The Bible and its Relevance for Today - sjanhunen/dokimazo GitHub Wiki

• Introduction
  • Illustrate the two concepts of Relevance
    • How the Bible helps us achieve our goals
    • How the Bible helps God achieve His goals
  • Connect relevance and purpose with relationship
• Who is Jesus?
  • [Some photos of common conceptions]
  • [Who do you think of?]

• Where is He that is born King of the Jews?
• [Herod asked the chief priests and scribes and they new their OT]
• [The three wise men from the East knew this]
• "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, [Though] you are little among the thousands of Judah, [Yet] out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth [are] from of old, From everlasting." (Mic 5:2)
• Isa 11
  • Rod out of the stem of Jesse
  • Spirit of Lord upon Him
  • Judge with righteousness
  • Slay the wicked with the breath of His lips
  • Wolf dwell with the lamb
  • Lion shall eat straw
  • Children playing near deadly snakes
  • Ensign of the people: the Nations will seek Him
  • [The word "ensign" is worthy of study: same as when Moses lifted up the serpent]
• When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. (John 6:15)
  • [They realized that this is the guy the prophets were talking about]
  • [But Christ refused the offer at this time]
  • [What is going on here?]
  • [Worth considering why the feeding in particular was such a trigger for them to recognize Him]
• Luke 4
  • Preach acceptable year of the Lord
  • Closed the book
  • This day is this scripture fulfilled
  • No prophet accepted in His own country
  • [Christ is quoting Isa 61, but he stops short]
  • [He clearly aligns himself with the role of a prophet]
  • Isa 61
  • Acceptable year of our Lord
  • Day of vengeance of our God
• John 18:37
  • In the exchange with Pilot, Jesus at best indirectly acknowledges that He is King. But He most clearly says that the reason He came into the world was to testify of the truth (again, aligning Himself with a prophet).

• Mat 12:38-41
  • A greater than Jonah is here
  • A greater than Solomon is here
  • [The Pharasees wanted to see a sign, but Christ said the only sign they would be given would be the sign of the prophet Jonah]
  • [Christ clearly aligns Himself with the role of Prophet here]
  • [Even the reference to Solomon is focused on wisdom rather than the fact that Solomon was a king]
  • The blood of the prophets from Able on downwards (Luke 11:50)
• Mat 4:17
  • Jesus preached "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
  • [He was a prophet preaching repentance]
• Luke 4
  • A prophet is not without honor except in his own country
• Isa 53
  • who hath believed our report?
  • despised and rejected
  • therefore divide him a portion
  • maybe the intersession is a hint at priesthood?
  • [The dividing of the spoil followed the sacrifice "therefore"]
  • [Think of how this mirrors the experiences of many prophets in the OT]
• Mat 13
  • The parable of the sower
  • [There is a gap between planting the seed and the harvest]
  • [The harvest is the end of the age]
  • [Also consider the possible interesting reference to death and resurrection that may be implicit here]
• Mat 21:
  • The parable of the vineyard
  • Rejection of the Son and the consequences

• John 14
  • "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also."
  • [Just before the passover and Jesus had told His disciples that where He was going, they could not follow]
  • [But at some point, they will be able to dwell with Him]
  • [He's setting up the fact that He must leave but will return some day]
• Heb 8
  • High Priest in the true taberancle which the Lord pitched
  • He could not be a priest on Earth (after order of Melchisedec)
  • He is the mediator of the New Covenant
  • It is clear that this covenant is made with the house of Israel and Judah
  • The old covenant was ready to vanish but was not gone yet
• Heb 9:24
  • Christ entered into tabernacle in heaven
  • [Unlike the high priest, he offered himself once and sat down]
  • [He has made the sacrifice for sin and will appear the second time unto salvation]
• The Covenants in two illustrations:
  • The Old Covenant (the Tribe of Priests)
    • Tabernacle made with hands (the way into the holiest not open yet)
    • God <-> High Priest <-> Israel | Nations
  • The New Covenant (the Kingdom of Priests)
    • Tabernacle made without hands (way into holiest open)
    • Father <-> Son (King/Priest) <-> Israel (Kings/Priests) | Nations
    • There is still a wall between
  • Is this what is going on today?
  • If the old is perishing and the new hasn't been signed yet, where does that leave us?
    • We know kingdom of priests not operative
    • Firstfruits that we saw in Acts not evident
    • To the Jew First?
    • Show the photo of temple
    • Show broken down middle wall
    • The kingdom of priests failed for a time: this is a serious problem!
    • Has he left is in the dark?
    • No, because He has revealed The Mystery!

• Eph 3
  • Paul claims that by revelation The Mystery was made known to Him
  • Nations fellowheirs
  • Fellowship of the Mystery
  • Hidden from the ages
  • Wisdom of God revealed to Principalities and power in heavenly places
• Where is Christ?
  • Eph 4: Christ ascended up far above all heavens to fill all things
• What is His Title?
  • Col 2: Head of all Principality and Power
• Eph 2
  • We were strangers from the covenants
  • Aliens from Israel
  • Without hope
  • We were far off but are now made nigh
• Key Points
  • Did God solve the problem by scrapping is plan for the Earth?
  • No! He opened up a new realm entirely and put us there!
  • We are a part of His kingdom before the kingdom of heaven ever gets to the earth!

TBD

• We become relevant to God's purpose through a relationship with Christ
  • Many people ask: How can the Bible help solve my problems?
    • Make the Bible relevant by applying it to our problems
    • Photo examples from billboards, book covers, magazines, etc.
  • We should ask: How does the Bible help God solve His problems?
    • Redemption is not the end goal but is required to deal with sin
    • The Bible was written to reveal God's plan
    • We develop a relationship with God through The Word (Christ)
    • We become relevant to a bigger purpose through this relationship
• Both time and place matter for any relationship with Christ
  • Prophet (1st Coming, on the earth):
    • Christ said of His own ministry: "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:16-21)
    • "A greater than Jonas is here" (Luke 11:32)
    • Who was this prophet sent to?
  • Priest (in heaven)
    • The mysteries (the delay)
    • A priest after the order of Melchizedek (not Aaron)
  • King (2nd Coming, on the earth):
    • "A greater than Solomon is here" (Luke 11:31)
    • Day of vengeance of our God did not take place right away: what happened?
  • Head (far above all, in the superheavenlies)
    • The Mystery (previously hid, now revealed)
    • A gap not previously evident from Scripture, above/beyond mysteries of the kingdom
    • The kingdom of heaven on earth is about bringing heaven down to earth
    • The mystery is about taking you up to heaven
    • This is how we can experience the kingdom even though Christ hasn't returned yet
• Our goal is to understand our relationship with Christ as Head
  • The same Person and God, but in a different role
  • Relevant to today because that is the role He is fulfilling now
  • By understanding this relationship more, we become relevant to His purpose
  • When we study who Christ is and what He does: we are studying the Will of God
  • If you want to know the will of God, get to know the Word of God!
  • We are learning how His plan for the universe unfolds and we need to be in the right part

• A survey of Christian magazines could be an interesting part of introduction: http://christianity.about.com/od/christianbooksmovies/tp/christmagazines.htm
• Compare chief corner stone in Eph and Pet
• What about Christ ascending to the Father (first don't touch me, then Thomas could touch Him)
• What was Christ's ministry while on earth? Mat 15:24: "The Lost sheep of the house of Israel". Looking at the greater context here we can see the Jew first and the Nations second
• According to Romans 15:8-15, Christ was confirming the promises made to the fathers
• Christ opened His ministry in Luke 4:16-21, he set it up by reading from Isa 61:1-2
  • He was preaching the Acceptable year of the Lord (and he stopped there)
  • From the prophecy it appeared that one followed the other
  • But it's pretty clear that the Day of Vengeance has not come
• The gap between 'Acceptable Year of the Lord' and 'Day of Vengeance' is not seen in Isa 61:1-2
• 2000 years have passed: are we still in the Acts period? Or are we in Revelation?
• The Mysteries of the Kingdom introduce a delay due to failure/rejection
• The Mystery introduces an even bigger delay and is a real game changer
• What are some of the best indicators that we are neither in Acts nor Revelation? The state of Israel and the Temple.
• The Mystery reveals a super-heavenly realm not previously discussed: God is working out a purpose there to enable His overall plan
• Eph 4:8-12 and Psalm 68:18
• Eph 1:21-22: Christ far above all
• Eph 3:10-11: powers in heavenly places
• Waiting for his return (Day of Vengeance) versus seated with Him in Heaven
• What are the best indicators that the focus is on a new realm entirely (where Christ is)?
• The use of the word 'intercession' in Romans is a clear indicator for which role Christ is assuming
• Isa 11 important for future work of Christ
• Micha 5:2 and the three wise men is a nice lead in to starting with King title
• Important Question: when did Christ enter the tabernacle to finish his work?
• How does ascending to the Father fit into this?
• How much of Christ's 'Head of All Principality and Power' is present versus future?