“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isa. 66:2)."
At Jerry Shepherd's suggestion I have decided to read through the Bible again. If you would like to join us (see his blog post) let me know and we can dialogue along the way! Lets tremble at his word together!
After a year of goodbyes, I am looking forward to a year travelling the scriptures from cover to cover with friends! As of January 1st, we have Tricia, Jerry, Holly, Cynthia, and Sarah joining us. I don't have as much time as I would like for blogging, but I will try to at least post the readings, and create a space to share what we learn, thoughts, quotes, etc. My priority will, of course, be reading the scriptures for myself.
I'm going to use Robert Murray M’Cheyne's Bible Reading Plan, along with D.A. Carson's companion devotional "For the love of God:Vol 1" (available for free here): http://s3.amazonaws.com/tgc-documents/carson/1998_for_the_love_of_God.pdf Thanks to Syd Page for this suggestion!
Re: The devotional Carson writes...
"In no way do these pages pretend to be a commentary as that word is commonly understood. My aim is...to provide edifying comments and reflections..., and thus to encourage readers to reflect further on the biblical passages they are reading... I have tried to devote at least some of [these comments] to helping the reader keep the big picture of the Bible’s “story line” in mind, and to see what relevance this has for our thinking and living. In other words, although I want the comments to be edifying, this edification is not always of a private, individualized sort. My aim is to show...that reading the whole Bible must stir up thoughtful Christians to thinking theologically and holistically, as well as reverently and humbly."
Today's readings are Genesis 1, Matthew 1, Ezra 1, and Acts 1. I'd hate to leave anyone behind who wants to join us, so I will make today easy, and post the passages in full, along with Carson's January 1st reflections!
Genesis 1
New International Version (NIV)
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was
over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there
was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the
light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the
darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the
first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between
the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault
and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.
8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was
morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be
gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God
called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God
saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce
vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed
in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The
land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees
bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was
good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third
day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the
vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as
signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be
lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God
made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light
to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the
vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day
and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was
good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth
day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So
God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which
the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every
winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God
blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water
in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there
was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living
creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move
along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was
so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the
livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the
ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our
image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the
birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and
over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own
image,
in the image of God he created
them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that
moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing
plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in
it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the
earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the
ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant
for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very
good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Matthew 1
New International Version (NIV)
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1 This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the
Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose
mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was
Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been
Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c]
and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband
of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all
from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and
fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah
came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but
before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy
Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and
yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to
divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from
the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to
give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their
sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord
had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give
birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God
with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of
the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But
he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave
him the name Jesus.
Ezra 1
New International Version (NIV)
Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return
1 In the first
year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken
by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a
proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 “This is what
Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God
of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me
to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among
you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God
of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And
in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide
them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill
offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
5 Then the
family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose
heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in
Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and
gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the
freewill offerings.
7 Moreover,
King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which
Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of
his god.[a] 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the
treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
9 This was the
inventory:
gold dishes
|
30
|
silver dishes
|
1,000
|
silver pans[b]
|
29
|
10 gold bowls
|
30
|
matching silver
bowls
|
410
|
other articles
|
1,000
|
11 In all,
there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these
along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Acts 1
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven
1 In my former
book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until
the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy
Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented
himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared
to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On
one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not
leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard
me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you
will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they
gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore
the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to
them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his
own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said
this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their
sight.
10 They were
looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed
in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you
stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you
into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Matthias Chosen to
Replace Judas
12 Then the
apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a
Sabbath day’s walk[c] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went
upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John,
James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of
Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined
together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of
Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those
days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and
twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers and sisters,[d] the Scripture had to be
fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning
Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of
our number and shared in our ministry.”
18 (With the
payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell
headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone
in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language
Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 “For,” said
Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:
“‘May his place be
deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’[e]
and,
“‘May another take
his place of leadership.’[f]
21 Therefore it
is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the
Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the
time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness
with us of his resurrection.”
23 So they
nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.
24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of
these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which
Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot
fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Genesis 1—portrays
the beginning of everything in this created universe.
On the face of it,
this chapter, and the lines of thought it develops, establish
that God is
different from the universe that he creates, and therefore pantheism
is ruled out; that
the original creation was entirely good, and therefore dualism is
ruled out; that
human beings, male and female together, are alone declared to be
made in the image of
God, and therefore forms of reductionism that claim we are
part of the animal
kingdom and no more must be ruled out; that God is a talking
God, and therefore
all notions of an impersonal God must be ruled out; that this
God has sovereignly
made all things, including all people, and therefore conceptions
of merely tribal
deities must be ruled out.
Some of these and
other matters are put positively by later writers of Scripture
who, reflecting on
the doctrine of creation, offer a host of invaluable conclusions.
The sheer glory of
the created order bears telling witness to the glory of its Maker
(Ps. 19). The
universe came into being by the will of God, and for this, God is
incessantly
worshiped (Rev. 4:11). That God has made everything speaks of his
transcendence, i.e.,
he is above this created order, above time and space, and
therefore cannot be
domesticated by anything in it (Acts 17:24-25). That he made
all things and
continues to rule over all, means that both racism and tribalism are
to be rejected (Acts
17:26). Further, if we ourselves have been made in his image,
it is preposterous
to think that God can properly be pictured by some image that
we can concoct (Acts
17:29). These notions and more are teased out by later
Scriptures.
One of the most
important entailments of the doctrine of creation is this: it
grounds all human
responsibility. The theme repeatedly recurs in the Bible,
sometimes
explicitly, sometimes by implication. To take but one example, John’s
gospel opens by
declaring that everything that was created came into being by the
agency of God’s
“Word,” the Word that became flesh in Jesus Christ (John 1:2-3,
14). But this
observation sets the stage for a devastating indictment: when this
Word came into the
world, and even though the world was made through him, the
world did not
recognize him (John 1:10). God made us to “image” himself; he
made us for his own
glory. For us to imagine ourselves autonomous is, far from
being a measure of
our maturity, the supreme mark of our rebellion, the flag of
our suppression of
the truth (Rom. 1).
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