Episode 271 –Bible: Cornerstone and Context 3 – Timeless Themes Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac … . The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, New International Version ******** VK: Greetings! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. We’re glad to be back with you on Anchored by Truth as we continue with our series that we call “The Bible: Cornerstone and Context.” RD Fierro, an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books, is with us again today as we continue our discussion of how people can improve their understanding of the Bible by developing a contextual framework to guide their reading and study. RD, the Bible has a vast variety of material. It contains records of history, inspirational poetry, practical admonitions, moral and ethical commands, and even entertaining stories. All of this material can be engaging and valuable even when we just focus on the individual instruction or report. So, why do think that it is so important for Bible students to take the time to see a bigger picture? RD: Well, I’d also like to welcome everyone joining us here today as we continue our discussion on the cornerstone and context of the Bible. As you’ve noted there’s a wide variety of material in the Bible and even a wide variety of literary genres. The Bible has poems, proverbs, parables, allegories, as well as history and prophecy. And – also as you have noted – we can gain a lot just by learning about individual episodes of the Bible heroes like David with Goliath or Daniel in the lion’s den. And certainly many of the individual psalms are inspirational and comforting just as the individual proverbs contain practical advice that will help people live better lives. But as valuable as all this material can be when considered separately when we see how it is all part of God’s grand plan for His people I think the individual episodes take on even more meaning. As we see God’s overall plan for the created order it increases our ability to glorify Him through our lives and testimonies. VK: And that should be the central focus of every Christian life. One of the major confessional creeds says that the chief purpose of man is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” RD: Yes. It’s certainly important to learn from each part of scripture. But it is also important to be able to see the larger tapestry of scripture where the individual threads and features form a larger and more inspiring whole. And the first step in being able to do is to certainly see that Jesus is present in each and every part of the tapestry. Or to return to other metaphor Jesus is the cornerstone of scripture. VK: And we started out talking about Jesus as the cornerstone in our first two episodes in this series. In our first episode we pointed out that even in famous Old Testament stories that don’t seem to relate to Jesus such as Jonah and the whale Jesus was being foreshadowed. And in our second episode we talked about the elegance of the way in which Jesus’ attributes and work made Him the perfect – in fact the only possible – Mediator between God and man. RD: Yes. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden they violated the Covenant of Works which God had established with them. This left the covenant unsatisfied and incurred a debt with infinite consequences. Jesus came to address both of these concerns. He lived a sinless life. He fulfilled the Covenant of Works. So, he never needed to die for His own sin. This meant that when He willingly sacri