Christ Before Bethlehem - pt. 2

Introduction

Christ Before Bethlehem - pt.1

I. Christ, the Founder

Before the World, there was Christ (Joh. 8:58; 2Tim. 1:9; Joh. 1:1)

Christ is Elohim (Joh. 1:1; Heb. 1:8)

Christ is Eternal (Joh. 1:2; Mic. 5:2)

Because of Christ, there was the World

Jesus is Creator of All Things (Joh. 1:3; 10; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:2; Eph. 3:9)

Christ is Outside of Time

II. Christ Foreordained

Consider the Ramifications:

Before Creation, was Knowledge:

Of Man; His Choice to Sin; God’s Plan of Redemption - One of Necessity, not Choice; Christ’s Willingness to Pay It

The Bible - OT & NT is all about the story of Jesus

I. Salvation Through Faith in Christ

The Constant Throughout the Bible (Heb. 11)

Many people are under the misconception that people were saved differently in the Old Testament than they were in the New.

The fact of the matter is, from Adam until forever future, the salvation of God has always been by faith in Jesus Christ.

Old Testament saints were justified by faith in the promise of Christ.

New Testament saints are justified by the performance of Christ.

They looked forward to Christ, we look back. But it’s ALWAYS been by Christ.

This is what Hebrews chapter 11 is all about. The writer is trying to get the reader to understand that it has always been by faith.

The key verse is found in Hebrews 11:13 “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

Today, we're going to look at some of the scripture that would have done the persuading. We're going to examine pictures of Christ throughout the Old Testament.

Salvation has Always been by Faith in Christ

II. Christ Foreshadowed

Pictures of Christ

Explicit Connections (pt. 1)

In today's message, I want to give you direct connections from the New Testament to the Old Testament.

These particular connections are tying things from history. They are sometimes people, they are sometimes things, but they all are pictures of Jesus Christ.

The Bible describes these as figures, examples, or shadows, but they all are foreshadowings of Jesus Christ, some aspect of Him or His ministry.

Jacob’s Ladder (Gen. 28:10-22; Joh. 1:51)

(Background) When Jacob had left his father's house and was on his way to find his bride, he dreamed a dream in Genesis 28. (Read)

At the onset of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus would tell Nathaniel: John 1:51 “And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

Jesus is directly referencing Himself as the ladder in Jacob’s dream

This makes Jesus the Bridge Between Two Worlds

The Bridge Between Two Worlds

Consider what Jacob said: Genesis 28:16 “And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.”

What lessons does God teach His people with this?

There is only one bridge between man and God, and His name is Jesus.

Jacob is not climbing the ladder for man cannot ascend up to God. But God has come down to man to bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful men.

Communion, connection, and access to God are exclusively found through Jesus Christ.

Jesus would say: John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Jesus is Jacob's ladder, the bridge between two worlds.

Bread from Heaven (Ex. 16:4; Joh. 6:31-35)

After the children of Israel came forth from the land of Egypt, they were in the wilderness with no food. So God would provide for them: (Read Ex. 16:1-5; 12-18)

After having fed the multitude the day before, Jesus begins to speak spiritual truth unto that crowd, and he says this: (Read Joh. 6:31-35)

Here we see Jesus as the sustenance in the wilderness.

Sustenance in the Wilderness

I don't know about you, but this world is not my home. We're in the jungle, baby.

But I'm glad that God will feed His children even in a barren land!

Consider some of the particulars:

Christ is enough for any man (v18)

Faith He’ll be there is the only way you’ll enjoy Him (v19-20)

He’s Sufficient yet needs be sought daily (v4)

The Rock in the Wilderness (Ex. 17:5-6; 1Cor. 10:3-4)

After the incident concerning the murmuring of the food in the wilderness, the children of Israel were faced with another problem, and that was a lack of water. (Read Ex. 17:1-6)

Then when you look over to Paul’s writing to the church in Corinth he says this: 1 Corinthians 10:1–4 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

Christ was the Rock in the Wilderness - but what does that mean?

The Stricken who Supplies

The rock was there in the wilderness, and amazingly, it contained exactly what the children of Israel needed. However, That which they needed could not come forth until it was stricken.

Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life, preached perfect sermons, ministered perfectly, yet the life of Christ was not enough. In order for Christ to save mankind, he had to be stricken.

Later on, the children of Israel, as they continued to journey in the wilderness, would come to a point where they had no water once again. (Read Num. 20:1-13)

This was the act that prevented Moses from entering Canaan’s Land. You might wonder why as Moses did just about what he was commanded to do before?

The answer:

To get living water from Jesus, He had to be smitten

But sometimes we sin and get in a bad way.

Jesus need not be smitten again, but simply spoken to.

Jesus’ blood covers all sins - past, present & future - but if we’re to enjoy His nourishment, when we sin, we must speak unto the LORD words of repentance, and He will provide.

He’s the Striken One who Supplies

Melchesidec (Gen. 14:18-20; Heb. 5:6-10; Heb. 6:20-7:28)

The Bible tells us of a priest that appears out of nowhere in Abraham's time.

After Abraham rescued his nephew Lot from the three kings, he has this encounter with Melchizedek. (Read Gen. 14:18-20)

Melchesidec is the Priestly King - two of the offices Christ fulfills

The Priestly King

The book of Hebrews would go on to tell us in great detail how he is a picture of Jesus.

(Read through some of the descriptions in (Heb. 6:20-7:16)

The Tabernacle (Ex. 25-30; Heb. 9:1-14)

(Show the picture)

Time would prevent me from going through all the specifics about the Tabernacle. However, I will say that the tabernacle, along with the sacrifices and ceremony, everything points to and is a picture of Jesus.

One thing that I want to point out is the fact that when we consider the Mosaic covenant, we often think of Exodus chapter 20. But that was not the entirety of the covenant. In truth, the Mosaic covenant expands through the majority of the rest of the book of Exodus.

We see this specifically in this verse. Hebrews 9:1 “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.”

The Complete Picture

One Door

John 10:7–9 “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

A Blood Sacrifice

Able to withstand the fire

Horns = power

The Sacrifices speak to the Christ and His Sacrifice for sins

The Sanctifier

John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”

John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

Ephesians 5:25–26 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”

To draw near unto God, you must wash your hands and feet as they get soiled.

One Path

If you’re to get to God, you must go through the door, by the brazen altar then the laver. There is no shortcut & alternate route

Plain Exterior, but Beautiful Interior

Speaks of two of the tabernacle coverings:

Badger skins on the outside = ugly plan, but effective

Fine twined linen, purple, blue, gold on the inside

From the outside Christ may not look like much, but when you’re in Christ you see the beauty the world doesn’t see!

One Light

Only one light in the tabernacle:

John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

The Basis for Fellowship

The table of shewbread is where the priests would gain sustenance while serving the LORD and have a place to fellowship one with another.

The Interceder

The Golden altar is one where they’d burn incense that would prove a ‘sweet smelling savour’

Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

The Separator between Man and God

We’ll speak more on the vail in the coming weeks, but there was beautiful divider between God and man - and that was the veil.

A Vessel for the Divine

This is the Ark of the Covenant. It was solitary & beautiful. But what it contained is worth noting:

It held the manna from Heaven

It held the Tablets of the Commandments

It held Aaron’s rod that budded - something dead bringing forth life

Christ fills our needs

Christ kept the Law

Christ brought life from death

A Sufficient Covering

The lid - Mercy Seat

It’s what the blood was sprinkled on that wrought a stay of Judgment to the people.

CHURCH KNOW THIS: JESUS WAS NO ACCIDENT NOR WAS HE A SURPRISE! GOD IS REAL, CHRIST IS REAL - And we’d better start paying attention lest our lives end up shipwreck.

Conclusion