March 2, 2010
Unveiled Resources
Posted by Will
We have just started a new sermon series, Unveiled: Jesus in Revelation to take us through the Lenten season. To unpack the title a little bit, the messages will be focused on the person of Jesus as He is revealed in the book of Revelation. Revelation can be a confusing book of the Bible to read for many, and Isaac will help us sort through some of the confusing theology that exists in Revelation while not taking anything away from the mysterious workings of God. The sermons will be a bit more academic than the ones we heard in the Thrift series, and I am writing this blog for those who might be interested in further reading on the subjects that will be discussed in the coming Sundays.
The Moral Vision of the New Testament by Richard Hays gives an excellent overview of the different ways Revelation can be read and understood, and is also a great source for further information on the themes we will be discussing: Jesus as Lord over everything in creation; the justice of God; Jesus as the only way to salvation; the redemption of creation; and Jesus in relation to the Jewish sacrificial system. This work and Jesus and the Victory of God by N.T. Wright are both very in-depth and comprehensive in their discussion of these themes. While they are excellent sources, not everyone will be interested in that level of detail.N.T. Wright has two other volumes that discuss on a lesser scale some of the themes from Jesus and the Victory of God. They are Simply Christian and The Challenge of Jesus. Simply Christian paints a beautiful picture of God’s original design of justice, relationship with Him and others, and beauty in creation, and explains His efforts to restore it through the person of Jesus. The Challenge of Jesus gives us a realistic portrayal of who Jesus was in the context of history, and how his life, death, resurrection, and second coming make sense in the context of the Jewish scriptures.
Philip Yancey also deals with the person of Jesus and takes the reader along on the journey of discovering who Jesus was as a first-Century Jewish rabbi, and who He is as Lord of the Universe and our only true hope for salvation.
C.S. Lewis, in his classic Mere Christianity, presents in his description of the Christian faith the question that must be answered by each of us: Is Jesus really who he said he was, and who the Scriptures proclaim him to be? Either way, as Isaac likes to remind us, our answer to that question has major repercussions on how we will and should live our lives.
We have each of these books available in the Resource Center. They are on display in the middle of the Resource Center for easy access.
