The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

The Promise Personalized

Segment 2: Special Character Types: Adam, Joseph, and Joshua

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

Certain characters in the OT deserve our special exegetical attention because of their critical theological significance in helping us comprehend Christ’s role as head of humanity, redeemer of his kinsmen, and warrior in God’s conquest. These characters represent the persons of Adam, Joseph, and Joshua. Adam, as the federal head and source of humankind, is a special OT character type of Jesus Christ, by way of contrast, that is, how he is different from the Lord who is also the federal head and source of the new redeemed humanity. Joseph, the redeemer of his kinsman, is perhaps the most prolific and “on-point” OT character type of Jesus. In ways that are both wondrous and moving, Joseph’s experience links and connects with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Joshua, the captain of the Lord’s armies, is an OT character type of Christ whose spiritual warfare resonates with Messiah’s role as the warrior of God. While the character roles of prophet, priest, and king, and the special character types of Adam, Joseph, and Joshua are tremendously helpful in providing our OT witness to Christ, they give comprehensive not exhaustive pictures of the life and ministry of Christ. Only by linking the prefiguring in the OT to the revelation of Christ in the NT do we get the fullest picture and meaning of these roles and types together in the life and ministry of Jesus. Our objective for this segment, Special Character Types: Adam, Joseph, and Joshua , is to enable you to see that: • Certain characters in the OT deserve our special exegetical attention because of their critical theological significance in helping us comprehend Christ’s role as head of humanity, redeemer of his kinsmen, and warrior in God’s conquest. These characters represent the person of Adam, Joseph, and Joshua. • Adam, as the federal head and source of humankind, is a special OT character type of Jesus Christ, by way of contrast, that is, how he is different from the Lord who is also the federal head and source of the new redeemed humanity. • In every way, both Adam and Jesus are the source and federal heads of all those connected to them by birth and rebirth respectively. As Adam is the head of the old creation, so Christ is the head of the new creation , and as

Summary of Segment 2

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