Africa Study Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 46
45
45
in glorious praise. Wisdom for godly living flowed
out from there, touching other peoples in other
lands with blessing.
But David and Solomon and Israel were like
Adam. They all failed. The hints and tastes of
goodness faded. Other kings came and went,
some better, most worse, none good enough.
God sent his prophets, his messengers, to
tell the nation, “You are God’s chosen people,
sworn to him with marriage vows! Turn to him
from disobedience. Turn to him from the false
prophets, the idols, the substitutes, the liars, and
the cheats. Care for the needy among you. Find
blessing. Watch him rescue you. Watch God’s
blessing reach the end of the earth. Or do not,
and lose what you have, even the land you have
been given.”
In the end, they lost the land. They were hauled
off to Babylon. But God did not leave them. His
messengers promised that they would come back.
And beyond that came richer promises. The people and the world would be made new with God’s
blessing and with Adam’s mess undone.
Some did return to Jerusalem. A small Temple
was built again in God’s city. Prophets encouraged the people. But failure and compromise
were everywhere.
Questions remained unanswered: “Has God
failed? His people have failed again and again!
The glory of his blessing for the whole world has
not gone anywhere. From Adam to Israel, the
ones who belong to God mess up. Rescuers come,
rescuers go. The gap between promise and reality
is huge. What is God doing? Will there ever be an
Adam who does what Adam should have done?
Will there ever be an Israel that lives according to
God’s good law? Will there ever be a David who
rules in true peace? Will God’s Temple presence
ever come close to stay?”
For four hundred years, things went very quiet.
Finally, Jesus
But then a surprise. God did exactly what he
said he would do. And he did it in a way that no
one expected.
There was a harsh colonial government and
a baby was born in a poor family. He was called
Jesus, which means Joshua—Saviour. Born in
David’s village from David’s family, he would be
called God’s Christ, Messiah, Lord, Immanuel
(which means God with us), King. He would call
himself Son of Man, son of Adam, Son of God.
He would talk to God as his Father. He would
command wind and waves, rebuke disease, and
banish cringing demons. He would forgive sins,
putting people right with God. He would give wisdom greater than Solomon’s. He would command
more than Moses. He was God with his people
when the Temple could not be. He would be the
one faithful Israelite when all Israel had failed.
He would bless the nations.
He marched to Jerusalem and then rode into
the city as King of peace, surrounded by followers
praising God. But the rulers did not see it that
way. The government did not see it that way. The
enemy from back in Eden did not see it that way.
Jesus was a threat. His Kingdom would break the
kingdoms of the earth. The rulers determined to
break him. Arrested and falsely accused, Jesus
was executed on a cross in cruelty and shame,
then sealed in a rock tomb.
Little did they know. Jesus did not run or hide.
At that moment, and every moment, he gave himself over to God’s will and purpose. He knew God
had a plan. He did the opposite of Adam. Having
nothing and losing his life, he gave himself to God,
to stand in the place of all those who followed
Adam. He stood in our place, took on our failure,
our brokenness, our rebellion. He said to God,
“Father, I am utterly alone. Yet I give myself to you.
You will put things right. You will bring victory
from total defeat.”
And God did.
On the third day, God reversed death. He
launched the age of new creation. He started
to make all the brokenness fresh and new. He
raised Jesus from that tomb. He declared him
for ever innocent, for ever right. He confirmed
every title—Saviour, Messiah, King, Lord. And
he lifted Jesus to glory.
He also did something else. He gave Jesus a
people, a Kingdom. The faithful people of God
were few. Now God said, “Repent. Trust Jesus.
Give yourself to him. Abandon your old self. In
Jesus, you share in his blessings. You, too, will
be right with God. In him, your wrecked life will
be remade. God’s very own Spirit will be present
within you. You were nobodies, but now, you are
his dear family.”
He Is Alive
Jesus’ followers spread out. They could not stop
telling people what they had seen: “He is alive!”
The first time they said this, people from many nations heard them. And three thousand believed.
Soon his followers were beaten, they were imprisoned, they were killed. But they declared, “He has
won!” They were despised and they were mocked,