Christ the Fulfillment of Prophecy

Good evening.

Last week we looked at lesson number eight, which is understanding biblical prophecy. We saw that the whole Bible is a prophetic book from Genesis 3:15 onward. It is dealing with the redemption of humanity and of the Messiah who would come. There was a process of preparation all throughout the Old Testament leading up to Christ. The Bible ends, of course, with the new heavens and a new earth because the whole Bible follows this theme of creation, of fall, of redemption, and new creation. Tonight we are going to be looking specifically at how Christ is the fulfillment of all prophecy. There are a lot of verses tonight to reference. We are not going to read each and every one of them just because of time's sake. But I encourage you to hang onto this outline and use it in your devotions this week because there is so much meat here that will be edifying for your study. Let us begin with point number one.

Scripture's storyline is centered on Jesus Christ. Scripture is God's revelation to us of who He is and what He has done for us. It is His story. Scripture chiefly reveals what Christ the Redeemer has done to save humanity and make us a new creation in Him. This is that outworking of the Genesis 3:15 promise. The Old Testament points forward to the Redeemer bringing about a new creation. Scripture reveals Christ as the prophetic fulfillment of Israel as He embodies their identity. Identity is the first blank.

Israel was God's people in the Old Testament, and Christ is the fulfillment of Israel in that He embodies their identity. He also embodies their mission. That is the second blank.

Furthermore, He embodies their offices. That is the third blank.

He also embodies Israel's institutions. Institutions is the fourth blank.

And redemptive events — events is the fifth blank. So the first blank for number one is identity. The second blank is mission. The third blank is offices. The fourth blank is institutions. And the fifth blank is events.

Christ is the climax of Israel in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant. In His resurrection and ascension, Christ has brought forth God's kingdom. Kingdom is the sixth blank. The New Jerusalem — Jerusalem is the seventh blank. And the new creation is the eighth blank. That is a big can of worms there. But thankfully with each of these points, we will be unpacking each one of them as we go tonight.

Look at our Scripture verse for number one, 2 Corinthians 1:20. "For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him amen to the glory of God through us." Christ is the yes to every single one of God's promises, and He is the amen to God's glory through us. We are united to Christ, and His glory is ours. In saving us, He is glorified. That is why He saved us — to show His glory to us.

If you remember on the road to Emmaus, there were a couple of disciples who were dejected after the resurrection. They had not seen Christ, and all of a sudden they were wondering, "Is He really the real deal? He was crucified. I thought He was the Messiah." And Jesus begins to walk alongside them on the road. They do not recognize Him at first. It says in verses 25 through 27, "Then He said to them, 'Foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken, was it not necessary for the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.'" What a Bible study that must have been! He went through the Old Testament saying, "Do you not know the Messiah was to be crucified? He was to suffer these things." All the Old Testament prophets testified of this. All the Bible — the Old Testament was the only Bible they had at this point — testified of Him.

Later on, He appears to all of His disciples, and we find that in verses 44 through 49. "Then He said to them, '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.'" Saying everything written about Him has been fulfilled in the law, and in the prophets, and in the writings. That was the entire canon of Old Testament Scripture. They referred to it as the law, the prophets, and the writings. So as we looked at last week, they all spoke of Jesus. Well, Jesus is the fulfillment of them.

Verse 45: "And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures." He gave them understanding because now He was pouring out His Spirit on them. He is a Christ who has ascended from the grave, and He is showing them what the Scriptures meant in light of His resurrection and in light of His coming ascension as well. "And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures, and 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, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of My Father'" — that is the Holy Spirit — "'upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.'" So Christ is opening their understanding and He is showing them that all of Scripture is about His death, burial, and resurrection, and it is about them taking the gospel to the nations. That is embedded — that mission of Israel is now the church's mission — to spread the glory of Christ to all people.

Application for number one: What — or Who — is the central theme of Scripture? Central is the blank. It is Christ. He is the Messiah, He is our Redeemer, He is the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world.

Bible point number two. Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in that He is the embodiment of Israel's identity. Identity is the blank for number two. We went over this briefly when we went through ecclesiology. We are going to go through it briefly again.

Israel had several identifiers, several different names or titles that it was called, and Christ is the fulfillment of every one of them. First of all, bullet point number one should be Son — S-O-N. Exodus 4:22, Hosea 11:1, and Matthew 2:15. We will see those in just a minute. The second bullet point is seed. Israel was the seed of Abraham, and Christ is identified as the true seed of Abraham to whom the promises were made. We will look at those references in a minute.

The third bullet point is servant. Israel was called the servant of God early in Isaiah, but they were a wicked servant. They were an unfaithful servant. And God said He would send a Messiah who would be a perfect servant, who would do what Israel could not — who would keep the law, who would be a Redeemer, who would be the one to be a light to the Gentiles as Israel was meant to be originally.

Bullet point number four. Vine — V-I-N-E. All throughout the Old Testament, we have the motif of the vine, God planting Israel as a vine and expecting them to be fruitful. And then we see the prophets turn around and say, "You have become a degenerate offshoot and you are not putting out good fruit." Well, in the New Testament, Jesus is called the true vine. He is the vine that bears forth good fruit because He is God of God.

The fifth bullet point is not a fill-in-the-blank here. I spared you on this one because of the spelling. Jeshurun. Jeshurun is one of the names and titles of Israel. It means beloved, and it also means the upright one, the righteous one. And we see that as a title, of course, of Christ. What is Christ called at His baptism? "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." He is the upright one. And then we find later on in Ephesians that we have been blessed in the Beloved. That title is given to Christ.

And then also bullet point number six — the sixth identity is Israel itself. We will look at that in just a moment. Israel is a title, of course, that was given to the nation. It was meant to designate the one who is a prince with God. And who is Christ but the Prince of Peace, the very Son of God? Revelation 1:8, Jesus says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord." God called Israel to be a testimony of Him, and Christ is the fulfillment of that testimony in every single title that was given upon God's people in the Old Testament.

First of all, you will see reference number two — Son. Exodus 4:22: "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord: Israel is My son, My firstborn.'" That is what Moses was to say to Pharaoh. Well, who is the Son of God and who is the firstborn of God? Jesus Christ. Hosea 11:1, recounting Israel being delivered from Egypt — this had already happened long ago. Hosea writes, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son." He is speaking for God and saying, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called My son out of Egypt." This was something that was already done. This was not prophetic; it was typological. And then we see in Matthew 2:15, "He stayed there until the death of Herod" — speaking of Christ — "this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 'Out of Egypt I called My son.'" He is the fulfillment of what Hosea said in 11:1, and it was a typological fulfillment. Again, Israel was a type, Christ is the antitype — He is the fulfillment.

Christ is also the seed. Let us look at Genesis 22:18: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." God is speaking to Abraham and saying, "Your seed, Israel." Well, when you get to Galatians, you find out that his seed is actually Christ, because that is where it finds its fulfillment. Galatians 3:16: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your seed,' who is Christ." Notice how the New King James translates seed and puts it in capital letters because it is referring to Christ.

Israel is also called the servant early on, but we see that the servant title is given to the Messiah. We find that in Isaiah 49:3–7, one of the servant songs of Isaiah. "And He said to me, 'You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.' Then I said, 'I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain, yet surely my just reward is with the Lord and my work with my God.'" Verse five: "Now the Lord says, 'Who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him.'" Christ is called to gather Jacob — the people of God and Israel — back to Him.

Verse six: "For indeed," He says, "it is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles." Here the servant would be what Israel was not. He was the light to the surrounding nations — "that you should be My salvation to the ends of the earth." "Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nations abhor, the Servant of rulers — kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, has chosen You." So we see the Messiah is referred to as both the Servant of God, the true Servant, and He is also referred to as Israel in the same song.

He is also called the vine. Isaiah 5:1–2 and 7: "Now let me sing to my Well Beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard. My Well Beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst and also made a winepress in it. So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes." Speaking of Israel. Verse seven: "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression — for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help." See the same thing in Jeremiah 2:21: "Yet I have planted you as a noble vine, a seed of the highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into a degenerate plant of an alien vine?" He said, "You may have the blood of Abraham, but as Jesus said, that does not make you a son of Abraham."

Then we find, of course, John 15:1: "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser."

Jeshurun — we have already discussed that. You will see it in Deuteronomy and also in Isaiah, but the fulfillment of it is in Matthew. "And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'"

Application: "Who alone is the faithful and true Israelite?" True is the blank. Who alone is the true Israelite? Christ. And whoever is in Christ bears the name of Christ.

Bible point number three. Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in that He is the embodiment of Israel's mission. Mission is the blank for number three.

In the Abrahamic covenant, Israel was chosen by God to be a conduit — conduit is the second blank, C-O-N-D-U-I-T — a conduit of blessing to the world. Is that not what He tells Abraham in Genesis 12? "And in you all the world will be blessed," and "in your seed."

In the Mosaic covenant, Israel was set apart to be God's treasured possession — possession is the third blank — a kingdom of priests — priests is the fourth blank — and a holy nation — nation is the fifth blank. So they were supposed to be God's treasured possession that all the nations would look upon and say, "Wow, I want what they have." They would also be priests — and what were priests but mediators? They made sacrifice, they made intercession, but they were also teachers. And a holy nation — they were supposed to be God's people. That goes all the way back to Exodus 19, there on Mount Sinai, where the old covenant was established, and it was an if-then proposition: "If you will keep My law, then you will be My people. Then you will be a nation of priests. Then you will be a holy nation."

Israel never did that. Israel was stiff-necked, and so would we be. Praise God that in the new covenant we are called priests, we are called a holy nation, we are called God's people, but it is not based on our performance. It is based on His performance. Christ is the one who unilaterally keeps the new covenant for us and confers all the benefits of the old covenant to His church.

God intended for Israel to represent Him in declaring God's salvation and glory among the nations. I encourage you in your own time to read through Psalm 67, a beautiful psalm talking about Israel's mission, as well as Psalm 96. Their mission was to be a light to the Gentiles, to be a light to the world. Christ completed Israel's mission. You can look up those verses on your own time, but I do want to read to you from Revelation 7:9–10. You see this picture in heaven. It says, "After these things I looked and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes." How did they get those white robes? Christ. Christ died for the sins of every nation, of every class of people, every tongue — "clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"

He is the fulfillment of Israel's mission. He was the true light to the Gentiles. We read just a minute ago from Isaiah 49 — it is on the back in the upper right-hand corner. And what does He say in verse six? "Indeed," He says, "it is too small a thing that you should be My servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be My salvation to the ends of the earth." Christ is God's salvation to the ends of the earth.

Psalm 67:1–2: "God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, selah, that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations."

God had blessed the nation of Israel, and through Aaron — the Aaronic blessing — God's face would shine upon them. What does Psalm 67 say? Was that blessing for them to keep for themselves as their own people, to remain separate from all the other nations, and never to shine and never to declare His glories? No — they were to make the world the garden. They were to spread their borders. If you read the promises to Abraham, they get bigger and bigger and bigger: they would possess the gates of their enemies, and all the nations would be blessed. "That Your way may be known on earth, and Your salvation among all nations."

The application for number three is one that Casey actually mentioned earlier tonight. Are you an ambassador — ambassador is the blank — for Christ? We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and we are to be ambassadors for Christ. He has declared the gospel to the world. He has provided salvation for whoever will believe in Him, and we are to make Him known as His people.

Bible point number four. Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in that He is the embodiment of Israel's offices — offices is the first blank for number four — of prophet, priest, and king. I encourage you to go back to our unit on Christology. We had multiple lessons on how Christ is Prophet, how He is Priest, and how He is King, and what His priestly ministry looks like, and the extent and nature of the atonement. Go there and review this when you have time.

Jesus is the anointed one, the promised Messiah. Messiah means anointed one. Kings were anointed — they were set apart by God. Priests were anointed. Prophets were anointed. It was a way of saying this one is set apart for holy service. Christ was set apart for all the offices that Old Testament Israel pointed forward to.

He is the perfect Revealer of God. He is the Word of God made flesh — that is the third blank. John 1:14 says that He was made flesh and He dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us. We beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father.

He is the perfect Revealer of God. He is the embodiment of the law, Romans 10:4, and its Giver, James 4:12. There is only one Lawgiver.

As Priest, Christ made perfect sacrifice — sacrifice is the fourth blank. The first blank is offices. The second blank is anointed. The third blank is Word. The fourth blank for number four is sacrifice. He made perfect sacrifice for our sins and makes continuous intercession for His people. We will find that in Hebrews 7.

As King, Christ has defeated death — defeated is the fifth blank. He sits on David's throne and shares His rewards with the saints. You can read that in Acts 2:30–33.

Christ is greater than all mediators, including Abraham. They asked, "Is there one greater than Abraham?" He said, "Before Abraham was, I am." You were looking at Him. Moses — He is the Prophet greater than Moses. Hebrews 3:1–6. Aaron — you also see in Hebrews that the Aaronic priesthood was a priesthood that would die, a priesthood that always needed to make sacrifice for its own sins. Christ is the eternal Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He never needs to be replaced, and His once-for-all sacrifice was made, and He sat down at the right hand of God. He is greater than David — we find that in Matthew 22. He is not only David's Son, but He is David's Lord, David's King. And Solomon — Jesus Himself said, "One greater than Solomon is here." Solomon with all his wisdom and wealth.

1 Timothy 2:5 says, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." These offices of prophet, priest, and king were mediatorial offices. They were go-betweens where the man in that office would act on behalf of God and speak on behalf of God to the people. Christ is that final Mediator. He is the fulfillment of all of them.

Look at Acts 3:22–26. This is so beautiful. "For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things.'" Is that not what we saw at the Mount of Transfiguration, where both Moses and Elijah — representing the law and the prophets — appeared, and then the voice of God said, "This is My beloved Son, hear Him"? He is the fulfillment of Moses and He is the fulfillment of Elijah. And that is what Moses predicted here. He says, "Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning every one of you from your iniquities." Peter is saying, "God has blessed you, Israel." And who were the first responders to the gospel but Israel? The twelve disciples were Israelites. The 120 in the upper room — who were they? Israelites. The first three thousand on the day of Pentecost — Israelites. You do not even really get to the Gentiles until Acts 11 and 12, and then really in 15 they become part of the church. So Christ came and He kept His word. He established the new covenant with the house of Israel.

Application for number four: Do you need any mediator besides Christ — need is the blank? No, you do not.

You have the Word of God and you have the Holy Spirit. Now, we have been blessed to be able to edify and encourage one another. We need the body of Christ, because you are my brother and I need you, you are my sister and I need you, and our gifts minister to one another. But there is no vertical mediator that we need other than Christ. He is the true Revealer of God and He is the fulfillment of all the offices of Israel.

Bible point number five. Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in that He is the embodiment of Israel's institutions — institutions is the first blank for number five.

God gave Israel institutions such as sacrifices, the temple, the Sabbath, the feasts, and the law, that all pointed forward to Christ who fulfilled them. The first bullet point is sacrifices. God told Israel that they must make sacrifices, and we find in John 1:29 that John sees Jesus and says, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." I have Genesis 22:8 — I believe that should be Exodus 12:8. You do not have to forgive me there. Hebrews 10:1–18 talks about how Christ is the once-and-final sacrifice. I encourage you — be here on Sunday. Howard is going to be preaching from this text, Hebrews 10, on how Christ is our atonement, He is our sacrifice. Howard is a wonderful preacher. You will be so edified by that.

The second bullet point — temple. In Exodus 25:8, we have how the temple should be laid out and how it should be furnished and fitted. We get to John 1:14, which says that Christ dwelt among us — He tabernacled among us.

John 4:20–26, we have the Samaritan woman who says, "Jesus, my people say we should worship on this mountain, and Your people, the Jews, say it should be in Jerusalem. Which is it?" And Jesus says, "The day is coming, and now is, when you will worship the Father neither here nor there, but you will worship God in spirit and in truth." When Christ came in His incarnation, the physical locality of worship is gone, because now we worship a Person. We do not worship inside a place any longer. Christ is with us through His Spirit dwelling within us, and we are the temple of God now. When we get to Revelation, you get to chapter 21, which says that in the new heavens and the new earth there is no temple, because God dwells with His people. The Lamb of God is with and among His people. So there is no need for an exterior building, a place that you go, because everywhere you go Christ is in you and you are in Christ — if you are united to Him.

The third bullet point — Christ fulfilled the institution of the Sabbath. In Luke chapter 6, and in all the Gospels, you see Jesus say that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. In other words, He is the King of the Sabbath. He is the one the Sabbath answers to. Colossians 2:16–17 says that the Sabbath and the new moons and all these things were shadows, but the substance is Christ. They pointed to the rest that Christ would provide. In Christ, we cease from our labors because He has kept the law. He has perfectly earned every merit that we could ever have or want by perfectly obeying the law and fulfilling it in its entirety.

Matthew 11:28 — Jesus says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," because He is the true Sabbath rest. The fourth bullet point here — He is the feasts of Israel. Leviticus 23. I had the privilege of preaching on that a few months back. Watch that sermon. We go through each of the feasts of Israel and show how Christ is the fulfillment of them. Again, He is the substance of the shadows.

1 Corinthians 5:7–8 says that Christ is our Passover. He is the fulfillment of the feasts. And the fifth bullet point — He is the law. Christ is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 7 talks about this — it is a beautiful picture in the first six verses. It is an analogy saying that when a woman becomes a widow, she is no longer under the law or authority of her first husband. Speaking of Israel, it says, "Because Christ has come, you have died to the law. You are free from the law, that you may be married to another" — that is Christ — and He is the one whom we serve. We are not under the law, but we are under grace. We are in Christ. Galatians 5:18 says, "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

Application for number five: Praise God that we have the substance — substance is the blank — and not the shadow. Thank God that we have the substance and not the shadow. Have you ever teased a dog or a cat with shadows, having them chase a shadow? Or maybe used a little laser pointer? We had a dog, and at night that was so much fun — chasing that laser dot everywhere, thinking it was something, but it was really just a shadow. There is no substance to it, but he wore himself out. Praise God that we are not wearing ourselves out chasing shadows. We have Christ and we rest in Him.

Bible point number six. Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in that He is the embodiment of Israel's redemptive events — events is the first blank.

Every stage of Israel's history — history is the second blank — was redone in the life of Jesus. Matthew's gospel in particular presents Christ's life and ministry as retracing — retracing is the third blank — Israel's events, but in perfect covenant faithfulness — faithfulness is the fourth blank — to God. The first blank is events, the second blank is history, the third blank is retracing, the fourth blank is faithfulness. I love Matthew's gospel. It is so elegantly designed and composed. I get to listen to the Scriptures on my MP3 player all day as I am cleaning pools, and it just has a great cadence to it. When you listen to Matthew it becomes really apparent — he has more than any other gospel, about seventy allusions to the Old Testament throughout it. And about a dozen times he stops the narration and says, "And this was to fulfill what was said in the Old Testament," giving the reference right there. It is just a beautiful thing to see. The whole story of Matthew, when you look at its construction, shows that he was a master writer. He wrote it in such a way to retell Israel's story, but with Christ being the faithful covenant partner that Israel was not.

For example, Jesus went down into Egypt, Matthew 2:14, just as Abraham's children went down into Egypt. What did they do? Joseph was there and they needed grain. This also parallels God's calling of Moses — was there not a horrible slaying of children? And the same thing happened with Christ. That is why he went down to Egypt.

He came up out of Egypt, Matthew 2:15, just as God brought Israel out of Egypt. So Jesus came back out of Egypt and into Nazareth. He went through the waters — just as leaving Egypt, Israel went through the Red Sea. Well, Christ goes through the waters of baptism. And immediately after He comes up out of the waters of baptism, what does He do? He goes into the wilderness. And is that not what the children of Israel did? They went into the wilderness once they crossed through the Red Sea.

After He came out of the wilderness, He went up onto the mountain. We find that in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And after Israel was brought through the wilderness, they came to Mount Sinai, where they received the law. But in the case of Jesus, in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, He gives the greatest sermon ever given — the Sermon on the Mount. He is actually giving them the law. He says, "You have heard that it was said of old, 'You shall not murder.' But I tell you, if you hate your brother you are guilty." So He intensifies it and expands it and applies it in a way they had never thought of before. He comes down from the mountain just as they did. You will see that in Matthew 8.

He showed Himself to be King in Matthew 12. I have to read this to you — this gives me goosebumps. I do not have it on the sheet, but Matthew 12 starts off with Jesus being Lord of the Sabbath. Verse 8: "For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." So He is calling Himself King. He is calling Himself Lord, a Sovereign over the Sabbath. In verse 23, "And all the multitudes were amazed and said, 'Could this be the Son of David?'" He was doing miracles — He had healed a man who was blind and mute. And they said, "Could this be the Son of David?" Could this be the Davidic King that God had promised? He is showing Himself to be King.

You get to verse 28: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." He just cast out a demon. He says, "I am the King and I am bringing the kingdom. The kingdom of God is upon you." It is now. It is present. It is breaking out in your midst. And verse 42: "The queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." Jesus is declaring Himself to be King.

He showed Himself to be the Prophet in Matthew 23. He was exiled in His crucifixion — on the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He was restored in the resurrection, raised gloriously, and angels attended His resurrection and rolled the stone away. And Christ's restoration is ours. Find that in 1 Corinthians 15:20. His resurrection is ours; in Him we shall also be raised.

Look at Romans 15:4: "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." The Old Testament was written to be an instruction for us, that we might have hope, that it shows us Christ in all His glory. Look at 1 Corinthians 10:11.

"Now all these things happened to them as examples" — speaking of Israel. He had just recounted many events in Israel's life. I do not like the New King James translating this as "examples" here. It is a good translation, but the word in Greek that is translated "examples" is tupos. We get the word "type" from it, which means the things that happened to them were as a type. They were as a pattern. In other words, they were the type and Christ is the antitype. "And they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." The Messianic age has dawned even now. We will be looking at that next week — the now and the not yet — the part we have now, and the fulfillment in the future.

Look at Acts 15:13–18. There is some beautiful fulfillment here. This is when Paul and Peter, James, and all the apostles are calling a council because now Gentiles have been converted. They have been filled with the Spirit — Peter's testimony to this, and Paul's testimony as well. The church is predominantly Jewish at this point. It has been all Jewish up until this point, and they do not know what to do with the Gentiles or how to assimilate them.

Verse 13: "And after they had become silent, James answered, saying: 'Men and brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared how God at first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree. Just as it is written,'" — here they are quoting the famous passage from Amos about the restoration of the tabernacle of David — "'After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins and will set it up, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.' Known to God from eternity are all His works." James says, "This is it. This is the fulfillment of that right here. The Gentiles have come into the church, into God's people — how beautiful it is. And that is because of Christ."

Also look at 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 4 through 10. Speaking of believers: "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Here is the Scripture about the temple. "Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.'" He is quoting Isaiah, speaking of Christ.

Verse 7: "Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, 'the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'" — we read that this past Sunday in Psalm 118 — "'and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.' They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed." Then verse 9: "But you are a chosen generation." This is exactly what God had told Israel on Mount Sinai — "If you will keep My commands, then you will be a chosen generation, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." But now He says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but have now obtained mercy." You are not those things because of what you have done, but because of what Christ has done. He has taken you out of darkness and put you in His marvelous light.

The application for number six — the Old Testament was written about Christ and for us.

Bible point number seven. Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in that He is the embodiment of Israel's covenants — covenants is the blank for number seven.

Christ was given — given is the second blank — as a covenant to His people for salvation — salvation is the third blank — and restoration. Christ Himself is the covenant. Remember what He said at the Lord's Supper: "Take this cup — this is the New Testament, the new covenant in My blood." We get this from Isaiah. Let me read to you these two passages — both servant songs, Messianic songs from Isaiah.

Isaiah 42:1–7: "Behold, My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench." Matthew attributes this to Christ, of course, because Christ is this Messianic Servant. "He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands shall wait for His law." Verse 5: "Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 'I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness. I will hold Your hand. I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.'" He was given as a promise, as a covenant to the people.

You know, covenants were binding promises made between a sovereign and an inferior, and they were sealed through the shedding of blood. Typically an animal would be cut in half, and the sovereign or the king would walk through the midst of the two pieces, along with a representative of the people, and they would be walking through that blood, saying, "If we do not keep this agreement, may what happened to the animal happen to us." God gave Christ as our covenant. It is His blood that established it. It is His perfect obedience.

Also, let me read to you from Isaiah 49:6–9. "Indeed," He says, "it is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles." We read that earlier, but we did not read verses 7 and 8. "So that you should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, the Servant of rulers — kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, has chosen You. Thus says the Lord: 'In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You. I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages.'"

The heritage that Israel had cast off and sold for a bowl of porridge — the Messiah would come to restore all people in Christ Jesus, because He Himself is our covenant.

This new covenant — we find it in Jeremiah 31:31–34, Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 37, and also Isaiah 59 — was instituted by Christ. Luke 22:20, which we read on Sunday. Christ perfectly fulfilled the old covenant to give us the new covenant. Hebrews 9 and also Hebrews 13.

Application: declare to others that Christ Himself is the good news. That is really important, and we often miss that. When we talk about sharing the good news with people — maybe you are sharing on the street, passing out tracts, or maybe sharing with someone at work, wherever you are — we often think of it, because we do not want to mess it up, as several steps. I need to tell them that they are sinners. I need to tell them who Christ is, that He died, was buried, and rose again. I need to tell them that if they repent and trust in Christ, their sins will be forgiven. Those are all true. But we need to remember first and foremost that we are not calling them to steps — we are calling them to Christ. We are saying, "Come to Christ. He is your covenant. He loves you, loves you better than anyone who can ever love you or will ever love you. He is the one who shed His very life for you. Which of your friends would do that? Who could take away your sins but Christ? He says, 'Come to Me and I will give you rest.'" That is what we need to put forth — that we are calling people to Christ, not to a series of steps, but to Christ Himself. He is the good news.

Bible point number eight. Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in that through His resurrection and ascension, Christ has brought forth God's kingdom, the New Jerusalem, Zion, and the new creation. We are going to unpack that briefly. In His resurrection and ascension, Christ was raised to sit on David's throne — throne is the first blank; Acts 2:30.

David's throne — in the Old Testament, the throne of Israel is called the throne of God, the throne of Israel, the throne of the Lord, and the throne of David. It is all interchangeable. When Christ is resurrected, Peter says that Christ is now sitting on the throne of David, meaning He is sitting on the very throne of God's people in heaven. He is sitting on the throne of the universe. Exalted to God's right hand, He was made both Lord — the second blank — and Christ. He was always King, but in His ascension His glory is restored, and something else takes place in His ascension.

Christ brought humanity to the throne of the universe. A man had never sat on the throne of the universe until Christ's ascension. Remember, Christ is the God-man. He is the incarnate God, the Son of God incarnate. He took on flesh. He never sinned, so death cannot hold Him. He rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God Almighty. That means His throne is shared with us, because we are one with our Lord. He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, Matthew 28:18. He is far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, Ephesians 1:20. All things are under His feet, Ephesians 1:21. He rules over the kings of the earth, Revelation 1:5. He is coming to judge the nations, Revelation 1:7.

In His resurrection and ascension, Christ has brought forth the New Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Hebrews 12:18–24.

In His resurrection and ascension — in Christ — the heavenly Jerusalem is a present reality — present is the third blank. Hebrews 12:22 says that you have come to the mountain. You have come to the city of God, to the heavenly Jerusalem. It is not something that is far off. You are actually a part of it now, if you are in Christ. It is just as real as the table here in front of me. It is something that has broken out into the present.

In His resurrection and ascension, Christ has brought forth the new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 — I know you know that. If you have memorized it, the Navigators made it one of their chief memory verses. Whoever is in Christ is a new what? Creation. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. That is a now. That is an eschatological reality we experience the very moment we put our trust in Christ Jesus. Our old self has passed away — Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9. We are now — now is the fourth blank — a new creation in Christ Jesus. Christ's kingdom, the New Jerusalem, and the new creation are fulfilled in Christ as present realities.

But we wait expectantly in hope for His glorious appearing — for that final consummation. Consummation is the fifth blank. Revelation 21:5. In other words, the new heavens and a new earth — we have a taste of that right now. We have come to Mount Zion. We have come to the New Jerusalem, as Hebrews tells us. We do not look for the old ruins of Jerusalem to be restored; we are already in the New Jerusalem according to the book of Hebrews. We have already tasted of the new heavens and a new earth by the Holy Spirit, who is a down payment of that. We have already been made new creations.

But are we perfect yet? Are we glorified yet? No — that is to come in the consummation. That is the difference between the now and the not yet. It is what we call realized eschatology — now in part, but then in full. And what a glorious day that will be. We will actually be looking at that next week in its entirety for our lesson.

Look at 1 Corinthians 15:25–26. "For He" — speaking of Christ — "must reign" — right now, again, He is reigning at the apex of the universe — "till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." What a glorious day that will be. When Christ returns, He vanquishes His foes. Death is cast into hell.

Application: "Even so, come" — come is the blank — "Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20. The Old Testament way of saying that is maranatha — come, Lord Jesus.