Creature of the Word by Matt Chandler & Eric Geiger & Josh Patterson

Author:Matt Chandler & Eric Geiger & Josh Patterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion/Christian Church/Leadership
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2012-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

PREACHING THE WORD

You do not really preach the gospel if you leave Christ out—if He is omitted, it is not the gospel! You may invite men to listen to your message, but you are only inviting them to gaze upon an empty table unless Christ is the very center and substance of all that you set before them!

~ Charles Spurgeon1

Expectant parents know the thrill of having a sonogram. There is nothing quite like going to the doctor’s office, hearing the assuring rhythms of a little heartbeat, then seeing the image of your baby on the screen. The doctor prints off the black-and-white pictures, and you treasure the opportunity to share them with friends and family. Some parents even take it a step further and get 3D sonogram images. Then as the months pass, one sonogram picture replaces the last as your eager anticipation grows for the baby’s birth. You can only imagine what this little one is actually going to look like. You can make out her shape, count her fingers and toes, but your greatest desire is to see her face-to-face.

So . . . you wait.

Sonograms serve as a primer picture; they point toward what is coming. They provide wonderful images, but in their shadings and contrasts we can only see shadows. The substance of that which we so eagerly await is yet to come. But when the baby arrives, then we behold what we could once only infer.

And so it is with the Scriptures. With the birth of Christ, the expectancy of the Old Testament gave way to the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.

This changes everything . . . especially our preaching and teaching. No longer must we view the Old Testament through the shadows of a sonogram. Jesus fulfills every promise of the Old Testament, bringing light and clarity to the entirety of the canon of Scripture. Our understanding of the promise of Scripture is able to shift from Christ’s first coming to the promise of His second coming. No longer are we wondering who will ultimately redeem God’s people, for the cross colors our view. The preacher has the privilege of painting with his words the beautiful news of Jesus, through the words of both Old Testament and New.

The clarity afforded to the preacher today is that the Word of God ultimately points to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What was implied in the Old Testament has been made explicit in the New Testament.

The Word, therefore, is Jesus-centered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.