Do I Know You?

Have you ever been introduced to someone through other people's descriptions long before you met the person?  If so, were you disappointed or pleasantly surprised?

On the other hand, have you ever known someone all your life only to find a mystery in their person that you'd never guessed?

Both of these levels of acquaintance are applicable to our introduction to the Christ or Messiah.

You've Heard the Whisperings
Dr. Richard Liverance explains that the promise of a Messiah is the most ancient hope of humanity.

A misconception among many today is that Christianity began two thousand years ago. In reality, it began at the fall of mankind when God promised a "Seed" that would strike the head of the devil (Genesis 3:15). From that time forward, thousands of generations retold the expectation to their children and their children's children: There will some day be a Hero born who will save us.

When God chose Abram (later renamed Abraham), He further narrowed the promise (Genesis 12 and 15). The Seed would come through Abraham and would bless the whole world.

When in faith Abraham brought Isaac to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him to Yahweh, we see a foreshadowing of the Heir to come.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:7b-8)

Narrowing still further, Jacob announces that the Seed will be a King and be born from Judah's descendants (Genesis 49:8-12).

Why is this important? It's a telescopic lens focusing our attention on someone to come. Every birth in Judah's line could have been accompanied by a drum role. Is this the one?

But it's made clearer still. We're told where He'll be born.

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2)

Then Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 go further to elaborate on the illustration we glimpsed on Mt. Moriah. This King would suffer and die for our sins.

Surely He took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered Him stricken by God,

smitten by Him, and afflicted.

But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on Him

the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4-6).

But You've Known This All Your Life!

In a sense, you're reading an assignment I was given this morning at church.

How many of you, who have sat here for years listening to the exposition of Scripture, could show through the Old Testament who Jesus was?

It is astounding. I've barely touched on the detailed predictions of the "Jewish" Scriptures concerning the Messiah. It is some of these passages that Jesus used to explained the prophecies concerning Himself to the two on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32). It is from these that Paul also argued the truth of Jesus as Messiah (Acts 17:2).

To most of us, this assignment isn't a hard task (although it is a necessary one to be able to voice what we know to be true). Yet I believe we often, like the disciples, have become so familiar with aspects of who Jesus is—with truths that we have memorized, with good habits of learning that we have formed—that we fail to grasp the fear of Him.

The transfiguration was one of the early moments that Jesus used to give three of His followers a glimpse of who He really was (Matthew 17). Peter, whose astonishment left his tongue loose, rattled something nonsensical till God the Father's voice boomed from heaven. The three fell on their faces before Him. All cliche's crumbled from their lips. Instead of giving Him answers, they seek the answers from Him.

We all need that revelation from God to scare us out of complacency; to understand, as my pastor pointed out this morning, that He did not come to bring peace to the earth, but to bring man peace with God (Matthew 10:34-39). 

The peace He puts in our heart becomes the power to obey. Those who reject this peace fight against those who have it and against the One who gives it. Our concern should not be with being agreeable, but with lovingly sharing the Truth. Some will hear and gladly receive it. Others will hate us for it. 

The claims of this Christ are such that every man ought to be busy fighting Him, or fighting for Him.
~G. Campbell Morgan 

If you have ten minutes to watch, I love the last part of this opening to The Passion of the Christ where Satan taunts Jesus. Suddenly Jesus stands and crushes the serpent's head—a beautiful visual illustration of a spiritual fulfillment.