We are now at the
second checkpoint of Mark 1:9-11. It is set in the context of the unveiling of
Jesus as the Promised Messiah and His identification with sinners to bear their
sins through water baptism as written in Mark 1:7-12.
In the context
passage, John the Baptist was announcing the impending arrival of the Promised
Messiah. The footnote to Matthew 3:1 of the Amplified Bibles says that John the
Baptist is considered the last Old Testament prophet. By that, I take it to mean that all the
prophets before Him were also preaching the coming of the Promised Messiah.
Mark 9:1-11 is another testimony of:
God the Father audibly
declaring Jesus of Nazareth as His beloved Son in Whom He is delighted.
Moving right along, we see that Mark
1:9-11 points us to the two paths of Mark 1:9 and Mark 1:11.
At
the point of writing this, it suddenly dawned on me that the word “Eden” means
“delight” which points to Christ Jesus; the beloved Son in Whom God delights. God has placed the first human being in the
Garden of Delight as recorded in Genesis 2:15. God the Father has always intended to put us
in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:5 of the Easy to Read Version Bible says that “Before the world was
made, God decided to make us His own children through Jesus Christ”. The placing of Adam in the
Garden of Eden pointed to that. Within
the Garden of Eden was the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil. I see both trees as types of
Jesus Christ.
Christ Jesus is the
Way, the Truth and the Life as can stated in John 14:6. Jesus Himself declared this in one of the
seven “I Am” declarations. I have
covered all the seven statements in the fifth volume of this
series. The Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil points to the Law by which we know what is good and what is
evil. And the Bible says that the Law
leads us to Christ (Romans 10:4, Galatians 3:24). Hence, the Garden of Eden is a picture of
Christ. Adam being placed in the Garden
of Eden is a picture of salvation in Christ Jesus.
As we have seen in Ephesians 1:5, before the
foundations of the world were laid, God had already planned for us to be His
children through Christ. That would mean that God also foresaw the fall of
mankind and the need for redemption. But
why did God plan for it to happen that way? Why go through the very long-drawn
process? My take is that love cannot be taught or forced. Love is an experience.
God knew that His
children would get into serious trouble but He was also prepared to shoulder
the responsibility for the mistakes made by His children. This is likened to earthly parents who
already knew what it would entail to have children and have them anyways
because they are prepared to bear the responsibilities of raising them. It brings to mind Deuteronomy 1:2 and Exodus 13:18 where it is stated
that the wilderness journey could have been completed in eleven days and yet
God led the Israelites the roundabout way that lasted forty years. Throughout
that time, God lavished and showered His love on the Israelites and yet they
spurned His love. I think the period of forty years is a representation of the
season where God’s children get to experience the love of God and love Him in
return because He first loved them.
Sounds familiar? Does it not
bring to mind 1 John 4:19 of the Living Bible?
I am reminded of a
comment made by an acquaintance. He
lamented that if God would just appear, he would have no problem believing in
Him. Adam and Eve were in close and
constant contact with God. He generously
provided them with more than what they would ever need. Yet, they chose to believe Satan rather than
God. It just goes to show that physical
proximity with God Himself does not necessarily result in trusting Him. Is it any wonder then that in John 20:29, Jesus said “Blessed is he who did
not see and yet believe”? Once again, it reminds me of Romans 10:17 where it is written
that faith comes by hearing, and hearing the message concerning Christ. The question that begs to be asked is:
What is the message
concerning Christ?
The crowning aspect of
the message concerning Christ is that He willingly laid down His life to be
punished in place of us. But the entire
process leading up to that message of victory makes up the complete message
concerning Christ. My take is that God
has raised many pastors to preach the various aspects of that process which
culminated in salvation by faith in Christ Jesus. It began from before the very
foundations of the universe to all eternity.
The entire process is about the grace of God without which we would not
even have been an idea, let alone being formed. And the grace of God is embodied and personified
by Christ Jesus, Who demonstrated the love of God for us on the Cross (Romans 5:8). We are
the very reason God created the entire universe. In one of the ten “Did you know” statements
made by Paul, he shared that believers are destined to judge fallen angels. I
have also covered all the ten statements in the fifth volume of this series.
Comments
Post a Comment