Bread crumbs along the way.
Three weeks ago 9 intrepid Christians and I set off on a journey called Old Testament Survey, of which I am the pilot. For the next twelve weeks we will be taking a whirlwind tour of the OT and this past Tuesday Genesis was our port of call. It always amazes me to see the fact that the Bible is God's living Word in action. As we began to explore some basic information about the book of Genesis we spent some time looking for Christ there. Admittedly, there are some who would disagree with the idea that Christ is in the Old Testament, let alone the first book of it. However, the truth of the matter is that He is evident in every book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This has been brought into bold relief not only in my studies for this class but also because of the Bible study our pastor is leading called "66 Books, One Savior."
What really got me excited was going over "types of Christ" and Messianic prophecies in Genesis. A "type of Christ," according to Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa, " is a historical fact that illustrates a spiritual truth." For instance, Romans 5:14 tells us that Adam was a "type" of Him who was to come, referring to Christ. Another way to put this would be foreshadowing. We've all seen this in our literature classes when an author foreshadows or alludes to something that is going to happen in the future. The same can be seen in Genesis, and all the other books, regarding Christ. It is important to understand that there is a difference between a prophecy about Christ and a type of Christ. The former is a specific reference to what is going to happen and the latter is more like a metaphor.
If we look in Genesis 3:15 we see these words, "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. (NASB)." Here we have the very first Messianic prophecy. Of course, we have a type of Christ even earlier in Adam who, like Jesus, was born in a supernatural way directly from God and is referenced in Romans 5:14 as I mentioned previously. Now, there are at least seven specific Messianic prophecies in Genesis and even more types of Christ. The point that I came to in class was that God was leaving us bread crumbs on the trail from the very beginning in order to lead us safely home. Like the hiker in the forest who leaves clues for those who follow, our God has left us signs, clues, and a trail of His Son's blood to follow because He cares for us.
This trail leads us all the way through the Old Testament to the cross of Calvary and onward to the triumphant return of our Lord. What an amazing God we serve and worship. His plan is so perfect and well thought out that He was giving us hints and clues from dayone six! There are those who claim that God is learning along the way as human history plays out but it seems to me He knew what the course was even before He set it in motion.
Some may say that God is unfair because His trail of crumbs is too hard to follow. I say it is evidence of His great creativity and if we miss it it is because of our self-induced blindness and hardness of heart. Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." If you are looking it is clear to see that God has left us a trail to follow that leads straight to the safety of His loving presence. The question is: will we see it and if we do will we follow it?
Godspeed,
Christian
What really got me excited was going over "types of Christ" and Messianic prophecies in Genesis. A "type of Christ," according to Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa, " is a historical fact that illustrates a spiritual truth." For instance, Romans 5:14 tells us that Adam was a "type" of Him who was to come, referring to Christ. Another way to put this would be foreshadowing. We've all seen this in our literature classes when an author foreshadows or alludes to something that is going to happen in the future. The same can be seen in Genesis, and all the other books, regarding Christ. It is important to understand that there is a difference between a prophecy about Christ and a type of Christ. The former is a specific reference to what is going to happen and the latter is more like a metaphor.
If we look in Genesis 3:15 we see these words, "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. (NASB)." Here we have the very first Messianic prophecy. Of course, we have a type of Christ even earlier in Adam who, like Jesus, was born in a supernatural way directly from God and is referenced in Romans 5:14 as I mentioned previously. Now, there are at least seven specific Messianic prophecies in Genesis and even more types of Christ. The point that I came to in class was that God was leaving us bread crumbs on the trail from the very beginning in order to lead us safely home. Like the hiker in the forest who leaves clues for those who follow, our God has left us signs, clues, and a trail of His Son's blood to follow because He cares for us.
This trail leads us all the way through the Old Testament to the cross of Calvary and onward to the triumphant return of our Lord. What an amazing God we serve and worship. His plan is so perfect and well thought out that He was giving us hints and clues from day
Some may say that God is unfair because His trail of crumbs is too hard to follow. I say it is evidence of His great creativity and if we miss it it is because of our self-induced blindness and hardness of heart. Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." If you are looking it is clear to see that God has left us a trail to follow that leads straight to the safety of His loving presence. The question is: will we see it and if we do will we follow it?
Godspeed,
Christian
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