Christ in the Old Testament, Part 1

Our series that we're beginning to launch into, and again, I don't know how long this series is going to go. So I've got to kind of warn you. But I think we're going to find it interesting when it's all said and done. It's called Christ in the Old Testament. Now, when I say that, you immediately say, okay, well, we know that Christ appeared differently in the Old Testament than in the New Testament.

And as I mentioned in the message that He was the rock and the rock was Christ. That's not where we're going, even though you were thinking that. We're going to go in a different direction that I think is actually, in the long run, going to make the Bible become very real. It's actually going to bring the Old Testament and the New Testament together, and it is all going to wrap around the subject of Jesus Christ.

Christ is the key to what God has been pointing to in all the history of God's people. What do you use a key for? Do any of you have a key in your pocket? Who has a key in the pocket? Okay, you've got a key in your pocket. No, you can keep it for a moment. What do you use a key for? A little bit louder so everybody can hear it.

To unlock a door. Because there's something on the other side of the door that you may know or do not know what's on the other side of that barrier. And the only way that you're ever going to go from point A to point B is to use a key to be able to move into the next level of understanding. Christ is the key to what God has been pointing to in all the history of God's people.

As we were just talking about, the purpose of a key is to unlock doors and allow us to enter where we have not been before. And to allow us to understand what lies beyond the barrier that is in front of us. From the very beginning in the first prophecy recorded in Scripture, God spoke to the serpent using the framework of parallels. You might want to jot that down because we're going to center on that. The framework of parallels to point to Christ as the ultimate key. Join me in Genesis 3.15. For some of your young people that are joining us here today in this study, I remember when this was first mentioned to me as a student at Ambassador, and I never forgot it.

So that means you can't forget it. And that is simply this. This is the first prophecy in all of Scripture. It's not in Daniel. It's not in Revelation. It occurs right here. And it's interesting, it is when God is addressing the serpent of all things. So you've got to make sure who's speaking to who.

But even as Adam and Eve are about to go out the door, kicked out of the door of the Garden of Eden, God offers prophetic hope to those that are about to be taken out of the garden. And it says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Begin to get a back-and-forth, what we may call parallelism, to come to a point. And the story of parallels does not stop here in Genesis 3.15.

One way to understand the fullness of Christ's existence is to examine parallels between Old Testament people, events and things, and life of Jesus in the New Testament. And there are specific parallels, but you have to know where they are. You have to know how to look for them. You have to know how to use them. And sometimes they just don't come out right at you. You know, I'm thinking of a certain—and I wish my wife were here right now— there's—and you see it in gift shops, where there's the construction of these beautiful little homes or these little mansions. And if you look real carefully, but you've got to look real carefully, the artist or the sculptor always has a little mouse on that sculpture.

Some of you are nodding. You know what I'm talking about. But you have to know what to look for, and you have to know what's going on. And or if any of you have ever happened to look at a painting by Thomas Kincaid. Thomas Kincaid, you have to know what to look for. You always are looking for light. That's what he's known for, and there's a purpose for that. But you have to know what to look for.

And that's what we're dealing with in the subject of parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Let me use one example of parallels. In Romans 5—join me there for a second—in Romans 5.

Paul, under the inspiration of God, is going to set up a parallel. In Romans 5 and in verse 12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. So Paul writes this, that because of one man that death entered the world. Then notice verse 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned, according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. Notice, who is a type of him who was to come. Now, it's interesting that's mentioned here. What you find is that Adam is likened as a type of that which is to come. It's interesting that in the New King James Version, that's what's mentioned in the Living Bible translation, it's interesting. It says, what a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come. Now, notice verse 15. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. What's going on here? What is some of the terminology that we're looking at? There is a parallelism. That's the term I want you to think about from a parallelism, and it all centers on the term one. There was one man that by his actions brought death on humanity. Then there is the opposite, but parallel to the thought of one man that came and brought life. The Bible is full of these parallels or types. I want to share a thought with you that I think might excite or invigorate your Bible study. It's about the study of types. It is called, yes, you guessed it, typology. It's a form of studying the Bible. It's called typology. In the example above, this method or typology calls Adam, you might want to jot this down, Adam who is mentioned first is the type. Christ, the other man who brought life, is called the anti-type and or the opposite. So there is type and there is anti-type in the study of parallelism or typology. There is another way of looking at this because what we are talking about is not just a bunch of fancy words. It's a way of showing how God is weaving the Bible together. Another way of distinguishing types is simply this. It's to use the term lesser or greater. Some of you are looking at it right now. This is going to be kind of college level. It's kind of what I learned. This is good stuff, though. You are going to get it. Let me use an example. Joshua was not called Joshua when he was living. He would have been called Yeshua. Yeshua means to save and or saviour. Joshua led a covenant people over the river into the Promised Land.

He is the type. But there is a parallel to that. Can somebody else help me with the parallel? I'll put it on you. What is the parallel to Joshua whose name means save, who led a people over a river into the Promised Land? What would be the parallel?

I'm going to drink my coffee until somebody answers.

What is the parallel? I think I should call on our elders first because they have all the answers. We'll find out here in a moment. What is the parallel? We're talking about parallelism. Remember how Adam was in the Old Testament? He was the one man, and through that one man came death. The parallelism then is in the New Testament because Christ is the key. Christ is the one man who brought life. There's an opposite factor going on, and there's a parallel at the same time, right? Adam, his life, did not end with himself. What he didn't do points to what Christ did do. Joshua, Yeshua, means to save, led people across the river into the Promised Land. What would be the type in the New Testament who can help me? I'm sorry? You're sure? Yes, absolutely. What do you think Jesus was called when he was going through Nazareth? What do you think his name was? Yeshua. It was Yeshua. Jesus is Greek. He would have been called Yeshua. He means to save. Is Jesus Christ not what? He is the Savior. Is Jesus Christ not the one that simply leads a people from one bank over a river to another bank, but by his sacrifice leads us from the shore of sure death to the shore of sure life? And through his sacrifice, we travel across that river and are offered something more than what? The Promised Land, but the ultimate promise, the ultimate rest, the Kingdom of God. Who is the type?

Which is the type? Joshua. Who is the anti-type? Jesus. See how the parallels work? Thus, what we would call, stay with me for a second, we would call, when you look at this example, let me get to my notes, because this is a positive example and not a negative one, therefore, let's think about this for a moment. Joshua is the lesser Christ.

Christ is the what? Greater Joshua.

What we begin to do, then, is we begin to tie in the personalities of the Old Testament and what they did, and at times what they did not do, to tie in what Christ is or what Christ performs that the counterpart never did.

Allow me to use an example. I'll do one more, even though we're going to get to his example later. Moses. Was Moses a lawgiver? What do you think, Donny?

Think so? Yeah. He's the guy that brought the picking commands down, right? He's a lawgiver. Okay, good. I can see what they're teaching in Garden Grove. I like it. Okay. Okay. Moses was a lawgiver. Was Christ a lawgiver? You're sure? Okay, good. Right. So, Moses, because it says in Deuteronomy 18.15, I will bring from amongst you one who will be like unto you and will be a lawgiver, right? So, Moses, then, is the what? Moses is the lesser Christ. Christ is the greater Moses because he's the ultimate lawgiver. Who's the type? Anti-type? Jesus. The type always prefigures the ultimate type, which is Jesus Christ. As we begin to explore the Scriptures through the lens of what we call typology, let's be aware of something, though. Because you say, well, I can just do that all. No, no. There are benefits and there are limitations. So, we need to know how to properly use this instrument. Let's understand that typology focuses on specific events and characteristics or traits of certain rather than on the person as a whole. Typology is, at times, going to focus on a given event or a given trait of an individual, but not necessarily on the individual as a whole. For instance, there are many major differences between Adam and Christ, in fact, they are basically opposites at best from one another. So, it is not that Adam was like Christ, rather, some features of his story parallel Christ, life, and ministry. Some are positive, some are negative. Now, what then, as we mentioned some keywords, let's go back a moment and make sure we're talking about the study of what? Typology. Where they might understand are two tracks that are parallel. There's a type, there's an anotype, there's a lesser, and there's a greater. Christ always being the greater. He is the greater Moses, he is the greater Joshua. You might even say, let me throw an example here, and we're going to be getting to it in about three studies. When you go to the book of Ezekiel, you will find that throughout the entire book of Ezekiel, the words come, Son of Man, Son of Man, Son of Man. Right? What was Jesus' favorite reference to himself in his own earthly ministry? Son of Man. Thus, there is a typology. Thus, there is a parallelism that Ezekiel of old, the guy back in the old days, was the lesser Christ. Christ was the greater Ezekiel because he was, after all, the ultimate Son of Man. The purpose is to show that down through the ages, what is going on here? Why are we going through this? When you go into typology, which is not some weird study, it's just a matter of looking at the parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament characters, the excitement in all of this is that it shows that God was hinting and giving clues all the way down through the centuries and down through the millennia for the need of Jesus Christ.

Are you good at keeping a secret? I'm sure not, so don't tell who I am. I'm a minister and I've got to be confident. That's a way to lose business, isn't it? No, but I mean something that doesn't involve the life of the brethren or something that's personal. It's really hard for me to keep good news to myself. I just want to share it with you. Do you want to know? Because you know you want to spread good news. That's what God was doing in the Old Testament. He was, through these different individuals, pointing and pointing and pointing and pointing to the ultimate solution, which is Jesus Christ. He would be showing through typology what Christ would not be, and he was also showing what Christ would be. And this is often how the early church interpreted individuals and personalities out of the Old Testament. Because what it does when you understand this, it begins to open doors of opportunity. What we're going to do now is we're just going to cover one individual for about 20 minutes. And we're going to start right at the beginning, and we're going to show you how the typology of types and anti-types work, so that when you are doing your own study, you can look ahead and bring the Old Testament and the New Testament together. We're going to discuss for a moment the parallels between Adam and Christ. We've already discussed that a little bit out of Romans 5. Let's, number one, start with Adam, who is again the type. Join me in Genesis 2 and verse 7.

In Genesis 2 and verse 7, we find, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Adam was the first in the physical creation. He was the first human being made in God's image and after his physical similitude. Also, over in Genesis 3 and verse 20, just one additional verse, Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. Well, we're going to do a little conclusion through silence. If Eve was the mother of all living, then what was Adam? Adam would be called the, by deduction, the father of all living. In other words, Adam was then, as the patriarch, he was the head of the human race, the father of all living. He was the first. Now, let's go to Christ. 1 Corinthians 15.

And let's pick up the thought in verse 23. Let's go in verse 22. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. That's what we were reading in Romans 5 basically. But each one in his own order, notice Christ the firstfruits. Afterward those who are Christ at his coming. Where is the parallel? Adam was the first person in the physical creation. Jesus is the first in the new creation. He is the first of the firstfruits. I'm not saying that Christ was created. Don't take me down that path right now. But he is the head, he is the first of the new creation. Again, join me in Romans 5. Let's go there for a moment. Romans 5.

And let's pick up the thought in verse 17. For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more than those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one. Jesus Christ. Verse 21. So that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The physical creation began with Adam. The second Adam, the greater Adam, is the first person in new creation. Type and anti-type. Let's look at another one. Come with me to Luke 3.38. In Luke 3, verse 38.

This is the genealogy of Mary going back.

Luke 3.38. Kind of interesting. This verse, if I can just make a... this is going to be called a sidebar. Like if you're in court, you know, they go sidebar. This is a sidebar because this verse just sends the shivers down me whenever I read it. Sometimes I know I can talk about my great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaddy, who they were, and I can talk about all the little Dutch people that wore the wooden shoes in New England, Amsterdam. They're about 1630. That's New York. And if you... I can go back, I can go back, and I can go back, and I can talk about a... a... a... dingle-bark vapor who landed over in New York and go, wow! But when you go to this, keep on going back. Let's start in verse 37, talking about the lineage of Mary going back. The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahaliel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam. Have you ever looked at Luke 3.38 before? And notice what Adam was called? The son of God. Wow! That's neat. And it shows the relationship that God wanted with that miracle of clay and mud that He made into a human being. He didn't want a... just simply a grandchild or an eighth cousin. Do any of you know your eighth cousins? Some of you may not even know your third cousins. God wanted this intimacy between Him and the creation to be a son. And what we find here is that Adam was called the son of God. Well, Jeremy and John 1, verse 14. 1 and verse 14 again to show the parallelism between Adam, who is the lesser Christ, and Christ who is the greater Adam, and the perfect Adam, and the perfect son of God. John 1 and verse 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld as glory the glory, as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ is the son of God. Adam, in that sense, as the first of the physical creation, is the lesser Christ and type. Christ is the greater. He is the second Adam. Let's look at another parallel. Join me if you would in Genesis 3, verse 16. In Genesis 3 and verse 16.

1 and verse 17.

Is that what I want? Excuse me one second. That would be 2.16. Pardon me. We'll find it here in a moment.

One second. Actually, I want Genesis 126. Then God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish, the sea, over the birds, the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps. And so God blessed man in his own image. Verse 28. Blessed him, and God said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish, of the sea, over the birds, of the air, and over every living thing that moves. And God said, Verse 28. See, I have given you every herb that yields seed, which is on the face. Man was given. The first Adam was given dominion and rulership, and was told to replenish. That means to make good that which was before him. Adam was God's administrative ruler, in that sense, and granted dominion over all of the creation. Now, how does that figure with Christ as a parallel? Matthew 1, 16 now, as the anti-type. Matthew 1, verse 16. Notice, And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. That is the anointed. He is the king. And he was given dominion over this earth. So, come with me to Ephesians 2, verse 20. What is the Adam was given rule over that which is physical, but he is but a type of Jesus Christ. When you come and understand Ephesians 2, verse 20, let's take a look at it here. Do I see 2, 20? Pardon me. I went Ephesians 1, Ephesians 1, 20. With which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him in his right hand in the heavenly place, Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, And every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. Notice verse 22, He has put all things under his feet and given him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him. What we notice here is that the second Adam, the first Adam was given what? Dominion over the wetlands? Over the earth. The fishies, the birdies, the creepy crawly things, everything that's physical. Christ as the second Adam, that greater Adam, is given dominion over all that is in the heavens, the earth. And actually, other scriptures say that he has dominion over that, which is both spiritual and physical in kingdom. So again, we see those types brought together. Let's do another type. Join me in Genesis 3 and verse 16. Genesis 3 and verse 16. This is after Adam had bitten to the apple, which always reminds you, you need to be careful what you bite into. It might have effects. Then to Adam, he said, because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat of it. Notice, cursed is the ground for your sake, and in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles, and it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. And in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, and for dust you are, and dust you shall return. The first Adam, the type. What did his actions bring? They brought upon him and us a what? A curse. Brought death. Brought a curse. And his actions brought consequences that we are still bearing to inherit sin and death. Now, let's go to that greater Adam, or that parallel Adam, in the New Testament. Join me, if you would, in 1 Corinthians 15.

And let's pick up the thought in verse 22.

It's in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20. Remember the word that I... No, that's 1 Corinthians, part of me.

1 Corinthians 15, verse 20.

But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, and that's a curse, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The first Adam, the type, his actions, brought death and consequences for all of us. The second Adam, his actions, because he did his father's will and obeyed God, and thought God was sufficient, his actions bring life. Let's understand, when we're dealing with typology, and we're dealing with parallels, let's understand that at times there is not always tit for tat. We're not saying that Adam did things right, and therefore he's the lesser. No, you have to understand what the benefits or what the actions are of each and every one of them. Let's look at another one, Genesis 3, verse 6. We've got two more, three more, and then we're done. Genesis 3, verse 6. Genesis 3, verse 6. Genesis 3, verse 6. Genesis 3, verse 6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. What do we find out here? What did that first Adam do? Adam joined Eve and rebelled against God.

Because of that, because Adam did join Eve, and rebelled against God, what were the consequences? Maybe I haven't read the rest of the book. What happened? Who can fill it in for me? Richard, go ahead. You were smiling, so I thought you had the answer.

They not only died, but before they died, what happened? But their sin and their rebelling towards God created what series of actions? Maybe you can lead us from the bite of the apple and what happened in the story. A little bit louder. The outer story of it, you can hear it.

Okay.

Okay. Right. In other words, basically Adam, the first Adam, because he joined in rebellion with his wife towards God, they were cut off. God wanted to have a relationship with that first man and that first woman, just like he wants to have a relationship with each and every one of us that's in this room right now. But by their actions, they were cut off. That's a horrible thing to be cut off from God. But God says that our sins do cut us off, and they were removed from Eden. And what did the local sentries look like? Remember who was posted there in Eden so they couldn't return? Pardon? The carabim. Yeah.

Those are two bouncers you don't want to cross. I mean, you know, if you've ever wanted to know what the carabim looked like, whoa! You don't want to cross that path. Carabim were put in place, and they are awesome in all seriousness. And man was cut off. There was no way of return. Adam didn't do his wife right, to put it in common vernacular, if you know what I'm saying.

And the wife was cut off from God. Now, she had a responsibility in that, too, as all of us as ladies do. But let's note the example of the greater Adam, the second Adam. Join me if you would here, and let's pick up the thought in Revelation 19. Revelation 19.

Revelation 19, verse 7. Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be a raid and fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous axe of the saints. And then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. What is the type? What is the anotype? What is the parallel? What is it that Adam did not offer that the greater Adam, the second Adam, does offer? Whereas Adam joined Eve and rebelled against God, and humanity thus was cut off, Christ redeems his bride, redeems his bride, the church, by obeying God. Christ, by his actions, allows the woman, that is the church, to come back into union with God. The door is no longer closed to Eden. He is that door by his actions. Not the same actions as the first Adam. That's why you have to look at parallels, why you have to understand type, why you have to understand what perhaps one did not do, that Christ alone can do. That is a power and a purpose of understanding that. Two more. Join me in Genesis 3 and verse 21. I promised our crew I'd be done at 4.30. Genesis 3 and verse 21. Notice also for Adam and his wife, the Lord made tunics of skin and clothed them. I think most of us understand the story because God went a walk in in the garden. Saying, hello. Hello? Anybody out there? Hello? And of course, you know the rest of the story, Adam and Eve were naked as jaybirds. They had a problem with it. They were ashamed. Something had changed their minds, something had happened there. And because they sinned, and we look at this story, and as we connect the dots together, we recognize that an animal died. Blood had to be shed. Animals don't just usually die. Blood has to be shed. And there was a covering, a capour, over this inflection. For Adam and the wife, the Lord God, made tunics of skin and clothed them. Adam's shame required the death of an animal. How does this configure with the second Adam? Join me if you would in Matthew 27. In verse 27. Matthew 27 and verse 27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around him, and they stripped him, put a scarlet robe on him, and when they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, stripped him, as it were, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to be crucified. And now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his cross. And when they come to a place called Golcotha, this is to say a place of skull, they gave him sour wine to drink, but when he had tasted, he would not drink. And then they crucified him, dividing his garments, dividing that which they had taken off of him, casting lots that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, they divided my garment among them. And for my clothing, they cast lots. Crucifixion was to not only vilify, but to humiliate an individual.

Adam's shame required the death of an animal. Christ was shamed, stripped, and slain to cover our shame, to cover our sins. Hebrews 12 and verse 2.

Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, notice despising the shame and it sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Typology, type and anti-type, helps us to recognize at times the lack of humanity that only the Son of God himself can fulfill. Let's conclude with this one.

Genesis 3.17 again, we've already been there. Ooh, it's almost 4.28. I told you to be done. Okay, just one more. Genesis 3.17.

Then to Adam, he said, because you have indeed the voice of your wife, goes on, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In Adam, humanity is cursed. Instead of closeness with God, we experience isolation and loneliness. Instead of love and care for each other, we experience violence and hatred. Genesis 3.23. Therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground, so he drove out the man. And there was a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life. Man, by his actions, by his choices, became isolated from the Tree of Life. The reverse is that of the second Adam, that greater Adam. In Christ, humanity is blessed. Is blessed. Through his redemptive action, we can experience true life. Isn't that neat? On the Sabbath day, we can experience life as God intends. We can have a relationship with God. We can know his love and care for others. Let's conclude with John 17. John 17. Rather than isolation, we can have fellowship. In that sense, we are, as Christians under the New Covenant, in a type of the Garden of Eden right now. Not the fullness. That's the Kingdom of God at the coming of Jesus Christ. But we've been offered the Tree of Life. We're offered relationship with God. We do not have carob standing at the Gate of Eden. Rather, we have Jesus Christ saying, I want you to be a part of my Father's kingdom. You can enter. You enter through me. You can have relationships. John 17, verse 20. Notice. Rather than isolation, we have fellowship. These were the thoughts that were on Christ's mind at the end. I do not pray for these, but also for those who believe me through their word. That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be noticed, one in us. That the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I've given them. That they may be one, just as we are one. I in them, you in me, that they may be perfect in one. And the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them, as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me, may be with me where I am. In humanity, no, excuse me, in the first Adam, humanity is cursed. In the second Adam, humanity is blessed. In the type, humanity is isolated, separated from God. In the parallel, in the greater anti-type, Christ Himself, humanity is made at one with God. Invite it back into the midst of Eden. Invite it to partake of the tree of life. I hope for just a brief moment you begin to understand the power and the purpose of typology and parallels. Because what it is, you not only get a good study of the Old Testament and begin to understand what they did or didn't do, but either what they did or didn't do, we know that over here, Christ has done it all for us. So that's the end of the first study. And by the way, I've got all my notes for everybody, and I've got them all duplicated. You can have some to take home.