Hello Everyone, I'm sending a "shout out" to see if there are other people working their way through BI201. So far, I find the studies inspirational and the exercises help mitigate the learning curve with Logos. Today, I used the "Word Study" tool for the first time to "deep dive" into the Hebrew meanings for Abraham's blessing. It was interesting to note that the word is used as a noun, meaning Abraham became the blessing. We ultimately see the fulfillment of this promise God made to Abraham through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Blessing indeed! All of the world can be blessed.
- Matt and Miles, great to meet you guys. I just completed lesson plan 64 (the Great Commission). That means ACT IV (the life, death and resurrection of Christ) will be drawing to a close; ACT V the church age (spreading the gospel) is on the horizon.
- This journey through BI201 is quickly coming to a close for me. If anyone is considering this course, I can highly recommend it. Tackling one lesson per day, the trek lasts about 3 months and covers the Bible from cover-to-cover. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience and full of learning objectives. The bang-for-the-buck is outstanding.
- Here is my essay to conclude the BI201 course. I apologize for any layout issues. The document did not transfer well from Word to this online post. For instance, the longer quotes were originally 1" indents at the margins, but would not reflect here. My only solution was to place them in quotations (a Blue-Booking faux pas). Neither would the headings show in bold. With all that in mind... It is Finished During the Second Temple period, God’s people waited for their coming Messiah. He would bring redemption, restoration and relief from political oppression. He would signify the arrival of the coming kingdom of God. He would complete the long road of redemption and gather His people unto the Kingdom of God. With the arrival of Jesus Christ, He announced the destination had been reached. The Kingdom of God was at hand. "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns also because that is why I was sent." __Luke 4:43 During His earthly ministry, Jesus focused on two declarations: (1) The time of restoration had come, and (2) The Kingdom of God was near. To partake in the blessings of the Kingdom, Jesus declared the necessity of repentance and faith in the good news. To enter this Kingdom, a believer must repent and turn away from sin. The believer must commit wholeheartedly to his or her new object of faith; namely, Jesus Christ. Taken together, the believer turns away from old idols (the old objects of trust) and turns towards the Messiah. With this message, Jesus began to gather His people. He was the literal incarnated fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies promising the gathering of God’s people. He was the shepherd-king gathering His lost sheep to re-establish Israel as the light to the nations. He appointed His twelve disciples, one for each tribe of Israel, to signify who originally was meant to be this light to the world. It was time for Israel’s renewal and for the Gentile nations to be brought back into God’s fold. "Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news." __Mark 1:14 The basic message never changed. The good news announced the Kingdom of God was near and that repentance was necessary to share in that Kingdom. By turning away for sin, the believer would follow, trust, and make God the center point of his or her life. By responding to God’s will, the Kingdom would grow like a seed and expand to all nations. Eden would be restored upon earth. To prove the Kingdom of God was at hand, Jesus spent much of His ministry authenticating His words with His deeds. As He gathered His followers, He demonstrated the power to heal and restore. "In that hour He healed many people of all diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind He bestowed sight." __Luke 7:18 Cursed creation found itself in the presence of the perfect Creator. The blind could see, the lame could walk, the deaf could hear and even dead were raised. As predicted by the prophets, Jesus’ deeds demonstrated the arrival of the Kingdom. Perhaps the greatest miracle of all, Jesus invited sinners and outcasts into His Kingdom. This was not a place for just the religious privileged. He invited everyone into His fellowship. He reached out to tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers and adulterers. Welcoming these people demonstrated that those under God’s judgment can be welcomed into the Kingdom of God through the power of repentance. In fact, these were precisely the people Jesus came to restore. He came to seek and to save those that were lost. The restorative power of repentance swings open wide the doors to the Kingdom of God. "...and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." __Luke 24:27 Jesus gathered a community unlike any other. He formed a forgiven people; a grateful people that were willing to live their lives as a light to the nations. They were dependent upon God, and, as such, pursued a life of righteousness. Ultimately, like their mentor, they were willing to endure suffering to participate in restoring a broken world. Throughout history, God slowly revealed a story of cosmic restoration. Now, this long road of redemption lead to a wooden cross and a cruel hill. It was at this unlikeliest of places that God reclaimed His people. At the cross, Jesus brought an end to the age of sin. It was there that Satan and death were defeated. The cross brought an end to that old age. Through this most powerful act in history, Jesus accomplished the redemption of all of creation. "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world." __John 1:29 When Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished” and closed His eyes in death, He bridged the gap between humanity and the Father. By His sacrifice, He removed the barrier of sin and brought the two back together again. Our sins were transferred upon Him; whereby, He suffered the wrath due to us. He literally took our judgment upon Himself and tore the veil that separated us from God. By this reconciliation, we can now boldly approach the throne of God. Ah, but the story does not end with the Messiah buried in a lonely grave. By His death, He defeated the old age. By His resurrection, Jesus Christ inaugurated the beginning of the Kingdom on earth. He was the “first born” into a new creation, this long-awaited age-to-come. He was the first fruits, the first part of the harvest. By His finished work, many more will follow. "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it." __John 3:35 When we take hold of the Christian faith, we die (through repentance) and are buried (through baptism) with Him. In that moment, we are resurrected to newness of life through the infilling of His Spirit. We literally become a “new creation.” We experience the end of the old age (sin has no mastery over us) and the beginning of the new (we are restored to the Father). "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." __Romans 6:3 Being “born again” enables the Christian to live for God as He intended from the beginning of creation. Though our physical bodies may age and decay, we will experience all the fullness of the new creation. Ultimately, there will come a time when we will rise from death to experience all that Christ has prepared for us. In truth, when Jesus declare, “It is finished,” for the Christian believer, it really is the beginning...of everything!