Of late I have again been struck by the beauty and importance of the WHOLE of scripture. The manner in which all of it ties together and works in concert to paint an amazing picture of redemption evokes from me spontaneous praise. There is no contradiction, there is no confusion – it all has been divinely orchestrated from beginning to end in an effort to communicate salvation by grace through faith in the Messiah! Indeed as Paul said, “When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,”.
God announced His intentions early by saying in Exodus 6:7, “I will take you for My people, and I will be your God.” He repeats this phrase throughout the course of Scripture, but Jeremiah 24:7 captures the essence of this idea which is the very heart of God, “I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God….” Lest we mistake that this was God’s over-arching purpose, He wraps up Scripture by saying in Revelation 21:3, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”
This was in accordance with “the eternal purpose” (Eph 3:11) that God carried out in Messiah Yeshua, namely the bringing together of one people to be His and to dwell eternally with Him in the world to come. This serves as a thematic framework for the understanding of Scripture that resonates with me powerfully and shapes my understanding of all that I find in God’s Word.
It is beautiful! I recently read a Jewish prayer out of the siddur that read of HaShem, “You are too awesome for praise.” Words cannont express how overwhelmingly wonderful, incredible, awesome, and HOLY He is. When I begin to ponder these things I fall on my knees as well, like Paul. It’s in those times I stay completely silent, afraid to move, as I feel so humbled that he would allow me to see such things. Baruch HaShem.
He is indeed awesome, Jaime! Shabbat shalom.
Upon reading this my heart leaps with excitement for two reasons. One, this truth reminds me of the sovereign, providential, and intimate will of our Lord. Two, this truth is one in which God has revealed to me in the past several months that I’m convinced is the very core of EVERYTHING that God does. The implications are revolutionary.
We definitely need to discuss this together sometime.