SEASONS 3

Jesus came with a passion to reveal the Father. In our self-focus, each age has mis-interpreted the relationship God has initiated with man. Even today, we tend to see God as harsh, demanding, impossible to please, unapproachable. We want His help but we don't want to get too close. We feel more comfortable with Jesus, however, Jesus clearly taught that to know Him was to know the Father. John 14:8-11

In John 4 Jesus makes a statement something like this. "The Father has longed for this time in history. He has been looking forward to the time when man would be able to worship Him in spirit and in truth." This makes me think that the triune God had a plan that was to unfold through out history. This redemptive plan was to bring a rebellious, blind, self-centered humanity back into intimate love relationship as He had origionally planned in the Garden.

God gave the plan in a nutshell when He came looking for the naked couple hidding from Him, yet desperately needing to re-connect with His loving heart. We still hide and He still comes looking for us. Let's look at the major seasons of human history that show how God methodically planned and progressively revealed His longing heart.

God told Adam to kill an animal and cloth themselves with the skins, thus the first season in redemptive history was animal blood as a substitute. God gave specific directions and a more full understanding what it would cost Him to cover their nakedness. Who would ever think that the Creator would take on flesh to become man's sin-bearer Himself. Authentic Christianity is the only religion that believes God Himself took our guilt and judgment so we could escape the penalty of our own mess.

Enoch walked with God in such intimacy that God took him without seeing death. This pictures the relationship God longs for. (Evidently Enoch did not find God harsh, demanding, hard to please and unapproachable.)

Noah, in a season of extreme wickedness, obeys God and builds a boat when no one had ever seen enough water to float a boat. God instructs him to go inside, God shuts the door and they ride out the wrath of God's judgment. A picture of being in Christ. Noah probably did not know the longing in God's heart for such intimacy and it could not be so until Jesus came. Now we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Rejoice.

The next important season of redemptive history was when God visited Abram. So much happened during that visitation of grace. God changed his and Sarah's name when He made covenant with him. That covenant is rich with meaning and this is the covenant that Christ fulfilled, not the covenant of works He made with Moses. Isaac is a type of Christ as Abraham obeys God and takes His son to Mount Moriah to offer him as sacrifice. God stops him and says, "God Himself will provide a lamb as a sacrifice." God actually revealed to Abraham that 2000 years later He would take a body. As Jesus of Nazareth, in that same location, He would die instead of Isaac and His death would cover all who would come to him. (John 8:56)

I am going to stop here, mainly because I want to keep it a readable length. We will pick up with Moses and Joshua. I hope you are beginning to see that God's heart longs for man to love Him for who He is. He goes to great lengths to draw us into Himself.