Archive for December 2022
45 | Christmas: You are an Agent of the New Creation
Christ is born to be King! He IS King, now. Merry Christmas! That makes us agents of the New Creation because Christ has already started the New Creation. Paul talks about this a lot. God wants to dwell with man and will bring heaven down to earth and they will exist together in the new…
Read More44 | You are a Citizen of Heaven Now in the New Creation
You are a citizen of Heaven – did you know that? Paul wrote that in Philippians 3. His listeners would immediately know that’s like being a citizen of Rome. Philippi was a colony. Roman citizens there were agents and emissaries of Roman culture, law, language, customs, and power. Roman citizens living in Philippi weren’t interested…
Read More43 | Advent: Find the seven signs of glory in the gospel of John
John is determined to show how the Shekinah has returned in an unexpected way: in the person of Jesus. Then who, when, where, and how of its return is shocking. There could be no messiah without addressing the Temple question. The Messiah would restore the temple. Period. No restored temple, no messiah. The Temple was…
Read More42| Advent: Jesus as temple, a powerful lens for Christmas meaning
Most of our listeners know that using the covenant “lens” is a powerful organizing principle for reading Scripture. It helps explain what’s happening and creates insights for us today. The Temple “lens” is a similar powerful organizing principle. There are some surprises there, at least for me (Curtis). I knew Jesus referred to himself as…
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