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

Our objective for this segment, The Ancient Hope of a Saving Seed , is to enable you to see that: • The major motif that links all biblical revelation in Scripture is the promise and fulfillment motif. This theme affirms the unity of the Old and New Testaments, in terms of God’s intention to reveal himself, to redeem his people, to do this through the promise made to Abraham and his descendants fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. • The seminal text of the promise is explained in the protoevangelium , the first telling of the Gospel in Genesis 3.15. Here in this text God lays out the specifics of his salvation promise, including the certainty of hostility between the serpent and the woman and their respective “seeds,” the bruising of the heel of the woman’s seed, and the crushing of the serpents head by the seed. • The theological implications of the protoevangelium are plain and profound. Namely, these include the fact that God would provide humanity with a Savior through the woman’s lineage who would destroy the serpent, albeit his heel would be bruised by the serpent. In the NT, Jesus of Nazareth is revealed to be this divine seed commissioned to destroy the devil’s work and to redeem humankind to God. • Yahweh’s covenant promise with Abraham serves as progressive continuation of God’s divine promise for a Savior. In the covenant with Abraham, this promise is specified to be the seed of Abraham who would bring redemption and restoration not only to God’s people (Abraham’s descendants), but blessing to the nations of the earth as well. In the NT, Jesus of Nazareth is declared to be the seed of Abraham, the one through whomAbraham, his descendants, and the all the families of the earth would be blessed.

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I. Promise and Fulfillment: the Importance of the Unity of God’s Divine Revelation

Video Segment 2 Outline

2 Cor. 3.14-16 - But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. [15] Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. [16] But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.