Musings of a Former Fundamentalist (IFB) Renewed by Reformed Theology
all about books
Today I have a simple quote for you. This comes from Joel Beeke’s Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism. This single quote is worth meditating on today. May God bless us in our walk with Christ.
Martin Luther states, “We in Christ equals justification; Christ in us equals sanctification”. (Beeke, Living for God’s Glory, 202)
Author: Dennis E. Johnson
Format: Soft cover
Page Count: 494
Publisher: P & R Publishing
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 9781596380547
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Any book which includes “Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures” in its title instantly grabs my attention. How Christ is revealed in the Old Testament, and how the Old Testament foreshadows New Covenant realities has been a theological interest of mine for some time. So when P & R Publishing agreed to let me review Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures, I was thrilled with the opportunity. I hadn’t known of Dennis Johnson, but I did recognize Westminster Seminary California where he is Academic Dean and Professor of Practical Theology. So with P & R as publishers, and the Westminster connection, I trusted it would be a good book.
I was wrong. It was a phenomenally good book. In every way it exceeded my expectations. 500 pages is quite a bit of ground, and with that space Johnson covers an awful lot of territory. Even still, by the end of the book, I was eager for more.
The book is part hermeneutic manual, homiletic textbook, and preaching guide. It’s a polemic for apostolic preaching (that which recognizes the Christological bent of all of Scripture) even as it is an explanation for how to be exegetically careful in handling Old Testament texts. As I said it covers a lot of ground.
The book is divided into two parts: first Johnson makes the case for apostolic, Christocentric preaching. He then he fleshes out the practice of that preaching. Johnson contends that:
Christians need to be shown how to read each Scripture, first in the context of its original redemptive-historical epoch, and then in terms of the focal point and climactic “horizon” toward which the particulars of God’s plan always pointed, namely Jesus the Messiah, who is the second and last Adam, seed of Abraham, true Israel, royal descendant of David, and obedient and suffering Servant of the Lord.(pg. 49)
Such preaching today is not all that common. Johnson traces the history of how the Church has interpreted, and preached the Scripture. Behind the preaching of today’s “twenty-first century evangelicals”, lies both “the Reformation’s hermeneutic restraint and the Enlightenment’s faith in scientific methodology as part of our almost invisible but virtually inevitable mental framework” (pg. 126-127).
As an antidote, the major portion of the book focuses on a positive treatment of how to preach Christologically. Johnson focuses on Hebrews as an example of an extended Apostolic sermon, and goes on to carefully model his approach to preaching in five or six passages from each testament. The exegesis is very sound, and only with great care does Johnson run from the OT text to Jesus. But he does run to Jesus, and he shows us how to find the Biblical path to Jesus from most any Scriptural text.
It is not only the Scriptural promises of the Messiah that point to Jesus, “What God said in the words of the prophets as they pointed Israel’s faith toward the future in the imagery of the past and present, God had also said through his design of the events of the history of Adam, Noah, Abraham and the patriarchs, Moses, Israel and David.” (pg. 226) Johnson shows how not just from the Old to the New, but often from older revelation to newer revelation in the Old Testament itself, God makes use of foreshadowings and types. The prophets use the imagery of the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings as they pronounce judgment or promise future blessing for Israel. Johnson’s emphasis on how the Old Testament uses the Old Testament is extremely helpful and not something I’ve encountered before in the whole discussion of the NT use of the OT.
With this background, Johnson can argue,
Because of the occasional character of the New Testament, however, we should not conclude prematurely that Old Testament texts that are not explicitly interpreted typologically by a New Testament writer cannot be read in the context of Christ’s climactic work as Lord and Servant of the covenant, and as prophet, priest and king. Rather, we must seek to relate particular texts to the broader structures and institutions that provide the framework for God’s relation to his people throughout the history of redemption. (pg. 279)
Such an approach, Johnson admits, “requires a more comprehensive hermeneutic perspective.” He proceeds to provide just such a perspective. He argues that Christ’s role as the Mediator, and his threefold offices, Prophet, Priest and King, provide overarching themes by which to find Christ in the Old Testament revelation. He shows how to preach the promises in the Old Testament, and how to then preach the Promise Keeper in how we handle the New Testament. Showing how the NT passages interpret and fill up the OT provides a unified view of God’s redemptive work which truly ministers to the believing soul.
This work doesn’t stop with theory and theology. Johnson provides numerous discussions of texts in the book, working through the passages step by step. After exegetical discussion, he provides simple outline with application points for the passage at hand. He then offers an appendix with two sample sermons that are more filled out. After reading all the sermon outlines, and seeing how the theory comes to life, one will certainly be impatient to try out this method of preaching for himself.
I can’t think of another similar book that rivals Him We Proclaim. If you are looking for a book to help revolutionize your preaching, or something to challenge your perspective of the Old Testament, look no further. For anyone interested in theology or aiming for a better understanding of how all of Scripture fits together, this book will be exceedingly helpful. I’m proud to be able to recommend such a great resource as this.
Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.
This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Westminster Bookstore, Amazon.com, or direct from P & R Publishing.
For the next few days, I’ll be posting excerpts from Nancy Guthrie’s Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter (Crossway). Join me as I aim to contemplate the cross this passion week.
Today’s meditation is by Tim Keller, from chapter 7 “Knowing the Power of His Resurrection” (pg. 135-136 of Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, edited by Nancy Guthrie).
…for me to know the power of [Christ’s] resurrection is to have the same power that came into Jesus and raised him up to come into my dead soul and raise me up. This is not about relationship but about supernatural character growth. When Paul says, “I want to know him,” it means, “I want to be with him,” but when he says, “I want to know the power of his resurrection,” it means, “I want to be just like him.”
Look at the deadness in your life. Look at the anger. How is that going to be turned into forgiveness? Look at the insecurity. How is that going to be turned into confidence? Look at the self-centeredness. How is that going to be turned into compassion and generosity? How? The answer is that the dead stuff gets taken over by the Spirit of God.
Many people believe the propositions. They believe the historical facts about Jesus, but their real agenda is personal success. So they go to Christ when they want to and need to. Paul says that a Christian is someone who has turned that all around so that personal success is defined by knowing him and the power of his resurrection, and everything else becomes second.
The minute you decide to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, the power of the Holy Spirit comes into your life. It’s the power of the resurrection–the same thing that raised Jesus from the dead.
… The more you know him, the more you grow into the power of the resurrection. The more time you spend with him, seek him, read his Word, the more you pray–the more it stirs up the resurrection power that is within you through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus has risen indeed! That He has points to Jesus as owning the greatest power in the universe–that which can conquer sin & Satan, Death & the grave. That same power is in us who believe! What a wonder indeed. If you know Christ this Easter morning, He is alive inside you. Let Him rule, let His power change you and mold you into the person He wants you to be. May we live for Christ rather than let Him live for us–now, this Easter, and always.
For the next few days, I’ll be posting excerpts from Nancy Guthrie’s Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter (Crossway). Join me as I aim to contemplate the cross this passion week.
Today’s meditation is by Jonathan Edwards, from chapter 7 “A Sweet Smelling Savor to God” (pg. 112-113 of Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, edited by Nancy Guthrie).
When we consider Christ’s death only as an expiation for sin, we have no consideration at all of the excellency of the act but only its equivalency to the punishment that we had deserved. But if we consider that holiness and loveliness of it in the sight of God as his voluntary act, so it doth not merely expiate our guilt but merits an infinitely glorious reward.
‘Tis thus especially that the sacrifice Christ offered is said to be a sweet-smelling savor to God. ‘Tis as there was a righteousness in it. It was as Christ in offering up this sacrifice offered up to God a heart full of divine and holy love and respect to God’s authority and command. He expresses such a love by his voluntary bearing or going through those sufferings.
This made Christ’s sacrifice not only satisfactory to appease his anger, but it was a sweet-smelling savor to merit his favor. Ephesians 5:2 says, “Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor.” By this especially it was that God was well pleased with his Son. He was not only well pleased with our surety so far that his anger was appeased, but so that he infinitely delighted in him for his righteousness’ sake. Isaiah 42:21 says, “The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness….”
… Though Christ be fully rewarded, yet there is merit for us because believers have the benefit of Christ’s merits as being in Christ and so partaking with him…. This is part of the reward that he sought and merited–that believers should be glorified with him. This he greatly set his heart on and earnestly sought this. Itwas the joy that was set before him. And this now he greatly rejoices in. Herein consists the success of his undertaking. Christ has merited success. Herein he triumphs over Satan. Herein consists much of the glory of his kingdom of grace in bringing home souls to God and to eternal glory….
Glory be to Christ for letting us lowly sinners partake in His glorious reward. His sacrifice removed the wrath of God from us, and it also secured the infinite favor of God for us. Blessed be the Name of our Great Savior, Jesus Christ!
For the next few days, I’ll be posting excerpts from Nancy Guthrie’s Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter (Crossway). Join me as I aim to contemplate the cross this passion week.
Today’s meditation is by John Calvin, from chapter 17 “Blood and Water” (pg. 103-104 of Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, edited by Nancy Guthrie).
“Not one of his bones will be broken.” This quotation is taken from Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12, where Moses refers to the paschal lamb. John takes it for granted that that lamb was a figure of the true and only sacrifice through which the church was to be redeemed. This is consistent with the fact that it was sacrificed as the memorial of a redemption which had been already made. As God intended it to celebrate the former favor, he also intended that it should show the spiritual deliverance of the church, which was still in the future. So Paul without any hesitation applies to Christ the rule which Moses lays down about eating the lamb: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
From this analogy, or similarity, faith derives great benefit, since in all the ceremonies of the law it views the salvation which has been displayed in Christ. This is the purpose of the evangelist John when he says that Christ was not only the pledge of our redemption but also its price in that we see accomplished in him what was formerly seen by the ancient people under the figure of the Passover. In this way the Jews are also reminded that they ought to seek in Christ the substance of everything that the law prefigured but did not actually accomplish.
Christ truly is our Passover Lamb. A deliverance greater than that of the Jews from the bondage of Egypt (and the fury of the Death Angel) was effected by His death. Christ is without blemish, and his bones were not broken. He was brutally sacrificed for us, in our place. May His sacrifice for our sins grip us to the extent that like a Jewish home in Goshen, Jesus’ blood would adorn the door posts of our hearts. May we glory in nothing else but His Cross.