Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation

by Collin Hansen

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden, a much tougher garden, and whose obedience is imputed to us. Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for our acquittal. Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go into the void, not knowing whither he went. Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us all. What God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son—your only son whom you love—from me,” now we, at the foot of the cross, can say to God, “Now we know that you love me because you did not withhold your Son—your only Son whom you love—from me.” Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserve so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace that wake us up and discipline us. Jesus is the true and better Joseph who sits at the right hand of the King and forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his power to save them. Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people in the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.