9-16), the Jews were given laws that they as “subjects of the Kingdom” were to follow to remain faithful to the relationship. However, Matthew recorded in his book at least ten instances wherein Jewish descendants in Jesus’ day misunderstood the means by which their relationship with God was forged, denied their total depravity and egregiously overvalued their righteous religious acts (9: 3, 12: 2, 12: 24, 15: 2, 16: 1, 19: 3, 21: 23, 22: 15, 22: 23, 22: 34). Although none of these particular sins contributed directly to Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion as later ones did, each demonstrated the Jews’ unwillingness to recognize Him as the prophesied Messiah, the sole source of eternal life and the fulfillment of the very law they claimed to hold in such high regard (5: 17).

The other important contextual consideration involved the social climate of Rome. At the time of Jesus’ birth and approaching His death, Roman leaders and those aligned with them were among the worst offenders in Jesus’ persecution. Matthew 2: 16 documents the attempted murder of the newborn Jesus at the hands of King Herod, a pawn of the Roman government. 33 years later, Roman officials teamed with Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, as well as various chief priests and elders in plotting and executing Jesus’ arrest (26: 4) and subsequent trial (26: 57). Finally, it was Roman governor Pontius Pilate that delivered Jesus to be crucified (27: 26) and soldiers from the Roman Army that stripped, mocked and beat Jesus en route to performing His crucifixion (27: 27-31).

It is through these lenses Matthew’s intent becomes clear. First, it was despite this intense cultural climate the Roman centurion, who by nature of his veteran rank was both highly regarded and well compensated, boldly came to Jesus in search of his servant’s healing (v. 6). Here, Matthew contrasted the centurion’s selfless and loving risk on behalf of his servant against the prideful predisposition of those in his Jewish audience to protect their own image at cost to their relationship with the Lord. Second, as Matthew specified, the centurion came to Jesus, not vice-versa, and did so as a Gentile nonetheless, not a member of God’s “chosen” people Israel. Salvation, Matthew emphasized, is for all who believe, “from the east and from the west,” not solely those born into a select genetic lineage. Finally, the centurion’s humble and desperate response to Jesus is juxtaposed with the ego and self-righteousness of Matthew’s Jewish readers: “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed (v. 8)."

In context, Matthew’s writing revealed why Jesus publicly magnified and celebrated the centurion’s faith: “When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following Him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith (v. 10).’” Matthew drew for his readers in this narrative the essential distinction between authentic faith and ritualistic morality. He reminded the Jews that God saves His people on the basis of His love, grace and mercy, not as a result of their supposed adherence to spiritual guidelines or religious tradition. Through his writing, Matthew defines for his audience authentic faith as radical, self-denying and others-centered reliance on Him. More importantly, he communicates that those with true faith in Jesus Christ will “take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,” whereas the same cannot be said for those whose faith is impure. To those Jesus will say: “Depart from me, I never knew you. Evildoers! (7: 23)”

Philadelphia and Forgiveness

Michael Vick, QB of the Philadelphia Eagles, is a compelling figure to say the least. At Virginia Tech and later with the Atlanta Falcons, he demonstrated serious game-changing talent. Of course, the public perception of him changed dramatically when it was revealed he is as sinful as the rest of us (Romans 3: 10). Quickly, why again were we surprised?

Each of us is raised in a unique culture and particular environment, but two primary differences exist between us and those in the spotlight: opportunity and visibility. Haven't we all made mistakes in use of our talents and resources? How would we handle an exponential increase in both our skills and our bank accounts (Exodus 32: 4)? We don't and can't know the answer to that question, but we do know that no matter what terrible decisions we make, the result will not be widespread public disgrace. We won't be shamed by the community at large, because we aren't famous and don't produce ratings!

So, here are 3 questions for you. Do you acknowledge your brokenness? Are you a forgiver (Mark 11: 26)? Do you know greatness when you see it? If your answer to #1 is yes, so then it must be for #2. If you answer yes to all 3, you've definitely got reason to root for Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles in this year's NFL playoffs. There isn't a better story of redemption to consider in today's sports world.

Below are your other options. Make your selection and vote in the adjacent poll. Just pick your favorite team or the one you think will win. Whichever. Then, pray for the Titans!

Blessings,
Ed

Other NFL Post-Season Teams and Themes:

True Grit

Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers

Do What You're Good At - Gunslingin'

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers