The Redemptive Nature of All Scripture
Christ our mediator, the mediator for all of humanity did not begin in the New Testament. If we really look at scripture closely from the time of the Fall, the Flood, the Ark, the Passover, Red Sea, the Promised Land, the Exile, return, war and peace, kingdom, kings, prophets, priests, the temple, its sacrifices and rituals, wisdom, death, life, lament and rejoicing. Then we can see how the lives of many faithful sufferers and blood of righteous martyrs, the Old Testament is filled with Jesus.
Let’s not forget that we are talking about our Lord, Christ Jesus who is fully human standing at the right hand of God the Father. He is aware of you right now, your thoughts, your sins and he see you. We can and should have a relationship with him. The grace and mercy he shows us today had a beginning in time, after the Fall.
There is an ever increasing pattern of grace and mercy starting with the Pre-incarnate Son of God as he walked with Adam/Eve and became our mediator between us and a Holy God the Father after the Fall. The faith of people like Moses was ultimately a Messianic faith, inspired by God and written by men.
“25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in.” Luke 24: 25-27
“22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he …” Acts: 26:22-23.
“10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.” 1 Peter 1:10-12
New Testament writers were very clear in referring to Christ in the Old Testament.
The “I Am” in whom Abraham rejoiced was Jesus.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:56–58
The Lord who motivated Moses was Christ.
“26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” Hebrews 11:26
The Redeemer who brought them out of Egypt was Jesus.
“5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” Jude 5
The Rock in the wilderness was Christ.
“4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4
The King of Isaiah’s temple vision was the Son.
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” John 12:40–41
Christ was present from the very beginning and as such neither God nor our faith has changed since the original covenant. We see the Triune pattern and it also continues throughout scripture and our reality.
Even without first reading the New Testament you can start in Genesis and see Christ. We see him as “The Angel of the Lord” or “The Angel of God” among other names. He appeared audibly, physically as a “man” figure, not human, to many. The terms used are Theophany for an appearance of God or a Christophany for an appearance of Christ. The Angel of the Lord is the Lord! The Angel first appears to Hagar and then once Christ is incarnate, we see him still in for example John 18:5-8: 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” [a] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus[b] said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”
When Jesus said “I am” the men drew back and fell to the ground. Did they know who he actually was? Psalm 9:3 reminds us: “When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.” God’s mere presence makes these men even though they really did not understand to bow before him. You and I have never experienced the awe and power of our Lord’s physical presence, but one day we will. Jesus came to bear the divine name and carry out God the Father’s will in the flesh.
The Old Testament shows us that The Angel of the Lord is the mediating Divine Angel. He guided Israel, they sinned against him and he repeatedly withdrew his presence and they returned to his covenant, His love for his people. Today our Lord who was revealed in both testaments and as we read about him, we then can see how He is here for us today and with his future grace as we move closer to eternity with him. Christ and the Person of the Holy Spirit are indwelling us, let us worship and glorify him. Amen
For further study: The Angel of the Lord - A Biblical, Historical, and theological Study by Matt Foreman and Doug Van Dorn
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