The Skeleton - Part 2

The whole Bible from start to finish is one giant story of God redeeming man back to himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Here is the Gospel story in a nutshell:

In the beginning God... that’s all we need to know and our perspective of God changes. In the beginning God. Through him all things were created; without him nothing was created that has been created. (John 1) God said, “Let us make man in our image...and it was so. (Genesis 1) God created man from the dust of the ground and then breathed life into him. God gave him a command - rule! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living thing... God said RULE!

Adam and Eve forfeited that right when they ate the fruit. (Genesis 3) God still wanted to have a people rule on his behalf. So he selected one man - Abraham (Genesis 12) - and through Abraham selected a nation to be his Holy people. The children of Israel. Time and time again we see God’s people choose to rebel against God, so God finally chooses to put on flesh and make his dwelling among us (John 1:14) in order to live the life we could not live. He became the second Adam. (1 Cor. 15)

All throughout the Old Testament we see the children of Israel waiting expectantly for a new King to restore the glory of what once was in the kingdom of David. They called this man the messiah - anointed one - KING! But when the true Messiah, King Jesus, came they did not receive him. (John 1) Instead, they put him to death by nailing him to a cross. (Acts 2:23) But God! But God raised him from the dead. (Acts 2)

When we understand that God is the creator (Genesis 1-2) and we are his creation and it is because of OUR choices and decisions that cause death and suffering (Genesis 3, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23) then we can begin the process of resolution between us and God. As we understand the story of God in history (God redeeming man BACK to Himself) and who Jesus is in that story; namely, the resolution of the story of the Old Testament, then we will better grasp our role in that story.

As ministers of this Gospel, it is our job to help people follow Jesus together. That’s it! So, spend some time today praying for God to help you stay focused on the main reason you became a student pastor. Keep the main thing the main thing and King Jesus is the main thing!