Christ in the Old Testament

We meet the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time in the New Testament where his birth, ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection are recorded in the gospels.

Then, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and Revelation, we encounter him in connection with our relationship with him and how to live for him.

Now, since the Bible is both Old and New Testaments, do we encounter Christ also in the Old Testament?  Oh yes, we do!

Christ in Genesis

Right there in Genesis chapter one, we meet Christ as the light that expelled the darkness that was on the surface of the deep when God created heaven and earth.  “Let there be light,” God said, “and there was light” (Genesis 1:3).

That light was Christ, for he himself said, “I am the light of the world,” (John 8:12).  Moreover, John the gospel writer wrote, “In him was life, and that life was the light for all mankind” (John 1:4).

It is because Christ is light that he who believes in him should not walk in darkness or get entangled in shady deals.

Christ at the fall

We meet Christ again at the fall of mankind, and that encounter demonstrates how much God loves us.  

When pronouncing the punishment for the serpent who caused Adam and Eve to sin, God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

The “offspring of the woman” refers to Christ, for it is he who would crush the head of the serpent.  In 1 John 3:8 we read, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s works,” which he did at the cross.

It is amazing that God introduces to us his Son, who would deal with sin, right at the time when punishment for sin was being pronounced on Satan.  

Christ in Exodus

Where I encountered Christ in the book of Exodus, my jaw dropped in astonishment.  Observe carefully how the Israelites were to apply the blood on their doorposts just before they fled Egypt—

“And they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses” (Exodus 12:7).

Do you see what I see?  Blood on the upper door post, blood on the left side, blood on the right side.  What do you see?  Well, I see the sign of the cross!  

Does seeing the sign of the cross in that passage seem like squeezing liquid out of a stone?  Maybe, but remember that the Passover event signified the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery, which resembles our salvation through Christ Jesus whose blood was shed for us.

Christ in Isaiah

Now here is the mother of all encounters—Isaiah 53.  The entire chapter is a prophecy about Christ the suffering servant of the Lord.

His suffering, rejection, oppression, affliction, death and resurrection are all vividly predicted in Isaiah 53.  Likewise, the peace we have through his suffering and our punishment which he took upon himself.  When Peter wrote that “By his wounds we are healed” (1 Peter 2:24), he was quoting Isaiah 53:5. 

It was Isaiah 53 that the Ethiopian Eunuch was reading when the Holy Spirit led Philip to his chariot (Acts 8:26-38).  When Philip explained to him that what he was reading was about Jesus Christ, he believed and asked to be baptised.

It is not enough to know; what is important is to believe and be baptised. 

A virgin conceives Immanuel

King Ahaz was in serious trouble because two powerful kings had ganged up to destroy Judah. To assure him of victory, God sent prophet Isaiah to tell him, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14) — that is, “God with us.”

For a virgin to conceive was unheard of, but that was how the Old Testament prophet described the birth of Christ.  Gospel writer Matthew notes the fulfilment of this prophecy in Matthew 1:23. 

When you are in trouble, take heart because of Immanuel, for God is with us—if we call upon him.  That is the assurance we need every day. 

And to underscore this important prophecy, there came a repetition of it in Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . .”  Note his other names besides Immanuel — “. . . Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

That the child would be called “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father” is simply amazing.  Years to come, the Jesus would say, “I and the Father are one!”

When you are reading the Old Testament, look out for the Messiah, for he is all over the place.