Understanding Our Unfamiliar Bible

If you’ve ever read the New Testament, odds are you came across a saying of Jesus that sounded something like this, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is here!” or “Jesus went through all the cities and towns proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom.” So those sound nice, but what does the Kingdom of God look like? And why is it good news?

Well, on the first pages of the Bible, God created humans to represent His reign on earth. But unfortunately, humans don’t want to represent God’s rule, but they want to rule without God.

But the Israelite prophets believed that one day, there will be good news. Good news of a king who will reestablish God’s Kingdom over all the earth. And Jesus believed He was that King who was bringing God’s Kingdom right now.

Chapters:

00:00-03:53 - Introduction

03:53-17:26 - The Linchpin: Jesus

17:26-29:07 - Now, Not Yet

29:07-42:30 - New Creation

42:30-43:40 - Outro

“Gospel” is the word that’s typically used to summarize the Christian belief. It’s most often connected to phrases like, “Jesus paid the price for your sins” and stuff like that. And if you grew up in church, you’ve probably been told once or twice that the word “gospel” means good news.

And good news, that’s correct. And Jesus often talked about “good news.” Like when He did things like this, “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.”

So, what’s this good news of some Kingdom? Well, to fully find out, we have to take a step back and look at the Hebrew Scriptures Jesus grew up on.

Chapters:

00:00-02:19 - Introduction

02:19-21:36 - Good News, Read All About It!

21:36-32:47 - God Wants to Share His Kingdom

32:47-40:11 - The Crucifixion is the Good News

40:11-48:34 - The Good News Looks Like Foolishness

48:34-49:45 - Outro

Love is a really weird word. I love my wife; I love my mom, and I love my friends. But I also love candy, ice cream and backpacking. And if I love my mom as much as I love ice cream, she's probably going to be pretty upset.

So, the Bible claims that the most important thing in the entire universe is love. And if I base my life off of Jesus and what He says is true and untrue, well then, I better figure out what the heck this word love means!

Chapters:

00:00-02:01 - Introduction

02:01-25:50 - A Faithful, Steadfast Kind of Love

25:50-34:43 - Love Keeps Records of Rights

34:43-50:50 - Love Through Action

50:50-01:04:09 - An Eternal Family of Love

01:04:09-01:05:24 - Outro

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and He said it was good. And He also made mankind and placed him in the Garden of Eden. Mankind's job, to be God’s image - to carry on God’s creative force and to rule the world, expanding the garden. All of this goodness, but there's still something missing.

So, God made the man, a helper. And that’s great, everyone needs help. But these two partners are tricked into breaking their unity, and they no longer help each other. Rather, they seek to rule over one another.

So, was Eve really just a helper for Adam? Or was Eve someone with much more authority and a way bigger role?

The New Testament gospel accounts portray Jesus as a new kind of human. A new Adam as Paul the apostle calls it. And this new Adam doesn't give into evil like the

Jesus shows that to be truly human means not trying to rule out of manipulation, violence or threats. Rather, He overcomes the serpent in the wilderness, and then He moves out to launch God's kingdom here on earth, just as it is in heaven.

And it’s in the title, “The Son of Man” that Jesus shows all of humanity what it means to truly be Human. And what it looks like for God’s Kingdom to start invading earth.

Chapters:

00:00-02:00 - Introduction

02:00-14:41 - Jesus is the DMV

14:41-26:59 - Jesus is the Lord Over Seventh Day Rest

26:59-37:49 - The Son of Man Drinks the Cup

37:49-44:16 - The Cup is how Humanity is Glorified

44:16-59:27 - Ashamed of the Kingdom?

59:27-01:00:00 - Outro

We've been looking at the most common title that Jesus called Himself, the Son of Man. And if you’ve ever read the Bible, you’ll quickly notice that this is not what His followers called Him.  

The title, "Son of Man" title comes from this crazy dream in Daniel chapter 7. It’s in this dream that we get a glimpse of hope, that one day God will exalt a human, a Son of Man, to rule the world from a divine throne. And it’s that human who will bring God's kingdom and establish its rightful rule upon this world of beastly violence.

And Jesus sees Himself as that person.

Chapters:

00:00-02:20 - Introduction

02:20-17:24 - The New Humanity and Israel

17:24-26:08 - Jesus Rules as God’s Divine Image

26:08-36:27 - Sons of Elohim or Sons of Adam?

36:27-47:12 - The Son of Man Becomes a Son of God

47:12-48:42 - Outro

The Bible has a lot of really strange stories. And the story of King Nebuchadnezzar growing feathers, claws, and being forced to eat grass like an animal is defiantly one of those stories. But maybe Nebuchadnezzar’s animal-like exterior is supposed to give us insight on what he's already been acting like in the story?

And it’s this strange story that leads straight into Daniel chapter 7. Where we see someone called the Son of Man, riding up on a cloud to sit at God's right hand. And it’s this character that Jesus saw Himself fulfilling. Jesus was the human that all the Hebrew Scriptures pointed to.

Chapters:

00:00-02:21 - Introduction

02:21-18:50 - Daniel 7 Recap

18:50-26:51 - Jesus, Divine and Human

26:51-42:12 - Code to Decipher or a Hope to Live in?

42:12-52:49 - United Under Suffering

52:49-54:18 - Outro

Jesus almost never called Himself the Messiah, and when someone else called Him that, He almost always changed the subject. The name Jesus preferred was, “The Son of

In this dream, the Son of Man, literally meaning a human, rides up on a cloud and then sits on a divine throne next to God Himself, and together they rule the world. And it’s this prophetic hope that Jesus saw Himself fulfilling.

The hope that there will be a human who won’t give into the serpent’s tricks and will be a human who truly rules as an Image of God.

Chapters:

00:00-03:40 - Introduction

03:40-13:15 - Everyone is a Son of Man?

13:15-28:20 - Who We’ve Been Waiting For

28:20-34:20 - Nations Bow to the Son of Man

34:20-42:35 - The Suffering Son of Man

42:35-54:54 - All Roads Lead to Seven

54:54-56:24 - Outro

The title, Son of Man was Jesus’ favorite way to talk about Himself. But what does that phrase mean? Well, the Son of Man is a phrase that literally means a human. And the son of man is an phrase that shows up on the first pages of the Bible.

God makes a beautiful world for all His creatures to live in. And the very last creature God made, He wanted them to rule at His right hand. Humanity. And God calls humanity the image of God. Sadly, rather than ruling the animals on God’s behalf, humans end up being ruled by the animals. Specifically, that old serpent in the Garden.

And as the story continues, we see every person giving into their inner animal. But every once in a while, we’ll meet someone like Moses. And He doesn’t give in so easily.

Chapters:

0:00-2:43 - Introduction

2:43-9:47 - The Inner Animal

9:47-22:46 - Seed of the Serpent

22:46-38:33 - Animals Rule Genesis, Not Exodus

38:33-52:00 - Land Animals or Sea Dragons

52:00-59:55 - Humans, Animals, Empires, Dragons… Recap Please

59:55-1:01:19 - Outro

The book of Daniel has some great stories that are really inspiring and easy to follow. But then there’s some stories where Daniel sees mutant animals crawling out of the sea and meteors crushing giant statues. Oh, and let’s not forget that story about the Son of Man flying up to God’s throne on a cloud.

So, what’s the deal with this Son of Man and what does any of that mean? Well, to see Daniel’s visions clearly, we need to go back to the very beginning. In the Bible, the Garden of Eden was the ideal setting. A place where God, humanity and animals can live peacefully, all together. But God doesn’t want to just live with the humans, God wants humans to rule with Him.

So, if humanity is supposed to rule the animals, what exactly does that mean? What should humans’ and animals’ relationship really look like? And how does this

Chapters:

00:00-02:10 - Introduction 

02:12-21:12 - Vegetarian Pacifist: The Eden Ideal

21:12-29:12 - Divine Deputies

29:12-37:58 - Lower Than Angels or Lower Than God?

37:58-42:04 - God’s Wants to Share His Identity

42:04-43:29 - Outro