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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Fulfilled Scripture: Jesus was declared to be Messiah because He fulfilled the Scriptures. Here is the quintessential point: God always distinguishes His word from the words of men! If this fact is missed, then God's voice will be missed! If this fact is missed, then God's written word (Scripture) will be missed. If this fact is missed, Messiah will be missed!
The proof of Jesus' Messiahship rests almost exclusively on three related facts. Fact number one is that God's word (Scripture) is distinguishable from the word of man. The second fact is that God's word predicted the coming Messiah by describing beforehand His character, His work, His family origins, His essence, the geographic area of ministry, and seemingly incidental details of His life. Finally, the Messiahship of Jesus rests upon the fact that He fulfilled the Scripture.
To fact number one – God's word (including Scripture) is distinguishable from the word of man (this fact was introduced in the previous installment of this series). Proof of this fact was seen in the matters surrounding the sending of Moses to his people to deliver them from Egyptian bondage. One of the very first questions that came up was how would the people know that Moses spoke with God's authority. God anticipated that need and provided him with unmistakable signs to prove that he spoke with God's authority and not of his own!
To further support this fact, we return to the giving of the Law of Moses. A new era was about to begin. A new nation was being birthed. A new system of law was about to govern millions of people and indirectly affect many millions more. In addition, a plan was unfolding which would find its culmination in the coming of Messiah some fourteen centuries later. God could not permit any room for misunderstanding at this point, and He didn't. When Moses went up on Mount Sinai, the people saw, heard, and felt the presence of God expressed in such a way that it was unmistakable! In order to get the full impact of these events you are encouraged to read Exodus 19,20. When Moses descended from the mountain with what he claimed to be the word of God, there was no room for doubt! Millions of people assented to the fact that Moses was speaking for God and that the words that Moses delivered were God's word (again the reader is directed toward Exodus 24 to see this unfold in real time).
Centuries later, Paul wrote about the events at Sinai and made this affirmation: “The children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance.” (2 Corinthians 3.7). This has reference to the historical facts recorded in Exodus 34.29-35. Summarizing these circumstances, Moses face shone such that after he had been with God, the people could not behold his countenance due to the exceeding brightness of it; Moses had to veil his face in order for his brethren to even look at him! God did not leave Himself without witness and that witness was such that centuries later, it was still known and discussed.
One last matter in today's installment. Paul's point in 2 Corinthians 3 was not merely to look back at Moses as an historical oddity! It was and is to say, “If the events surrounding the giving of the Law of Moses were marvelous and unmistakable, how much more so are the events surrounding the Messiah and the New Covenant marvelous and unmistakable!” With this in mind, Paul could fearlessly say, “Therefore we use great boldness of speech!” (2 Corinthians 3.12).
Paul could speak fearlessly and unreservedly because he knew that God always distinguishes His word from the words of men! When we learn this point, we will be ready to begin to think about approaching His word. This is a true and absolute fundamental!
Questions:
1. If God spoke but provided no means by which His word could be distinguished from the mere words of men, of what value was His speaking? Think long and hard about this question!!
2. What part did fulfilled scripture play in the apostle's acceptance of Jesus as Messiah?
3. How effective is the usage of fulfilled scripture today in convincing an unbeliever that Jesus is Messiah?
4. If God's word cannot be distinguished from the words of men, of what value is the claim that Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses (Scripture; e.g. Matthew 5.17 & Romans 10.4)?
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