There were many placeholders in the Interlude as God’s presence never left us completely alone. The sacrificial system was a placeholder and the priesthood, too…until the birth of Christ who would eventually be the Lamb of God sacrificed for sin and our final High Priest with the perfect sacrifice of Himself. A good chunk of […]
Think about Interludes as pattern-makers and placeholders. Adam and Eve got kicked out of Eden…out of one sanctuary, but not without God entirely. He blessed Eve with her firstborn in the likeness of Adam and children after that. A pillar of fire and cloud. After the wilderness, the Promised Land. After the tabernacle, a temple. […]
All creation groans for redemption but creation was not intended to be redeemed on the Cross. It’s no wonder that if people remain silent about the Messiah and His work, Jesus says the stones would cry out. Better that people praise, but in their silence, the rocks celebrate the coming of the Deliverer to free […]
God punished Adam and Eve, but He cursed the ground from which Adam was made. Every single man, woman, and child since that day has been infected by sin as our legacy and experienced fully as inherited, both a sin nature and the curse upon the ground. Except Jesus never inherited sin. The ground was […]
It’s important for the whole of theology (and the Christmas story particularly) that Adam and Eve rebelled. They had done what they’d been commanded not to do. But God did not curse them! They sinned. He showed grace. He punished them and cast them from the Garden of Eden, out of His Sanctuary. His ongoing, […]
The third stanza of “Joy to the World” is often omitted in online lists of the lyrics. “No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found.” What curse? Why do people not want to talk about the curse? The […]
The birth of Christ, His life and ministry fulfilled every prophecy spoken about who Messiah would be and what He would do. Matthew 2:13 When [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay […]
When you combine pious people and the long-awaited redemption of Israel, add in that the baby is the Messiah and the Son of God, it’s a given that everything must be done completely and without fail, “by the Book.” Luke 2:21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, He was […]
In the Interlude, righteous living and piety bring about a desire to see God’s activity and His redemption of our lives from sin, fear, and shame. Even today, the most devout are those focusing on the return of Christ and the “evangelical” task of making sure no one misses out on hearing about their Savior. […]
Joseph was told “Don’t be afraid to take Mary home” (Matthew 1:20). Why would he be afraid? Fear is as old as the Garden. So is shame. They’re joined at the hip because of sin. After Adam and Eve both ate of the fruit of the tree God commanded against eating from, “the eyes of […]
