Monday
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.)
One important OT passage about Jesus is Genesis 3:15, the first biblical expression of the Gospel. Adam and Eve had just sinned, could do nothing to save themselves from the consequences of that sin, and needed a Savior to deal with their sin. In His mercy, God withheld the deserved immediate punishment of death; in His grace, He promised One Who would defeat Satan (see verse 14 and Revelation 20:2). We learn that this Savior would be fully human (“her seed”), for only a human could be a substitute for our sins. This Savior must be more than just human, though, for no human can defeat Satan. To be our perfect substitute, our Savior must also be fully divine. This hypostatic union is fulfilled in the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus Christ. Let us be confident that the Savior Who crushes the tempter is also able to crush our temptations as we travel our own Emmaus Road.