Jesus the Author

Today we are going to spend time remembering Jesus’ willing sacrifice of Himself on the cross for us. We have the bread and the cup, instituted by Jesus Himself as a way for us to continually remember Him. Now, this month we have been going full speed into our Broken Vessels series, examining the lives of a number of the personalities in Genesis who are also described as people commended for their faith in Hebrews 11. Today I want to start with a familiar passage from Hebrews 12.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2

What does it mean that Jesus is the author of our faith? In addition to author, the word also means chief leader, or prince, as well as one that takes the lead in something and becomes an example. I believe all of these meanings apply here. The same word is used in Hebrews 2:10, where Jesus is called the author of salvation.

Broken Vessels: Jacob

Today we are going to look at Jacob, Abraham’s grandson and the father of what became the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob is one of my favorite characters in the Bible, I think because I identify with some of his weaknesses. Now, there are far more passages on Jacob in the Bible than we have time to cover, so we will need to be selective. Let’s start, however, at the beginning:

This is the account of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. – Gen. 25:19-21

Broken Vessels: Abraham

Abraham, originally called Abram, was the son of Terah. He was born in the Sumerian city of Ur (in modern-day Iraq). Terah, like his father and others before him, worshiped false gods – we know this because of Joshua 24:2, which says,

Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods.'" – Josh. 24:2

Sumerian worship involved temples called ziggurats. In the image, you can see the Ziggurat of Ur, called Etemennigur, which, translated, means “house whose foundation creates terror.” The ziggurat was in the city center along with administrative buildings, and it was believed to be the dwelling of the moon god, Nanna, on earth. His symbol was a crescent moon. This next image shows an artifact from around the time of Abraham. You can see the crescent on the top.

Broken Vessels: Adem, Abel, Enoch, and Noah

Welcome! Today we kick off our “Broken Vessels” series in earnest. Now most weeks in this series, we focus on a single Old Testament character; some characters will get multiple weeks. But this week is unique in that we are going to look at four, four different major characters of the Bible. Obviously, we cannot talk in depth on each of these people. And as I have studied this week, I realize I could have spent a month on these guys. So let me not waste any time, and start right at the beginning, with Adam.

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Gen. 1:26-27

The History of Broken Vessels

Today we begin an approximately six-month long series of teachings on the Old Testament called “Broken Vessels.” Today I want to introduce the series, talking about the Old Testament in general, and talking about the purpose of the series.

Six months may seem like a long time to focus on the Old Testament. Will we really not look at the New Testament for six months? No, of course not! We will tie things forward into the New Testament whenever we can, and we will continue to have our monthly communion and sharing times at the end of each month, times that really focus on Christ. But perhaps some of you still have some reservations, so I would like to speak to you regarding this idea.