The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Bible Study Time 9-10-06
Church links:
Bible Study Time 9-10-06
When we look at the Old Testament scriptures, we find only two chapters devoted to the creation of the universe while more than fifty chapters are devoted to the Tabernacle and its rituals. Similarly, we find that the first 2000 years of human history is recorded in the first 12 chapters of the book of Genesis while the last fourteen chapters of Genesis are devoted to the life of Joseph.
Obviously, God had a specific purpose in mind when He wrote the Bible, but what purpose would dictate spending so much time on the tabernacle and the life of Joseph. The Tabernacle was just a tent which was moved from place to place as the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness. Joseph was not even in the bloodline of the Lord Jesus and no eternal promises were given to Joseph.
The reason that there is so much attention paid to the life of Joseph and the Tabernacle is that they were both detailed pictures of Jesus Christ, and in this we see the purpose or the theme of the entire Bible. God gave the Bible to reveal the full glory of Jesus Christ.
The Bible reveals the life of Christ with the Father before the creation. It reveals His interaction with the nation of Israel throughout the Old Testament. It reveals His willingness to accept a body of flesh so that He could die for the sins of the world, conquer death by means of the resurrection and then be exalted in heaven where He sits today at the right hand of the Father. Finally, it reveals that someday Christ will return to the earth to rule in a kingdom of righteousness and peace.
The Tabernacle with its courtyards, sanctuaries, furniture and vessels presented a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. The bronze altar (Exodus 27:1-8) was a picture of the cross on which the Lord Jesus was offered as a whole burnt offering. The laver, in which the priests washed before entering the Holy of Holies or before approaching the altar was a type of Christ cleansing the believer from the defilement of sin (John 13:2-10) and from every spot or wrinkle or any such thing, as Ephesians 5 puts it. The golden lampstand pictured Christ as the light of the world while the showbread pictured the fact that Christ is the Bread of Life.
Then, of coarse, the veil in front of the Holy of Holies pictured the spiritual separation which existed between God and man until Jesus Christ entered the Holy of Holies to place His blood upon the mercy seat. When He entered, the veil was torn from top to bottom to show that mankind now has access to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ.
Everything about the Tabernacle pointed to Jesus Christ and the work that He was to accomplish upon the cross. The Bible places such an emphasis on the Tabernacle because the purpose of the Bible is to reveal the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Fourteen chapters of the Bible are devoted to the life of Joseph because his life is a picture of the life of Christ. Jacob had to wait a long time for the birth of Joseph. Joseph was called the son of Jacob’s old age. Accordingly, the nation of Israel had to wait for two thousand years for the birth of Jesus Christ.
Joseph was rejected by his brothers just as Jesus was rejected by the Jews. John said that Jesus came unto His own, but His own received Him not. Joseph was falsely accused and was sent down into prison only to be raised up out of that prison to become the ruler of Egypt. Likewise, Jesus Christ was sentence to death on the basis of false testimony. He was crucified and buried, but after 3 days He was raised from the dead to a place of exaltation and glory at the right hand of the Father. Time and time again we see the person and work of the Lord Jesus in the life of Joseph.
Though it is not a history book, the Bible is accurate in all of its historical facts. The Bible is accurate in all of its scientific details, but it was not given as a science textbook. The Bible was written by men, but it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the overall theme of the whole book is the revelation of Jesus Christ. In John 5, the Lord Jesus chastised the Pharisees, saying:
John 5:37 (NKJ)
37 " . . . the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.
In other words, they had never seen God, the Father, or heard His voice, but the Father had given clear testimony concerning the Lord Jesus through the prophets. Then Jesus said:
John 5:38 (NKJ)
38 " . . . you do not have (the Father’s) word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
Obviously, God’s word was not abiding in the Pharisees because they did not believe in Jesus Christ. Those who have the word of God abiding in them are the ones who believe in Jesus Christ. Then Jesus said:
John 5:39 (NKJ)
39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
All of the Bible from the book of Genesis to the book of the Revelation was given to reveal Jesus Christ, but as the natural man reads the scriptures, his mind can not comprehend the glory of that revelation. It was not until after the Christ’s resurrection that He personally opened the eyes of His disciples so that they could see Christ in the scriptures. In Luke 24, Jesus said:
Luke 24:44-46 (NKJ)
44 . . . "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
The disciples could not understand the prophecies concerning Christ in the Old Testament until the Lord opened their understanding, and people today are no different. Without supernatural intervention, we can not see the glory of Christ in the Bible. But Paul says that we who believe have this supernatural intervention through the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians, Chapter 2, says:
1 Corinthians 2:12-14,16 (NKJ)
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned . . .
16 For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
The Holy Spirit reveals the mind of Christ to us and creates the mind of Christ within us. We come to know Christ as the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His essential nature and character never change. He is always faithful, gentle, kind and loving. However, as we read through the scriptures, we see that the Lord Jesus is presented in different ways in the different programs of God.
In most of the Old Testament scriptures, God was dealing specifically with the nation of Israel, and there Christ is presented there as Israel’s coming Messiah. He is seen as the Anointed One who will someday serve as Israel’s Prophet, Priest and King. We see Christ in the types or pictures such as the Tabernacle and the life of Joseph, and we see Him in the promises and the prophesies as well.
In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Lord Jesus is seen as the One who came down out of heaven to become a man. He is the Son of God who became the Son of Man so that He could reign as King over all the earth. At one point Isaiah prophesied about the Lord Jesus and said:
Isaiah 9:6 (NKJ)
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder . . .
As the Son of Man, Jesus was born as a child, but as the Son of God, He is eternal and could not be born. Therefore, as the child He was born, but as the Son, He was given. He came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, saying, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He did miracles, wonders and signs to prove that He was the Son of God, but in spite of His gracious words and His stunning miracles, He was rejected and crucified upon the cross of Calvary.
During the Acts period, the Lord Jesus is presented as the resurrected and ascended Christ who is waiting in heaven for Israel to repent of their sin of unbelief so that He can return to the earth and establish the kingdom. In Acts, Chapter 2, Peter said:
Acts 2:22-24,36 (NKJ)
22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know--
23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it . . .
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
During this time period, the apostles also did many miracles to validate their message, but again, the nation of Israel refused the kingdom which God was graciously offering to them.
With Israel’s rejection of Christ complete at the end of the Acts period, God temporarily set aside Israel’s kingdom program to call out the Church which is the Body of Christ. This new program is revealed by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians and in His pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus. Paul wrote these epistles after the Acts period while he was still in his Roman prison. In these epistles, Paul revealed the Lord Jesus as the Head over all things to the Church which is His Body. In Ephesians, Chapter 1, we read that:
Ephesians 1:20-23 (NKJ)
20 . . . (God) raised (Christ) from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 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.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Then in Colossians, Chapter 1, Paul said:
Colossians1:24-26 (NKJ)
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
The prophets never spoke of this church to which we belong today because they knew nothing about it. Paul said that this truth was a stewardship which was given to him but had been hidden from the previous generations throughout the ages.
The prophets who knew about the death of Christ, envisioned a scenario in which the resurrected Christ would be accepted by Israel during the tribulation period. The fact that Israel was going to reject the resurrected Christ was a mystery, and therefore, the Church which came about as a result of their rejection was also a mystery. In Ephesians, Paul said:
Ephesians 3:3,5,6 (NKJ)
3 . . . (God) made known to me the mystery
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
When Paul revealed the program for the Church, the Body of Christ, he revealed that the Church will be caught up to be with Christ in heaven before the tribulation period begins. But what about those who believe during the tribulation period? God has a word for them in the scriptures as well.
From the book of Hebrews to the book of the Revelation, we see Christ presented once again as Israel’s Messiah. In these books, the believing Jews of the tribulation period are encouraged to endure with patience the suffering which is caused by the antichrist. Finally, in the book of the Revelation, we see the second coming of Christ as He returns to the earth to defeat the forces of the antichrist before He rules over the earth for a thousand years and then on into eternity.
The purpose of the Bible is to reveal the full glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God whose name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. He is the One who is today exalted in heaven and who has been given the name which is above every name.
Someday every knee shall bow at the very mention of the name of Jesus, and before we close this morning, I’d like to just say that if you don’t know the Lord Jesus today, you can bow before Him right now. You can bow before Him in a spiritual sense. Even today, you can humble yourself before the Lord Jesus and call upon His name. If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day, God will give you everlasting life. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Obviously, God had a specific purpose in mind when He wrote the Bible, but what purpose would dictate spending so much time on the tabernacle and the life of Joseph. The Tabernacle was just a tent which was moved from place to place as the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness. Joseph was not even in the bloodline of the Lord Jesus and no eternal promises were given to Joseph.
The reason that there is so much attention paid to the life of Joseph and the Tabernacle is that they were both detailed pictures of Jesus Christ, and in this we see the purpose or the theme of the entire Bible. God gave the Bible to reveal the full glory of Jesus Christ.
The Bible reveals the life of Christ with the Father before the creation. It reveals His interaction with the nation of Israel throughout the Old Testament. It reveals His willingness to accept a body of flesh so that He could die for the sins of the world, conquer death by means of the resurrection and then be exalted in heaven where He sits today at the right hand of the Father. Finally, it reveals that someday Christ will return to the earth to rule in a kingdom of righteousness and peace.
The Tabernacle with its courtyards, sanctuaries, furniture and vessels presented a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. The bronze altar (Exodus 27:1-8) was a picture of the cross on which the Lord Jesus was offered as a whole burnt offering. The laver, in which the priests washed before entering the Holy of Holies or before approaching the altar was a type of Christ cleansing the believer from the defilement of sin (John 13:2-10) and from every spot or wrinkle or any such thing, as Ephesians 5 puts it. The golden lampstand pictured Christ as the light of the world while the showbread pictured the fact that Christ is the Bread of Life.
Then, of coarse, the veil in front of the Holy of Holies pictured the spiritual separation which existed between God and man until Jesus Christ entered the Holy of Holies to place His blood upon the mercy seat. When He entered, the veil was torn from top to bottom to show that mankind now has access to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ.
Everything about the Tabernacle pointed to Jesus Christ and the work that He was to accomplish upon the cross. The Bible places such an emphasis on the Tabernacle because the purpose of the Bible is to reveal the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Fourteen chapters of the Bible are devoted to the life of Joseph because his life is a picture of the life of Christ. Jacob had to wait a long time for the birth of Joseph. Joseph was called the son of Jacob’s old age. Accordingly, the nation of Israel had to wait for two thousand years for the birth of Jesus Christ.
Joseph was rejected by his brothers just as Jesus was rejected by the Jews. John said that Jesus came unto His own, but His own received Him not. Joseph was falsely accused and was sent down into prison only to be raised up out of that prison to become the ruler of Egypt. Likewise, Jesus Christ was sentence to death on the basis of false testimony. He was crucified and buried, but after 3 days He was raised from the dead to a place of exaltation and glory at the right hand of the Father. Time and time again we see the person and work of the Lord Jesus in the life of Joseph.
Though it is not a history book, the Bible is accurate in all of its historical facts. The Bible is accurate in all of its scientific details, but it was not given as a science textbook. The Bible was written by men, but it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the overall theme of the whole book is the revelation of Jesus Christ. In John 5, the Lord Jesus chastised the Pharisees, saying:
John 5:37 (NKJ)
37 " . . . the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.
In other words, they had never seen God, the Father, or heard His voice, but the Father had given clear testimony concerning the Lord Jesus through the prophets. Then Jesus said:
John 5:38 (NKJ)
38 " . . . you do not have (the Father’s) word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
Obviously, God’s word was not abiding in the Pharisees because they did not believe in Jesus Christ. Those who have the word of God abiding in them are the ones who believe in Jesus Christ. Then Jesus said:
John 5:39 (NKJ)
39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
All of the Bible from the book of Genesis to the book of the Revelation was given to reveal Jesus Christ, but as the natural man reads the scriptures, his mind can not comprehend the glory of that revelation. It was not until after the Christ’s resurrection that He personally opened the eyes of His disciples so that they could see Christ in the scriptures. In Luke 24, Jesus said:
Luke 24:44-46 (NKJ)
44 . . . "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
The disciples could not understand the prophecies concerning Christ in the Old Testament until the Lord opened their understanding, and people today are no different. Without supernatural intervention, we can not see the glory of Christ in the Bible. But Paul says that we who believe have this supernatural intervention through the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians, Chapter 2, says:
1 Corinthians 2:12-14,16 (NKJ)
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned . . .
16 For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
The Holy Spirit reveals the mind of Christ to us and creates the mind of Christ within us. We come to know Christ as the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His essential nature and character never change. He is always faithful, gentle, kind and loving. However, as we read through the scriptures, we see that the Lord Jesus is presented in different ways in the different programs of God.
In most of the Old Testament scriptures, God was dealing specifically with the nation of Israel, and there Christ is presented there as Israel’s coming Messiah. He is seen as the Anointed One who will someday serve as Israel’s Prophet, Priest and King. We see Christ in the types or pictures such as the Tabernacle and the life of Joseph, and we see Him in the promises and the prophesies as well.
In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Lord Jesus is seen as the One who came down out of heaven to become a man. He is the Son of God who became the Son of Man so that He could reign as King over all the earth. At one point Isaiah prophesied about the Lord Jesus and said:
Isaiah 9:6 (NKJ)
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder . . .
As the Son of Man, Jesus was born as a child, but as the Son of God, He is eternal and could not be born. Therefore, as the child He was born, but as the Son, He was given. He came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, saying, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He did miracles, wonders and signs to prove that He was the Son of God, but in spite of His gracious words and His stunning miracles, He was rejected and crucified upon the cross of Calvary.
During the Acts period, the Lord Jesus is presented as the resurrected and ascended Christ who is waiting in heaven for Israel to repent of their sin of unbelief so that He can return to the earth and establish the kingdom. In Acts, Chapter 2, Peter said:
Acts 2:22-24,36 (NKJ)
22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know--
23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it . . .
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
During this time period, the apostles also did many miracles to validate their message, but again, the nation of Israel refused the kingdom which God was graciously offering to them.
With Israel’s rejection of Christ complete at the end of the Acts period, God temporarily set aside Israel’s kingdom program to call out the Church which is the Body of Christ. This new program is revealed by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians and in His pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus. Paul wrote these epistles after the Acts period while he was still in his Roman prison. In these epistles, Paul revealed the Lord Jesus as the Head over all things to the Church which is His Body. In Ephesians, Chapter 1, we read that:
Ephesians 1:20-23 (NKJ)
20 . . . (God) raised (Christ) from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 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.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Then in Colossians, Chapter 1, Paul said:
Colossians1:24-26 (NKJ)
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
The prophets never spoke of this church to which we belong today because they knew nothing about it. Paul said that this truth was a stewardship which was given to him but had been hidden from the previous generations throughout the ages.
The prophets who knew about the death of Christ, envisioned a scenario in which the resurrected Christ would be accepted by Israel during the tribulation period. The fact that Israel was going to reject the resurrected Christ was a mystery, and therefore, the Church which came about as a result of their rejection was also a mystery. In Ephesians, Paul said:
Ephesians 3:3,5,6 (NKJ)
3 . . . (God) made known to me the mystery
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
When Paul revealed the program for the Church, the Body of Christ, he revealed that the Church will be caught up to be with Christ in heaven before the tribulation period begins. But what about those who believe during the tribulation period? God has a word for them in the scriptures as well.
From the book of Hebrews to the book of the Revelation, we see Christ presented once again as Israel’s Messiah. In these books, the believing Jews of the tribulation period are encouraged to endure with patience the suffering which is caused by the antichrist. Finally, in the book of the Revelation, we see the second coming of Christ as He returns to the earth to defeat the forces of the antichrist before He rules over the earth for a thousand years and then on into eternity.
The purpose of the Bible is to reveal the full glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God whose name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. He is the One who is today exalted in heaven and who has been given the name which is above every name.
Someday every knee shall bow at the very mention of the name of Jesus, and before we close this morning, I’d like to just say that if you don’t know the Lord Jesus today, you can bow before Him right now. You can bow before Him in a spiritual sense. Even today, you can humble yourself before the Lord Jesus and call upon His name. If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day, God will give you everlasting life. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
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