Day 013: How Does Jesus Relate to the Master Story?

John 5:39–40 
[Jesus said,] “You study the Scriptures throughly because you think you have eternal life in them. Yet they testify about Me! And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.”

The Whole Bible Leads Us to Jesus.

In the passage from John 5, Jesus is confronting some of the most religious people of his day who did not believe He was who He claimed to be. Jesus basically says to them, “You think you will find life by studying the Scriptures thoroughly, but the Scriptures actually point to me!” The Master Story of the Bible that we have considered this week should ultimately lead us to Jesus. 

Later, after His death and resurrection from the dead, Jesus tells his first followers this:

Luke 24:44–45 
Then He told them, “These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

What Jesus says here is so important. Jesus believed that the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms revealed things about Him and they had to be fulfilled. The three collections of Scripture that Jesus mentions was the complete Bible available during His time (the New Testament had not been written yet). Notice He says that things were writing about Him in those books that had to be fulfilled—these books looked forward to Jesus and foretold His appearing and work! Essentially Jesus is saying all the Scriptures that came before pointed to Him! 

What the Scriptures teach us about Jesus also gives us answers to some of our foundational questions.

Past | Origin:
Everything was Created in/by Jesus.

Colossians 1:16
For in Him (Jesus Christ) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible, and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. {our translation}

As we ponder, “Where have we come from?” the Bible tells us that all things, including the human race, were created by/in Jesus. He is the agent of all creation. Even things that are invisible were created by Jesus. In the Biblical worldview, there is more to reality than what we can see with our eyes. Jesus created it all. 

Once we know where we have come from, we can ask, “Where are we heading?”

Future | Destiny:
Everything Will Be Summed Up in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:9–10
…[God] revealed to us the secret of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ—the things in heaven and the things on earth. {NET}

In the end, all things are going to be brought together—summed up, headed up, united—in Father-God’s purposes for all thing in Christ. Jesus is bringing peace to our war-torn universe. He is setting all things right and in the final act, when everything is fulfilled, He will bring everything together and to completion.  

Present | Purpose:
Everything Is Held Together and Moved Along By Jesus.

Notice also in Colossians 1 that all things were created through and for Jesus. This is emphasized in the rest of that same passage:

Colossians 1:17 
He himself is before all things
and all things are held together in Him. {NET}

Not only is Jesus holding everything together, He is moving everything along:

Hebrews 1:2–3
In these last days, He [God] has spoken to us by His Son [Jesus]. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word.

The word that is translated as “sustaining” here speaks of holding up and moving things along like the wind moves a sailing ship across the water. Everything is held together, held up and moved along by Jesus!

So if our Origins are rooted in Jesus, our Future will take us to Him, and He is holding and moving everything along now, we can have clarity on the question, “What is the purpose of life?” We should want to know the One who created us and now sustains us. The most important thing we can do with the time we have is get to know Jesus. In the passage from John that we began with, Jesus seems to be saying that we can find life in Him. We will be exploring that key theme over the next several weeks.

As you think about all the readings up to this point, you can see that we like illustrations and charts and graphics. See if you can make a chart or an illustration that represents Jesus’ role in our past, present, and future that we have discussed today. 

Scan back over or reflect on this week’s reading and ask yourself:
1. What have I learned that gave me new ideas and images?
2. How do these truths call me to change the way I am thinking?
3. How do these truths call me to trust Father-God more?

*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.