A Newsletter of weekly meditations on Biblical Theology and curated resources from The Carson Center

“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:17–18).

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18–20).

Judges 1; Acts 5; Jeremiah 14; Matthew 28

Global evangelism is something that all Christians should think, pray, and act upon. We know that Christ has given the Great Commission and sent the church into the world, but do we realize that the church’s global mission has roots in the opening chapters of the Bible? When God created the heavens and earth and placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, he gave them a command to be fruitful, multiply, fill all the earth, and subdue it (Gen. 1:28). We know that Adam and Eve sinned and failed to complete the work that God gave to them. But this does not mean that God abandoned his plan to have the earth filled with image-bearers. God did not change Adam’s work but instead promised to send another to take up the work and complete it. Among his many promises, he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make them fruitful and multiply them (e.g., Gen. 28:3; 35:11; 47:27; 48:4). God was going to fulfill his command to Adam through his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just as Adam was supposed to fill the earth with image-bearers, so God would fill the earth with image-bearers through Abraham. God made this promise especially clear on the heels of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac on Mt. Moriah. God told him, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore . . . and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:17–18). But how did God fulfill this promise?

God fulfills this promise through the gospel of Christ. Christ came to earth, obeyed every command of the law, suffered the law’s curse, was crucified, died, was buried, and was raised on the third day. In the light of his finished work he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). Or in the words of Paul’s beautiful Christ hymn, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him” (Phil. 2:8–9). He commands the church to baptize “all nations,” which repeats the words of God’s promise to Abraham that “all the nations of the earth” would be blessed through his “offspring,” through Jesus. We see a picture of the completed work of Christ in the book of Revelation in all its glory: “A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9). God through Christ and the Spirit fills the earth with image-bearers from all the nations. – John Fesko

Reflect: Pray that the gospel spreads far and wide through the missionary labors of the church, and rejoice in knowing that you too are a part of this world-wide church bought with the precious blood of Christ.

“Is Jesus Atoning for You in Heaven?” by Brandon Crowe

The letter of Hebrews presents a rich theology of atonement. No other book of the Bible says as much about Jesus’s sacrifice. His death on the cross serves as the final sacrifice (Heb. 10:12–14), paying the price for our sins as our propitiation (2:17).

But what if this isn’t what Hebrews actually teaches?

It may surprise you to learn that much recent scholarship on Hebrews argues that Jesus’s sacrifice is a heavenly sacrifice and that it refers to Jesus’s presentation of the sacrifice in the heavenly Holy of Holies. That is, after his death on the cross, Jesus was raised bodily and entered heaven to present his resurrected body to God as an atoning sacrifice.

According to some, in his resurrected body, Jesus, the High Priest, presents his blood before God’s heavenly throne to atone for sin. Jesus’s death on the cross isn’t the atoning act. That act is reserved for his high priestly service in heaven. Jesus was not a priest on earth (see 8:4) but is only a priest in heaven.

This newer paradigm is unsettling for those who look to Hebrews to understand the importance of Christ’s death for a doctrine of the atonement. It feels like the ground is shifting underfoot. Yet surely we don’t want to hold to traditional views simply because they are traditional. We must understand the teaching of Hebrews correctly, even if it challenges our long-held conclusions.

Even so, I’m not convinced the challenges to the traditional paradigm are compelling. Hebrews does indeed teach that Jesus’s death on the cross was a sacrifice, and that Jesus did serve as a priest on earth. We can affirm these truths without denying a heavenly dimension to Jesus’s high-priestly ministry.

READ MORE ABOUT CHRIST’S PRIESTLY DEATH

Tom Schreiner joins Matt Harmon and Ben Gladd to discuss why biblical theology matters, how to read the whole Bible as one story, and how typology, covenant, and careful attention to the text help Christians interpret Scripture faithfully. They also reflect on the future of biblical theology, the value of humility in difficult passages, and the rich Old Testament background behind Mary’s song in Luke 1.

Many doubt the historical reliability of the Old Testament, but the New Testament supports it and there is a substantial body of external ancient Near Eastern historical and archaeological backing for it as well. Some of this is direct evidence for specific historical details, but even where this does not exist, there is good reason to believe the accounts are plausible. A related issue is the historical account that the Old Testament gives of its own composition: who wrote it, when they wrote it, and what were the processes involved in its writing.

READ “The Reliability of the New Testament” by Richard E. Averbeck

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