Scripture’s  Golden Thread

By Bob Blinco

Some students of Scripture have never seen what you are about to see because they have simply studied small pieces of it. They have not stood back to appreciate the entire picture. Let us scan the Scriptures from start to finish, to follow a hundred trickling sources and discover the river into which they all pour. I want to follow the Golden Thread that wends its way across the pages of God’s Word, and then I want to ask you how we ought to believe, how we ought to obey, from now until we die. Let’s begin with the birth of Jesus.

The Golden Thread at Jesus’ Birth

On the night of Jesus’ birth, angels appeared to shepherds. You remember what the angel said (Luke 2:10): “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.” How many of the people? All the people. Now I want you to pick up that thread and follow it to see what happens next. An old man, Simeon, was waiting in the temple for someone to come, because, the Bible says, “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26). And now came the most dramatic day of Simeon’s life. You can imagine the thrill he felt to hold in his hands the great joy there would be for all the peoples. He took up the child Jesus in his arms, and blessed God, and said, “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32). Israel was looking for a glorious Messiah: a Messiah to bless Israel. Yet here, apparently, was something new: a Messiah who would bless the Gentiles. Actually, this insight of Simeon’s was not so new. God’s purpose has always been to bless all the peoples. It is this purpose which is the Golden Thread that runs through every book of the Bible. And when a Bible-believing man or woman sees this purpose and follows it from Genesis to Revelation, then he can rejoice that the blessings of God have come not only to the Israelites, but to us as well... And we can believe that God purposes to bless the “next” people as much as He has blessed us.

Well, what else happened after the birth of Jesus Christ? You remember that men from the East came with gifts. These wise men asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the East, and have come to worship Him.” In those times kings and princes ruled across the East. Every country had its king, every province its royal princes. Yet these wise men sought the King of the Jews. Leading men from the Orient bowed before the Baby born in Bethlehem! It was an astounding phenomenon. It is the purpose of God that all the peoples of the world should worship the heavenly King. It is His purpose to accept all the peoples of the world. The Golden Thread again.

The Golden Thread in the Old Testament

Let’s pick it up and follow it back into the Old Testament... to the book of Daniel. The Golden Thread in the Book of Daniel. You remember Daniel’s three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When they survived the fiery furnace into which Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown, we read in Daniel 3 that Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he asked his advisers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O King.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” So King Nebuchadnezzar set them free, and then made a decree: “To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world: May you prosper greatly! It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation.” (Dan 4:1-3) In those words the king proclaimed the purposes of God. You see, God desires to make His name known among all the peoples on this planet. And the purpose of our church is to make His name known among all the peoples of
the world.

But there is more... One day Daniel was tossed into the lion’s den. Everyone thought he would be killed. But you know what happened to him. The angel of the Lord shut the lion’s mouths. And God delivered Daniel. So Darius the king wrote a proclamation, an announcement, he had something published in the local newspaper of his time “to all the peoples, nations and men of every language throughout the land: May you prosper greatly! I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel for He is a living God and endures forever, His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end.” (Dan. 6:26) You see, now is the time for all the peoples and languages to know the Lord, not just to know about Him, but, as Darius urged, to fear and reverence him. Today is the day that God desires to bring to Himself all the peoples of the world. This unchanging purpose is the Golden Thread which binds the Holy Book into one drama.

The Golden Thread In the Prophets

You remember the vision that God gave Habakkuk: “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). Doesn’t that fire your mind with awe and deep worship? Worthy is the Lord who will sweep across the waters of this world, until His great glory fills the libraries in every land, until the knowledge of the Lord fills the minds of men and women in every place on our planet! That is the Golden Thread that I am talking about. That is the destiny to which the chariot of God is constantly turning. A destiny more desirable than the dreams of humankind, a finish line more hopeful than the utopia of the philosophers. Even as we speak, world history is converging toward this finish line; toward a destiny worthy of the God who so loved the world that He sent His Son to die for it that all who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Well, please pick up this Golden Thread and follow it further back into history. Let’s walk back to the great day of Isaiah the prophet. I shall always remember how hopeful I felt the first time I heard of the coming feast for all the peoples of the planet. Isaiah foretells the splendor of that future feast: “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.” (Is. 25:6-8) How about that feast for all peoples? Where can God rent a banquet hall big enough for such a feast? How many people groups do you suppose live on our good earth? Beneath the map of the world one finds a mosaic of people groups. How many people groups do you think have no church in their culture? Research indicates that perhaps 10,000 people groups have no church in their culture. Suppose you hold in your hands a globe and put your finger on a country. Let’s say Ethiopia. Now suppose you could peel back the map and look right into the country. What could you see? In Ethiopia you would see a marvelous mosaic of languages, nearly eighty in all. Some have a church in their language, others do not. Yet God says that He will make for all peoples a feast of wine and meat. He loves ALL the cultures of the world. Why did He make so many languages, so many ways of life? Because He wants His feast to be rich with diversity. God was once thought to be a God of the Jews. No more. He loves all the peoples of the world. This is the Golden Thread that wends its way across the pages of the Bible. This is the purpose for our church in its life and ministry in the final years of this century.

The Golden Thread in the Psalms

A church could busy itself with small affairs and really miss out on the destiny and ministry which God intended for His people! We who seek to be like Christ must realize more clearly the ministry He modeled. Notice one fabulous fact in the Psalms: God’s people get jubilant when they sing about the worldwide purposes of God. The Golden Thread in the Psalms “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice,” says Psalm 97:1. And Psalm 47 says: Clap your hands, all you nations: Shout to God with cries of joy! How awesome the Lord the Most High, The great King over all the earth! ...God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham. (Ps. 47:1-2, 8-9)

I feel the juices of life pump through my heart each time I hear this truth: “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth!” (Ps. 100:1). Many people have memorized Psalm 46:10, but only the first line. Listen to the whole verse, it will startle you: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Golden Thread that connects the Bible is this joy; that now all the peoples, not only one race or religion, all peoples are accepted by God through Jesus Christ the Lord.

Back when Moses and the people received the law of God, there was a law for all the children of Abraham: “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt” (Ex. 22: 21). In every age, the people who take part in the purposes of the Lord must love their neighbors on account of the love God has shown to us. The rabbis of old recited a song which put this truth into Hebrew poetry: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us; May your ways be known on earth and your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.” (Psalm 67)

Let us go now to the very beginning of the Bible. Do we find this purpose of gathering the peoples of our planet apparent even at the beginning of time?

The Golden Thread in Genesis

Turn back the pages of your Bible to Genesis 12, back to the roots of divine revelation. There the Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen 12:1-3) What is happening in this overture, this starting point of history? God assigned blessing to Abraham so that Abraham would bless other peoples.

Blessed In Order to Bless the Nations

God told Abraham, “I will bless you, so that you will be a blessing”, a blessing to all the families of the earth. That’s the plan of God. That’s God’s purpose for the children of Abraham. And that is God’s assignment for the people of God today. Receive the blessings. Believe the blessings. Share the blessings with the families of the earth ...so that it may spread among them and even extend to other peoples of the earth. Paul wrote to the Romans, “We received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (Rom 1:5). Why did we receive grace? “To call people from among all the Gentiles” Paul ends the book of Romans, “Now to Him who is able to establish you, so that all nations might believe and obey Him” (Rom. 16:27). In Galatians 3:8 we read, “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’” I was stunned to discover anew what the Gospel really is. The Gospel is the Golden Thread that we traced from Abraham on. There is no other Gospel, only one; God accepts all peoples through Jesus Christ.

I must share with you one final, personal verse. Listen and tell me, does this have something in common with the meaning of your life as well? Galatians 3:14 says God redeemed us “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.” I ask you: have you considered recently the meaning of your life, that is, Christ’s meaning for your life (not something you imagined for yourself)? Does this verse not speak to your heart? “Christ redeemed us so that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles.” God summons us today to believe in such a way as to bless the next person and especially to bless the peoples of the world who are not yet blessed.