Cross Tool and More

The Cross Tool

The last Bible study tool I want to teach you is one that works well to tie all of scripture together. The concept is pretty self explanatory in that we know that all of scripture is already tied together by God. Therefore, all we have to do in order to use this tool is see the patterns that emerge throughout scripture that point us back to God as the author. From Gen. 3 on which is directly following the fall of man, we see the arch of scripture following a distinct pattern, Creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Another version is God, Man, Christ, Response. What we see in this is that the Bible continually points us back to these topics and they center around the Gospel. Therefore, our study of the Bible should also center on the Gospel. From OT to NT our focus should be to answer this question, “How does this passage connect to the cross of Jesus Christ (as well as his incarnation, faithful life of obedience, resurrection, and future reign)?” Jon Nielson.

In order to think through this we need to see some of the things to look out for in order to discern how the passage you are studying relates to the Gospel

Types

This one you should be able to recognize pretty easily. God loves His people and because He does God gives them examples of the coming savior or of who Jesus was throughout the OT and NT. We see that men like Samuel both lead God’s people spiritually and teach the people about God, pointing to the fact that Jesus will be a spiritual teacher namely a priest and a spiritual leader. We see David as a prophet and king. Speaking for God at times but also leading the people in a royal manner. This points us to the fact that the Savior will be one who speaks for God but also is a king in the line of David. In the NT we see Paul lead spiritually, give sacrificially, teach spiritually, and go where God sends him. We know that that is exactly what Jesus was about as well. These types of Christ are throughout scripture and all we have to do is ask the question,

In what way does this person act like Christ?

Patterns

In a similar way we can see patterns in the accounts that point to the Cross. We can see good verses evil (Think David vs. Goliath, Elijah vs. Ahab and Jezebel, or Peter and the disciples vs. the Sanhedrin after Jesus’ ascension. We can see also see God raising up or sending a savior at just the right time (Think of any of the judges, most of the prophets, and men like Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy etc. These patterns point us to the cross therefore we should ask our self the question:

Is there a picture of the Gospel in the scripture that points to a Gospel truth?

Rebellion

Rebellion always points us to the need for the savior. Be it Noah’s drunkenness directly after the ark, Jonah’s rebellion, even Peter’s decision to not eat with the Gentiles after a few more Jews showed up, these all point back to our need for a savior. Our question here is:

Where do I see the need for the Gospel?

Prophecy/Promise

Sometimes God doesn’t hide His truths from us but instead they are out there for all the world to see. We get to see what the Messiah will do to defeat the enemy in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”” We get to see a picture of who the Messiah will be in Isaiah 53:11 “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.” We even get places the Messiah will be in Micah 5:2 ““But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”” And then we get the real Messiah throughout the NT. Therefore our question should be

Does this passage point to who Christ will be or who Christ is?

Ok so with the cross tool in our toolbelt along with the several other tools we have put there now is a good time to look at scripture and see what we can glean from it. I am going to give you a brief synopsis of the other tools we have learned so that we can attempt to use them.

Courtroom Tool

Jon Nielson "Understanding God’s Word” Definition of this tool: “As we study the Bible and apply it to our lives, our goal is to say neither more nor less than what the Bible itself says.”

How does the scripture speak “Nothing but the Truth?”

How does the scripture speak “The whole Truth”

How might the scripture be added to in order to fit a modern interpretation?

Context Tool

Jon Nielson Context Questions:

Answer the question of what kind of writing is it? Historical, Literary, Canonical.

When was this book written?

Who was the original audience of this text?

What was the political and cultural situation at the time of the writing?

What was different for God’s people then—and what is still the same for us today?

Crux Tool

The crux tool begins by looking for a purpose statement. A concise declaration of why something exists, its core reason for being, its impact, and its guiding principles.

It answers the Why: The fundamental reason for existence of the passage, the bigger picture or why it is placed here in the Bible as a whole.

It looks for the Who: The audience or people the passage is about or to.

It seeks out the How/Impact: The positive effect or value created.

It provides the Action: Inspires and directs behavior and goals.

Precepts Interpretation Tool

Observe the Text:

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

Create lists

Interpret the text

Who wrote it? Who said it? Who are the major characters? Who are the people mentioned? To whom is the author speaking? About whom is the author speaking?

What are the main events? What are the major ideas? What are the major teachings? What are these people like? What does he talk about most? What is his purpose for saying that?

When was it written? When did this event take place? When will it happen? When did he say it? When did he do it?

Where was this done? Where was this said? Where will it happen?

Why was there a need for this to be written? Why was this mentioned? Why was so much or so little space devoted to this particular event or teaching? Why was this reference mentioned? Why should they do such and such?

How is it done? How did it happen? How is this truth illustrated?

Apply the text

How does knowing these truths affect me personally, or help me to better know God?

Using the tools

It’s time to put these tools to work. Let’s see what we can glean from the following passages.

Joshua 5:13-15

Judges 2:6-15

1 Kings 10:1-13

Luke 15:11-31

Colossians 1:15-18