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"Christianity"
in the Old Testament.
The God of the Old Testament
"No man has seen God at any time", we are told. John 1:18.
Although this is true, many have seen, walked, talked and even eaten with the Son of God both before and after His incarnation upon this earth.
In this way they have also seen and learnt about His Father, for the Bible goes on to say, "The only-begotten Son ... He has declared [or shown] Him". He who is the LORD God once asked His Father to glorify Him "with the glory which I had with you before the world was", and also said, "I have manifested Your name [a description of His character] to the men which You gave Me out of the world". John 17:5-6.
Jesus often appeared to men and women in Old Testament times, sometimes looking like a Man, sometimes looking like an Angel. This was to show them the glory of His Father also. Through these meetings they got to know Him, not only physically, but also as a Saviour and Giver of righteousness.
The Creator God
It is also written of Him,
"God ... has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He has appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds". Hebrews 1:1-2.
We must not miss the fact that "[He] is the image of the invisible God ... [and] by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in the earth ... all things were created by Him, and for Him". Colossians 1:15-16.
It was He who walked and talked as the LORD God with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3:8. The gospel promise and a picture of His sacrifice were given to the first repentant pair just outside the garden of Eden when they had, by transgression, separated themselves from God.
The promise
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between Your seed and her seed", Jesus the LORD told their tempter. Genesis 3:15.
This "enmity" which was now between them and Satan was the grace of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, freely offered to sinners, even those who do not recognise that their own righteousness is "as filthy rags". Isaiah 64:6. But Adam and Eve came and answered their LORD's call to "Let us reason together". They believed His words that "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow". Isaiah 1:18. They accepted His gift.
The picture
They also accepted the symbol of His robe of righteousness, the lamb skin. "Unto Adam also and unto his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them", we are told. Genesis 3:21. Their reaction was like the prophet's. "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness". Isaiah 61:10. They believed in Him and found Him a present Saviour.
They too said, "I will mention the loving-kindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving-kindnesses". Isaiah 63:7.
He replied: "Surely they are My people, children that will not lie [in this]: so He was their Saviour. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old". Isaiah 63:8-9. Through Him who is "The express image of His [Father's] person" they found their salvation there and then, and accepted the promise of their redemption as a future event. Hebrews 1:3. [Comment].
The gift of grace
As soon as Adam sinned, the Son of God presented Himself in His divinity as surety for the human race, with just as much power to avert the doom pronounced upon the guilty as when He died in His humanity upon the cross of Calvary. The instant man accepted the temptations of Satan, and did the very things God had said he should not do, Christ, the Son of God, stood between the living and the dead, saying, "Let the punishment fall on Me. I will stand in man's place. He shall have another chance". Thus began the gift of grace, for He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world". Revelation 13:8.
God's people have always believed from the very beginning that the word spoken to Satan would come true. They just did not know clearly HOW this would occur. God had said to Satan, "It shall bruise Your head, and you shall bruise His heel". Genesis 3:15. By this He was warning Satan that his slaying of Jesus at Calvary would rebound and inflict a fatal wound upon himself. [Comment]
The "mystery" - an unknown truth
Paul later wrote that he would like "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ". Ephesians 3:9.
This "mystery" is more easily understood when we realise that the visible God of the Old Testament was always the LORD Jesus Christ. He is the One through whom God the Father communicated to fallen human beings. Ever since Adam's sin, the human race has been cut off from direct access with God the Father because His holiness would kill any who came near Him with sin in their lives. Jesus "veiled" that glory to allow contact to be re-established straight after the sin of Adam. All dialogue between heaven and earth in the Old Testament times was through Christ, but when He came "in the likeness of sinful flesh" the Father Himself spoke at His baptism. Romans 8:3. "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", He said. Matthew 3:17. Up till then He had communicated with humanity through Christ; now He could reach us in Christ.
Every soul saved in the former dispensation was saved by Jesus as verily, and in the same way, as we are saved by Him today, for the people with the patriarchs and prophets were also given the opportunity to become re-born. Their Saviour told them, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh". Ezekiel 36:26.
It was in response to such promises that David prayed, "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions ... Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me". Psalm 51:2-10.
Therefore, all those who were before, as well as those who came after Abraham, all those who believed with the same faith that he did, received the same gift of righteousness. Thus they too came to be called "Christians" or "Christ-like". A very early record states, "And to Seth [one of Adam's sons] to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call themselves by the name of the LORD". Genesis 4:26 margin. Seth's older brother, Abel, "obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying [of it] ..." Hebrews 11:4.
These all received their righteousness as a gift,
"Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God: being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus". Romans 3:22-24.
What was it that all these receivers of righteousness believed in? Not a thing or a doctrine, but a Person. Not just a future event, but a present Saviour, a Person who had the power of the Creator, and One who saved them from the power of sin then and there. Moses told his people,
"The LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live". Deuteronomy 30:6.
The Jews
Their descendants are today called Jews because they are mainly descended from the tribe of Judah, the tribe of faithful men such as Caleb. Of him it is written that he, "... wholly followed the LORD God of Israel". Joshua 14:14. It was this tribe that Jesus blessed, by choosing to be born into one of their families. "For it is evident", the New Testament writer states, "that our LORD sprang out of Judah". Hebrews 7:14.
Later, in the wilderness of temptation, in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross, in His humanity our Saviour measured weapons with the prince of darkness. [Comment]. His wounds became the trophies of His victory in behalf of the race. When Christ hung in agony upon the cross, while evil spirits rejoiced and evil men reviled, then indeed His heel was bruised by Satan. But that very act was crushing the serpent's head. The death of Jesus destroyed "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil", for this act decided the destiny of the rebel chief, and made forever plain the plan of redemption. Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 12:10-12. In submitting to death Christ gained the victory over its power, for in rising again, He proved that the gates of the grave were open to all His followers. He was "declared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead". Romans 1:4. In that great conflict we see fulfilled the prophecy, for our LORD won without physically fighting at all!
It was "by faith" that the Christians of the Old Testament offered their sacrifices, for we are told that "The LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering". Genesis 4:4. It is also written, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous". Hebrews 11:4. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him". Hebrews 11:6. Therefore their faith was not just a forward-looking one as so many assume, but also a very present reality to them. [Comment]. We are not saved by "faith" but by a Person, the LORD Jesus Christ. Through faith we acknowledge the grace of God, but faith is not our saviour. It earns nothing. It is merely the hand by which we lay hold upon Christ, and appropriate His merits, His righteousness, the remedy for sin.
We cannot even repent without the aid of the LORD. The Scripture says of Christ, "Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness for sins". Acts 5:31. Repentance comes from Christ as truly as does pardon.
A multitude of offerings
However this faith and understanding which was behind the true sacrifices was soon polluted and eventually Samuel, as had others before him, had to say, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams". 1 Samuel 15:22. This was because he understood that the sacrificial offerings of ancient times had of themselves no value in the sight of God. In fact, He had not wanted the sacrificial SYSTEM which was set up after the exodus from Egypt!! [Comment]. Each offerer who presented a sacrifice before the LORD needed a true sense of its import. One offering, once in a lifetime, to represent the one offering of Jesus was all that God required of them. "For by one offering He has perfected for ever them that are sanctified". Hebrews 10:14.
Each one must acknowledge his or her present lost condition as a sinner and accept the death of Christ in his or her place, at that moment. Then each one must repent of their transgressions of God's law and exercise faith in the LORD Jesus as the only One who could give them the power to overcome. Peter tells us, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved". Acts 4:12.
The olive tree
Through the example of the branches of an olive tree the LORD shows the place of both the Old and the New Testament Christians in His plan. He caused these words to be written for the benefit of those who began to despise the earlier "Christians" known as Jews.
"And if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches. But if you boast , [remember] you bear not the root, but the root [bears] you. You will say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in! Well: because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith [as they should have]. Be not high-minded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not you ... And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in [again]: for God is able to graft them in again". Romans 11:17-23.
Hundreds of years before this a prophet had forecast, "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, ... Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear [or respect] the LORD and His goodness in the latter days". Hosea 3:4-5. Paul knew this promise and wrote accordingly.
Other apostles and disciples had the same knowledge.
"The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the Light of men ... That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world ... as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name". John 1:2-12.
Joseph was told, "you shall call His name Jesus [= Saviour, margin], for He shall save His people". Matthew 1:21.
The gospel is everlasting
The everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ, "The power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16), was first preached to the people of the Old Testament, then to us in the New dispensation. It is recorded: "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them [those in the wilderness with Moses]: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it". Hebrews 4:2. The gospel of Jesus Christ was there, but not many had faith in Him to receive it, so eventually God had to call another group who would receive it. But it has always been available.
"We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision [a visible member of God's church] or in uncircumcision [a member of the invisible church]? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And [then] he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised that he might be the father [in type] of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised [are not in the visible church]; that righteousness might be imputed to them also [to all them that believe as he believed]: and [therefore he is] the father of circumcision to them that are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith ..." Romans 4:9-12.
"For he is not a Jew [i.e. a Christian or believer] which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew [i.e. a Christian] which is one inwardly, and circumcision is [really] that of the heart, in the Spirit ..." Romans 2:28-29.
The record also states that "The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch". Acts 11:26. This was because they spoke about Him often, then followed in His steps by imitating His actions and became "Christ-like", for this is what the word means. It was their opponents who gave them the name.
The Holy Spirit
Not only was the presence and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ available in the Old Testament, but His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, was also there. He is mentioned from the very beginning, when He "moved upon the face of the waters" at the creation of Adam's home. Genesis 1:2. The LORD warned His church even back there that His Spirit "shall not always strive with men", but could be grieved away. Genesis 6:3.
After the exodus from Egypt, Bezaleel was "filled with the Spirit of God" to enable him to build a suitable house for the presence of Jesus Christ his LORD. Exodus 31:3. Some of the gifts of the Spirit were removed from Moses and shared among the seventy elders. Numbers 11:17. Even Balaam, the one-time prophet of God, came under the influence of the Spirit when he tried to curse the church of God in the wilderness. Numbers 24:2. The Spirit of the LORD was upon Gideon, upon Jepthah, upon Samson and upon many others, to enable them to guide the people of their times. Judges 6:34; 11:29; 13:25.
Nehemiah, when speaking to his LORD said, "You gave also Your good Spirit to instruct them"; and, "[You] testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets". Nehemiah 9:20,30. Job said, "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life". Job 33:4. Isaiah asked, "Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD?" Isaiah 40:13.
The Old Testament prophets were "filled with the Spirit", just as were the disciples of later times. "The Spirit of the LORD fell upon me", says Ezekiel, "and said unto me, Speak ..." Ezekiel 11:5. And there are many, many more witnesses who prove that the Holy Spirit was working for the salvation of the world just as long as Christ was.
Let us look at some of those witnesses and see how they saw the Son of God in their times.
The Giver of Righteousness
Adam and Eve knew Him as the "LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day". Genesis 3:8. They knew Him as the One who removed their fig-leaf attempts at covering themselves with righteousness, for He made "coats of skins and clothed them", as an object lesson of His covering righteousness. Genesis 3:21; Isaiah 61:10. [Comment].
The real Sacrifice
Abel also accepted His gift and was called "righteous Abel" by Him. Matthew 23:35. "By faith", he "offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain", because he showed that he understood the need of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in his life. Hebrews 11:4.
The returning King
Enoch "walked with God [his Creator] and he was not; for [the LORD] God took him". Genesis 5:24. But not before Jesus had been able to show Enoch the glory of His return in power and Enoch had passed on that information to the believers of his time. "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold the LORD comes with ten thousands of His saints ..." Jude 14. [Comment].
The Offerer of grace
Of Noah it is written, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD", and his LORD's comment was, "For you have I found righteous before Me in this generation". Genesis 6:8; 7:1.
The merciful Judge
"When Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ... keep My covenant". Genesis 17:1,9. When they talked at another time, after having had a meal together, Abraham asked Him, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?", thus showing that he knew Whom he was addressing. Genesis 18:25; John 5:22.
Jesus referred to His visits with Abraham when He told the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad". Their answer showed their unbelief for they retorted, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" He replied, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM". John 8:56-59. "Then took they up stones to cast at Him" for here He was laying claim to the name of the God who had spoken to Moses at the burning bush! Exodus 3:4.
The visible God
Moses met Him while he was minding sheep on the side of Mt. Sinai. "The Angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ... and when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him. Moreover He said, I am the God of Your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face: for he was afraid to look upon God". Exodus 3:2-6.
Here we see the same Person being described in three different ways: Angel, LORD and God - a very visible God.
The Rock of Ages
Paul explained to the people of his time, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud [which concealed Jesus Christ, Exodus 13:21-22; 16:10], and all passed through the sea, and were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat [food]; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that went with them, and that Rock was Christ". 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 margin. Moses had already written, "I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe you greatness unto our God. He is the Rock ... the Rock of his salvation". Deuteronomy 32:1-18.
The One like God
This powerful Person has another very descriptive name in the Bible. It is Michael, which means "He who is like God". It was He who came to the grave of Moses soon after his death and resurrected him. Jude 9. It was He who had said that "If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. [With] My servant Moses [it] is not so, who is faithful in all My house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude [form] of the LORD shall he behold ..." Numbers 12:6-8.
The commandment Giver
Before this, not only Moses, but a great number of the people had met and eaten with their Saviour. The record states, "Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under His feet as it were the paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in His clearness. [Comment]. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand: also they saw [the LORD] God, and did eat and drink [with Him]. And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mount ... and I will give you tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that you may teach them". Exodus 24:9-12.
To His later disciples Jesus still says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments". John 14:15.
Stephen reminded his persecutors that Moses "was in the church in the wilderness with the Angel which spoke to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles [the ten laws of life - otherwise known as the Ten Commandments] to give unto us". Acts 7:38.
The Raiser of guides
Samson's father and mother were visited by the Angel of the LORD, and when He was asked what His name was, He replied, "Why ask you thus after My name, seeing it is Wonderful?" Judges 13:18 margin. Later Isaiah told the Israelites that His name was indeed Wonderful. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace". Isaiah 9:6.
When Manoah realised who their Visitor had been he said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife [who was more in tune with the LORD's ways] said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands ..." Judges 13:22-23. Those offerings represented the dedication of their lives, with their possessions and talents, and the Angel accepted them as His right.
The Forgiver of sins
"David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high; the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said; The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me; He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear [or respect] of God ..." 2 Samuel 23:1-5.
David knew enough of the way of salvation to ask Jesus his LORD to "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin ... Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation ...", when he made his confession. Psalm 51:2-12. He also said, "Blessed [happy] is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered", for he had experienced this in his own life. Psalm 32:1. He looked forward to the promise of future redemption while he experienced the salvation of the present.
The Resurrecter
Job told us, "I know that my Redeemer lives [is alive right now], and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin [moulders away and] worms destroy this body, yet in my [resurrected] flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold ..." Job 19:25-27.
The Sustainer
When Elijah "slept under a juniper tree, behold, an Angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat ... and the Angel of the LORD came again the second time and touched him, and said, Arise and eat ..." After this he went to Mount Sinai where "the LORD passed by", but He was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, for He comes in gentleness, "a still small voice". 1 Kings 19:5-12.
The "married" One
Jeremiah knew Him as "The LORD our righteousness", and said of the people who would reflect His glory, "This is the name wherewith SHE shall be called, The LORD our righteousness: [because they are His spiritual wife]". Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16. He is known as the "Husband" of all the redeemed from this earth. Hosea 2:16-20; Ephesians 5:32.
The shining One
Ezekiel wrote, "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire [blue] stone: and upon the likeness of the throne as the appearance of a Man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of His loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD". Ezekiel 1:26-28.
The rainbow above the throne, the bow of promise, testifies to us that the LORD will never forget His people in their struggles. We need not fail nor be discouraged while we know that the bow of promise is above His head. As the earthly rainbow is formed by the union of sunlight and shower, so the one above the throne of God represents the combined power of mercy and justice which is available to all believers, as David wrote another time. "Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory [the glory of the LORD] may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other". Psalm 85:9-10.
The mighty One
Daniel saw Him in a similar way to that of Paul (Acts 9) ....................... and John (Revelation 1).
"I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold a certain Man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and His face as the appearance of lightning, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of His words like the voice of a multitude. And I Daniel alone saw the vision; for the men that were with me saw not the vision: but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves". Daniel 10:5-7.
In the furnace
Daniel had already described his LORD to his king, who was then able to recognise Him in the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God". Daniel 3:24-25.
The listening One
Hosea records for us the experience that Jacob had when he wrestled with the LORD and obtained that which he sought. "He took his brother by the heel in the womb", the prophet mentions, to show us that his desire to be first was there from birth. But neither force nor deception would get him the prize. Then Hosea continues, "[But] by his strength [or faith] he had power with God. [He behaved himself princely the marginal reading says]. Yes, he had power over the Angel, and prevailed".
Then Hosea tells us how he got that power. "He wept, and made supplication unto Him: he found Him in Bethel [the house of God], and there He spoke with us, even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is His memorial". Hosea 12:3-5. Genesis 32:22-30. When Jacob wanted the power to help his brother, then he received it. It was when he wanted to be like Christ that he obtained it, not before.
The Lamb of God
John the Baptist saw Him as many of the Old Testament Christians had seen Him; as the Lamb "which takes away the sin of the world". John 1:29.
The Destroyer of sin
Jesus told Nicodemus that He had revealed Himself to many of the patriarchs through the image of the brass serpent which was lifted up by Moses in answer to a plague that was killing his people. In this way He illustrated to them His death upon the cross at Calvary which He would use to draw men to Him. Through this picture He made plain His work and told them that He would save them by accepting the wages of sin on their behalf. John 3:14; Romans 6:23.
Although the Israel of old had "mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets", He had still manifested Himself to them as "the LORD God, merciful, and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth". 2 Chronicles 36:16; Exodus 34:6. In spite of repeated rejections by them, His mercy continued its pleading. With more than a father's pitying love for the son of his care, God had "sent unto them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place [the hearts of His people]". 2 Chronicles 36:15.
When remonstrance, entreaty and rebuke failed, He tried again by giving them the best gift of heaven. He poured out all His treasure in one great donation. A priceless and eternal offering pictured by Christ's death at Calvary. John 3:16.
However, before this object lesson the Son of God came personally to plead with His impenitent people. It was Christ who had brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt. He had planted it "in a very fruitful hill". His guarding care had hedged it about. His servants had been sent to nurture it. "What could have been done more to My vineyard", He exclaims, "that I have not done in it?" Isaiah 5:1-7; Luke 20:9-16. "Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be that they will reverence him when they see him". Luke 20:13. He was very reluctant to turn from them and start a new movement. Only after they had rejected Him so decisively did this occur about three and a half years after His crucifixion. Acts 7:60.
But for three and a half years before the crucifixion the LORD "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil". Acts 10:38. He bound up the broken-hearted, set at liberty them that were bound, restored sight to the blind, caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead and preached the everlasting gospel to the poor in spirit. Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:4-6. To all classes alike was addressed the gracious call: "Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". Matthew 11:28. A homeless wanderer, reproach and poverty His daily lot, He lived to minister to the needs and to lighten the woes of men, to plead with them to accept the gift of life, just as He had always done since the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8.
"There [truly] is [only] one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one LORD, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ". Ephesians 4:4-7.
How can this be?
Because He is not only "the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world", but He is also the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world". John 1:29; Revelation 13:8. His faithful ones have known of this ever since then. He "died" to give His righteousness to Adam and to Eve in their necessity and He will continue that same "dying" as long as He is needed and accepted. This was done by Him in His divinity and will continue to be done until the last sinner is saved to become the last Christian, or the last Christian confesses his or her last sin. It is not a series of deaths, but an ever-continuing one! [See "The Continuing Sacrifice" for more on this subject]. One that cannot be finalised until "it is finished" at the end of time. "In the end of the world", it is written of Him, "has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself". Hebrews 9:26.
It is His divinity which gives us salvation, not His humanity.
Humanly speaking, He was like any other Christian, and therefore the sacrifice of His human body could not solve the problem of sin, for His Father is not an angry God to be appeased by a blood sacrifice as the heathen gods were thought to be.
"Therefore, when He came into the world, He said,
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
but a body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
Then I said, Behold, I have come -
in the volume of the Book it is written of Me -
to do Your will, O God".
Hebrews 10:5-7 NKJ.
It was because we need the gift of His divine nature that He "dies". It was that we "might be partakers of the divine nature" that He made the great sacrifice of which the events on Calvary are a picture. 2 Peter 1:4.
Calvary was not at the end of the world, nor was it the end of His suffering. [Comment].
His physical death there was a once only representation of His divine "death". It does not need to be repeated in the way the high priest had to repeat his ceremony every year. It is said of the Son of God, "Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with the blood of others". Hebrews 9:25. We are NOT saved by the death of the physical body of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, but by the gift of His divine righteousness today! That is why we have been told that there are "Given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust". 2 Peter 1:4.
The human sacrifice was necessary as a "proof" of the divine one. [Comment].
But the real sacrifice or "death" of Jesus Christ is the one He continues to make for each Christian every day to forgive them their transgressions and to remove from them the last vestiges of sin's effects. Only when the last Christian grows into maturity will Jesus be able to say, "It is finished" for the last time in regard to His work of salvation.
Then will begin the work of redemption.
It is written of His present work that He as an Angel "Came and stood at the altar [in heaven], having a golden censer: and there was given unto Him much incense, that He should add it to the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the Angel's hand [until] ... the Angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast [sent] it into the earth". Revelation 8:3-5 margin. Then, when the maturing process is finished He will no longer need to add any more of His righteousness [the incense] to the prayers of His people for they will be using all of it continually.
He was making His sacrifice just as much during His daily walk on this earth as when He hung on the cross of Calvary, for His is a "living" sacrifice, in line with the principle we are shown in the following words. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service". Romans 12:1. That is, if we wish to follow in His footsteps, for "He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me". Luke 9:23.
He took this principle to its uttermost, because His church had been so blind and needed the demonstration of Calvary. But now he expects better things of us. "And all these [the men and women of the past], having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise [they are still waiting for their redemption]; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect". Hebrews 11:39-40. That "better thing" is for us to have an opportunity to display His righteousness in all its fullness that they may be resurrected. "The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming in to their own". Romans 8:19... J. B. Phillips translation.
They are waiting for us to use our day of opportunity!
Will we?
oooOooo