Dr Paul Allen

With the possible exception of John 3:16, no verse in the Bible is more crucial and definitive than Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heal." As Alec Motyer writes, "The whole of Scripture is not packed into every scripture, but we may allowably expect every scripture to prepare and make room for the whole. This is what happens in Genesis 3:15" (Look to the Rock, IVP, p. 34). Several important issues emerge all at once: First, it establishes a principle that runs throughout the Old Testament, creating an expectation of a Redeemer who would be a descendent (a "seed") of Adam and Eve. Prematurely and horribly wrong, Eve thus thought her firstborn son, Cain, was its fulfillment (Gen. 4:1). Equally, in a deliberate echo of this line of thought God’s covenant with the patriarch Abraham sounds the note of a "seed" that ring...

These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies”  (Ex. 6:26). Here we have a genealogy that ends in the two great patriarchs, Moses and Aaron. It is put here to validate their lineage, to show that they were Israelites—bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh—whom they were sent to deliver, and were raised up from among their brethren. Just as Jesus Christ was to be prophet and priest, the Redeemer and Lawgiver of the people of Israel, so were Moses and Aaron, as prophet and priest respectively. There are a few peculiarities in this genealogy. One is that only Reuben and Simeon are mentioned along with Levi, the tribe of Moses and Aaron. Some scholars believe that these two were mentioned by Moses because they were left under marks of infamy by their dying father: Reuben for his incest and Simeon (along with Levi) for the murder of the Shechemites. Therefore, Moses wanted to honor t...

 Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). Wikipedia ) The New Testament—both the Gospels and Paul’s letters—clearly states that Jesus Christ is both divine and human. Soon the early Church would be drawn into a fierce and profound debate about the nature of Christ ’s personhood. Near the end of the first century the Docetists, who (as did the Greeks) identified sin with corporeality, taught that Christ only apparently assumed the human body. They further held that Christ’s earthly life, including his suffering and death, was almost an illusion.  The Ebionites, on the other hand, denied Christ’s divinity, claiming instead that Jesus was merely a human being who was invested with divine power at his baptism (Matt. 3:16–17). Thus, the early Church was faced with two opposing viewpoints which it was responsible to address. The debate intensified when Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria (fourth century A.D.),...

Christ Carrying the Cross (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God , and there is none else." ( Isaiah 45:22 ) Ever since sin entered into God's created world, His message to all people of all ages has been the same.  At the time of the curse, God prophesied that there soon would be a coming Redeemer --the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent, although the Redeemer Himself would be made to suffer in order to do away with the effects of sin ( Genesis 3:15 ).  "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" ( Leviticus 17:11 ). God repeatedly warned the people of His hatred of sin and wickedness (see, for example,  Psalm 5:4-6 ;  Proverbs 6:16-19 ), but He recognized that humankind was totally incapable of measuring up to His standar...

English: Jesus Christ - detail from Deesis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore you are My witnesses ,” says the LORD , “that I am God” (Isa. 43:12). This passage exhibits the kind of intolerance so despised in today's culture. It says there is only way to be saved: through faith in the one true God (and, in the course of this prophecy’s fulfillment, in Jesus Christ ). All other paths are to be shunned as worthless and trivial, for Jehovah alone is the Creator of all things, and He alone is the Savior of His people. Not all paths bring us to the same destination. Not all paths lead to God. The testimonies of all men are not equally valid. And all opinions are not necessarily true. There is one God, the great I AM . There is one Redeemer , Jesus Christ our Lord. And there is one way to be saved, through faith in God’s only Son. God commanded the nations that w...

Image via Wikipedia "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise , Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." ( Ephesians 1:13-14 )   From very ancient times it has been the custom to confirm and guarantee an agreed-on purchase by sealing the contract with a seal which could only be broken by the buyer when he was ready to take possession of his purchase.   The marvelous transaction seen by John at God 's throne in heaven was in reference to this practice. There, only the Lamb is found worthy to open the seven-sealed scroll on which is recorded the title to the whole creation.  Image via Wikipedia "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the |scroll|, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by th...

Image via Wikipedia "Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!" ( Job 19:23-24 )   In the midst of terrible calamities and sufferings, righteous Job expressed a heartfelt longing to write down his experiences and meditations, that others might later understand.  This longing no doubt later led him, when the Lord finally restored him to health and prosperity, to do just that.   Job apparently wrote his book, originally, not on some perishable material but, as we see in our text, on tablets of stone with a pen of iron so that his testimony might be permanently available to all future generations.  Indeed, God in His providence has ordained exactly that, by incorporating it in the Bible .   And the essence of Job's testimony is surely one of the most wonderful statements of faith ever penned, all the more remarkable in view of Job's circumstances when he utte...