In this continuing series, I am posting short papers I’ve written for my church’s elder class on different topics. This week’s paper is on finding the gospel in the Old Testament.
When I was young, I remember that at the church we went to, “preaching the gospel” referred specifically to sermons that were on the story of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection. We weren’t a terribly expository church in terms of the approach that was taken to Scripture, and this meant that “preaching the gospel” happened maybe a couple times a year.
But the truth is, the gospel is a much bigger concept than that, and in fact, it is seen all throughout Scripture. Some take this idea and apply it in ways that go beyond good hermeneutical principles, with one more extreme example being something like, any reference to the word “rock” is a reference to Christ because Christ is the rock upon which we are to build our lives, as Jesus says in a parable in Matthew 7.
But we truly can see the gospel all throughout the Scriptures. The Old Testament constantly points ahead to the person and work of Jesus Christ, and if we look at the whole message of the gospel, we can see how this works. It’s not that every part of the Old Testament points to the entire gospel, but that it touches on different elements all throughout. To illustrate this I want to introduce a tool I’ve borrowed from the Simeon Trust preaching workshops, a truly excellent program I think everyone who aspires to teach and preach in their churches should consider taking part in at least once. That tool is what is referred to as the Eternal Gospel Timeline:
Each section of the diagram points to different points in the life and work of Jesus, from His existence in eternity past before the incarnation (“before” being a relative term of course, given the timeless nature of eternity), to the different elements of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and beyond – His current position as the firstborn of those who will receive eternal life, and to our future hope in His return and the restoration of creation to sinless perfection.
Using this tool, I will take three passages in view and argue how they point to different elements of the gospel as this diagram breaks it down. These aren’t intended to be exhaustive, but simply brief summaries that could be expanded upon in sermons or other settings.
This passage is a break between two long poetic sections of prophecy, running from all of chapter 13 and 14:3-21, where God pronounces judgment upon Babylon, who had taken the remaining tribes of Israel into captivity (after Assyria had taken the 10 tribes of Samaria). Prior to this section God declares that Babylon itself will be destroyed, and subsequent to it, that the king of Babylon will lose everything and fall from the greatest heights to the deepest depths.
These two verses are held to point to the return of Israel to its lands seen in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and certainly that is true, especially in the fulfillment of phrases such as “The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland.” But even in those books we don’t see a total fulfillment of this prophecy in that time, because while the Israelites did return with the support of the Persian king and enjoyed their protection while they began to rebuild, they certainly did not “possess them as male and female slaves in the LORD’s land” or “make captives of their captors and…rule over their oppressors.”
The greater fulfillment in Christ can be seen in the eternal future, when there is no longer any animosity remaining between Jew and Gentile but all are one in Christ, and worship Him together in a kingdom without end. Isaiah draws this picture out further in chapter 60, as he describes Zion as the center of all human commerce and worship, where all the peoples of the world will come to pay tribute to God and to God’s own people.
This passage sees God summarizing the covenant to Israel, and reminding them of His promises if they fulfill the covenant and obey His laws. Of course, Israel did not do so, repeatedly falling into idolatry throughout their history. But we see this fulfilled finally in the consummation of all things, when Christ stands in the place of His people as the one who has perfectly honored and fulfilled God’s law in life, and taken on the punishment due His people in death.
In Christ we have a better Adam who we can rest in (Romans 5:12-21), and who receives glory in His triumph that we can rejoice in (Revelation 5:6-14). In Christ we find success in our desires to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, laws and ordinances, and to obey Him, and in that restoration of creation we will see that finally fulfilled before our eyes.
In this desperate cry to God for help, the sons of Korah cry out with the agony of an Israelite suffering not just from an enemy’s attack, but under God’s own wrath. Death is approaching, and is here, as the psalmist pleads with God for mercy. We see throughout this psalm the agony of Jesus dying, and the mourning ache of His burial, the questions of God’s silence in the face of such a loss that weighed on His disciples’ minds in the days before His resurrection.
The heart of suffering sees its cause in God’s own will, yet also trusts to God as the one who will bring a perfect resolution to that suffering, as Jesus did. When we walk through times of suffering as believers, we see in passages like this that our circumstances are not out of God’s control, but rather, that even in this His will is accomplished. We are also reminded that to suffer in this world is a tiny thing in the face of the glory of eternity with God.
This is only a small sample, but we can use this same method to work through the entire Old Testament. Because Jesus and His work are the lynchpin of all of Scripture, He truly provides the lens through which we can understand the entire Bible, and through Him we can preach the gospel from every passage.
Take some of your favorite Old Testament passages and use the diagram above to see how it points to the gospel. Share your thoughts and questions below!
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