Words - must lead to THE WORD

WORDS - "don't argue" - but we cannot live without communication and words are one main source. So what else can we do ?

Pictures - are worth a 1000 words - that helps.
A good story - is great at illustrating concepts.

God uses it all - but ultimately, John writes that no one has ever seen GOD, but Jesus revealed HIM. That means words only help in this subject by painting a picture. So - we rely on words - but have to see past them. PLUS - we have to rely to some extent on "eyewitness" - which has always been a good source of information. Recently we have learned that eyewitness "testimony" is not always reliable, one reason God always demanded to have "more than one eyewitness" when finding out truth. Hebrew judges expected some conflicting testimony - in fact if everyone agreed the case was generally thrown out because full agreement could be proof of conspiracy.

That presents a quandary to us - we tend to throw out all testimony if all do NOT agree. Of the 71 judges in the Sanhedrin, even if only a quorum (23) were present only 13 would be needed to convict; while 11 votes would acquit. Hebrew structure not only allowed for different opinions and conclusions they had a saying for it: "Wherever you find two Jews, you'll find three opinions." However - they also had another common conclusion - "There is no contradiction." They found a way to include other opinions.

Generally, I do not try to simply preach or teach my own opinion. However, we do need to realize that opinion sneaks into our judgments and statements. And - we should be able to "receive one another and not dispute over opinions".

So - I am trying to rely on "pictures" and words about pictures without simply stating opinion.

Stories are in the Bible for a reason - to teach NT believers about eternal principles. Paul mentioned it two different ways. Both times he admonished us to pay careful attention to "stories" which were recorded to give us an example. Even if we do have the story, the lesson might be open to interpretation. So, I am careful to keep that in mind as we talk about Covenant being Jesus. Paul was very specific in saying the the OT presents "shadows" while the substance of those shadows is Christ Himself. (See Colossians 2:17ff.) That will be part of our study as we finish the "fly-over" and get down from our plane and begin to explore more closely. It will be focused on Jesus being everything.

Jesus is the main subject of both parts of the Bible - and if we don't see HIM, then we might check, double check, recheck and then check it again. Sounds like a good "Doctoral study" to me - and having been involved in a couple, I could wish I had the opportunity to try that challenge on for size.

For today - remember, Jesus didn't come to be against us - He came FOR US. He came to take on our "lost war" and win the victory and then offer His victory to us - freely - that's salvation by Grace through Faith. Celebrate the victory and enjoy the spoils !