Jesus, Adam, and Rosh Hashana

This is the time of year when good Jews observe Rosh Hashana, which culminates in the Day of Atonement. But The Jesus Dynasty Blog points out that there are two other interesting calendar items that aren't as well known this time of year. First, "within later Jewish tradition the 1st day of the 7th month came to be remembered as a kind of 'birthday of the world,” in that the Rabbis passed on the tradition that Adam was created on the 1st day of the 7th month, in the Fall, on this very day (September 22nd)–the Autumnal Equinox (though a minority view still held to Nisan 1st in the Spring)."

Second, September 23 is significant because "by some calculations (see Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology), Jesus was born on or very near the 1st day of the 7th month–based on the chronology given in the book of Luke. The calculations are complex but have to do with the time in which Zechariah, father of John the Baptizer, served in the Temple (Luke 1:8), as the “section” of priests in which he was part went on duty at a specific time of year. From that window calculations can be made as to the birth of John, followed by the birth of Jesus six months later."

Wouldn't it be interesting, in the providence of the One who orchestrates redemption and history, if there is a calendar connection between the first Adam and Last Adam, and between the anticipation of atonement and the One who is THE Atonement?

Fine print in Jesus' miracles: Don't try this at home!

About a month ago, WorldNetDaily carried the story of an African evangelist who attempted to duplicate Christ's feat of walking on the water. 35-year-old Pastor Franck Kabele not only didn't replicate the miracle, he didn't get the same reprieve that Peter did. Kabele drowned off of Africa's west coast.

After telling his congregation he could walk on water just like Jesus, Kabele attempted to do the same from a beach in Libreville, which is the capital of Gabon. And of course, Kabele's declared qualification for walking on water was the same as the word of faith movement's mantra: if he had enough faith. We're left to speculate, after his catastrophic failure, either that he didn't have enough faith OR that God never promised us we'd be able to duplicate Christ's miracles and therefore it was foolish for Kabele to try in the first place. The answer, as it is with every claim made by the word of faith folks, is the latter.

The scriptures also allow us to conclude that Kabele didn't have the revelation he claimed he had that gave him permission to attempt to walk on the water. Special revelation, such as this claim, ended with Revelation 22.

Leave it to an eyewitness to describe what happens when bad hermeneutics places a life in danger: "He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back."

Christ is the Supreme Standard by which all truth is measured

Jesus told his disciples in John 14:6, “I am the Truth”. This Incarnate Truth is THE WORD who spoke all things into existence. This Incarnate Truth is THE Revelation of God who has tabernacled among men.

When Christ said “I am the Truth”, he was placing himself over against all other truth claims. Among the implications is that Christ and His Word are the final measure by which all supposed truth is to be gauged. If there were a standard by which we could stack up Christ’s claims then that standard would be the supreme truth and not Christ.

This is exactly what has happened in our day with liberal theologians who attempt to verify and validate what Christ has said in the scriptures with other documents and research. And their mindset is such that if what they find doesn’t seem to mesh with the Bible, guess what is jettisoned? The Bible takes a beating. Christ and His Word are no longer the ultimate truth standard when that happens.

And because Christ *is* THE TRUTH, that which conforms to Christ and His Scriptures is true; that which doesn’t conform to Christ and His Scriptures is not true. Contrary to the way "truth" has been defined and explained, even by those who believe the Bible's truth is absolute truth, the Scriptures alone are not the ultimate standard of truth. That designation alone belongs to Christ. We have some great confessions that have been developed by the church historic down through the ages. They have helped the church explain what it believes to be true from the Scriptures. Yet, those given the responsibility of drafting these grand defenses of the truth have usually begun those defenses with paragraphs explaining the primacy of scripture. An unintended consequence has been that the Scriptures, at times, may be understood to be eclipsing Christ himself as the standard by which all truth is measured. There is a sort of bibliolatry that can creep into our thinking and practice if we are not careful to maintain that the Scriptures only have the authority they do and their place in measuring men's truth claims because behind The Word is THE WORD, Truth Himself, Christ. It is He, the enthroned Wisdom of God, who gives the Scriptures their authority and veracity.

We must insist that it is Christ who is the supreme Truth standard. It is true that we know that truth through The Word. But we must not allow that reality to lull us into thinking the Scriptures are supreme truth above all others. The Bible is the only standard of faith and practice and is the only way to know the true God only because Christ THE WORD has breathed out The Word in revealing God to us. The importance of the incarnation is that Christ as Incarnate Truth is prior to His Word. The Word only has the divine claim on all other written forms of truth because Christ himself, The Truth, has the divine claim on all truth, period.