He Lived Forever: Scripture and Prayer
The place of scripture in the life of Christ follows naturally after prayer.
Zach’s commentary: this word from Pastor Conant seems so obvious and yet stabs at something in me. I want to reject, “no scripture is paramount and comes as primary in the life of the believer.” I am a child of reformed theology and know that the five solas begin with Sola Scriptura. Reformed theology is founded on the Renaissance and Enlightenment movements and is based highly on thought and man’s ability to reason. Additionally, it combatted the belief that church leaders had just as much authority as scripture. Whatever the reason, something inside me irks at prayer placed over scripture most likely because I hold knowledge of the contents of scripture as higher priority than spending time with God in prayer. A sad state of my soul that I should think the most important piece of ministry is my interpretation and knowledge of the bible rather than bringing people to God in prayer.
In Acts 6 when the Apostles appoint the first deacons it is so that they can give themselves to prayer and scripture. You cannot have a real prayer life without a Scripture foundation, and you cannot have a real Scripture life without prayer.
Jesus Christ had to learn the scriptures. They were not infused into Him suddenly. Luke 2:52 says that Jesus increased in Wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. His earthly parents were godly people, Mary’s prayer in Luke 1 is filled with scripture, their home must have been saturated with the word. By the time Jesus was 12 years old, he knew the scriptures well enough to speak with the main teachers in the temple. Yet, Jesus did not grow up in an easy home. John 7 tells us that his own brothers did not believe him. This fulfills Psalm 69:8 “I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.”
The Holy Spirit fills a role of bringing Scripture to our minds at times that we need it. But He can only bring to remembrance what we first put into our memory. The word must be stored in our minds before we can use it. Both the Old and the New Testament depend on Christ in the life of the believer. The Old Testament bears the seal of Jesus who taught that the word of God cannot be broken, and his words will not pass away. Christ is enough for me for the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit is enough for me for the New Testament.
We could doubt the miracles of the Old Testament but Jesus believed in them, and he tied the doctrines of the New Testament to them. The brazen serpent in Numbers 21—Christ applied it to salvation in John 3. Jonah in the fish—Christ applied it to His resurrection. Manna in the wilderness—Christ applied it to feeding on Himself. Noah and the ark—Christ applied it to His return. If these miracles are not true, then salvation, resurrection, and Christ’s return are not true either. They stand or fall together. The greatest miracle has happened in your life—your salvation—all these others are lesser miracles.
Zach’s commentary: I love this word. The greatest miracle we could ever see is the same miracle that each of us who are in Christ Jesus have experienced. No work of God is greater than the miracle that brings a sinner to repentance, washes clean his sin in the blood of Jesus, and resurrects his soul unto eternal life so that they are a member of God’s holy people forever. Scripture is so important because it tells us of our own salvation, how it has been purchased in Christ, and how it is now being worked out in our sanctification. Abraham Kuruvilla teaches a Christ-Iconic view of scripture. Jesus fulfills every requirement of each passage of scripture and we are invited to live into our salvation in Him by allowing him to work in us and grow the same obedience that he has exemplified and won for us.
