Beautiful Bible
The sacred symmetry in Scripture.
Note: This post is long, but if you wish to know your Bible well, print it, save it, and read it several times. It will help you see the beauty of the greatest Book ever written.
If someone were to write your biography, how would your life story flow in your mind?
I’m asking about your mind, not the biographer’s mind.
I’m working with a friend, Jim Milonas, the President and Chairman of the Board for the Christian Fellowship Community, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on his biography.
Jim’s one of the most remarkable Christian men I’ve ever known. Today, I told him:
“Jim, this book is your autobiography. It’s your story! You must tell it the way it’s to be told!”
The Bible Is Jesus’ Autobiography
AD 30 - He tells His Story on the Emmaus Road
“As they walked, beginning with the Law (Moses) and the Prophets, Jesus explained to them all the things written in the Hebrew Scriptures about Himself” - Luke 24:27
“All Scripture is God-breathed” says Paul in his second letter to Timothy (3:16). God’s breath is the exhale of God’s mouth, like the breath you feel (or smell), when someone talks with you.
Jesus talks to us in His Story within the Bible.
When He taught the couple as they walked to the city of Emmaus “about Himself from the Scriptures,” Jesus told them His Story from the Book that He inspired men to write.
Let’s see Jesus in the Scriptures.
1. Paradise on Earth - Garden of Eden
4001 BC. - Christ in the Garden
Whether you believe the earth and universe evolved over "billions and billions of years,” or came into existence in a week of days by the direct action of an omnipotent Creator, knock yourself trying to prove it.
Time as man measures it is irrelevant and immaterial to the Creator not bound by time. Time is a gift to temporal mankind; unnecessary for the eternal, omnipotent, and invisible Creator of man who transcends the material creation.
Without doubt, the Creator brought Adam and Eve into existence. Modern science confirms the Scripture’s account that GOD created man in His image around 4000 BC.
Scientists recently traced the human genome and "discovered" that all humans descend from just one man and one woman.
Scientific DNA has also revealed that so-called “pre-historic civilizations” like sub-Sahara Africans, native Americans, and Peruvian Incas are actually descendants of collapsed civilizations in recorded history.
Modern science confirms what the Bible reveals about the uniqueness of man.
It takes greater faith to believe all humans evolved from amoebas and apes than to believe God created Adam in His image (Genesis 1:27).
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with their Creator as friends. You may ask, “But how can they ‘walk’ or ‘talk’ to the invisible and material Creator?
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.” - Colossians 3:15-16.
When Adam (man in Hebrew) rebelled against Jesus, they were expelled from Paradise, and two cherubim guarded the Door back into His Presence.
“After He drove Adam out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” - Genesis 3:24
Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, entrance into the revealed Presence of GOD, called the Shekinah in Hebrew, was symbolized in the sacred place (The Tabernacle or the Temple) with two angels preventing entrance without the blood of an innocent sacrifice.
“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
The Creator of life has every right to end life if His conditions are not met.
Rebellion to the Creator means death.
But GOD… in mercy for all of us who “have gone astray” came to “die in our stead.”
Jesus the Messiah is called Emmanuel, “GOD with us.”
Jesus came to pay the penalty of death for our sins, opening again the way to Paradise.
Surely He took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered Him punished by GOD,
stricken by Him, and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brings us well-being was on Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;He poured out His life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For He bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus conquered “sin and death” when He died on the cross on Thursday, April 6, AD 30, rising from the dead three days later, Sunday, April 9, AD 30.
At the empty resurrection tomb, Mary saw two cherubim, one on each end of the empty sarcophagus. They told Mary the Good News (see John 20:11-14).
Jesus opens Paradise to sinners who trust the Person and work of the Messiah for us.
To get from the Garden of Paradise in Genesis, to experience The Paradise of the Heart in the Labyrinth of this World (the title of the classic book by Jon Comenius that inspired John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress), we must work through 4,000 years mankind’s failure in the Old Testament.
This is His Story.
2. The Earth Is Destroyed - Noah’s Flood
2345 BC - Christ in the Ark
Some believe Noah’s flood (Genesis 6-9) was global and catastrophic; others believe the Flood to be local and hyperbolic.
As for me, since every nation of the world has a flood story in its history, I believe the Flood to be global, catastrophic, and emblematic.
Man rebelled against our Creator, resulting in “the people of the earth being full of violence … corrupt and evil in all their ways” (Genesis 6:11-12)
So God said to Noah, “I will put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”
But Noah, his wife, their three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), and their wives (8 people) were saved from the Creator’s righteous judgment (destruction and death) of that which was evil and wicked.
“For the wages of sin death, but the gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our LORD.” - Romans 6:23
Jesus is in the Ark.
Judgment for rebellion to the Creator may be postponed, but it comes.
The Creator revealed the Ark’s design, just as He designs our salvation in Himself
Noah constructed the Ark from acacia wood, the same material of the Cross.
“Come” is the word of invitation into the Ark, revealing Christ’s presence inside.
“Pitch” or kopher in Hebrew, covered the Ark, covering people from judgement.
There was only one Door to enter the Ark, and only one Name for salvation.
The Ark served not only as refuge, it became a haven of rest to those inside.
The re- population of the earth began with Noah's sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) and their descendants, from whom all the people groups of the world can be traced.
The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 is a stunning study on the world's population growth, as well as a key that unlocks the door to different ethnic cultures.
3. Abram Is Born - The Seed of Messiah
1961 BC - Christ in Abraham
At age 75, Abram left "Ur of the Chaldees" (an ancient city in modern Iraq) after GOD told him to leave his country, his people, and his father's family to go "to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).
The LORD called Abram “out of Babylon” (Ur of the Chaldees).
Abram’s call introduces us to the concept found throughout Scripture that God calls His people out of Babylon - the place of self-rule - to Zion, the city “not build with human hands” (Heb. 11:10) where Jesus, the Creator of all things, rules the living.
GOD told Abram that He would “make of him a great nation " (Genesis 12:2). And then comes this incredible promise:
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3
“The Seed” of Abraham , the Messiah, would “bless all the peoples of the earth” (Genesis 12:3).
Abram’s call begins the nation of Israel. His son, Isaac, was the father of Abram’s grandson, Jacob, whose named was changed to ISRAEL by the Creator Himself.
Abram had a son Isaac, and Isaac had a son Jacob, whose name God changed to "Israel."
The Creator is called in the Bible, "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Exodus 3:6).
And YHWH (the invisible, immortal, eternal Creator) chooses to come to earth “in the flesh” as “the Seed of Abraham” (see Galatians 3:29). The Messiah (Jesus Christ), descends from Abraham, according to the flesh. “
The Cross is seen in the Genesis story of Abraham offering his son Isaac.
On Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered his son Isaac to YHWH, Jesus, the seed of Abraham, would die on the cross, offered by the Father, on April 6, AD 30, as the “covering” from Divine judgment for those who trust His work on behalf of sinners (see Isaiah 53).
4. ISRAEL In Egypt - From Pit to Palace
1876 BC to 1446 BC - Christ in Joseph
Of all the “types” or “symbols” of the Person of Jesus, Joseph is the best.
You can read Joseph’s story in Genesis 37-50.
Everything about Joseph points to the coming Redeemer of mankind.
5. The Burning Bush- The Divine Light
1451 BC - Christ in the Burning Bush
When the family of Israel went into Egyptian bondage, they needed a Deliverer.
In 1451 BC, Christ’s call to Moses - when Moses was eighty years old - to lead Israel out of their Egyptian bondage.
It took five years and ten plagues on Egypt, but finally, in 1446 BC, the family of Israel left Egypt in what is called “The Exodus” (1446 BC) to go to the land of Canaan, the land GOD promised to the Israelites, called “The Promised Land".”
Israel and his family had gone to Egypt during a great famine in Israel in the year
Israel and his sons’ families stayed in Egypt because their brother Joseph had become an influential Egyptian leader.
In Egypt, the Israelites "multiplied greatly" (Exodus 1:7), and grew into a large ethnic family, a threat to the sovereign Egyptian empire.
The U.S. has been a nation for not quite 250 years, less time than Israel lived in Egypt.
The U.S. has grown from 100 early settlers at Jamestown to 333,000,000 people.
It’s not hard to understand how Israel’s family became a "great nation" while living in Egypt.
In time, a Pharaoh in Egypt “who knew not Joseph” came to power. The new Pharoah became afraid of the numerically large and extremely skilled Israelites.
Pharoah enslaved the Israelites.
In 1451 BC, God called Moses at “the burning bush” to lead His people out of their Egyptian bondage.
When God called Moses, He said, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Exodus 3:6).
6. The Exodus from Egypt
1446 BC. - Christ in the Passover
When Israel left Egypt in 1446 BC, the Creator instituted the Passover for Israel.
Families who slew an innocent lamb and placed the blood on “the doorposts of their homes” in the form of a cross (top, bottom, right side, left side), were covered and protected from the judgement of God.
Christ is our Passover Lamb. He protects brings us back to Paradise, restoring our relationship with Him.
God made an agreement with Israel, called, "The Mosaic Covenant" or “The Old Covenant.”
Israel called their covenant with YHWH, "The Law."
The Law included everything about life in Canaan - the calendar, the festivals, the taxes, the sacrifices, Temple worship, Sabbath days, dietary laws, and civil laws.
After leaving Egypt, the people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years. Finally, the young nation of Israel crossed the Jordan River at Beth-Abara (where Jesus was later baptized), and the people of Israel began conquering the Canaanites.
For the next 400 years (from the battle of Jericho to the anointing of Saul as King (1051 BC), various judges ruled over Israel (see Joshua, Judges, and I and II Samuel).
During the 400 years of Judges, where wise men and women (judges) ruled over Israel, the people began doing that “which was right in their own eyes.”
The Israelites looked at neighboring nations with kings and wanted "a king" for themselves.
They asked their prophet Samuel for God to give them a king over Israel "like other nations" (I Samuel 8).
Eventually wanted a human king to rule over them. They chose Saul, the tall, good-looking, articulate Hebrew to be King of Israel.
But GOD looks at the heart, not at the physical attributes.
King David became the great type of the King of kings, the LORD Jesus Christ.
The Exodus - The Passover Lamb
7. Israel - A Light to the Nations
1051 - 931 BC - Christ as King of Israel
God allowed Israel to have a king in 1051 BC. It was the beginning of decline that led to a divorce of God from national Israel they "broke their covenant with God" (Jeremiah 3:8).
Of course, this was all part of the providential plan of God. God's Law was intended to reveal the depths of man's sin (Romans 3:7-25) and the beauty of mankind's Savior.
Jesus fulfills the Law in every way, and He gives perfect righteousness and corresponding blessings from God to all who trust Him (Philippians 3:7-11).
A kingdom is "a king's dominion.
The Kingdom of Israel had Jerusalem as its capital and only three kings in its history, with each king reigning for 40 years.
• Saul (1051-1011 B.C.)
• David (1001 - 971 B.C.)
• Solomon (971 - 931 B.C.).
When a believer in YHWH looks to a an earthly king, prince, or president for deliverance, idolatry invades the heart and mind.
Jesus the Messiah is King of kings and LORD of Lords.
Our allegiance is to Him.
The nation of Israel was established by God to show all the nations what it looks like to be a people who trust YHWH and “do justly, show mercy, and walk humble.”
King David foreshadows the King of kings, the LORD Jesus Christ.
Any nation that trusts in a political leader instead of GOD will fall.
Saul, David and Solomon each reigned as king of Israel for 40 years (1051 to 931 BC).
After the death of King Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel divided into two kingdoms.
8. A Divided Kingdom - Israel and Judah
931 BC - Christ in the Nations
931 BC is the most important date in biblical chronology, but it is also THE DATE that few Christians know or understand.
In 931 BC, the 12 Tribes of the United Kingdom of Israel are divided into TWO KINGDOMS - the NORTHERN KINGDOM OF ISRAEL (10 tribes) and the SOUTHERN KINGDOM OF JUDAH (two tribes).
When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam wished to continue the heavy taxes his father had imposed to build the Temple.
10 tribes of Israel rebelled and started their own kingdom in the north under a new king, Jeroboam.
As you read KINGS and CHRONICLES, realize that you are reading about TWO DIFFERENT KINGDOMS. The northern Kingdom is called Israel, Ephraim (after the largest tribe), or Samara (after its capital).
The southern Kingdom is called Judah.
The word “Jew” is an abbreviation of the word “Judah".”
There were 19 kings of the northern Kingdom of Israel (931 to 722 BC), and all of them were evil.
There were 20 kings of the southern Kingdom of Judah (931 to 586 BC), and 12 kings were evil, and eight kings were good.
The lesson of a divided Israel is that those who trust in YHWH should never settle for second-best and place their trust in a government leader.
Whether its Biden, Trump, or Harris, political leaders are not the true King of kings.
In both the north (Israel) and the south (Judah), there were people who never lost their faith in YHWH, even under political pressure.
9. The Fall of Israel - The Proud Nation
722 BC - Christ in the Fall of Empires
The northern kingdom of Israel never obeyed God in their covenant relationship with the Creator (see Deuteronomy 28). Israel’s nineteen kings from 931 BC to the kingdom’s collapse in 722 BC were all evil.
Stories like that of King Ahab and Jezebel reveal how lost the people of Israel, and their leaders were.
Prophets like Elijah, Hosea, and others came to northern Israel and spoke to the people and kings on behalf of God.
Their message was "repent" or "perish." The people of Israel closed their ears to the warnings of God through the prophets; God then raised the Assyrians, the world's first empire, to bring to an end the northern kingdom of Israel.
In 722 B.C. Assyria conquered the northern kingdom, took the Israeli men into captivity (Nineveh was Assyria's capital), brought in pagan men they'd captured in other nations, and forced them to intermarry with the Israeli women.
The descendants of these "mixed marriages" were the Samaritans, considered "half-breeds" by the Jews of Jesus' day.
The Jews (Jew is an abbreviation for Judah, the people of the southern kingdom) would go to great lengths to avoid the Samaritans and the land in which they lived (Samaria).
But not Jesus.
"He must go through Samaria" (John 4:4)
Jesus is interested in giving life to the least, the lost and the littlest - the rejected.
It was in the land of Samaria that Jesus met the woman at the well and gave her the water of life.
Though the descendants of the mixed marriages were called "Samaritans," after the fall of the northern kingdom, the ten northern tribes of Israel were forever lost - thus, they are called the "Lost Tribes."
Always remember that a country that trusts in its political leaders and forsake their trust in God, will find themselves humbled and broken.
The great them of Scripture is, “Christ humbles the proud, and He exalts the humble.”
Assyria, after conquering the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they moved “around Judah” who promised to “pay tribute.” Two decades later, after Assyria conquered all the small kingdoms around Judah (Moabites, Ammonites, etc.), they surrounded Judah to take down Jerusalem.
But Isaiah the prophet urged King Hezekiah of Judah to lead the people in national repentance of their sins. The chapters of Isaiah 36, 37, 38, and 39 are some of my favorite in the Hebrew Scriptures. Hezekiah repented personally, and then Judah to repent nationally, and in one night, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers surrounding Jerusalem were slain by YHWH. Ancient Greek and Roman historians said the Assyrian soldiers died of bubonic plague spread by rats. Isaiah says they died of a “pandemic” or “wasting disease.”
Regardless, the revival in Judah in 701 BC illustrates the principle that God exalts the humble, but He brings down the proud.
If you live your life with no thought of the rule of Christ, the reign of Christ will humble you.
Christ humbles the proud and exalts the humble.
10. The Fall of Judah - Exile in Babylon
586 BC - Christ in Babylon
Before 722 BC and the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, God's people - both in the northern and southern Kingdoms - were all called Hebrews.
After the destruction of the northern Kingdom the word "Jew" come into existence.
King David was from the tribe of Judah.
The promise God originally made to Abraham that through him, "all the nations of the earth would be blessed" was still in effect through Judah.
However, after the national revival under Hezekiah in 701 BC, the Jewish people gradually shifted back into idolatry and began to go the way of their northern brothers.
It only takes one generation from revival for wickedness to reassert itself.
Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, warned Judah that they, too, would perish if they didn't repent and return to God.
The world's second empire, the Babylonians, conquered the Assyrians. In a series of three increasingly severe attacks on Jerusalem (605, 597, 586 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, destroyed took captives and eventually destroyed the Temple and the city Jerusalem, taking all the Jews captive in 586 BC.
This captivity into Babylon (modern Iraq and Iran) is called "The Babylonian Exile."
It is possible to date the 70 Years of Babylonian Exile for the Jews one of three ways:
From 609 B.C. and the Battle of Megiddo (when Judah’s king Josiah was killed) and Babylon became an empire, to Babylon’s collapse to the Persians in October of 539 B.C. (see Daniel 5).
From the capture of Daniel and his three buddies in 605 BC by Nebuchadnezzar to the release of all Hebrew captives by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 535 BC and the Jews return to Judah.
From 586 BC and the Temple’s destruction in Jerusalem to 516 BC and the rededication of the rebuilt Temple when “old men wept” as they remembered the glory of the former Temple.
The Babylonian Captivity is a beautiful type of what Jesus the Messiah did on behalf of His people.
Judgment on Israel and Babylon
In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces judgment on Israel, which has become a new Babylon by rejecting Christ. In Habakkuk 2, God pronounces judgment on the nation of Babylon.
Babylon as a symbol of evil
In the Bible, Babylon is a symbol of evil and wickedness. In Revelation 17:5; 18:2; and 18:21, Babylon is represents the evils of this world.
The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
In his book, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther criticized the sacramental system of the medieval Roman church.
The feeling of alienation
The Babylonian exile of Israel in the Hebrew scriptures is seen as a universal image of the feeling of alienation and longing for something more.
All the prophets of Israel are either designated “pre-Exilic,” “Exilic” or “post-Exilic.”
Isaiah (b. 761 BC - d. 686 BC) writes scrolls divided into three sections of time:
Isaiah 1-39 - Calls for repentance to the Jews prior to the Babylonian Exile
Isaiah 40-55 - Comfort to the Jews during the Babylonian Exile.
Isaiah 56-66 - Challenges to the Jews as they rebuild Jerusalem after the Exile.
11. The Fall of Babylon - Cyrus Conquers Babylon
October 539 BC - Christ in Cyrus, King of Persia
In Daniel 5 you will read the story of “The Handwriting on the Wall” of the King of Babylon while the king and his men celebrated a drunken 30-day orgy inside the walls of Babylon.
Outside, the walls, the men of the Persian army, under the command of Cyrus, king of Persia, had diverted the Euphrates River and crawled under the walls of Babylon, conquering the Babylonian Empire after it had existed for 70 years (609 BC to 539 BC).
Isaiah prophesies of Cyrus:
“This is what the LORD says to His messiah, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut” - Isaiah 45:1
The phrase “His messiah” is sometimes translated in English as “His anointed,” but in Hebrew, the phrase is literally “YHWH’s messiah.”
There is probably no greater picture in the Hebrew Scriptures of Jesus the Messiah and what He does for people in bondage than the historical Cyrus.
Jesus breaches the walls of the mystical Babylon that reigns in your heart, conquers the reign of king of lies, and sets you free to “go home” to your your heavenly Zion, just as Cyrus conquered Babylon in October 539 BC and set the Jews free to go home to literal Zion.
This is why in Revelation “mystical Babylon” falls to Christ, the King of kings, and His New Covenant with the world brings freedom to sinners to go home to Zion.
After the historical Cyrus died (590-529 BC), a succession of Persian kings took the throne, including Xerxes, whom Esther the Jewess married.
The story of Esther (c. 480-465 BC is in the book of Esther, which is only the 17th book of the 39 books in the English Old Testament that begins with Genesis and ends with Malachi.
When Jesus taught the couple on the Road to Emmaus, He used His memory of the Hebrew Scriptures. He had no English Bible.
Even more importantly, the order of the Hebrew scrolls in the Hebrew sacred Scriptures today is different than that of the English translation of the Old Testament.
The Hebrew Scriptures end with the scroll of Chronicles, and the last statement of Chronicles is “cut off” in mid-sentence with the phrase - “and he shall go up!”
For centuries, Jewish rabbis have said that the Hebrew Scriptures close with a promise that the Messiah from YHWH will appear and “go up to Jerusalem” and deliver God’s people from their sin and bondage.
Those Jewish rabbis were right.
That’s exactly what Jesus the Messiah did.
12. The Close of the Old Testament - The Rise of the Pharisees and Sadducees
400 BC - 4 BC - Christ Between the Testaments
After the prophet Malachi closes his writings (the book of Malachi, which must be inserted during the historical time of the Persian kings), until the writings of Matthew in the first Gospel of the New Testament, there is a period of 400 years.
This period is called the Intertestamental (between the Testaments) time period.
During this time, the Jews see the rise of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The Jews returned from Israel after their Babylonian captivity in 537 BC.
They were led by men like Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and they rebuilt the walls and the city of Jerusalem.
The Jews rebuilt the Temple itself and re-dedicated it in 516 B.C.
They tried to get back to their normal lives in the land of Israel.
Esther, a Jew born in Babylonian captivity, would remain in Babylon and eventually marry a Persian king named Xerxes. Her story is the last historical book of the Old Testament.
A ton of people read the Old Testament and get confused because they don't realize if you wish to read the Bible chronologically, you must stop at the 17th book (Esther).
The middle five books of poetry in the Old Testament and the last seventeen books of the Old Testament (the prophets) fit within the first seventeen historical books of the Old Testament.
After the Jews began Temple worship again in 516 BC, GOD’S revealed glory (His presence) was not present.
It is during this period (from the close of the Old Testament to the coming of Christ) that there is the rise of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
When there is the worship of God without the Spirit of God, you will either have the rise of legalism (Pharisees) or liberalism (Sadducees).
From the close of the Old Testament to the birth of Christ, there is a period of history where the Greeks defeat the Persians.
The Romans then defeat the Greeks.
And during the Roman rule of the world, the Messiah appears (see Daniel 11).
Daniel prophesied all these events so precisely that skeptics assumed Daniel couldn't have written the scroll of Daniel because a man can't tell the future.
These skeptics were silenced at the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, which contained the complete book of Daniel.
It was written before all the world’s events that occurred “Between the Testaments” (400 BC to 4 BC and the birth of Christ) had happened.
GOD knows the future because the future is GOD’S plan.
13. The Birth of Christ
4 BC - Emmanuel - The Messiah Has Come
I won't get into the reasons why the scholars in the Middle Ages made a four-year error when they started B.C. and A.D. dating (Clue: It has to do with leap years).
4000 B.C. - The Creation of Adam.
Take away a zero.
400 B.C. - The Close of the Old Testament
Take away two zeroes.
4 B.C. - The Coming of Christ, the last Adam
Jesus Christ came "to fulfill the Law" and make a New Agreement with the world.
The Old Covenant was a conditional agreement whereby God perfectly blessed those who perfectly obeyed God. In the New Agreement (Covenant), all those who trust Jesus the Messiah, the One who came to fulfill the Law, are perfectly blessed by God by grace through faith!
The life of Jesus Christ is a life He lived actively fulfilling the Law through His obedience.
He passively fulfilled the Law through His death and resurrection in place of trusting sinners.
The coming of God in Christ to this world is the center point of history. History is His story.
I find it absolutely without excuse that Christians are very excited and talk to others more about Christ's second coming than we do His first coming.
The Messiah’s coming in 4 BC changes everything.
14. Jesus’ Death, Burial, Resurrection
April 6-9, AD 30 - Jesus is the Savior of Sinners
Paradise is restored.
The Messiah has taken the punishment due our sin “for us.”
Trust Him, and enter Paradise.
15. Destruction of the Old Covenant, the Inauguration of the New Covenant
AD 70 - Jesus in the New Covenant
The time between the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (A.D. 30) to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans (A.D. 70) is what the Bible calls "the last days."
It's the last days of the Old Covenant, not the last days of the world. In fact, during this time of transition (40 years), the good news of what Christ came to do went to "the Jews first, then the Gentile" (Romans 1:16).
Daniel prophesied the end of the nation of Israel (Daniel 9:24-27), and just like God gives a period of mercy during transitions in His dealings with His people (40 days of the flood; 40 years in the wilderness; 40 days of temptation, etc.), God gave His people 40 years before He brought the worship of the Jews at the Temple to an end.
"The last days" of the Old Covenant come to an end, and a New Agreement between God and the world is birthed.
Trust Jesus and live.
