“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jo3.16
There is a magical phenomenon witnessed in Biblical literacy. After reading the hundreds of stories contained in the Bible, one begins to see that all the stories melt into one grand tale, told again and again. The verse above has been called the greatest verse in Scripture. The reason for this, is that it captures shortly and sweetly, that one story told in the Book of books, His story. My students are beginning to see this phenomenon for themselves. Every Old Testament narrative adumbrates, foreshadows, draws a picture if you will, of God’s one and only Son. The story of Jesus is told over and over again. He is the seed of the woman who crushes the head of the serpent, the animal skins used by God to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. Christ is the ark, in which Noah and family found refuge from the flood, the seed of Abraham in whom all the nations will be blessed. Christ is Jacob’s ladder to heaven, the ram provided in the sacrifice of Isaac. He is the Passover lamb, whose blood stays the hand of God’s judgment.
Hundreds of stories told over thousands of years and each, an echo, of the simple truth, that God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son. Only God could tell a tale such as this. Its incredibility is its most credible witness. Every nation and every culture seems also to have stories which shadow the substance found in Christ. Christ is seen everywhere because Christ is everything. Trust in Him, O my soul, and find your hearts desire, the fulfillment of your deepest longing. Jesus, name above all names. 2/13/07 ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
