How the Old Testament Revealed the Coming of Jesus Christ By: Junior Tate The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem was not the beginning of God’s plan of redemption. Bethlehem was the place where the promised Messiah entered the world in human flesh, but the promise of His coming had been revealed throughout the Old Testament for centuries. The Messiah was not an unexpected figure who suddenly appeared in the New Testament. God had already declared that a Redeemer would come. He revealed the family line through which the Messiah would be born, the tribe from which He would come, the royal throne He would inherit, the place of His birth, the nature of His ministry, the rejection He would experience, the suffering He would endure, the death He would die, and the victory He would accomplish. The Scriptures progressively revealed the identity and mission of the coming Christ. The first promise was given in the Garden of Eden. Later promises were given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and the prophets. As the centuries passed, God provided more detail, narrowing the line of promise until the Messiah was born in Bethlehem. The New Testament does not separate Jesus from these promises. It repeatedly declares that the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled what had been written in the law, the prophets, and the Psalms. After His resurrection, Jesus spoke to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24:25-27 (KJV)“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Jesus declared that Moses and the prophets had written concerning Him. The Old Testament was preparing the way for the Messiah long before the shepherds heard the angels announce His birth near Bethlehem. The message of Scripture is clear: Jesus Christ was promised before Bethlehem. The Meaning of Messiah The word “Messiah” refers to the Anointed One. In the Old Testament, kings, priests, and sometimes prophets were anointed for service. But the Scriptures also looked forward to one particular Anointed One who would fulfill God’s redemptive purpose. The New Testament word “Christ” carries the same meaning. Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One promised in the Scriptures. When Andrew found his brother Simon Peter, he made a powerful declaration. John 1:40-42 (KJV)“One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” Andrew understood that the Messiah and the Christ were the same promised Person. The disciples did not invent this expectation. They had learned from the Scriptures that God would send His Anointed One. The First Promise of the Redeemer The first promise of the Messiah appears in the Garden of Eden immediately after mankind fell into sin. Adam and Eve had disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sin entered the human experience, and death followed. Yet during judgment, God spoke a promise concerning the future defeat of the serpent. Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This prophecy speaks of conflict between the serpent and the seed of the woman. The serpent would bruise His heel, but the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head. A wound to the heel is painful, but a crushed head represents decisive defeat. This passage pointed forward to the suffering and victory of Christ. Jesus would suffer, but through His death and resurrection He would defeat Satan’s claim over fallen humanity. The phrase “her seed” is also significant. Throughout Scripture, descendants are normally connected to the father’s line, yet this promise speaks specifically of the seed of the woman. This prepared the way for the later revelation that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. The New Testament explains that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8 (KJV)“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” The cross appeared to be Satan’s victory, but it became the place of his defeat. Through death, Christ destroyed the power of death. Hebrews 2:14-15 (KJV)“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Before there was Bethlehem, before there was Israel, before Abraham was called, and before the law was given, God had already promised the coming of the victorious Redeemer. The Promise Through Abraham God later called Abraham and made a covenant with him. Through Abraham, God began to reveal more concerning the family line of the Messiah. Genesis 12:1-3 (KJV)“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name … Read more
