Shadows and Symbols of things that are and are yet to come

There is a saying I once heard, "The Old testament is the New testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed". In my head, it is like the old testament was the prophecy, the promise which was spoken of in riddles and proverbs and the new testament is the fulfillment of that promise. The promise of Jesus. The promise of son-ship. This is a totally mind blowing concept for me.

A friend once shared with me a revelation he had received from God " if you read any portion of scripture and you do not see Jesus, you have missed it" This refers to books like Leviticus, Esther, and numbers as much as Mark, Luke and revelation. A seed was sown in my heart that day. It is not that I started to see Jesus in the genealogies but I knew there was more than meets the eye. You see, I believe God is so wonderfully inexhaustible. He is infinite and not definate, yet remains the same.

Towards the end of last year, I started reading a book, Lie and Light. The first chapter talks alot about how everything in creation is about Jesus. I love watching wild life documentaries, while in school, I truly loved science and biology. It fascinates me how things work themselves out in nature without having a board of governors to lay strategy and hire the right people to execute. From photosynthesis to the balance of the eco-system to reproduction, everything is just amazing. In this book, the author talks about how the systems of nature were intentional and they are to serve as symbols. They are reflections of Jesus, the first born of all creation. The plant's interaction with light and rain to make food; speaking of how Christ is referred to as Light, and bread of life and life giving water in so many instances in scripture. Time to pause and think on these things.

While the New testament is made up of mostly letters to churches, the old testament has a lot of history and stories about actual people who lived!It makes for very good reading, more so when you realise this is more than a story about a man's life. I have a friend who says the bible is not a book of metaphors, it should be taken literally, the stories are real, a sea was parted, a wall was shouted to the groud(a HUGE wall), the sun stood still and a multitude was fed. These things actually happened. Yet, being a lover of stories and mysteries, I wonder if there isn't more to these stories than just these super awesome events.

What if the stories are real and should be taken literally and metaphorically at the same time? There are so many things that the people of God had to do under the old covenant that when seen or paid attention to give a deeper understanding of what it is Jesus gives to us in the gift of salvation.  A big part of the old testament is as well prophesies that were to come to pass in years beyond the prophets themselves would even live to see. Like I said earlier, my mind is so overwhelmed with certain truths that it seems impossible to put them into words; but maybe this will help me...especially from verse 7 but I wanted to give some context to the scripture.

2 Corinthians 3

Living Bible (TLB)

3 Are we beginning to be like those false teachers of yours who must tell you all about themselves and bring long letters of recommendation with them? I think you hardly need someone’s letter to tell you about us, do you? And we don’t need a recommendation from you, either! ² The only letter I need is you yourselves! By looking at the good change in your hearts, everyone can see that we have done a good work among you. ³ They can see that you are a letter from Christ, written by us. It is not a letter written with pen and ink, but by the Spirit of the living God; not one carved on stone, but in human hearts.

⁴ We dare to say these good things about ourselves only because of our great trust in God through Christ, that he will help us to be true to what we say, ⁵ and not because we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success comes from God. ⁶ He is the one who has helped us tell others about his new agreement to save them. We do not tell them that they must obey every law of God or die; but we tell them there is life for them from the Holy Spirit. The old way, trying to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives them life.

⁷ Yet that old system of law that led to death began with such glory that people could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For as he gave them God’s law to obey, his face shone out with the very glory of God—though the brightness was already fading away. ⁸ Shall we not expect far greater glory in these days when the Holy Spirit is giving life? ⁹ If the plan that leads to doom was glorious, much more glorious is the plan that makes men right with God. ¹⁰ In fact, that first glory as it shone from Moses’ face is worth nothing at all in comparison with the overwhelming glory of the new agreement. ¹¹ So if the old system that faded into nothing was full of heavenly glory, the glory of God’s new plan for our salvation is certainly far greater, for it is eternal.

¹² Since we know that this new glory will never go away, we can preach with great boldness, ¹³ and not as Moses did, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelis could not see the glory fade away.
¹⁴ Not only Moses’ face was veiled, but his people’s minds and understanding were veiled and blinded too. Even now when the Scripture is read it seems as though Jewish hearts and minds are covered by a thick veil, because they cannot see and understand the real meaning of the Scriptures. For this veil of misunderstanding can be removed only by believing in Christ. ¹⁵ Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings their hearts are blind and they think that obeying the Ten Commandments is the way to be saved.

¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord from his sins, then the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ The Lord is the Spirit who gives them life, and where he is there is freedom from trying to be saved by keeping the laws of God.^{[a] 18} But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.

Source: http://www.biblegateway.com

Let's think on this a while.

The gift of friendship

I recently told a friend that I cry in movies and he seemed to see me in a new light. I had been re-watching Denzel Washington's Man on Fire and I just couldn't help the tears. I remember another movie that made my eyes glisten with tears. It is called 'the ultimate gift'. I do not remember all the seven gifts this young man was supposed to appreciate before he got his 100 billion dollar inheritance but I remember the gift of friendship. He had to beg a smart mouthed 9 year old girl and her mother to be his friends because he had realised he had no real friends when he lost all his money. Friendship is a gift we usually take for granted, I think. Not everyone you talk to daily is your friend, friendship involves a lot more.

I am the kind who usually keeps to myself and over the years the Lord has been teaching me how to open up and let other people in. Not to just focus on being friends to them but to allow them to be my friends too. Of late, I've been feeling a new found appreciation for my friends, and not just because they have been there through the hard times but with every passing day, God blesses me so much through them.

I decided a while back that I was tired of treating my life like a guessing game. I am tired of trying out a million paths before I figure out which one works. I refuse to date a gazillion men in search of a husband and I will no more send in applications for jobs that are not mine. If it is mine, it is mine and I will get it. So, I started on this journey of asking God for specific direction, nothing is too small and nothing is too big to ask God about. God speaks directly to me, yes, but sometimes He has spoken through my friends. I had a talk with a friend last week which helped clear up something that had been a very big problem for the longest time, and for the longest time, I had asked myself questions and answered them, never seeking counsel. A conversation with another friend even shed more light on the matter.

"It's through fellowship that He makes certain things clear" a friend told me earlier today. Last night I had one of the most beautiful fellowships ever. I had not had such amazing one on one sharing in a very long time. As are most good things, it was totally unplanned, we just happened to run into each other and spent the next 3 hours talking. It was beautiful listening to his heart concerning certain things, him listening as I shared from my heart. It is always exciting to realise you might be hearing the same things from God as someone else. I am grateful. For today, for this week, I give thanks for the gift of friendship. Thank you Jesus.