Biblical Theology 102

Posted by on Mar 4, 2015 in Community Group | 0 comments

Biblical Theology 102     Review The Scriptures The Scriptures must be understood and read as one book, written by one author (God), with one main subject (God’s plan of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ).   Biblical Theology Biblical theology is, in effect, the study of the unity of the message of the Bible.Biblical theology: shows the relationship of all parts of the Scriptures to the person and work of Jesus Christ. In effect, it shows the Scriptures to be Christo-centric. shows the process by which God has chosen to reveal Himself to mankind. In effect, shows how that revelation is progressively revealed and progressively develops over the course of history. shows the Scriptures to be more than a story. It’s a story that starts at the beginning of history and ends at the end of history. In effect, it is a metanarrative; a story that explains everything and so provides us with a worldview [1]   Overview This morning we will be considering two topics: The biblical concepts of prophetic fulfillment and The proper method of drawing applications from the Old Testament.     Prophetic Fulfillment God’s promises together point to and delineate a divine plan for history — a plan to redeem a people to worship Him forever. As such, prophetic fulfillment of God’s promises embrace three important concepts:   Multiple Horizons of Fulfillment God’s promises (prophecies in the broadest sense of the term) typically have multiple horizons of fulfillment. Additionally, each successive fulfillment occurs not only later in time chronologically, but is greater in significance both theologically and historically [1]. For example: Gen. 12:1-3 (Abrahamic Covenant); 2 Sam. 7:10 (Davidic Covenant)   Already/Not Yet God’s promises can have a present and future fulfillment. “Already, but not yet” describes the tension between the benefits of redemptive promises already experienced in this life and those benefits which await us at the consummation. Christians enjoy the “alreadyness” of the Atonement—remission of sins, adoption as children, the indwelling Holy Spirit, etc. However, there is a sense in which we will not see these realities in totality until the last day (1 John 3:2), and so they always remain objects of faith. For example, Christians...

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Biblical Theology 101

Posted by on Feb 22, 2015 in Community Group | 0 comments

Biblical Theology 101 Introduction Early in the 21st century, a British police officer went to visit a primary school, where he was asked to tell a story. He began by asking: “Who knocked down the walls of Jericho?” There was a long silence as the children shuffled nervously on their seats. Eventually, a little lad put up his hand and said: “Please sir, my name is Bruce Jones. I don’t know who did it but it wasn’t me.” The police officer thought that reply to be cheeky, so he reported the incident to the head master. After a pause, the head master replied: “I know Bruce Jones. He is an honest boy. If he said he didn’t do it, he didn’t.” The police officer was exasperated. The head master was either rude or very ignorant. The police officer wrote to the School Board to complain and received this response. “Dear Sir. We are sorry to hear about the walls of Jericho and that nobody has admitted causing the damage. If you send us an estimate, we will see what we can do about the cost.” It is a silly story but it does make a point. A few decades ago everyone would have known about Joshua and the walls of Jericho. Today, the average non-Christian is almost completely ignorant of the contents of the Bible. Unfortunately, the knowledge of Christians is often not much better! We may know of many of the major stories and even key doctrines, but we do not understand how to use the Scriptures. This morning we will consider the Scriptures from 50,000 feet while explaining what Biblical Theology is and its usefulness.   The Scriptures The Bible is a diverse collection of different writings. It contains sixty-six books, written by about forty human authors, over nearly 2,000 years. It has two main sections (the Old Testament and the New Testament), is written in two main languages (Hebrew and Greek), includes a mixture of literature types. The Scriptures do not tell the story of how God decided to send Jesus to earth only after his first plan had failed (e.g., Adam, Israel). The Scriptures are not a book of quotations....

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Biblical Theology — 8

Posted by on Sep 5, 2014 in Community Group | 0 comments

Biblical Theology — 8 The Perfected Kingdom   Review Last week we learned that the Kingdom of God (God’s people, in God’s place, under God’s rule, and enjoying God’s blessing) had yielded the first fruits of the Spirit: a taste of the blessings of heaven. We are adopted as children of God (Eph. 1:5-6). We know something of what it is like to be holy, and we long for more. And we know something of what it means to know God through Christ and to be loved by Him, and we cannot wait to feel it more. That is why we “groan inwardly.” All of this is the inevitable consequence of the fact we live in this “in-between period”, in the intersection of the ages. We are citizens of heaven, who must, for the time being, live as “strangers” in the world (Phil. 3:20; 1 Peter 1:1). But we shall not have to live away from home forever. One day the Lord Jesus will return to take us to join Him in the perfected Kingdom. God’s people — The Church Live in God’s place — The individual believer; The Church Under God’s rule — New covenant; Holy Spirit Enjoying God’s blessing — Adoption   The Book of Revelation Revelation is the last book of the Bible. It was probably written by the apostle John while he was exiled on the island of Patmos. The most likely date is during the time of the Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96). It is written in a style of literature known as “apocalpytic”, which uses symbolism to convey its message.   Interpreting Revelation Much of Revelation (Revelation 5-16) is dominated by sequences of divine judgments: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. Over the years, there have been many attempts to interpret who, or what, they represent. Some have argued that all the symbols refer exclusively to people or institutions at the time John was writing (the preterist view). Others see the book as presenting a chronological account of the different eras through history from the first century to the second coming (the historicist view). Still others think that, from Revelation 4 onwards, the book describes only the events...

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