The Promised Messiah

Introduction: A Biblical View of the Savior and His Work

When we consider the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, it is essential that we understand who He is and what He has accomplished through the lens of Holy Scripture. The Bible is the Word of God, given to reveal God’s heart and communicate His divine thoughts and purposes to mankind. More than that, it provides the most complete and authoritative account of Christ’s person and work. It records accurate historical narratives of His life and teaching, and it communicates the living, powerful words of God that transform both our personal lives and entire cultures.

As the author of Hebrews declares:

Hebrews 4:12–13 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Beyond this, we must remember that the Bible is a unified whole. Its sixty-six books, written by roughly forty authors over centuries, present one complete narrative — the story of human history from creation to the final restoration of all things in the new heavens and new earth. We call this grand storyline Redemptive History — the History of Redemption. It is the central purpose of God in creating the world and humanity.

At the heart of this unified story stands the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. He is the focal point of all human history. As the Samaritans declared to the woman at the well:

John 4:42 ESV

42 …It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Jesus Christ is the focus of the entire Bible — both Old and New Testaments. Therefore, if we want to know the person and work of the Savior, we must turn to the special revelation God has given us in Scripture.

A. The Plan of Redemption

When we survey the Old and New Testaments, we see the providence of Almighty God at work in every page. All the events of history are the outworking of the eternal plans God made before the foundation of the world. Providence is assumed and implied on nearly every page of Scripture.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that God’s Son,

Hebrews 1:3 ESV

3 …is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Paul echoes this truth,

Colossians 1:16–17 LSB

16 For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together.

As Paul reminds us that in him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Even Job declares that if God should withdraw His breath, all flesh would perish (Job 34:14–15).

This means God is the primary cause behind everything that happens. As Scripture plainly states:

Lamentations 3:37–38 LSB

37 Who is there who speaks and it happens, Unless the Lord has commanded it? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both calamities and good go forth?

Isaiah 45:7 LSB

7 The One forming light and creating darkness, Producing peace and creating calamity; I am Yahweh who does all these.

Above all, God’s eternal purpose is to redeem fallen mankind through His Son. Ephesians 1:9–11 reveals that God is working all things according to the counsel of his will to sum up everything in Christ — things in heaven and things on earth.

The cross of Jesus Christ is therefore the very focal point of history. Everything before the cross looks forward to it; everything after the cross looks back at it.

The God-Man, Jesus Christ, is the eternal Lord of history who came to earth to display the awesome beauty of His divine character and accomplish the redemption planned before the world began. As Peter writes:

1 Peter 1:20 ESV

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

B. Christ the Messiah Promised in the Old Testament

This redemptive plan unfolds throughout the Old Testament. It traces the genealogy of the Savior from Adam all the way to Christ (Genesis 5; 1 Chronicles 1–9; Matthew 1:1–16). The Old Testament is filled with types, shadows, and specific Messianic prophecies that point to the coming Redeemer. This is what we will be spending this morning studying.

The coming Messiah would:

Be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16)

Be a descendant of Jacob (Numbers 24:17; Luke 3:23, 34)

Be from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10; Luke 3:23, 33)

Be from the family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1; Luke 3:23, 32)

Be from the house of David (Jeremiah 23:5; Luke 3:23, 31)

Be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1)

Be the pre-existent One (Micah 5:2; Colossians 1:17)

Be the Lord Himself (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:43–45)

Be God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23)

He would also be a prophet (Deuteronomy 18:18),

a priest (Psalm 110:4),

a king (Psalm 2:6),

anointed by the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2),

and much more — all fulfilled in Jesus.

Jesus Himself confirmed this. He told the religious leaders:

John 5:39 LSB

39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that bear witness about Me;

And on the road to Emmaus, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27)

The New Testament repeatedly declares that the Old Testament pointed to Christ as the coming Redeemer (Acts 4:10–12; 1 Corinthians 10:1–4; Hebrews 5:5–6).

i. Key Themes in Old Testament Messianic Prophecies

These prophecies and types are not random. They reveal the nature of true and acceptable worship to God through three consistent gospel themes:

1. Atonement for Sin / Sacrifice — Sin must be dealt with. The Levitical system constantly stressed the need for an atoning sacrifice, showing us the severe nature of sin and our desperate need for reconciliation with God.

2. Substitution — There must be a replacement. Because of sin’s consequences, a substitute must die in the sinner’s place — pictured powerfully in the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement.

3. Faith, Not Works — God’s provision, not man’s effort. Even in the Old Testament, God Himself provides the sacrifice (the skins for Adam and Eve, the ram for Abraham). This underscores humanity’s utter inability to save itself.

When we read the Old Testament, we must open our eyes to these gospel themes. God, by His Holy Spirit, has woven them into the narrative to point us to Christ the Savior.

1. The Proto-Evangel - Genesis 3

Throughout the Old Testament record, beginning at the fall of man in Genesis chapter 3, the promise of a coming Redeemer is woven into the biblical text. As soon as sin enters the storyline, redemption becomes necessary. Mankind is tragically separated from God by sin and left in a hopeless and desperate state.

This was the fearful warning God gave about eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

Genesis 2:16–17 LSB

16 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Then came the temptation. The cunning serpent lied to the woman:

Genesis 3:4–7 LSB

4 And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, so she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

Sin entered the world, and with it came all the suffering and consequences that still mark human life today.

It is right at this darkest moment in the biblical record that God steps in with the first promise of redemption. The Gospel is announced for the very first time in Genesis 3:15 when God curses the serpent:

Genesis 3:15 LSB

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

This verse is often called the Proto-Evangel, or the first announcement of the good news in the Bible. Here God declares that the woman’s “seed” will one day bruise the serpent’s head. This is a profound statement.

But the question that we must ask here is this: Who is this He?

Notice the shift in the parallelism in God’s curse.

In the first line it is you — the serpent — against the woman. She is feminine, singular.

In the second line it is her offspring against your offspring — still feminine in reference, yet now the “seed” is plural in nature.

But in the third line the language changes dramatically. We have a He against a you. Singular. Masculine. Definite.

Who is this He? Who is the only masculine figure standing in this scene? It is Adam. T

his He of Genesis 3:15 will be a New Adam.

This New Adam will represent the entire seed of the woman. This New Adam will step into the ultimate battle with Satan. And this New Adam will be so powerful that He will crush the serpent’s head. Satan will manage only a bruise to the New Adam’s heel — even as his own head is being ground into the dust.

Satan believed he could rule over God by going through a creature. He deceived the woman so she would lead the man into disobedience. But God turns the tables with devastating irony. In this curse the Lord declares, “I will use the very mankind you thought you would use to rule over Me. I will use them as the instrument of your death.”

Do you see the object lesson in the snake now slithering on its belly? From that moment forward the serpent became easy to crush beneath the foot. Every time you see a snake gliding across the ground, you are meant to remember: there is a final day coming when Satan himself will be destroyed. And every time Satan sees a snake, he is reminded of his ultimate and impending defeat.

This, beloved, is the Proto-Evangelion — the First Gospel.

Who then is this New Adam? Who is this ultimate Champion of man, this One who will represent all the offspring of the woman? The rest of the Bible answers that question with one resounding name.

It is Jesus.

Let my prove this to you.

What are the first words of the book of Genesis?

Genesis 1:1 LSB

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the Gospel of John, what are the first words John writes,

John 1:1 LSB

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the beginning was the Word.

In the Gospel of Luke, in his genealogy, how far back does he trace the line of Christ?

Luke 3:28 LSB

the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

Are you starting to see the connections here?

When Jesus is about to be arrested? Where does He face His final temptation? In a Garden.

Where was the tomb of Jesus? In a Garden.

Listen to the deliberate language of Luke as he describes that resurrection Sunday,

Luke 24:1 LSB

Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

On the…first day…at early dawn, when darkness gives way to the Light…the Son of God rises.

Turn in your Bibles with me to John 20. Someone read for me beginning at verse 11.

John 20:11–16 LSB

But Mary was standing outside the tomb crying; and so, as she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).

Who does she mistake him for? A Gardner…Coincidence? I think not!

It was through the first gardener that sin and death entered the world. It is through the Second Gardener that sin is forgiven and death is defeated.

The first gardener marred the original creation with his sin.

The Second Gardener is redeeming a new creation. At the end of time He will cast the devil into the lake of fire to be tormented forever. After that, the Second Gardener — the Second Adam, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Word by whom all things were created in the beginning — will make a new heavens and a new earth and a New Jerusalem. There God will dwell with man and woman once more. There a river will run through the city. There the Tree of Life will flourish again. And there we will enjoy eternal life with our Savior — an intimacy and a glory even greater than Adam and Eve knew in Eden.

This is the promise of the Proto-Evangelion. This is the victory of the New Adam.

2. The Lord Shall Provide - Genesis 22

In Genesis chapter 22 we read the story of God testing Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac. The background is important. Abraham’s wife Sarah had been barren all her life until God promised them a son that she would bear, and that he would be Abraham’s heir. This promise came after God made a covenant with Abram and gave him a new name, Abraham, which means “father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4-5).

Genesis 22:1–2 LSB

1 Now it happened after these things, that God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

Strange indeed that God would ask Abraham to sacrifice his son. Much could be said here, for the story holds many treasures of biblical truth. But consider how clearly Christ is pictured in this brief chapter.

The Father is called to make a costly sacrifice of His only son.

The son submits willingly to the will of his father.

Isaac carries the wood for the sacrifice, even as Christ later carried His cross.

Abraham names the place “The Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14).

And God does provide the sacrifice — a ram caught in a thicket by his horns — showing God’s gracious provision.

This foreshadows the truths of faith, not works, and substitutionary atonement. Even the location is significant. The mountain in the region of Moriah is the very mountain on which the Temple was later built and where God was worshiped by the Jews (2 Chronicles 3:1). It stood in close proximity to the place of Christ’s crucifixion two thousand years later.

In other words, the story of Abraham’s test is a type, or typical prophecy, of Christ the Messiah who would become the sacrifice that the Lord provides.

As Derek Tidball has written,

“Glimpses of Calvary can be seen repeatedly in Genesis 22…. A constellation of clues bursts from the story like the shower of lights that explodes skyward from a splendid firework! Here the father gives. The son surrenders. The Lord provides. The ram dies, and the people profit. Here for sure the cross is anticipated.”

3. The Blood of the Lamb - Exodus 12

In Exodus chapter 12 we read of the Lord’s Passover. On this night Israel was to prepare a lamb for a meal — an unblemished male roasted with fire — and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The whole family was to eat the lamb. That same night the death angel would pass through the land of Egypt to strike down every firstborn. But the angel would pass over every house where the blood of the lamb had been smeared on the doorposts.

This was the night before the Lord would lead His people out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt. As they ate the meal, the family was to have their bags packed and their sandals on their feet, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. This event became an annual celebration for Israel. God commanded them to reenact the Passover each year in remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.

Exodus 12:11–14 LSB

11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Passover of Yahweh. 12 ‘And I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am Yahweh. 13 ‘And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a perpetual statute.

Of course the whole narrative of the Exodus reveals many attributes of God and portrays His gracious dealings with His people. But the Passover specifically points us to Christ. Once again, in the storyline of the Old Testament, we see Christ the Messiah pictured in a mysterious “typical prophecy.” Consider how clearly He is foreshadowed here.

A lamb is sacrificed, and its blood is seen as protection from God’s wrath. The destroying angel passes over every home where the blood has been applied.

The lamb must be an unblemished male — a picture of the perfect righteousness of Christ the Messiah.

It is to be roasted with fire and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread — symbols of the severe trial, bitter suffering, and purity of Christ and His cross.

The whole family is to eat the flesh of the lamb, and it is to be totally consumed — a powerful picture of the union believers have with the sacrificed Christ. Jesus would later say, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56).

Through this feast the people are set free from a life of slavery, bondage, and bitter oppression and led out into the desert to be shepherded by God Himself into the Promised Land.

Here again, some fifteen hundred years before He lived, Christ the Messiah is portrayed through the events of the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul makes this connection explicit when he writes, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The passion account of the Gospel of John draws this connection very vividly for us. Remember that the Gospel of John opens with John the Baptist declaring,

John 1:29 ESV

29 … “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John then adds several notes to help us see this theme clearly. During Jesus’ trial we read,

John 18:28 ESV

28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover.

The religious leaders, eager to keep the ceremonial cleanliness laws, refused to enter the Gentile headquarters so they could still eat the Passover meal. Yet at that very moment they were condemning the true Passover Lamb.

Later John tells us that when Pilate presented Jesus before the crowd,

John 19:14 ESV

14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

At about the sixth hour, when Pilate presented Christ, the air in Jerusalem would have been filled with the smell of the unleavened bread. Interestingly, these wafers would have the appearance of hundreds of pierced holes. .

Soon after Barabbas was released and the crowd cried, “Crucify Him,” the great ceremony of sacrificing the Passover lambs began in the Temple.

Josephus tells us that around 250,000 lambs were sacrificed in the Temple on Passover. The main slaughter began with the regular burnt offering called the Tamid around the sixth hour. After the Tamid, the Passover lambs were slaughtered in three large groups that filled the Temple’s inner courtyard. Trumpets sounded to signal each group. The heads of households brought the lambs to have their throats slit, while priests caught the blood in gold and silver bowls, passing them in a human chain to the altar. As the blood was dashed against the base of the altar, the Levites sang the Hallel psalms (Psalms 113–118).

This would have included the Messianic reference that Jesus applied to himself just a few days before,

Psalm 118:22 LSB

22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.

At that exact moment on the Temple Mount, darkness covered the land from the sixth to the ninth hour as the true Lamb of God hung on the cross. When Jesus breathed His last and cried, “It is finished!” the blood of the passover lambs was flooding around the altar

The carcasses of the Passover lambs were then given back to the families to be roasted over an open fire. Moses’ instructions in Exodus 12 forbade boiling the lamb or breaking any of its bones. To obey this command, the lambs were tied to two pieces of wood in the shape of a cross.

The second-century church father Justin Martyr drew the obvious connection in his Dialogue with Trypho:

“That lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb.” (Chapter 40)

The Passover account powerfully displays the faithfulness, compassion, justice, and power of God in many marvelous ways. It is a vivid portrait of the gospel that would one day be fulfilled in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

4. My God why have you forsaken Me? — Psalm 22

Psalm 22 in its entirety is Messianic in nature. This is, as many have called it, The Psalm of the Cross — the Gospel According to David. Psalm 22 is referred to or quoted 24 times in the New Testament, and 17 of those 24 references occur in the gospel accounts of Jesus’ passion and crucifixion. As Spurgeon puts it,

“we may say of this Psalm, ‘there is none like it.’ It is the photograph of our Lord’s saddest hours, the record of his dying words, the lachrymatory of his last tears, the memorial of his expiring joys. We should read reverently, putting off our shoes from off our feet, as Moses did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in Scripture it is in this Psalm.”

The very first verse explodes with the cry of the King:

Psalm 22:1 LSB

1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me…

These are the very words our Lord Jesus uttered from the cross (Matthew 27:46). The innocent King feels the full weight of divine abandonment. He who had known perfect intimacy with the Father now experiences the horror of separation because He bears the sins of His people.

The psalm moves from the agony of forsakenness to the scorn of men.

The King is treated as “a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people” (v. 6).

They sneer, they wag their heads, they mock His trust in God: “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him” (v. 8).

These are the very insults hurled at Jesus as He hung on the cross (Matthew 27:39, 43).

David then describes the physical torment of execution: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint… my heart is like wax; it is melted within me… my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws…

David prophesies of the division of Christ’s garments, Ps 22:18

Psalm 22:18 LSB

18 They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.

and even envisions the piercing of the nails of the cross,

Psalm 22:16 LSB

16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.

Every detail finds its fulfillment in the crucifixion of Christ.

Yet even in the depths of suffering, the King remembers God’s past faithfulness and cries out for deliverance. The psalm does not end in despair. It moves from the King’s ultimate suffering to the King’s ultimate salvation (vv. 22-31).

Psalm 22:22–24 LSB

22 I will surely recount Your name to my brothers; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. 23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him; All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you seed of Israel. 24 For He has not despised and He has not abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; And He has not hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.

The same God who seemed far off in verse 1 is praised in the great assembly, and through the suffering King all the nations will turn to the Lord and worship.

5. Pierced for Our Transgressions - Isaiah 53

In Isaiah 52:13–53:12 we come to the clearest and most detailed prophecy of the coming Messiah in all the Old Testament. Here the promised Redeemer is revealed as the Suffering Servant of the Lord. Isaiah presents Him as the One who would bear the sins of His people and suffer in their place.

The Servant is described as growing up like “a tender shoot… a root out of parched ground” with “no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him” (Isaiah 53:2). He was “despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (v. 3). Yet His suffering was not for His own sin.

Isaiah declares with shocking clarity:

Isaiah 53:5 LSB

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.

The language of piercing is deliberate and profound. It points forward to the exact manner of the Messiah’s death. Psalm 22 had already prophesied that the hands and feet of the innocent King would be pierced (Psalm 22:16). Centuries later the prophet Zechariah declared that on the day of the Lord the people would “look on Me whom they have pierced” and mourn for Him as for an only son (Zechariah 12:10). These words find their perfect fulfillment when the Roman soldiers pierced the hands, and feet, and side of the crucified Jesus (John 19:34).

The Servant does not suffer because of His own guilt. He is “pierced through for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities.” The guilt of the many is laid upon Him. He is numbered with the transgressors, yet He bears the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12). As Peter later explains, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24).

This is the heart of Redemptive History. The Promised Messiah, the Seed of the woman, the descendant of Abraham, the Son of David, the Lamb of the Passover — He is the Suffering Servant who gives Himself as the substitute for His people. He was wounded so that we might be healed. He was crushed so that we might have peace with God. He was forsaken so that we might never be.

Here the Old Testament reaches its highest point of revelation concerning the coming Savior. The same Scriptures that foretold His birth, His lineage, and His ministry now foretell His substitutionary death. The promised Messiah would not only reign — He would suffer and die in the place of sinners so that they might be saved. This is the One to whom all the types, shadows, and prophecies have been pointing from the very beginning.