Jesus, the True and Better

We spent an hour yesterday morning in our Bible study at church going through the book of Matthew. The only thing we studied out of the book were the specific Old Testament prophecies it records that Jesus fulfilled. I plan to do a post on that someday. 

It reminded me, though, of a quote Pastor Michael used in one of his sermons, "The Purpose of the Big 12 [Minor Prophets]," he preached a couple of weeks ago. In the sermon, he quoted from a 2006 sermon by Tim Keller. The quote, to me, is a powerful (and extremely brief and non-exhaustive) summation of the general foreshadowing of Jesus Christ that God accomplished in the Old Testament. It speaks to me about God's sovereignty. The OT is not just a collection of stories about God's chosen people, Israel. (Speaking of sovereign, God choosing the nation of Israel is a pretty sweet argument for election, but I won't go into that now.) The OT was orchestrated by a powerful and sovereign God to point like a flashing arrow towards the coming life and sacrifice of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.

Check this out: 

-   Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed (credited) to us (his people).

·  Jesus is the true and better Able who though innocently slain has blood now that does not cry out for our condemnation but for our acquittal.

·  Jesus is the true and better Abraham who full of God left the comfortable to go out into the void to create a new people of God.

·  Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was offered but not just offered up on the mount but, was truly sacrificed.  God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because did not withhold your son, your only son from me.  Now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your only Son, whom you love, from us.”

·  Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow for us so that we could receive wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

·  Jesus is the true and better Joseph who sits at the right hand of the king and forgives those who betrayed him and uses his power to save them. 

·  Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

· Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses who being struck with the rod of God’s justice now gives us water in the desert.

· Jesus is the true and better Job with truly innocent suffering who now intercedes for us and saves his ignorant friends.

· Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes the people’s victory because they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

· Jesus is the true and better Ester who didn’t just risk loosing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate heavenly palace and didn’t just risk his life but gave his life to save his people.

· Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

· Jesus is the real rock of Moses, he is the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect.

·  He is the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread—the Bible is really not about you is it?  It is about Jesus Christ!