27 Apr When the Old Testament points straight to Jesus
27 April 2026
It’s no secret, at least to Christians, that the Old Testament is written to point us to Jesus and the life of his people, the church, in the New Testament. You’ve likely heard me say many times over the last 20 years that Jesus lives in direct continuity with the promises & prophecies of the Old Testament…it points right to him. I have a book on my shelf titled, “Jesus on every Page,” that highlights this truth…that while maybe not every page, large amounts of the Old Testament point straight to God’s redemptive, rescuing, restoring work in Jesus. I experienced one of those signposts in a very strange place (strange from my viewpoint anyway) in my reading this week.
David’s kingship over God’s people Israel is at times troubled…sometimes David is his own worst enemy. We share that trait with him I reckon. Anyway…Toward the end of David’s rule, his son Absalom has been brought back to Israel from exile. That story in itself in 2 Samuel 13, is horrific…but the Bible is clear, God works with flawed humans to make his grace & reconciling love visible in the here & now. So Absalom is restored to the kingdom but not yet to the king’s presence.
David’s chief adviser schemes to reunite the estranged father & son and sends a woman to tell David a tale of sadness resulting from a son who has been banished from the family over another set of horrible events. As she speaks she says this, “Like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, all of us must die eventually. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises plans so that those who are banished from him are brought back & not banished forever.” – 2 Samuel 14:14
As I was reading that…Jesus showed up in this most unusual place. We are all, sinners every one of us, banished from God. We know the story in Genesis 3 where Adam & Eve are in fact banished, sent out from, the Garden to toil & labour painfully & fruitlessly until death comes. But God has had a plan from before time began to reclaim us, to not allow sin to forever stand between us & our heavenly Father. God has planned from forever to bring us back to himself, to stand with us in all things & raise us to life with him forever through Jesus Christ. In fact, it is death that gets banished forever when Jesus steps out of the grave.
Every day from now on we get to celebrate that victory, invite others to join us in it, & grow in our relationship with the Father through Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Here’s what that looks like over the next week or so…
- Sunday 3rd May – Knowing the Why… our worship & teaching series continues through the book of Ephesians, Knowing What To Do – have a look at Ephesians 4 in advance! Just like Matthew 7 is the “Take it Home” part of the Sermon on the Mount, Ephesians 4 begins Paul’s “Take it Home” for the Ephesians. Remember…Every week you should leave worship with a clear plan on how you’re going to take what you’ve experienced in worship & put it into practice somewhere during the next week. If that’s not happening…maybe we should have coffee to talk about some Spirit-led strategies.
- Sunday May 3rd is also Giving Beyond Ourselves for the Church Missionary Society missionary (Jess) we support in the Middle East AND Morning Tea. We know that both of those call for some big time generosity.
- Sunday May 10th – Mother’s Day! You know what to do here.
- Thursday May 14th – Ladies Fellowship 10:00 a.m. @ Sue & Trevor’s home in Settler’s Village
- Saturday May 16th – LWF Prayer Morning 10:00 a.m. @ the Prenzler’s home
- Saturday May 16th – LWF Bonfire 2:00 p.m. until you’re ready to go home @ Jeff & Norma’s country home. We’ve got maps & directions…so please ask.
- Tuesday May 26th – We’ve been asked to provide a meal for the Campus Christian Fellowship again. More details should come starting this week with a sign-up sheet & suggestions of what to bring. Thank you in advance!
Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday!
John
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