Think about the last argument or disagreement you had. The other person made a comment that evoked pain in you, and you responded with… what?

In the book of Proverbs, God is training his sons and daughters to live wisely and skillfully in everyday situations. It’s an eminently practical book; a mine full of treasures! In 15.1—picking up the theme of anger from 14.35—we are told this: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

By the way, if you’re like me, you have to read a Proverb at least four times slowly before it really starts to sink in. Try it and see what a difference it makes.

It takes a lot of discipline to give soft answers in the midst of an irritating or angry confrontation. It’s so much easier and self-pleasing to yield to your temper, to resort to childish sarcasm, to get defensive, and to start throwing around “hard” words.

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Redemption. It’s a difficult word to fully define. The Bible speaks of it in so many different ways: the dead are brought to life… the lost are regained… the ruined are restored… the sick are made well… the broken are repaired… the enslaved are set free… the guilty are completely forgiven… wrong is made right again… evil is finally and utterly conquered… and the deepest yearnings of the human heart (which is made to image God and be in right relationship with God) are at last satisfied by the restoration of goodness and righteousness.

Yet even that doesn’t begin to do the word justice. This is why the Bible is so full of pictures and metaphors that are always pointing us toward the fullness of redemption’s meaning, trying to help us grasp the idea more and more deeply. And it’s a wonderful exercise just to let your imagination run free when reading the Scriptures that paint those pictures and develop those metaphors for us. You’ll find that redemption is indeed the very thing for which the human heart is longing. For humanity was formed by God as a good thing, deformed by sin, and is now in desperate need of being reformed in Christ (that is, “redeemed").

So over and over, throughout the Bible, God promised his people a Redeemer. “‘And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,’ declares the Lord” (Isaiah 59.20). And when Jesus was finally born, the prophet Zechariah sang, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1.68)!

Redemption (that unspeakably heroic event whereby we are “purchased back” from the bondage to sin by the “payment” of Christ’s death on our behalf) is now open to all! Isn’t this what you’re wanting? In Christ, God has kicked the door off its hinges and is calling and compelling you to come into his house and feast with him! See Luke 14.12-24. It’s a feast of redemption, and you must taste it to see how good it is.

Have you ever thought about how much food there is in the Bible? The story opens in a garden paradise where special attention is brought to the fruit hanging off the trees. The story ends at a wedding feast. And in between, there’s a lot of talk about food.

The Old Testament liturgical calendar had something like 90 feast days built into it every year (compared to but one fast day). Sharing a meal with the saints of God, in the holy presence of God, is something that is woven into the very fabric of godly living, both before and after the coming of Christ. The prophet Isaiah describes redemption itself in terms that would make a South Beach Dieter blush: “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (25.6). There’s much more that could be said on this topic as well, but just note that it’s certainly no accident that when God appeared in the flesh he came “eating and drinking,” and his enemies thought they could get away with naming him “a glutton and a drunkard” (Luke 7.34).

So it’s no wonder God’s people have a hard time calling something “fellowship” unless there’s a casserole involved somewhere along the way. Whether it’s a church picnic (pictured above), the refreshments we enjoy every Lord’s Day, the monthly Shepherding Group meetings, the bimonthly Fellowship Meals, the drinks and snacks that surround every event (be it for the men, the women, or the children), or the Lord’s Supper itself, we are always learning how to love Christ and one another better over food. This is but one more delightful way that God has designed the blessed community of the church. “I am unwilling to send them away hungry” (Jesus - Matthew 15.32). “He has filled the hungry with good things” (Mary - Luke 1.53).

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “No doubt all history in the last resort must be held by Christians to be a story with a divine plot.” This is exactly right. Unlike so many other religions, Christianity has a deep respect for the facts and the story of history. A great deal of the Bible is historical narrative, and the whole story the Bible tells demands to be set within that context. The truths of history are absolutely crucial to the Christian message, for if God did not enter into human history in a unique way through Jesus of Nazareth then the Christian faith is nonsense.

The New Testament writers are quite clear about this. Consider how Luke describes the birth of Jesus. The whole event takes place “in the days of Herod, king of Judea,” “when Quirinius was governor of Syria,” etc. And then everything that follows is presented as a record of carefully studied historical fact. (See Luke’s introduction in 1.1-4 of his book.)

But Luke’s account of the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ was not the end of the story. He then picked up the continuing story of Jesus in the book of Acts, which tells the story of the Christian church. After a similar introduction, again insisting on the importance of historical truth and accuracy (Acts 1.1-3), Luke launches into an amazing account of the progress of the gospel, as Jesus’ disciples take the good news of what Jesus accomplished from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, into Samaria, and ultimately to the whole Mediterranean world.

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One of the most beautiful verses in the Bible is found in Revelation 22.3. “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.” This is around the middle of John’s description of the new heaven and the new earth. The battle is over. The smoke has cleared. Evil is finally defeated, and we now stand on the edge of the rest of eternity, feasting our eyes on the complete and utter fulfillment of all of God’s promises.

“No longer will there be anything accursed.” Just think about that. No more tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more crying or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21.4). This is what God has been promising since mankind waded into an ocean of sin in Genesis 3. On that day we proudly said, “Not your way God, but my way!” And ever since then there’s been a curse in this world. In every aspect of our experience, there is something that is against us. Isn’t that true in your experience? But God’s promise has always been that one day creation will be renewed. It will not remain under that curse forever. Evil will not be allowed to linger here in God’s world.

Romans 8 tells us that the creation itself has been groaning for this day when it will be restored and renewed. Always remember that this is the bigger picture of what Christianity is all about. It’s not just about the saving of individual souls (though individual souls are most certainly included!). But it’s also about nothing less than the renewal of everything. Every thing. All of God’s creation. That’s the promise and that’s what Jesus is doing—rolling back the curse and renewing creation.

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