50-Christ - from BEFORE the Beginning - (3)

My one very difficult concept in this regard was to see a SINGULAR concept running through the Bible to which EVERYTHING else related and referred. Part of that was due to many who tried to divide the Bible up into different ages and Laws. AND - from one perspective, they have a point. It does seem to have change points in history - and anticipation of changes in regard to how God deals with mankind.

Part of this situation comes from what we generally refer to as THE FALL. Obviously when sin entered into the word by Adam, one part of relating to God changed immediately. However, we should realize that God anticipated that - so the change is not as big as we think - from ONE perspective. God had already planned for this situation before HE made us by way of The Eternal Covenant.

Much structure we SHOULD know comes from Deuteronomy - the book of the Covenant. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy more than any other book. David knew the concepts - Saul did not. BUT - it was simply a writing down of the Promise concepts God began through Abraham. What we sometimes miss is - this book was about the lifestyle of covenant when we allow God to be our Covenant head. NOTE - this was NOT to BE SAVED - redemption - but to be WHOLE - which Hebrew literature expresses by the same word - "saved".

To use a Western example - the Constitution is not a document to get us to be Americans - but a document to help us EXPRESS our lives in an idealized way, expressing our National Dream for how Americans LIVE. We probably never live up to it - but that doesn't disqualify us from being Americans - but there certainly IS a way to violate the Constitution so that we are guilty of Treason - and could well lose our citizenship or at least be quite severely punished for it and possibly lose our physical lives.

NO ONE lived perfectly in reference to the Mosaic Law - except for Jesus - and those who taught Law and were experts felt that HE violated it OFTEN. It's always good to have a REAL expert in our midst to help us understand things - but when God came in the person of Jesus Christ, not only didn't they think He was an expert to be listened to - they were CERTAIN He was "of the Devil" and deserved to DIE. Yet - many scholars STILL think the concept of Pharisee-ism needs to be applied to OUR understanding and allowed to be the final arbiter of how we know Truth. If they are right - Jesus could NOT have been TRUTH - so He doesn't deserve an audience.

THAT is what happens to us humans almost every time we are confronted by ULTIMATE reality - we not only cannot see it, we kill the ones who say they CAN. Us poets come up with some neat lines from that - but generally they are very ironic and sometimes downright DARK.

Jesus from "before the world was" - is a fact to be embraced and held on to - and used to structure our understanding of ANY meaning in our world. So - if that thought is ignored - Truth suffers and error flourishes.

Another generation has the opportunity to study Deuteronomy - and it doesn't look like we're that close to accomplishing it in our time - either. But - as a friend of mine once said, "I thought I heard a Silver Trumpet" - and my response was "How many times did it BLOW?"

Well - at least we got some of Numbers - thank God for that. More to come