The Bible is art. And for new creations in Christ, who are the workmanship of God (Eph. 2:10), it is good for us to see all the ways that God’s Spirit inspired the Scripture. For just as the beauty of our creator is made visible in the heavens and the earth, so his majestic wisdom is found throughout the Bible. And this Sunday, we have a passage whose art is worth observing.When I say art, I have ...  Read More

Reading the Bible is not for the faint of heart. It requires time, effort, prayer, patience, persistence, and a willingness to let Scripture speak. Often, through years of study, sermons, and trips through the text, we can develop ruts in our reading. In fact, such ruts are safeguards from misguided novelty. That said, some ruts can make it difficult to see what is actually in the text. And recent...  Read More

If the cosmos has changed over time, as redemptive history has moved through “five worlds” from creation (Genesis 1–2) to the new creation (Revelation 21–22), then there have also been covenantal changes, too.In the beginning, God made a covenant with Adam (Gen. 2:15–17; cf. Hos. 6:7), which is often called the “covenant of works.” Then, after the flood, God re-established a covenant with Noah and...  Read More

Last Sunday I introduced something I called “macro-eschatology.” Macro-eschatology is an approach to redemptive history that sees the end of things (eschatology) as fulfilling, restoring, and superseding the beginning of things (protology). At the center of this approach to reading the Bible is the person and the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who stands at the center of God’s plan to unite...  Read More

Last week, I introduced fourteen key words for understanding some basic concepts in the study of last things (eschatology). Today, I will complete this basic glossary with fourteen more terms, in hopes that these definitions will help improve present and future discussions about eschatology. Be sure to listen to the introductory Sunday School series to catch up on the fun. And don’t miss the hando...  Read More

Eschatology is a word that means the study (-ology) of last things (eschatos). And in that study there are lots of words that are familiar (*resurrection), unfamiliar (*preterist), and debated (*rapture). Likewise, terms like *millennium and *tribulation are ones that have multiple definitions, and figures like the *antichrist, whose common description may or may not match John’s use of the word.K...  Read More

When I teach Systematic Theology to seminarians, I make students read two books on eschatology and I recommend about twenty. Since we are beginning a Sunday School series on the subject of eschatology, I wanted to share that list with you. For those who are following along in the series, you don’t need to read any of these books. But for those who would like to do the reading, here’s a good start,...  Read More

This Sunday we come to the end of one section in Genesis (Genesis 12–24), as chapter 25 transitions from Abraham to his two sons (Ishmael and Isaac), to Jacob who will predominate the next eleven chapters (Genesis 26–36). As Exodus 6:3 identifies the covenant Lord as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is vital for us to see how these chapters work together to tell the story of God’s promises...  Read More

If you have been around OBC for any length of time, you know that we value the structure of the Bible. That is to say, we believe that because God inspired every word in Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:19–21), he also inspired the literary shape of those words. For instance, the five books of the Psalter were arranged to mirror the five books of Moses and to tell the story of King David and his g...  Read More

As you know, the book of Genesis is so named because it is a book of beginnings. Genesis 1–2 tell us about the beginning of the world. Genesis 3 tells us about the beginning of sin, while Genesis 4–11 begin to show us how God brings salvation through judgment. Then after Genesis 10–11 begin to show the spread of the nations, Genesis 12 introduces us to a man named Abram who will be the source of s...  Read More

Last year, we began a new Good Friday sermon series called “The Cross and the Crowd.” From 2018–2024, we looked at the seven statements of Christ on the cross. And last year, we started a new Good Friday series, where we considered the impact of the cross on the various people—individuals and groups—who stood around the cross. Or, as we will see this year, some who did not stand around the cross.A...  Read More

The week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday has been called Holy Week for millennia, and we invite you to set apart this week with us as we remember the events leading to Christ’s crucifixion and prepare to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection. To help guide you through this week, we are sharing a Bible reading plan below and links to a daily devotional series and Spotify playlists.A Bible Reading Pla...  Read More