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“The organization of the material in a systematic fashion to aid memory is genius.” - Mark Earley – President – Prison Fellowship
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Jesus holds out his hand and invites us to follow him on life's journey, to discover our possibilities and purpose.
Three Torah Narratives - Pillars of Our Christian Faith
1. Creation Narrative
Genesis 1:1a In the Beginning God created the heavens and the Earth
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array
Genesis 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Genesis 3:11b Have you eaten from the tree that I have commanded you not to eat from?
John 10:10b (Jesus) I have come that you might have life and have it to the full.
Ø Darwin - Evolution
2. Monotheistic – One God – Covenant Narrative
Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing
Genesis 21:18 (The Lord to Hagar) Lift the boy (Ishmael) up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation
Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Juda, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
II Samuel 7:12 When your days are over (David) and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Jeremiah 31:31 +33b The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, I will be their God and they will be my people.
John 1:1, 14a In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling place among us.
John 10:36b I am God’s Son
John 14:16, 17a And I will ask the Father to give you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth.
Ø Atheism – No God
Ø Polytheism – Many Gods
Ø Pantheism – All is in God – God is in everything that exists
Three Torah Narratives - Pillars of Our Christian Faith (continued)
3. God’s Laws
Deuteronomy 5:1 Moses summoned all of Israel and said: hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing toady. Learn them and be sure to follow them. (Moral Laws- The Ten Commandments)
Exodus 21:24-25 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Civil Law)
Leviticus 16:15-16a He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sin have been. (Ceremonial Laws – Laws of Atonement)
Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Laws of the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Sermon on the Mount (Moral Laws)
– Love neighbor – Matthew 5:21-48
- Love God – Matthew 6-7
Ø Not Civil Laws
– Matthew 17:26b (Jesus to Peter) Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.
- Matthew 22:21b Then (Jesus) said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”.
Ø Not Ceremonial Laws, Atonement Laws – Healing on the Sabbath
- Mark 3:4 (Jesus to the crowd in the synagogue “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill ?” But they remained silent.
- Luke 6:11 – (after Jesus healed a man with a shriveled right hand on the Sabbath) But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
- Luke 22:20b Jesus to his disciples at the Last Supper. “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Tom J. Cowley – 2011 (1-800-826-7444) e-mail: alertcare@aol.com website: www.tomjcowley.com
