The Finished Word

Jesus reveals the meaning of Scripture, the understanding of the future, and the nature and mysteries of God . Jesus unveils the Divine mysteries, and only he is qualified to reveal the nature and glory of the unseen God. All the promises of God find their fulfillment in him.  Christ unlocks the scriptures, and there is no true knowledge of God apart from him. The Creator of All Things is found in Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures, reveals the Divine nature, and manifests the redemptive purposes of the God of Israel . Jesus unveils the knowledge of God and implements His plan of redemption. He is the center of his Father’s purposes and the key to understanding the Hebrew Scriptures. Only the Nazarene is qualified to reveal the invisible God, and through Christ alone, all the promises of God are fulfilled.

Believers prepare for the Apostasy and the coming Man of Lawlessness by committing themselves to the traditions received from the Apostles . After explaining the coming “ Apostasy ” and the “ Man of Lawlessness ,” Paul instructed believers on how to avoid the coming deception and thereby find themselves standing “ blameless ” before Jesus when he arrives on the Day of the Lord. We must “ stand fast ” by adhering to the teachings and “ traditions ” the Church has received from the Apostles.

Followers of Jesus must cling tenaciously to the Word spoken in the Son or they will drift away from God’s gracious salvation . The Letter’s first literary section concludes with an exhortation and warning. The disciple of Jesus who fails to heed the far “ better word ” God is speaking in His Son will suffer an even “ sorer punishment ” than the rebellious Israelites when they disobeyed the Mosaic Law. The  Torah  was delivered to Moses by angels. Nevertheless, it was God’s word, and therefore, lawbreakers received severe punishments – (Hebrews 2:1-4).

When certain “ super-apostles ” began undermining his authority, the Apostle Paul warned the Assembly in Corinth not to heed anyone who “ proclaimed another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or a different spirit, or a different Gospel .” He pointed to the same Jesus that he first proclaimed, the “ Crucified Messiah ,” the Jesus who is the measuring rod against which all other messianic claimants must be evaluated.

The promises of the Hebrew Bible are fulfilled in the Son of God and Messiah of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth . The promises of God find their fulfillment in Jesus, their “ Yea! ” and “ Amen! ” The mysteries previously “ hidden ” are revealed in Christ’s life and words, and especially through his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation. Jesus is the Messiah in whom all the shadows and types prefigured in the Hebrew Bible find their substance.

Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the interpretive key that opens the Hebrew Scriptures and reveals the Father .  Jesus of Nazareth is the one who reveals the purposes and fulfills the mysteries of God. Only he is qualified to “ interpret ” the “ unseen God .” In him alone, all the promises of God find their “ Yea ” and “ Amen .” He is the key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures and fulfills the words of the prophets. This principle is presented in the opening paragraph of Letter to the Hebrews and pictorially in the  Book of Revelation .

Jesus is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures, Bible prophecy, and the Mysteries of God . Jesus is the one who unveils the Mysteries of God. Only he is qualified to reveal the nature of the “ unseen God .” In him, all the promises of God find their substance. He is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures and provides the correct understanding of Bible prophecy.

Paul begins his  Letter to the Romans  with a lengthy introduction in which he identifies himself and his mission. The calling and “grace” of God have equipped him to preach the “ obedience of faith ” to the “ Gentiles .” In his introduction, he includes a brief description of the Messianic qualifications of Jesus of Nazareth, and links what God did in him to His promises recorded in the “ Holy Scriptures .”

Was the New Testament composed in Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, or another language? The evidence points to Greek . What was the original language of the documents that became the New Testament? For centuries, the scholarly consensus has been that it was the Koiné Greek dialect spoken widely in the Eastern Roman Empire. However, certain voices in the church are claiming that it was composed in the Hebrew or Aramaic language. What follows is a brief overview of the primary evidence for a Greek original.

The  Book of Revelation  communicates symbolically, and it  provides several interpretations of its images. For example, it states that the “ Seven Golden Lampstands ” represent seven congregations. Likewise, the “ Seven Stars ” held by the “ one like a Son of Man ” symbolize angels or “ Seven Messengers .” Pictures of the smoke of “ incense ” rising to heaven represent the “ prayers of the saints .” And so on.

The Book of Revelation informs the reader from the start that it communicates visually and symbolically . Must prophecy be interpreted only or primarily in the most “literal” fashion possible unless a passage specifically indicates otherwise? Often in our minds, there is an unstated assumption that literal language is more reliable than nonliteral language, an idea that becomes especially problematic when interpreting the visions of  Revelation .