The History of Redemption Project - Part 5

Illustration by Christopher Koelle

Then the Lord brought Israel up from the Land of Egypt and redeemed them from the house of slavery.  But they did not keep God's covenant and refused to walk according to his law.  They forgot the works and the wonders that he had shown them.  When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.  They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.  But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.  They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons, they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters.  (Micah 6:4, Ps. 78:10-11, Ps. 78:34-36, Ps. 106:37, Ps. 106:38)  Passages taken from The History of Redemption.

I often think that as we read about Israel's unfaithfulness to God, we do so with a smug, self-righteous attitude.  How could they possibly forget all the signs and miracles that he performed as he brought them out of slavery in Egypt?  Why would Israel so eagerly turn its back on the One True God to follow after idols?  Why couldn't they get their act together, instead of engaging in an ongoing cycle of disobedience followed by repentance?  And how could anyone ever sacrifice his sons and daughters to demons?  How barbaric! 


If you click on the picture, you will see the detail at the bottom of the illustration.  Subtly situated underneath the graphic depiction of the child sacrifice, the author drew a number of unborn children at various stages of development - with their umbilical cords attached, representing another form of child sacrifice. The truth of the matter is that any one of us is capable of the most grotesque behavior apart from the grace of God. And we are all guilty of more sin and disobedience to God than we are capable of mentally processing.  Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be fully aware of every sin you committed in thought, word, and deed?  The weight of guilt would be unbearable!  The question to be asked is, "What will you do with all that guilt?" 

The History of Redemption Project - Part 4

Illustration by Christopher Koelle

I'm in my fourth week of memorization, and I'm already falling slightly behind according to the plan to finish The History of Redemption in six months.  After a couple conversations with myself, I guess I'm fine with that.  The goal is not maintaining a time line...it's committing God's Word to memory so it will dwell in me richly.  This week, I have been working on this passage in the redemptive story:


"Now the LORD said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'  And he brought him outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'  And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.  And Abraham became the father of Isaac.  The sons of Isaac were Esau and Israel." (Gen. 12:1-3; Gen. 15:5-6; I Chron. 1:34)


With the calling of Abram, God began to establish a covenant people for Himself, the people for whom He reveals His character as merciful in calling them, holy in judging them, and faithful in restoring them.  Abram's story began with God calling him out of Ur to a land that He would show him, a city "whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10)."  Abraham's justification (right standing before God) by faith is a model of God's crediting His righteousness to us by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross as the perfect Sacrifice for the sins of His children, and in His resurrection, by which He conquered death.  (See Romans chapter 4.)


I can't read about God promising Abram that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens without thinking about the song "Step by Step" by Rich Mullins:

"Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me
He was a stranger in this land
And I am that, no less than he
And on this road to righteousness
Sometimes the climb can be so steep
I may falter in my steps
But never beyond Your reach
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days."

The History of Redemption Project - Part 3

Illustration by Christopher Koelle

Continuing on with memorizing God's redemptive story, this week I am working on these passages from The History of Redemption:

"Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked." (p.19)


"For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope.  Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (p. 20)


"Then the LORD God said to the serpent "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (p. 21)

(Scripture verses: Romans 1:22-25; Genesis 3:7; Romans 8:20; Genesis 6:5; Genesis 3:15 - all ESV)

As mankind's federal head, Adam's rebellion against God brought death upon us all.  We all are born sinners and idolaters, hostile toward toward the Righteousness of God and followers of evil.  In our morning devotions, we read this from the February 2011 Tabletalk magazine:

"The Devil and his minions have a degree of authority over unregenerate people in the present age because, under the sovereignty of God, we chose to make the Accuser our king when we thought we were choosing self-rule over submission to the Lord.  Rejecting our good Creator in Adam, we turned ourselves over to the Serpent, as we grasped for the ability to be a law unto ourselves (Gen. 3; 2 Cor. 4:3-4).  God could have intervened and stopped our turn from His lordship to the lordship of the Devil, but as He is wont to do in judging us, He let us have exactly what we wanted (Rom. 1:18-32).  But the self-rule that we desired was not really what the great deceiver offered us in Eden.  He actually tricked us into enslavement to him and pain, sickness, and the evil desires of the flesh - our fallen natures - when we turned our backs on the loving Creator (John 8:31-47; Gal. 4:8)."

Because of Adam's sin, God cursed the spiritual serpent, Satan, when he declared that the woman's offspring would bruise his head.  This first gospel message was ultimately fulfilled in the triumph of Christ over the forces of sin and death by being the atonement for our sins on the cross.  

The History of Redemption Project - Part 2

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."  But the serpent said to the woman.  "You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 2:16-17 ESV; Genesis 3:4-6 ESV)


The stage for the beginning drama of redemptive history was the Garden of Eden, where man's obedience to the covenant obligation was tested.  Adam and Eve were told that they could enjoy the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Satan tempted Eve by drawing her attention to God's prohibition rather than His abundant provision, casting doubt on God's truthfulness and motivation for their well-being.  By their act of disobedience, Adam and Eve attempted to know all apart from God, an act of human autonomy.  They contended for supremacy with God.  As it was from the beginning, God instructs us to live by faith in His Word and not by our professed self-sufficiency of knowledge.

Note:  Scripture selections are from The History of Redemption. 

The History of Redemption Project - Part 1

Illustration by Christopher Koelle

I might be delusional about my memorization ability, but this week I began the six-month plan to memorize The History of Redemption.  After seeing it advertised on another blog a few weeks ago, I took the first step by ordering the beautifully illustrated book, that also comes with an audio CD, which is beneficial to use while driving.  The 179 selected Bible verses tell "the story of a covenantal love that failed to be extinguished even by our insidious rebellion.  It's the story of God rescuing his children from the clutches of sin through his Son Jesus Christ, that we might find eternal happiness in him."  It is my prayer that, as I meditate on these passages of God's Word, my joy and thankfulness for what He has done in my life will abound.  Blogging through this project will help keep me on target. 

My verses for this week:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  And God said, "Let there be light, and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good.  And God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:1-4;ESV)

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  And let him have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.  And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.  And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.  (Genesis 1:26-27, 31 ESV; Gen 2:22-25 ESV)

What a marvelous thought to consider that the only true and eternal God spoke His creation into being by the word of His mouth, ex nihilo, out of nothing. His creative power is a mystery to us!  And after initially creating the earth "without form and void,"  God formed and filled the earth according to His eternal counsel, with man being created in His image. Men and women were created to have a unique relationship to God.  We embody His communicable attributes,  and we are God's representative in ruling over the earth.  And so the story unfolds...