It's a position that seems use that truth to override any scripture that is time sensitive.
Well, I am again inclined to ask you to look at all of the unstated assumptions existing within your own views.
Technically there are no specifically "time sensitive" scriptures. That is because what God (fore)ordained in eternity never stands in opposition to what happened inside the timeline of creation. You know no two scriptures ever actually contradict one another... and whenever we find such a seeming contradiction it is invariably a function of our reading, our interpretation and
not scripture itself. The same precepts apply to the dichotomy between the eternal and the temporal. We must all take care so as not to create false dichotomies.
I might ask, "When did Jesus empty himself of the claim of equality and take on the role of bondservant? Was it before creation was created or afterwards?" Did the emptying occur prior to or subsequent to his being foreknown as the perfect sacrificial lamb? We know the knowledge of him as the sacrificial "lamb" preceded creation because Peter states that explicitly when he says, "
before the foundation of the world." In other words,
ontologically speaking, Jesus was the sacrificial lamb long before he entered into this world, long before his incarnation. We also know that it is he who gives meaning to the Passover, not the other way around. Passover was instituted as a foreshadowing of the pending sacrificial lamb, the lamb that would come many, many centuries later. Peter states he was foreknown prior to the foundation of the world
but revealed in those last days. In other words, his existence predates creation, but his revelation or revealing occurs "later."
Now, ultimately, all of that is in need of qualification because there is no before, during, and after in eternity. When I ask which comes first, the foreknowing or the emptying, that's a bit of a trick question because God is the eternal
IS, not the eternal will-be (which would be contradictory to the meaning of God. We couldn't even say the foreknowing and the emptying co-occur for the exact same reason. They just are. It was from eternity, in eternity, in extra-temporal eternity that Christ emptied himself, not considering equality with God something to be grasped and taking on the form of a bond-servant.
Our heads will explode if we try to fathom this because in eternity there is no sin. There are no creatures that have become sinful. The sacrificial lamb stuff does exist and doesn't apply temporally speaking because temporal-ness has not then been created; it does not exist. None of it exists until God opens His mouth and say, "Let there be....." and when He does that all that He has in mind to speak into existence is a done deal. The beginning and the end are all already decided, along with everything in between related to the beginning and the end, the purpose of God when He created. Genesis tells us this was done in six days but a "day" is an irrelevant measure to God. For Him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. The "day" Jesus was born is a day that occurred within the six days of creation when all that God made was finished, and all six of those days and the thousands of days and thousands of years that followed are, for God, like a day. There is no "
override" of scripture, especially if that override is construed to mean "
cancel." It is right to have one's caution piqued when someone says one scripture "
overrides" another and they mean "
cancel." There's a problem in the exegesis when that occurs.
....since we live in a bumper sticker slogan world these days.
LOL! I get your meaning and tend to agree but the larger fact is that most Christians are sheep
. Lots of sheep with a comparative few shepherds (
Ephesians 4:11). Some were given to the Church as leaders. Most are not leaders. Furthermore, just because a person is made a shepherd/pastor or a teacher does not mean he or she is always and everywhere a shepherd or teacher. Most of us here in this forum in this thread have led sometime somewhere in the body of Christ but none of you are my shepherd and I am not the shepherd of any of you. Our role as sheep is enduring, whereas our role as apostle, evangelist, prophet, pastor, and or teacher may exist only for a time and only in a certain arena. When I go to worship service on Sunday morning I am a sheep, but I am, nonetheless, more educated, of higher intelligence, and of greater experience than the vast majority of those sitting in the pews around me - and that would include the pastor (although I will readily concede his superior education specific to theology and shepherding a flock of sheep). On the other hand, in my role as a counselor, there have been many, many times when I have pastored the pastors, shepherded the shepherds and done so in a relationship requiring them to trust and submit to my role as God's agent of change in their life. As soon as the counseling relationship is over, or anytime I step outside my office, I'm back to being a sheep
.
So what?
Well.... most of us here in the discussion forum are here because we have a thirst that most of our fellow sheep do not have. We like the discussing of matters theological. We're willing to debate, perhaps even argue, and while most of us do so with a dually existing willingness to both learn and teach, the said fact is there are some here whose only motive is to teach and never learn. They believe they are always correct, and everyone should read and hear, accept and agree, and never question or express any doubt about what has been said. Blessedly, those posters are generally few in any forum. The difficult aspect is they do not come with neon signs glued to the foreheads of their avatars announcing their kind. You are not a "
bumper-sticker" believer. Most here are not. Imagine what a room packed with Mosesses, Davids, Nathans, Elijahs, Jeremiahs, Jonahs, Peters and Pauls (and no sheep) would be like.
So put the bit in your mouth and jump into the fray with zeal! Sit back, breath, and enjoy the ride while you do
.
At any rate, I hope I've answered and addressed the op's inquiries to some benefit.
.
