The person and work of Jesus Christ.
Essay
David argues that Jesus was not tempted as we are, since the involuntary first moment of temptation is already sin for us; with Bavinck, he holds that Christ's temptations came from without, and that he went through every human trial but the guilt of sin.
Reading notes
Notes on Hugh Martin's The Shadow of Calvary: praying for salvation, Christ as intercessor, obedience as a labour of love, dwelling at the cross and praying side by side with Christ, with David's reflections on prayer and on Christ's life given for ours.
Notes on Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics · 4
Notes on Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, pp. 401-563: the old and new covenants, Christ's full humanity, the benefits given through Christ, salvation by grace rather than works, and grace and the human will, with David's reflection on how Jesus was tempted.
Poem
Short rhymed poems for the books of the Old Testament, Genesis to Malachi, grouped as Law, History, Wisdom and Prophets, each followed by a brief commentary on the book's message and how it points to Christ.
Christ gave his life in place of mine yet also lives so that I may live through him. Our saviour must do both for we lack the power to do either.
To grow in Christ is not to add Christ to your life but to collapse into Christ as your life.
Sinners should not only come to the cross but dwell there.
From the cross he fled not, that sinners may have hope to flee too.
One and possibly the only reason that Jesus actively felt anxious when going to the cross is because he knew he would be distant from God. If God is with us (which for his elect he promises to be) then we have no reason to be anxious. The only legitimate reason to fear is to not have God with you. The only reason to be anxious is to know God will leave you in the future.
To kill our enemy, sin, we must not target it in our vision but look away from it. The further we look away the closer our eyes draw toward its opposite Christ.
Repentance and Faith are the roads we use to get to healing which is Christ.
We defeat sin by looking to Christ. Just as a little toy sports car loses its attractiveness when you are invited to drive the real thing so too sin loses its appeal as we allow ourselves to be enchanted time and again with the beauty of Christ.