Page 8 - Christology - Student Textbook

Section 2: Christ in the Old Testament Prophecy

2.1. Connect.

When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He told them that they could eat of
every tree in the Garden EXCEPT one. But as you know, they disobeyed God and sin entered
the world. God had a plan to redeem man from sin. In Genesis God promised to send a
redeemer who would crush the head of Satan. He established the sacrificial system to
demonstrate to Israel how the God would ultimately deal with sin. Throughout the Old Testament
the prophets foretold of a coming Messiah who would not only reign as king of Israel, but also offer
Himself up as the final sacrifice. Isaiah foretold that He would be crushed for our iniquities. Today
we want to concentrate on how Christ is revealed in the Old Testament.

2.2. Objectives.

1. The student should be able to explain those passages from the OT that discuss a particular
aspect of Jesus Christ which was fulfilled in the New Testament.

2. The student should be able to describe how faith is as important in the Old Testament as it is
in the New Testament as the basis of redemption.

3. The student should be able to evaluate principles that will encourage our growth into
Christlikeness.

2.3. Christ in the OT Prophecy

There are two types of Messianic prophecies: general prophecies and
specific Old Testament prophecies. General prophecies are those in
which the language can only be applied to Jesus Christ. In other
words, no man can do what is described in those passages other than
God. Specific prophecies are those that are applied directly to the person
of Jesus Christ. In other words, those passages contain language which
only can be fulfilled by the coming Messiah. Our focus will be on these
specific characteristics of the Messianic prophecies.

Specific Characteristic of the Messianic Prophecy

The Messianic Line; His Lineage
Stated clearly in Genesis 3:15 is the birth of the seed of the woman who was going to crush the
serpent’s head. This pronouncement from God when he was judging the man, the woman, and the
snake. The subject of a seed is again referenced in Genesis 12:1-3 when God pronounced
incomparable future blessings to Abraham. From Abraham’s seed was to come a great nation. How
was that going to be possible? Physically it was to be made possible through Isaac, but spiritually
the blessings would come through Jesus Christ. The blessing was to the son Isaac, through whom,
the seed (Jesus [Gen 17:19]) was going to come. “Subsequent revelation traces the lineage through
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Isaac, Jacob (Gen 28:14), Judah (Gen 49:10), Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and David (2 Sam 7:12-13).”

11 Walvoord, Jesus Christ our Lord, 83.

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