The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Student Workbook, SW09

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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

Lesson three focuses on The Promise Personalized , whose aim is to see how many of the character types in the OT point to and illustrate the ministry of Jesus Christ in the NT. We will explore the types in the OT which point to Jesus’ roles as a prophet, priest, and king, considering Moses as a type of Christ in his prophetic role, Melchizedek as a type of Christ in his priestly order, and David as a type of Christ in his role as King of God’s people. We will also look at several cases of character types which deserve special mention because of their significance in understanding 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. In these figures the promise of God for redemption and restoration are made personal and visible for all to see. Finally, we will close our module with lesson four, The Promise Universalized . Here we will consider the nature and scope of OTMessianic prophecy as it relates to providing us with a clear OT witness to Christ and his Kingdom. We will provide the rationale of OT Messianic prophecy, and quickly outline the OT Messianic predictions which are repeated in the NT, specifically predictions fulfilled in Jesus Christ concerning his birth, his person and life, his death, his resurrection, and coming glory. We will also consider the significant issue of how God has extended the promise and blessings of Abraham, a promise extended in the apostles’ teaching, to include all peoples. We will also look carefully at the OT predictions about the Messiah in Acts and the Epistles, and a picture will emerge for us–that God Almighty, the true and living God, has not only fulfilled his promise for salvation to Abraham, but he has also included Gentiles in that salvation. No greater work can be done on earth than becoming a workman or work woman of the Lord in regard to his sacred text: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2.15). The accurate handling of the text demands a Christo-centric orientation that discovers and cherishes the OT witness to Jesus Christ. My sincere desire is that the Holy Spirit will reveal to you the glory and majesty of the picture of Jesus in the OT text, and that this picture will transform us, even as Paul suggests: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3.18). May the Hebrew Scriptures unveil his glory to us, and transform us as we become diligent students of God’s holy Word!

- Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis