Luke 24:27 & Genesis 1-3 “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spoke of the Old Testament when He declared “the Scriptures ... testify of Me” (John 5:39). On another occasion, “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). Immediately afterward, in the presence of His apostles, “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.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44f).
Christ is indeed the theme of all Holy Scriptures, including the Old Testament. This truth is acknowledged by all whose understanding has been opened by Him to do so.
We here will observe this truth as it is presented in just the first three chapters of the Old Testament.
I. Christ is present in the Old Testament actually. We read in the very first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We later read that God did so in the person of Jesus Christ, God the Son (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16f; Hebrews 1:10). We read in the third chapter of Genesis that, after Adam and Eve sinned, God passed judgment on the serpent (3:14), the woman (3:16), and the man (3:17-19). We later read that God did so in the person of Jesus Christ (John 5:22f): “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son ....”
II. Christ is present in the Old Testament prophetically. This is true of the first prophecy in the Bible, in which God said to the satanic serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). Christ is this prophesied Seed of the woman (Isaiah 7:14; Jeremiah 31:22; Matthew 1:18-25; Galatians 4:4).
III. Christ is present in the Old Testament evangelistically. This is true of the afore-cited first prophecy in the Bible (Genesis 3:15). It is rightly called the protevangelium, or “first gospel message”. Not only is Christ the prophesied Seed of the woman, but His “heel” – being the lowest part of His person – was bruised when the satanic seed nailed Him to the accursed tree (Psalm 22:16). However, in that same deed Christ inflicted a wound upon the head of that satanic seed from which he will never recover (John 12:31-33). Christ endured this bruising of His heel by the satanic seed so “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14f). That, my friend, is the gospel of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it is first declared in Genesis 3:15!
IV. Christ is present in the Old Testament typically. The first light upon the earth, which dispersed the darkness engulfing it and provided life for its inhabitants (Genesis 1:3-5), was typical of Christ “the light of the world”, who disperses darkness from His people and is their life (John 8:12). The sabbath-rest into which Christ entered at the conclusion of His work of creation (Genesis 2:1-3) was typical of the sabbath-rest into which He entered as the conclusion of His work of salvation – and into which believers of His gospel enter with Him (Hebrews 4:1-11). The “tree of life” in the midst of the first paradise (Genesis 2:9) was typical of Christ the “tree of life” in the heavenly paradise, which ever bears fruit and leaves for the sustenance and healing of His people (Revelation 22:2, 14). The creation of the wife for the first man by Christ (Genesis 2:18-24) is typical of His creation of His church to be His own wife (Ephesians 5:23-32). His coming down from heaven to visit fallen man (Genesis 3:8) was typical of His coming in His incarnation (John 1:14). His sacrifice of an innocent animal from which He procured a righteous covering for the first naked sinners was typical of the sacrifice of Him as the perfect “Lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36; 1 Peter 1:19) and covering believing sinners with His own righteousness (Philippians 3:9).
Indeed, Christ is in all the Scriptures. Blessed are the eyes opened to behold this truth. The Bible is to them a HimBook, for it is the Book about Him. And all its history is HisStory.
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