A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance
by Steve West
Table of Contents
1 Christ in All of Scripture
2 Preparing a Sermon That Presents Christ
3 Sharing the Father’s Welcome (Luke 15:11-32)
4 See What It Costs (Genesis 22:1-19)
5 When God Came Down (Genesis 28:10-22)
6 The Champion’s Strange Victory (Genesis 32)
7 Can God Be Among Us? (Exodus 34:1-9)
8 Meet the Captain (Joshua 5:13-15)
9 Surprised by Devotion (2 Samuel 23:13-17)
10 The Lord of the Manger
11 Jesus Preaches Liberty (Luke 4:16-22)
12 The Cry of the God-Forsaken Savior (Psalm 22:1)
13 Our International Anthem (Psalm 96:3)
14 Jesus Christ and the Lostness of Man
15 Hearing Is Believing: The Lord of the Word
Summary
Chapter 1: Christ in All of Scripture
“Preaching Christ from the Old Testament means that we preach, not synagogue sermons, but sermons that take account of the full drama of redemption, and its realization in Christ.” This means that faithful biblical preaching sees individual texts in relation to Christ in the Bible’s larger context of God’s plan of redemption. Every OT text has its own meaning in its local context and also connects to Christ because of the unity of Scripture and the reality that Christ is the Lord and Savior who fulfills God’s redemptive purposes. God is triune, and the second person of the Trinity was present and active in the OT. Christ is kurios; he is Yahweh, the covenant Lord. The Son was often explicitly present in OT events, and there are numerous points of prophetic foreshadowing and typological connections that are fulfilled by him. Christ does not become the Lord only after his resurrection, since he is Lord eternally.
God’s redemptive work is structured around the covenants that he makes and how he progressively develops and unfolds his plan through time. Each historical epoch in Scripture furthered God’s plan and pointed forward to its fulfillment in Christ. OT history is prophetic history that describes covenant blessings and curses, and pictures the great day of God’s salvation. When Christ became incarnate, he fulfilled what the prophets, priests, kings, judges, and other figures anticipated in the old covenant. Although there have been unconstrained approaches to allegorizing texts, we must not go to the other extreme and reject the fact that the OT uses a great deal of symbolism that is fulfilled by Christ. Language itself is symbolic, and Scripture abounds in metaphors and pictures. The entire sacrificial system symbolized Christ’s work, as does the kingship and legal system that God gave Israel. There are multiple lines of historical symbolism in the OT that reveal God’s acts and point to greater fulfillment in Christ. This kind of symbolism is not occasional, but structural in the OT.
Scripture teaches many moral lessons and uses both negative and positive moral examples, but moralistic interpretations of the OT are insufficient. The history of God’s redemption is accompanied by the history of God’s revelation, where God interprets his own saving acts. The progressive unfolding of history and revelation binds together God’s words and deeds. God’s great plan is not narrowly about himself; it centers on God in the presence of his incarnate Son. OT history exists because of the eventual coming of Christ who fulfills all that was anticipating his advent and work. Jesus’s teaching clearly showed that he saw the OT as fundamentally about himself and all that he would say and do.
Chapter 2: Preparing a Sermon That Presents Christ
Preaching the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit presents Christ to those who hear. Paul put Christ and the cross at the center of his preaching ministry. More than just talking about Christ, Christ himself is present and speaks in biblical preaching; it is the Lord himself who calls and saves. God has spoken in his Word, and we discern his meaning by carefully studying it in the power of the Spirit. It is through his Word that God draws us to himself; we enter his presence in worship through the Word. Communication requires a message being sent to someone who receives it, and this requires relationship.
Rather than thinking of sermons in terms of explanation and application, we should simply present Christ, how he reveals himself and what he requires of us. This requires preaching the Gospels, epistles, and the whole counsel of God. Focusing on exposing errors is not the same as presenting the reality of the Lord’s presence. When we preach, we need to present Christ according to the structure of Scripture and God’s plan of redemption. For example, the tabernacle carries forward a cluster of motifs that are fulfilled in Christ alone. Preachers who want to present Christ must prayerfully abide in his presence. When we preach in the flesh we exalt ourselves, but when we preach in the power of the Spirit we feel humbled and awed. We are not apostles, but when we preach, we preach in the presence of the same Christ. Turn your own eyes to Jesus, and you will turn your hearers’ eyes to Jesus as well. . . .
[To continue reading this summary, please see below....]The remainder of this article is premium content. Become a member to continue reading.
Already have an account? Sign In