Doug started this morning's study with a statement that the Bible is a meta narrative. A meta narrative is the big story or a comprehensive explanation of many little stories. The meta narrative of the Bible is the story of the self-revelation of God to the world.
The Christian gospel tells how for the world's redemption, God entered into history, the eternal came into time, the kingdom of heaven invaded the realm of earth in the great events of the incarnation, crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into glory to sit at the right hand of the Father. Jesus himself believed in a biblical meta narrative. In Mark 1:15 he announces, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” In saying this, he indicates that God had a plan throughout history. The Kingdom of God has finally arrived and Jesus sees himself as the fulfillment of this plan.
As believers who can see the meta narrative, we can see that God has a purpose and role for each of us in this life. Doug mentioned that the best selling book after the Bible is Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life. By seeing the big picture in the Bible, we will see our role and purpose in the furtherance of God's kingdom.
The resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into glory at the Father's right hand is the linchpin in the story of redemption. There are three proofs of the resurrection: (1) Prophecy- Peter uses verses from Psalm 16 to establish that the death and resurrection was clearly prophesied in scripture (2) Eye Witnesses- There were over 500 eye witnesses who saw the resurrected Christ (3) Gift of the Holy Spirit- John 7:39 indicates that the glorification of Jesus in his resurrected body sitting at the right hand of the Father was the pre-requisite to the Father giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Psalm16 states that Jesus body would not see corruption and Psalm 110 shows Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father until his return to this earth.
Application for Us: God's kingdom is here today and we each have a purpose and a role to play in it. That is what gives us a purpose in life. Today God's Holy Spirit speaks through us in our daily life in our words and our actions.
Doug started this morning's study with a statement that the Bible is a meta narrative. A meta narrative is the big story or a comprehensive explanation of many little stories. The meta narrative of the Bible is the story of the self-revelation of God to the world.
The Christian gospel tells how for the world's redemption, God entered into history, the eternal came into time, the kingdom of heaven invaded the realm of earth in the great events of the incarnation, crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into glory to sit at the right hand of the Father. Jesus himself believed in a biblical meta narrative. In Mark 1:15 he announces, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” In saying this, he indicates that God had a plan throughout history. The Kingdom of God has finally arrived and Jesus sees himself as the fulfillment of this plan.
As believers who can see the meta narrative, we can see that God has a purpose and role for each of us in this life. Doug mentioned that the best selling book after the Bible is Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life. By seeing the big picture in the Bible, we will see our role and purpose in the furtherance of God's kingdom.
The resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into glory at the Father's right hand is the linchpin in the story of redemption. There are three proofs of the resurrection: (1) Prophecy- Peter uses verses from Psalm 16 to establish that the death and resurrection was clearly prophesied in scripture (2) Eye Witnesses- There were over 500 eye witnesses who saw the resurrected Christ (3) Gift of the Holy Spirit- John 7:39 indicates that the glorification of Jesus in his resurrected body sitting at the right hand of the Father was the pre-requisite to the Father giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Psalm16 states that Jesus body would not see corruption and Psalm 110 shows Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father until his return to this earth.
Application for Us: God's kingdom is here today and we each have a purpose and a role to play in it. That is what gives us a purpose in life. Today God's Holy Spirit speaks through us in our daily life in our words and our actions.