Austin Bible Church
Revelation of God and the Savior Jesus Christ in the Old Testament
God the Father authored the plan, Jesus Christ executes the plan, and the Holy Spirit reveals the plan. God has a plan. In Hebrews 1:1, the phrase “in many portions” refers to Jesus Christ who revealed God the Father. In Genesis 3:15, ‘her seed” refers to Jesus Christ.
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,” (Hebrews 1:1, NASB)
“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”“ (Genesis 3:15, NASB)
Levitical offerings all reveal Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as dying on the Cross for the sins of mankind in the future and other aspects of His ministry illustrated by the various types of animal sacrifices. Isaiah 53 also points to God’s plan of salvation. No one can get to heaven who stands on their church membership, their water baptism, their church attendance, their good works, etc. Thus, God has a plan which relates His plan for mankind to His plan for His angels.
“He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5, NASB)
“But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:10-11, NASB)
Jesus Christ is revealed in Old Testament in many ways. He was revealed as a man who wrestled with Jacob. He was revealed as the Angel of Jehovah. He was revealed through sacrifices and holy days. He was revealed through the Ark of the Covenant. The box was made of acacia wood and gold with the wood representing His humanity and the gold representing His deity. In the Ark was the table of Law, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. All of these speak of sin in some aspect. The Law speaks of violation of His commandments. Manna speaks of God’s grace provision to Israel and their rejection of His divine provision as another kind of sin. Aaron’s rod that budded speaks of God’s established authority with rejection of that authority resulting in sin. The two Cherubim on the box represent the perfect absolute righteousness of God and the perfect omniscient justice of God. When the two Cherubim look down upon the blood, the righteousness and justice of God are satisfied or propitiated.
There has never been a time in human history when Jesus Christ was not clearly revealed. God spoke to the fathers (Old Testament believers) by the prophets. Moses was a unique prophet. The office and the spiritual gift of prophecy was given to Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the major and minor prophets. The spiritual gift of prophecy was also given to David, the king of Israel.
Revelation of God and the Savior Jesus Christ in the New Testament
Jesus Christ is also revealed in the New Testament. The glory of Jesus Christ as the victor in the Angelic Conflict is found Hebrews 1:2-3. The phrase “whom He appointed heir of all things” refers to God the Father appointing Jesus Christ as the heir of all created things. “In His Son” means that believers share His sonship by becoming sons of God. John 1:12; Gal. 3:26.
“in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Hebrews 1:2-3, NASB)
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” (John 1:12, NASB)
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26, NASB)
Jesus Christ is the focal point of human history “through whom also He made the world.” Before the Cross, everything was designed to reveal Him. After the Cross, everything is designed to look back at Him. “Radiance of His glory” means the Son has the same glory as the Father and is the light of the world. “Exact representation of His nature” means that Jesus Christ has the exact same essence as God the Father. Jesus Christ has eternal life. Everything God the Father has, God the Son has. 1 John 5:11-12.
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1 John 5:11-12, NASB)
In Hebrews 1:2-3, “upholds all things by the word of His power” means Jesus Christ is the sustainer of the universe, even when He was a baby in the cradle. He is science. He is geology. He is electricity, etc. “He had made purification of sins” means He bore our sins on the Cross in His substitutionary spiritual death, then He died physically. Judgment for sin is no longer an issue in the Christian life.
Upon death His body went into the grave. His human spirit went into the presence of the Father. His soul went into Paradise. At resurrection, His human spirit came down from the presence of the Father, His soul came up from Paradise, and His body was resurrected from the dead. He walked right out through the solid rock door of the tomb. Later on angels rolled it back, not to let Christ out, but to let the human race in to see the empty tomb and see that He had already risen from the dead. Once resurrected, He spent 40 days briefing the disciples concerning the coming dispensation of the Church Age.
In Hebrews 1:2-3, “He sat down” means God the Father invited His Son to sit down after He had ascended to the third heaven. For the first time in human history, a member of the human race Jesus Christ in resurrection body, was higher than the angels. This is where the Angelic Conflict comes to a practical head.
“having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” (Hebrews 1:4, NASB)
Jesus Christ “having become” in the aorist middle participle of γίνομαι (ginomai) in the Greek and means the humanity of Jesus Christ had become something that He was not before. The humanity of Christ became superior to the angels, thus every member of the human race who believes in Christ becomes positionally superior to all angels, elect and fallen including Satan. We’re talking about His humanity being superior to Satan. Of course, His deity has always been infinitely superior.
Jesus Christ received an inheritance of the Church. He inherited it in times past and He continues to have this heritage forever. “A more excellent name” refers to Jesus Christ being the Son of God, the head of the Church, and the Son of Man.
“For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”?” (Hebrews 1:5, NASB)
In Hebrews 1:5, “You are my Son” means Jesus Christ keeps on being His Son and refers to His deity. “Today I have begotten you” refers to the humanity of Jesus Christ. Together, this is His hypostatic union. It is impossible for Jesus Christ to be the victor of the Angelic Conflict in His deity because of the fairness and justice of God the Father. He made it so the victory would be won in His humanity. This emphasized the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, in Him being crucified!
“I will be a Father to Him” is an anthropomorphism using language of accommodation. This speaks of the Father having the plan and the Son carrying out the Father’s plan. “And He shall be a Son to me” refers to the concept of obedience. Father-Son means obedience. He became obedient to death, even the death on the Cross. One of the reasons children have parents is that they may learn obedience. This is very important. Phil. 2:8.
“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8, NASB)
“And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”“ (Hebrews 1:6, NASB)
Hebrews 1:6 refers to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, not the First Advent. Why did He leave after His resurrection? So the Angelic Conflict can be resolved. As long as He stays on earth, His humanity is lower than angels. He has to go to heaven, sit down in the place of honor, then a member of the human race is positionally higher than all angels. Humanity must hold the place at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ’s deity was always omnipresent while also being in hypostatic union with His humanity.