Announced in Daniel

Thursday, October 30

Read Daniel 9:7–11. In his prayer, how did Daniel describe the condition of the people?

In order to experience divine healing and freedom from sin, we must first recognize our condition as sinners and as violators of God's revealed will. A fundamental human problem is our unwillingness to acknowledge that there is something seriously wrong with us, that we are in desperate need of forgiveness and reconciliation with our Creator. Even forgiven sinners constantly must recognize, as Daniel did, that we are in daily need of God's forgiving grace.

What is Daniel's specific request to the Lord? On what basis is Daniel making this request? Dan. 9:16–19.

Once we realize our condition as sinners, one of the most important discoveries we can make concerning our relationship with God is that the only thing we have to do to receive forgiveness is to ask for it. Daniel was totally relying on God's mercy, on His wonderful grace, as the only way out of His status as sinner.

In this chapter we also find a prophecy in which God revealed not only how He was planning to address the problem of sin but also the time frame within which this would happen, the when (see Dan. 9:24-27). The how was through His Anointed One, the Messiah, the King to which all the other kings of Israel pointed and represented. The time for His sacrificial death and the initiation of His priestly work (the anointing of the sanctuary) is given in terms of 70 weeks (490 years). The prophetic period runs from 457 B.C. to A.D. 34. God expected His people to be ready for the coming of the Messiah. What this incredible prophecy shows, in a very clear way, is that God is not only in absolute control of every aspect of His work of salvation but that He will make sure it accomplishes its eternally intended purpose.

How important is it for you to remain aware that, although you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are in constant need of His forgiving grace? Is that a threat to your assurance of salvation or a way of affirming that assurance? Give reasons for your answer.

The Servant of the Lord

Wednesday, October 29

Read Isaiah 52:13–53:12. What great hope and promise are found here for us?

These verses present one of the most majestic passages of the Old Testament. This section establishes, without explicitly stating it, the limits and ineffectiveness of the Israelite sacrificial system as a means of expiation (the removal of the barrier between humanity and God). The problem of sin was so serious that only the Servant of the Lord could solve it. The passage describes the experiences of both the people and the Servant.

The People: The people went through two experiences, one of disbelief and misjudgment, the other of confession and contrition. Initially the Servant was perceived as unattractive, almost like a leper (Isa. 52:14) and as someone “stricken by God, smitten by him” (Isa. 53:4, NIV). Because God appeared to have rejected Him, they, too, despised and rejected Him (vs. 3). Then they realized that there was a divine purpose in the experience of the Servant; that He was taking their sorrows and infirmities (vs. 4) on Himself. He was bearing their sins, and as their substitute, He was dying for them. In the light of the sacrifice of the Servant, they saw themselves as they truly were: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (vs. 6, NIV). It is only by looking at the Cross that we perceive the distortions of sin in our lives.

The Servant: The experience of the Servant was extremely painful. He was lonely, rejected by all (vs. 3), loaded with sorrows and suffering, and oppressed and afflicted (vs. 7) and even “cut off from the land of the living” (vs. 8, NIV). Yet, there was no justification for this treatment because “he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” (vs. 9, NIV). Why was this innocent person suffering? It was because the Lord was presenting the Servant’s life as a “guilt offering” (vs. 10, NIV). He was bearing the iniquities of the people, dying in their place in order to declare them righteous and innocent (vss. 11, 12). But after that sacrificial death, He was to see light again (vs. 11) and to be highly exalted (Isa. 52:13).

This prophetic depiction of the sacrificial death of Christ was offered by Isaiah as the only effective way of expiation from sin. Christ became what we are in order for us to be restored to fellowship with God.

Read again Isaiah 52:13–53:12, paying special attention to all that Jesus has done for us on the cross. What hope do you see in there for yourself?

Moses and the Revelation of Salvation

Tuesday, October 28

What was God's reaction to the act of idolatry of the people of Israel on Mount Sinai? Why was it so strong? Exod. 32:7–10.

This act of idolatry was an act of rebellion against God, a breaking of the covenant that God had just made with them. Like Adam and Eve, the Israelites were left in a state of alienation—and they would have been left to perish had it not been for Moses’ intercession in their behalf (Exod. 32:11–14).

What did Moses say to God after this incident? Exod. 32:30–32. How is the promise of the gospel seen here?

Moses did not excuse the people; he made it clear to them that they had sinned against God. But he also told them that he was going to approach the Lord to ask Him to forgive them. Moses knew that forgiveness is very costly and that it should not be confused with indifference to sin (the Lord’s reaction to their idolatry more than proved that!). Moses himself became the mediator of the people, their intercessor before the Lord, seeking to obtain for them redemption from their sin. He then did the inconceivable: he offered himself to the Lord as a means of atonement! He was willing to have his name deleted from the book of life (Exod. 32:32; see also Ps. 69:28, Phil. 4:3), if that would make it possible for the people to be restored to harmony with the Lord.

Obviously the Lord could not accept that unselfish offer. Moses’ life could not atone for sin.

How would the Lord finally solve the problem? Exod. 34:6–10.

Abraham Saw My Day

Monday, October 27

Review Genesis. 22:1–12.What was the nature of the test that Abraham was subjected to? Why would the Lord ask Abraham to do this? What deep issues were at stake here?

Genesis 22 does not inform us why the test was necessary, but the reason appears to be related to the covenant God made with Abraham. In the covenant relationship the Lord expected the patriarch to “ ‘walk before me and be blameless’ ” (Gen. 17:1, NIV), a standard that Abraham hadn’t always reached (Gen. 16:1–4, 20:1–10).

Isaac was the son of the covenant promise, the one through whom Abraham was to bless the world, and thus, without that son the promises that God had made to the patriarch could not have been fulfilled. In a sense, by asking Abraham to sacrifice him, God was telling Abraham that the covenant relationship had come to an end and that the special promises made to him were now over. Abraham was not going to be God’s instrument in blessing all the nations of the earth (Gen. 12:3), after all. But Abraham revealed his faith and commitment to the Lord, particularly in his willingness to return the gift of his son to God, fully trusting in His mercy and grace (Heb. 11:19).

What made it possible for the covenant to be renewed? Gen. 22:13–18.

By asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, God was pronouncing a sentence against him and bringing to an end His special purpose for him. All this, however, changed in a radical way when a ram was offered in place of Isaac. God provided what Abraham desperately needed, a sacrificial animal that could take the place of his son, making it possible for the Lord to renew the covenant with him. The human sacrifice (i.e., the death of a sinner) was substituted by the sacrificial victim provided by the Lord, not by Abraham. Thus, Abraham saw the mystery of the gospel, of substitutionary atonement, because through Jesus, “ ‘it [the sacrificial offering] will be provided’ ” (Gen. 22:14, NIV).

Our minds tremble at the faith of Abraham. What things are you being called to sacrifice, by faith, before the Lord? What things, if any, might you need to surrender in order for the covenant blessings to remain yours?

A Promise to Adam and Eve

Sunday, October 26

Review Genesis 3:1-15, focusing especially on verse 15. What is being said in verse 15, and what hope can be found there for us?

Christians have correctly found in Genesis 3:15 a prophecy of the Messiah.

First, the context of Genesis 3:15 indicates that the serpent is an instrument of evil and rebellion against God (Rev. 12:9). In the Garden of Eden this evil power defeated Adam and Eve and extended its dominion over the descendants of the woman.

Second, Genesis 3:15 announces the destruction of the serpent by the seed of the woman. It will “strike” the heel of the seed, but the seed will “crush” the head of the serpent. The Hebrew verb šfp (“bruise,” “strike at,” “crush”) is the same in both places, which suggests that the seriousness of the assault depends on the part of the body assaulted. The attack against the seed (at its heel) is not fatal; the seed, though, will crush the serpent’s head, indicating its ultimate demise.

Third, the Hebrew noun zerac (“offspring”) usually designates “offspring, posterity, seed” in the sense of descendants as a single group. But it can also refer to a single descendant (e.g., 2 Sam. 7:12, 13). In Genesis 3:15 we find both usages present. We read about the descendants of both the woman (the faithful church) and the serpent/Satan (his followers) but also about a single male descendant of the woman (“he”) who will “crush” “your [singular] head”; that is, the serpent’s head. Whenever “seed” denotes a particular descendant, the pronoun that follows it is in the singular. The “seed” of the woman is Jesus.

What Genesis 3:15 suggests is that as soon as sin entered the world, God's eternal plan of salvation through Christ was put into effect. Adam and Eve did not experience eternal death because, from the divine perspective, Christ is the Lamb “that was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13:8, NIV). Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, looking forward to the fulfillment of the wonderful promise of salvation.

Right from the start, God’s plan was to redeem us and to destroy Satan. What are you doing, day by day, to avail yourself of this wonderful provision so that, when all’s finished, you’re among the redeemed and not among the destroyed? (Remember, in the end, it’s one or the other.)

God's Plan Revealed in Jesus

According to these texts, what did Jesus “need” to do in order to accomplish His mission of salvation? Luke 4:43, 9:22, 17:25, 19:5, 22:37, 24:7, 24:26, 24:44.

In most of those passages we find a verb that could be translated “it is necessary” (Greek, dei). The verb expresses a very important aspect in the life of Jesus. The whole life of Jesus was oriented by what He needed to do in order to accomplish His mission: “ ‘We must [it is necessary for us to] do the work of him who sent me’ ” (John 9:4, NIV). At the beginning of his public ministry He said to the disciples, “ ‘I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose’ ” (Luke 4:43, NASB). The ministry of Jesus clearly was determined by willingness to accomplish God's plan for the salvation of the human race. Every aspect of His life was part of this plan. For instance, He saw Zacchaeus and said to him, “ ‘I must [it is necessary for me] stay at your house today’ ” (Luke 19:5, NIV).

But the real goal of the ministry of Jesus reached beyond the compulsion to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. There was a dark path that He “needed to” tread. He needed to go to Jerusalem. He could have chosen not to go, but He knew that this was indispensable for the divine plan. So He said to His disciples “that he must [it was necessary for him to] go to Jerusalem and suffer many things . . . , and that he must [it was necessary for him to] be killed” (Matt. 16:21, NIV). He was going there because it was necessary for Him to be rejected by the evil generation (Luke 17:25), to be counted with the transgressors (Luke 22:37), and to be lifted up on the cross (John 3:14, 12:34). But dying was not enough to fulfill His mission. It was necessary for Him to be resurrected (Acts 17:3), to be received in glory, and to remain there until all the prophecies were fulfilled (Acts 3:21). He was following the eternal plan put together by the Godhead.

What are the things in your life that you must do, that are necessary, and what things aren’t? How do you make that distinction between them, and why is it so important to be able to?

The Way of the Cross

God could have dealt with human rebellion in several different ways. He could have immediately destroyed Adam and Eve, even the whole planet. Or He also could have decided to abandon them to their fate; that is, He could have just left them to face the inevitable results of sin, which would be eternal ruin.

But there was one thing He could not have done; He could not have ignored their rebellion, pretending as if nothing had happened and allowing their relationship to continue as before.

In the end, what did God do? He didn’t destroy them, He didn’t abandon them, and He didn’t ignore them. Instead, He put into effect His eternal purpose of salvation through Christ.

Read Mark 10:45, Galatians 1:4, 2:20, Ephesians 5:2, and Titus 2:14. What key theme is repeated in these texts? What do they tell us about the plan of salvation?

Once God committed Himself to save us, He didn’t have several options on how to do it. In fact, there was just one. Sin could be solved only through the incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, and mediation of Christ. If we were to be spared eternal ruin, Jesus had to “give” Himself for us. The incarnation and the death of Christ were unavoidable if we were to be saved. In other words, there is only one road to heaven, and it passes through the heart of Christ on the cross.

When Jesus was in Gethsemane, experiencing the anguish of death (Matt. 26:36–46) and bearing the sins of the world, He approached the Father, asking Him, essentially, whether or not there was another option available to accomplish the salvation of humankind. The answer came wrapped in divine silence. There was no other way out for the human problem except through the sacrifice of Christ.

In the mystery of divine council, before the creation of the world, the Son of God offered Himself to die as our substitute and surety. He, as we saw in the above verses, “gave” Himself for us. There was no other way.

Again, He was not under compulsion to save us; He did it willingly, out of love. But once He decided to accomplish that salvation, His death was inescapable, even though a voluntary act. “ ‘I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord’ ” (John 10:17, 18, NIV).

An Eternal Plan

After the Fall, God was not obliged to save us. But He did so anyway. Moreover, this decision—which was extremely expensive for Him—was not an afterthought.

Read Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:26, 27; 2 Timothy 1:8, 9; and Titus 1:2. What do these texts us about when the plan to save us was instituted?

The New Testament reveals several things about the mystery of God.

First, it was formulated before the “foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4, NASB). This implies that long before humans fell into sin the Godhead had created a plan to deal with that calamity.

Second, this divine mystery was “kept hidden for ages and generations” (Col. 1:26, NIV). Not only was the plan configured in advance but it was also determined that it would be put into effect at a particular moment. Therefore it remained hidden within the Godhead for ages.

Third, the mystery is specifically identified with Christ (Col. 1:27). This refers to the mystery of the person of Christ, His ministry, death, resurrection, and mediation on behalf of a sinful human race. It is fundamentally the good news of salvation through Christ, the Christian gospel (Eph. 6:19).

Fourth, this mystery is more precisely defined as God's purpose in Christ “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Eph. 1:10, NIV). The plan was to restore, in and through the person of Christ, the cosmic harmony that was ruined through sin. The effectiveness of this process is already visible in the unity of Gentiles and Jews in the church (Eph. 3:6). Fifth, the mystery secretly formulated within the Godhead before the creation of the world has now become known through the coming of Christ into human history.

Even before the foundation of the world, God’s plan was to save the world, each one of us included. What hope can you draw, for yourself, from the amazing truth that God’s plan was to save you even before you existed?

The Mystery of God's Grace

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Eph. 1:7, NIV).

It would not be difficult to imagine that with the entrance of sin into the world, the intelligent creatures of the universe were wondering how God was going to relate to this rebellious race. They were to be surprised. They were to witness something they probably had never seen before, an aspect of the love and power of God that would now be expressed in the context of humanity’s fall. God was going to defeat sin on this planet through the power of grace. Within that context, God showed Himself to be, by nature, kind and mercifully disposed toward these sinful and rebellious creatures. Jesus testified concerning the Father, “ ‘He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men’ ” (Luke 6:35, NASB).

What is the significance of the contrast Paul makes between the phenomenon of sin and the revelation of God's grace? Rom. 5:20, 21.

In the Bible, grace is an aspect of God's love, and it is extended in a particular way to sinners. It seems to designate a dynamic, consistent, and permanent aspect of God's nature, one that constantly seeks to restore sinful creatures to harmony with Him. The biblical concept of grace reaffirms the fact that the atoning work of Christ reaches us as a gift, a work of salvation that we did not deserve. God's grace implies that our sin is inexcusable, unjustifiable, and deserving eternal death; yet, instead of that death we were given the hope and promise of life, even eternal life. Finally, this wonderful aspect of God's nature was revealed to the universe in an unparalleled way in the person and work of Christ. It is only and exclusively in Him that we find and enjoy the benefits of “the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7, NASB).

Read 2 Corinthians 8:9. What is Paul talking about here? More important, how have you experienced for yourself the kind of grace revealed in this text? How has your life changed as a result of what Christ has done for you?

The Mystery of God's Love

Read Romans 5:6–8. According to these texts, what prompted God to bring salvation to us through Jesus?

God was not obliged to save the human race. It was not something that He was forced to do. It is difficult to imagine the Godhead saying, “Had we done this or that, Adam and Eve would not have fallen into sin. Therefore, now we should do something to save them from their predicament.” Instead, humans brought upon themselves the condition in which they found themselves after the Fall: “ ‘God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes’ ” (Eccles. 7:29, NIV).

If God felt obliged to save us, salvation would be something that we deserve. But the opposite is true; it is something that we don’t deserve, and yet, God was willing to give it to us anyway. This makes His work of salvation in our behalf even more remarkable, because He did for us, not what He was forced to do, but what He out of love chose to do. He, the Creator, was under no obligation to us, the creatures.

Read Romans 3:19–22. What is Paul saying to us here about how we are saved? What role does the law have in solving the problem cause by sin?