Reflections for continuing in the guided groups of readings during the Tuesday morning Bible Study to reveal something of the nature and character of the OT God and NT Father - Son - Holy Spirit:
1. The Christ refers to himself as "fulfilled Jew," still within the Chosen People, but carrying out the intent or spirit of the Laws (OT covenant between God and the people) to underline to key message: love your God, love your neighbor as yourself. So the OT lessons about serving and loving God still apply under the New Covenant, but the focus is not maintaining or manipulating Laws, but instead in deed and in heart acting in good faith and from love/charitas.
2. Mere mortals seek to define, delineate, delimit things analytically; but also to establish an emotional response to God. So the distinction of God's various forms and functions is an exercise we are preoccupied with. Yet perhaps for God, there is little sense in making distinctions between the three and one.
3. Looking at the logistical details of the Chosen People multiplying to fill the define boundaries of the Promised Land, there is a kind of organizational logic or efficiency in shifting over the course of the Bible from the portable Tabernacle (God's presence signaled by a pilar of cloud during the day and fire by night), to the permanent installation of the First Temple (Solomon's genius), then fragmentation after the Temple was destroyed by the Romans after the 70 A.D. uprising which led to local "cells" (the synogogue scale of worship), and then the promise of Jesus to reside individually in each person's heart, authorizing each follower to act on behalf of God to do His work.
Jan 19, 2010
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