One of my favorite texts of Scripture is Ephesians 3:16-19 where the apostle Paul prays for the Ephesians:
I get to read the Old Testament with the gift of perspective. I get to look back knowing how the story turned out. I get to look back in light of the cross and begin to comprehend the “breadth and length and height and depth” of God’s unfailing love for me. I marvel at how patient, how determined, how tenaciously God worked to bring a Savior who would redeem even me once and for all.
It marvels me as I read to learn how the riches of grace that were poured out for me through the cross of Jesus – forgiveness, sanctification, atonement, righteousness, holiness - didn’t begin at the cross, they culminated there. They are the themes woven through the stories and promises of Genesis and Exodus and on through the prophets.
As I read I am regularly humbled by the faith of people in the Old Testament - they could only hope for Jesus, only dream of the day, only hold fast to the promise. I find myself continually challenged and determined to be faithful to the promise kept.
There is much in the Old Testament I don’t understand. Some of the stories are bizarre and some things God does scare me. I struggle with the minutia of long lists of names and get confused by the geography and sidetracked by strange customs. But I want to know it, because I know it’s my story. I want to know it because it roots and grounds my faith in the tangible history of the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love for me.
I want to be rooted and grounded in love. I’m going to keep reading.
...that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.I think about those verses as I read through Genesis, Exodus and the Psalms because that is exactly what I am doing; I am being rooted and grounded in love. The gospel of Jesus is rooted and grounded in the stories and laws and poetry of the Old Testament. It strengthens my faith to see how God prepared the world for Jesus as he graciously received Noah’s offering after the flood, as he graciously responded to Abraham’s faith, graciously led Jacob’s family into Egypt so he could bring them out as his own.
I get to read the Old Testament with the gift of perspective. I get to look back knowing how the story turned out. I get to look back in light of the cross and begin to comprehend the “breadth and length and height and depth” of God’s unfailing love for me. I marvel at how patient, how determined, how tenaciously God worked to bring a Savior who would redeem even me once and for all.
It marvels me as I read to learn how the riches of grace that were poured out for me through the cross of Jesus – forgiveness, sanctification, atonement, righteousness, holiness - didn’t begin at the cross, they culminated there. They are the themes woven through the stories and promises of Genesis and Exodus and on through the prophets.
As I read I am regularly humbled by the faith of people in the Old Testament - they could only hope for Jesus, only dream of the day, only hold fast to the promise. I find myself continually challenged and determined to be faithful to the promise kept.
There is much in the Old Testament I don’t understand. Some of the stories are bizarre and some things God does scare me. I struggle with the minutia of long lists of names and get confused by the geography and sidetracked by strange customs. But I want to know it, because I know it’s my story. I want to know it because it roots and grounds my faith in the tangible history of the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love for me.
I want to be rooted and grounded in love. I’m going to keep reading.
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1 comment:
I was reading Ex 5 last week and I couldn't help but notice how mad the Israelites were that Moses was trying to save the vs 21. THen Moses gets irritated with God that He hasn't saved them yet.(vs 23) I got to thinking who has God sent to help save me from myself that I ignored or didn't listen to and have I given up hope at times because God didn't do something in the time and manner I expected?
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