The Christ of the Old Testament | Part 1

The Old Testament is all because you missed the message. I love the Bible, all of the Bible, and I want us to think about someone that I love as well as something I love, because the something I love is the Word of God, and the someone I love is the Lord Jesus who is revealed in the Word of God. I want to talk to you about the Jesus of the Old Testament. Now turn to Acts chapter 10 and verse 43.

Peter is testifying in the household of Cornelius about the Lord Jesus, and here is a significant thing he says about the Lord Jesus to him. That is, to Jesus, give all the prophets witness. Now when he said all the prophets, he's talking primarily about the Old Testament. The New Testament had not yet been written, and Simon Peter tells this Gentile, this Roman officer, to Jesus, all the Old Testament prophets have given witness. Would you like to be able to understand the Old Testament? Would you like to get into some of the mystery rooms of the Old Testament where there is a master key that unlocks the doors to the mystery rooms of the Old Testament, and that master key is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you will find a Christocentric approach to the Old Testament, it will burst a flame in your hands. As a matter of fact, if you read the Old Testament and you don't find Jesus, you need to go back and reread it because you missed the message. The Old Testament is a hymnbook.

It is about Him, H-I-M. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what we want to do tonight is first of all find some portraits of Jesus in the Old Testament, and then we want to find some prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament. First of all, we're going to think a little bit about some portraits of Jesus in the Old Testament. Here's what Jesus said to those who were challenging Him as to His authenticity and to His Messiahship. Jesus looked them straight in the eye, and He said in John chapter 5 and verse 39, search the Scriptures, for in them ye think that you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me. Now I want to remind you that when Jesus Christ said that, there was no New Testament as we know it.

It was being formed, but it was not yet written. When Jesus said search the Scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life, He was talking about the Old Testament. Now without Jesus, the Old Testament, listen to me, is a book, number one, of unexplained ceremonies. They won't make sense. Number two, it is a book of unfulfilled prophecies, and number three, it is a book of unattainable standards.

Listen to me again. Without Jesus, the Old Testament is a book of unexplained ceremonies. It is a book of unfulfilled prophecies, and it is a book that has an unattainable standard. If you try to live by the Old Testament without the Lord Jesus Christ, friend, you will not make it. Now the Old Testament was completed about 400 years before Jesus Christ was born. The Jews by that time had divided the Old Testament into three categories.

I want you to learn them. First of all, what they call the law, and then the prophets, and then the writings. Now that's the whole Old Testament divided up into these three categories. Now put this verse down, Luke chapter 24. Jesus is on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. There are two forlorn disciples there.

They did not understand all that had happened. Jesus walks alongside of them. They don't recognize Him in His resurrection form, and perhaps He's withheld His appearance to them because He wanted to teach them a lesson. But here's what He says in Luke chapter 22 verse 44, and He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you. Now listen to this, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms. Now I called it the writings. Here He calls it the Psalms. The Jews took the Psalms and all that followed, and they call those the writings. And then the Bible says, Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Now how were they going to understand the Scriptures? Well, they were going to understand the Scriptures by finding in the Scriptures all of the things that pertain to Him. In the law, in the prophets, and in the Psalms or the writings, all of these things that pertain to Him. The law, basically the first five books of the Bible, what we call the Pentateuch, or five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

And then the prophets, you know who the prophets are, and then primarily the writings or the Psalms. Now, the Jews lived under a theocracy and a monarchy. The theocracy is the rule of God.

Theos means God. God ruled, and they didn't have a king. Then they cried out for a king, and God gave them Saul and a succession of kings.

And so they lived under a theocracy, and they lived under a monarchy. Now in the theocracy and the monarchy, there were three types of individuals that were anointed, christened, or Christed, if you will. Christ means the anointed one, the one who's been christened. Now these three that were anointed was the prophet. They anointed a prophet. If a man was going to be a prophet in Israel, he was Christed, he was anointed.

And then there was the priest. If a person was to serve as a priest, he would be anointed. And then there was the king. If a person was to be a king, he was anointed. So who was anointed? The prophet, the priest, and the king. Now you're going to find the Lord Jesus Christ typified by all of the prophets, all of the priests, and all of the kings, because who is Jesus?

He's what? Prophet, priest, and king. All of the Old Testament history.

All of it. It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. Messiah is pictured as prophet and priest and king. And so when we get to the New Testament, we find the fulfillment. For example, in the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we see Jesus as the prophet, preaching the kingdom of God.

In the epistles, you see the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Acts, you see Him as the ascended priest, interceding for the people of God. And in the book of the Revelation, you see Jesus Christ as the coming King, coming to rule and reign. And so you see that all of the Old Testament pictures Jesus as prophet, priest, and king. All of the New Testament shows Jesus as the fulfillment. He is the prophet, priest, and king. And so everywhere in the Old Testament, you will find portraits of Jesus. Now I just want to mention a few of these, and some of them will be an enigma to you.

You won't be able to understand them, but let me just run through them and just think about them for a moment. You're going to find Jesus as the second Adam, because the first Adam prophesied Him. Jesus is a prophet like Moses, because Moses typified Him. Jesus is a priest like Aaron and Melchizedek, because they prefigured Him. Jesus is a champion like Joshua, whose name literally means Jesus. He's the Old Testament counterpart of Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of the offering of Isaac there on Mount Moriah, where Jesus literally died. Jesus is a king like David.

Jesus is a wise counselor like Solomon. Jesus is a beloved, rejected, exalted son and world's bread supplier like Joseph. Jesus is pictured in the Ark of the Covenant. Jesus is the sacrifice upon the brazen altar in the tabernacle in the temple.

Jesus is the mercy seat in the sanctuary where the Shekinah glory of God dwells. Jesus is the water that came from the rock. Jesus is the manna that fell from the skies. Jesus is the brazen serpent lifted up in the wilderness. Jesus is the Passover lamb. Jesus is the scapegoat bearing away the sins of the people. Jesus is the Lion of Judah. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the Lord is my Shepherd. Jesus is that root out of a dry ground, born of a virgin.

Jesus is the fruitful branch. Jesus is that one without form nor comeliness, yet altogether lovely. In all of the Old Testament it is who?

His name is Jesus. I'm telling you folks, the Old Testament without the Lord Jesus Christ would be a dead-end road leading to nowhere. And yet as you look at the Bible and back off and see it, you see really Jesus everywhere. Prophet, priest, and king, type illustration. So you see Jesus in the Old Testament. You see portraits of Jesus in the Old Testament. Now secondly, you're going to see prophecies of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament. Now these who wrote the Old Testament were called prophets. And fulfilled prophecy is one of the great proofs of the deity of Jesus Christ. Now God began to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus with over 300 prophecies concerning Him.

300 in the Old Testament. Now there can be no mistake that Jesus is the Messiah. The law of mathematical probability makes it totally impossible that Jesus is not the Messiah or that anyone else could claim to be the Messiah according to the law of probability.

Now I've used this illustration before but it's so fitting here I must use it now to show you how the law of mathematical probability works. I have a dear son who lives in Spain. My son is a missionary there and he is a true man of God. Joyce and I love our David and his wife Kelly and Jonathan and Stephen Paul with all of our heart. And we love him so much that you ought to see our phone bill. Now suppose I go to call David overseas. Now do you think that I could just pick up the phone and just randomly dial some numbers and expect to get David?

I mean what would be the chance? Some six billion people on the face of the earth, I just pick up a phone and just start punching some numbers and ipso facto there's David who answers the phone. Now let me tell you how this works. First of all, when I pick up the telephone I eliminate everybody on earth that doesn't have a telephone.

Alright, so I've narrowed the field quite a bit. Now I dial O11. You know what I do when I do that? I eliminate everybody that lives in America because that's the overseas number. And then I dial 34. Well when I do that I eliminate all the other nations in the world except Spain. And then I will dial 600.

And when I do that I will eliminate all of the other sections in Spain. And then I begin to dial a series of successive numbers. Each number that I punch will eliminate other people who don't have that number or the next number or the next number or the next number.

And I continue to narrow the focus until finally I push the last number. And a baritone voice answers the phone and says dig up. I mean speak up.

And I say, Bondea. He said, Daddy, yes, I know who it is. I recognize his voice. It is my beloved son. Now, do you think that the law of probability would say that I could just pick up the phone and begin to tap out numbers blindly and my son of six billion people on the face of the earth would pick up the phone? What would be the chances of that happening?

Well the chances are nil. Now let's take that same illustration and see if we can dial up the Son of God. I want you to see how God keeps narrowing the focus to there's only one person who can answer on the other end. Not my son, but God's Son. For example, God said in the Old Testament that Messiah was to come from a race. A Messiah is not to be an angel. He is to be a man.

Messiah is to be a human being. Genesis 3 verse 15. Here's what God said to the serpent. And I will put enmity, that means warfare, between thee and the woman. And between thy seed, the word seed means descendant, between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. This is the first prophecy in all of the Bible. It's found right there in the threshold of the Bible.

And it is called by theologians the proto-evangelium, which means the first evangelistic message. And here a battle is prophesied. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

And we're seeing that battle go on through all history. Not only is a battle prophesied, but a birth is prophesied. Here is the seed. You know, in the Bible the word seed is used more than 100 times. And it always refers to the offspring of a male. But here God speaks concerning the woman, the seed of the woman. The old rabbis used to scratch the heads of this and say, no, no, no, it's the seed of the man.

And yet here in Genesis 3.15 it's called the seed of the woman, a prophecy of the virgin birth. Not only a battle, not only a birth, but a bruising is prophesied. That seed of the serpent is going to bruise his heel, Messiah's heel. But Messiah is going to crush his head.

Isn't that an amazing thing? Right there in the beginning of the Bible you find that Messiah is going to be a human being. He's the seed of the woman. But not only is there going to be a race, we've just picked up the phone and dialed the first number.

Number two, there will be a section out of that race. Because as time went along there was a man named Noah. God put Noah in the ark. Noah came out of the ark and Noah had three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth.

These three came out of the ark. Well, from whom is Messiah going to come? Genesis chapter 9 verse 26, and he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. Messiah is going to be a Shemite or Semite. God chose Shem. And when God chose Shem, listen to me, He then narrowed the focus this much more and eliminated two-thirds of all of the people on the earth.

Messiah will come from Shem. But not only does God choose a seed, and not only does God choose out of that seed a section, but out of that section God chooses a nation. Because about 2,000 years before Jesus was born, God came to a man named Abraham and God said to Abraham, I'm going to make a nation out of you. Now, but this man Abraham had two sons. One named Isaac and one named Ishmael.

Well, which one is going to carry the line? Well, Genesis chapter 17 verse 19, and God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant. And so God takes the descendants of Abraham and God divides them.

And God tightens the focus again. And God says, now Messiah is going to come from a race, from a section of that race, from a nation of that race, and from a particular son in that nation as God chose Isaac. Now God chooses Isaac's son, not Esau, but Jacob.

And when God did that again, He eliminates 50 percent of all of those that are left. God chose Jacob. Numbers 24 verse 17, the prophet said, I see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. And so here is Jacob. He has 12 sons. But God just chooses one of those sons, and that son is Judah.

Listen to me. Genesis 49 verse 10, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And so here God chooses a race. And then God chooses a section of a race. And then God chooses a nation out of that section. And then God chooses a tribe out of that section, the tribe of Judah. But God is not finished yet.

God keeps punching numbers on His heavenly telephone. And now God takes the tribe of Judah, and God chooses a family. What is a family out of the tribe of Judah?

What is that family? Well, that family out of that tribe, out of that nation, out of that section, out of that race is the family of Jesse. Isaiah chapter 11 verses 1 and 2, And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Now the rod, the ruler, the kingdom is going to come from a particular family, the family of Jesse. Messiah is going to be a descendant of the family of Jesse. And all the other families of Judah now are eliminated. And now God's not finished.

God is going to tighten the focus a little more. Not only is Messiah going to come from Jesse, but God says Messiah's going to come from a household of that family, of that tribe, of that nation, of that section, of that race. What is the family? The household is going to be the household of David. 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 6, Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep goats, and from following the sheep, to be a ruler over my people, over Israel. 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 12, And when thy days be fulfilled, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. Yet I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, that is a descendant of David, and I will establish my kingdom.

Now, Jesse had eight sons, and seven-eighths of them were eliminated. God just keeps on narrowing the focus. Messiah is to come from the household of David.

It was not finished yet. We have the house of David. But now there's got to be a certain woman out of the household of David, out of that household, out of that family, out of that tribe, out of that nation, out of that section, out of that race. This woman is to be a virgin. Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14, Behold, the Lord himself shall give you a sign, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Not any daughter of the household of David, but there has to be a virgin who conceives in her womb a child.

Now, are you listening to me? A son is born of that virgin, out of that household, out of that family, out of that tribe, out of that nation, out of that section, out of that race. God's not finished yet. He can't be born anywhere. He's got to be born in Bethlehem. He can't be just an ordinary person. He has to be hated and the soul for 30 pieces of silver betrayed. He has to be crucified by the piercing of His hands and His feet. And He has to be raised from the dead. And when you dial all of these numbers and pick up the phone, who do you have? Jesus, the Son of God.

I'm telling you folks, if you tell me that that all just happened, it's just happenstance, you've got rooms to rent upstairs unfurnished. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important lesson. But maybe today you have questions regarding your faith in Jesus. We'd love to offer you an insightful resource on our website. It's our Find Answers page. There you'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your relationship with God. We also invite you to check out our Grow Your Faith page where you can get grounded and dig deeper in your faith. Simply go to lwf.org slash radio and click on the tab that says, Grow Your Faith. We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD.

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