These ideas came to my mind during the praise and worship meeting at The Salvation Army Berry Street this morning. I shared them with the believers gathered there.
The one word that most describes the difference between the Old and New Testaments: Intimacy!
* Intimacy between God and individuals because of the blood of Jesus — “God with us;” “Christ in you the hope of glory.”
* Intimacy between individuals. “He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.” “Love one another.”
Biblical Christianity is not a doctrine, a creed, a teaching, a belief system. It is intimacy — the act of being intimate with God and man.
This intimacy was lost in the Garden of Eden. Mankind was separated (alienated) from God and the way back into the Garden was blocked. Mankind’s approach to God became regulated, distant, formal, religious. Mankind was also separated (alienated) from one another.
Yet Christ, through His death and resurrection, restored the intimacy. Therefore I propose a new name (a more emergent and organic name) for Christianity:
