Carpenter Diem (Because Jesus Was a Carpenter and Is Now Preparing a Home for His People)
The resurrection of God the Son, Jesus Christ, is crucial to the Christian faith. In Luke 24:13-35, we read of the resurrected Savior walking the road to Emmaus. This specific geographical reference reminds us of the absolute accuracy of God’s Word in all areas. In verse 27, Jesus begins to teach from the Old Testament; He not only walked the talk but also talked the walk! This passage does not reveal the exact Scriptures Jesus employed to teach these journeying believers, but we do know that He fulfilled the entire Old Testament (Matthew 5:17,18). Fulfilled prophecy is one of the major reasons that we can be certain that our faith in Jesus is not misplaced. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
I Kings 8 records the coming of the glory of God to the temple built by Solomon, son of David. Most of the chapter is a heartfelt prayer by Solomon. Verse 26 is particularly intriguing. Even though the presence of God “had filled the house of the Lord” (verse 11) in fulfillment of I Kings 6:11-13, Solomon prays that God’s promise to David “be verified.” In other words, Solomon expected an outcome even greater than God’s residence in the Holy of Holies in the Temple; Solomon was correct. Please read Hebrews 1:1-3. The full deity of Jesus is on display here, including “the brightness of His glory.” When Jesus died on the Cross, the thick curtain in the Temple isolating The Holy of Holies was, as stated in Matthew 27:51, “rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” However, the glory of God was not revealed, for God had departed the Temple hundreds of years before (Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23). No, the glory of God had inhabited human flesh and had died on the Cross. “In these last days” God has spoken to us through God the Son, Jesus Christ. There is no greater manifestation of God’s glory than the life of our Savior. May we be assured that God has not withheld His best from us, even during troubling times.