The book of Genesis is a book of origins. In fact, the titled itself, “Genesis” is the Greek word meaning “origins”. The Hebrew title of the book of Genesis is “bereshith” (ברשית) which means “in the beginning” (although there’s still quite a bit of...
The people of Israel, while defeated and sent to exile, maintained hope for restoration. The catalyst for hope came through both the prophets (the exilic and post-exilic Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Obadiah, and...
Jesus redefines what power is. All over the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the Son of God. In our modern context, we interpret this to be the Bible’s way to attesting to the divinity of Jesus. This case certainly can be made, but there is...
We cannot miss how Paul, in the overall structure of the Epistle to the Romans, juxtaposes the contrast between Holy Spirit and the Torah as two different, but related means for sealing the covenants, both old and new. The Holy Spirit as the new...
This week we remember Pentecost (Acts 2). Pentecost is arguably the fourth most important event Church calendar after Christ’s birth, the Christ’s death, and Christ’s resurrection. But what makes Pentecost so important? At Pentecost God’s long...
The book of Exodus never ceases to amaze me. It is, without a doubt, one of my favorite Old Testament books. It’s claim to fame is the dividing of the Red Sea as the climactic event in which the people of Israel walk out of slavery without ever...
The image of God is a crucial dimension in the meta-narrative. Any doctrine of salvation that does not take into account the image of God will end up out of whack. Readers are simply unable to grasp the essential human problem and God’s solution...
In the opening scene of the narrative, God creates the heavens and the earth. The theological thrust of both creation narratives (Genesis 1 and 2), is the sovereignty of God, as Creator. There are clues in the text that highlight this. One of the...
Isaiah 6:1-8 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. As a missionary having attended many missions conferences, I have heard countless messages centering on the famous verse, “here I am, Lord, send me” (6:8). The takeaway of the message usually...
Paul, at every point, frames his theology within scripture’s meta-narrative of salvation. Paul cannot think about Jesus cut-off from the Old Testament. Jesus changed everything about how Paul understood Adam and Eve, the Garden, Abraham, Moses...