06: Jesus in Genesis: A Case Study

By / Oct 11

“He Shall Bruise Your Head”(Gen 3:15)

While Exodus–Deuteronomy details Israel’s calling as a holy nation (Exod 19:5–6), Genesis clarifies the global context of that calling and the hope of a royal Deliverer. Accordingly, it describes the initial two KINGDOM stages: Kickoff and Rebellion (creation, fall, flood) and Instrument of Blessing (the patriarchs). It also details the initial two biblical covenants: the Adamic/Noahic and the Abrahamic covenants.

This post provides a case study in interpreting Genesis through the light and lens of Christ. As summarized in table 6.1, the previous two blog posts overviewed seven possible ways to treasure Christ in the OT.

1. Consider the OT’s salvation-historical trajectories.
2. See the OT’ direct messianic predictions.
3. Recognize similarities and contrasts within salvation history.
4. Identify OT types.
5. Revel in Yahweh’s identity and activity.
6. Observe the OT’s ethical ideals.
7. Use the OT to instruct others.

Table 6.1. Seven Ways to See and Celebrate Christ in the OT

Thought Flow


Genesis opens with a preface in 1:1–2:3. It then comprises ten units headed by the phrase “the generations of,” which are grouped into five larger units, given the fronting of the Hebrew word for “and” (see table 1).

The Preface and “Generations” Unit
 Genre
1 Preface. Biblical worldview foundations (1:1-2:3)
2 i These are the generations of the heavens and the earth (2:4-4:26) N(+LG/SG)
3A ii This is the book of the generations of Adam (5:1-6:8) LG(+N)
iii These are the generations of Noah(6:9-9:29)
And these are the generations of Noah’s Sons(10:1-11:9)		 N
SG(+N)
3B iv These are the generations of Shem (11:10-26)
And these are the generations of Terah (11:27-25:11)
And these are the generations of Ishmael (25:12-18)
And these are the generations of Isaac (25:19-35:29)
And these are the generations of Esau (36:1-8,9-37:1)		 LG
N(+SG)
SG
N
SG(+N+SG)
v These are the generations of Jacob (37:2-50:26) N(+SG+N)

*KEY: N = Narrative; LG = Linear Genealogy; SG = Segmented Genealogy

Table 6.2. Genesis’s Structure

The first of these “generations” units has the only heading that does not include a human name (2:4); both this and the context suggest that the ensuing section (2:4–4:26) introduces the redemptive story that follows. As table 6.3 shows, this section also clarifies the world’s need for blessing, as it details humanity’s covenantal purpose (2:4–25); humanity’s sin, God’s curse, and its aftermath (3:1–4:26); and Yahweh’s promise of a curse-overcoming offspring (3:15).

After this, two genealogies (5:1–6:8; 11:10–26) introduce two parallel units that develop the world’s hope for blessing (5:1–11:9; 11:10–50:26). Part one reports the kingdom hope from Adam to Noah (5:1–6:8) and then describes how Yahweh protected the promised line and renewed his covenant with creation in the wake of the flood (6:9–11:9). Part two documents the perpetuation of kingdom hope from Shem to Terah and clarifies how God will use Abraham and his offspring to bless the nations (11:10–37:1). It then closes with a recounting of the promised line’s preservation in Egypt, while also developing the hope for a royal Deliverer (37:2–50:26).

I. Preface – God’s Blessing-Commission (1:1-2:3):God Purposes that Humanity Rule His World as His Image-Bearers
II. The Need for Blessing (2:4-4:26): Humanity Rebels and God Curses the World Yet Promises a Curse-Overcoming Offspring
III. The Hope for Blessing (5:1-50:26): God Preserves Humanity and Provides a Way for the World to Enjoy Kingdom Blessing
A. God Reaffirms Humanity’s Blessing-Commission (5:1-11:9)

  1. God Perpetuates Kingdom Hope from Adam to Noah in the Context of Threat (5:1-6:8)
  2. God Protects the Promised Line and Restores Humanity’s Kingdom Puprose in the Context of Punishment (6:9-11:9)

B. God Declares How His Kingdom Blessing Will Reach the World (11:10-50:26)

  1. God Perpetuates Kingdom Hope from Shem to Terah and Elevates Abraham and His Offspring as the Agents for Bringing Kingdom Blessing to the World (11:10-37:1)
  2. God Perserves the Promised Line through Famine in Egypt and Develops Kingdom Hope for a Royal Deliverer from Judah (37:2-50:26)

Table 6.3. Genesis’s Thought Flow

Major Movements

Preface (Gen 1:1-2:3)

At creation’s climax, God shapes humans in his image (1:26–27) and charges them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion” (1:28). From the start, God’s covenant with creation stresses the themes of progeny, property, and power, all themes that resurface in Scripture’s covenantal progression culminating in Christ. The narrator characterizes the commission as a blessing, meaning that humankind would only increase and rule as God’s representatives if he empowered them to do so.

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 5: Revel in Yahweh’s Identity and Activity
God’s role as Creator (Gen 1:1) allows us to see and celebrate Christ, who was “in the beginning with God” and without whom “was not anything made that was made” (John 1:2-3; cf. Col 1:16).

The Heavens and the Earth’s Generations (Gen 2:4-4:26)

Yahweh set the first man as head over his creation (2:15–17) and then provided him a wife from his own body (2:21–25). When Adam rebelled (3:1–6), he secured his own death and the death of those he represented (2:17; Rom 5:12). He also transferred the world’s rule to the evil serpent (1 John 5:19). A new “Adam” figure, operating as a new covenantal head, would be the only one to reverse such a curse (Rom 5:18–19).

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 4: Identity OT Types
Paul notes that Adam “was a type of the one to come… For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”(Rom 5:14,19).

God subjected creation to “futility,” but he did so “in hope” (8:20), for when he cursed the serpent, he promised: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). The singular pronoun “he” here indicates the “offspring” is a male individual, who would triumph over the evil serpent, thus reversing the curse and bringing new creation.1

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 2: See the OT’s direct messianic predictions
Genesis 3:15 is direct messianic prophecy anticipating Christ, and Revelation 12:1-6,17 recalls the verse with respect to Jesus.

Adam’s Generations and Those of Noah and His Sons (Gen 5:1–11:9)

The genealogy from Adam to Noah highlights how God was preserving the “living,” whose hope was in the one to come. In typological foreshadowing of Genesis 3:15’s fulfillment, Lamech declared that his son Noah would overcome the curse (5:29). Through Noah, God preserved a remnant (8:14–19) and reaffirmed his blessing-commission and covenant with creation (9:1, 7, 9–17). By substitutionary atonement (8:20–22), which anticipated Christ’s saving work, Yahweh purchased common grace for all (Matt 5:45).

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 4: Identity OT Types
Along with being the “last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45), Christ is the antitypical human, who perfectly images God (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15).

Following the flood, evil intentions led humans to rebel again (Gen 11:1–6). So, Yahweh confused their languages and dispersed them throughout the earth (11:7–9). Specifically, those dispersed were the “clans/families” of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, which together became seventy “nations” (10:32; 11:7–9). Yahweh would incorporate a remnant of these “families” (12:3; 28:14) and “nations” (18:18; 22:18; 26:4) into his global purposes.

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 7: Use the OT to instruct others
The “Noah walked with God” and “was a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Gen 6:8-9) magnifies Christ as the one whose sanctifying power made even Old Testament justified saints holy, thus providing us an example (He 11:7).

The Generations of Shem, Terah, Ishmael, Isaac, and Esau, as well as Jacob (Gen 11:10–50:26)

Shem’s and Terah’s Generations (Gen 11:10–26; 11:27–25:11)
The heading “the generations of Shem” (11:10) recalls Shem’s elevation among his brothers in Yahweh’s kingdom program (9:26–27), and Shem’s genealogy to Terah again highlights how Yahweh preserved people in every generation who hoped in the coming offspring (11:10–26). The progenitor in the next “generations” heading is Terah (11:27), because Moses wanted to devote much of the next section to the story of Abram, later named Abraham.
The plot develops significantly when Yahweh commissions Abram to “go” to Canaan and there “be a blessing.” As table 6.4 shows, these two coordinated commands (12:1b, 2d) are each followed by one or more conditional promises (12:2abc, 3ab), and the second command-promise unit includes the ultimate promissory result: global blessing (12:3c). The two units indicate how God would reverse the punishments of property and progeny promised in Genesis 3:14–19.2

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 1: Consider the OT’s salvation-historical trajectories
Through the two commands “Go!” and “Be a blessing!” in Genesis 12:1-3, Yahweh sets a salvation-historical trajectory that moves through Abraham’s behing a father of one nation ( = old covenant, Gen 17:7-8) to Christ’s saving work that makes Abraham the father of many nations ( = new covenant, 17:4-6).
And Yahweh said to Abram, 1
Phase 1: Realized in the Mosaic Covenant
Go from your land and your kindred and your father’s house to the lad that I will show you,”

b
so that I may make you into a great nation, 2
and may bless you, b
and may make your name great. c
Phase 2: Realized in the New Covenant
“Then be a blessing,
d
so that I may bless those who bless you, 3
but him who dishonors you I will curse, b
with the result that in you all the families of the ground may be blessed. c

Table 6.4. The Structure of Genesis 12:1–3 (Author’s Translation)

The two units also foresee two major phases in God’s saving drama. Phase one relates to Abraham fathering a nation centered in Canaan. Yahweh would fulfill this through the Mosaic covenant (15:13, 18; 17:8). Phase two would occur when Abraham’s representative blessed the families Yahweh dispersed (12:2d–3). This would happen only when Abraham’s offspring perfectly obeyed (18:18–19)—something realized only through Abraham’s ultimate offspring who blesses the world (Gal 3:14, 16, 29). Jesus does this through his perfect life, culminating in his death and resurrection (Phil 2:8; 1 Pet 2:22).

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 6: Observe the OT’s ethical ideals
“Righteousness” was the ethical goal of law keeping (Deut 6:25). Yet God Cridits righteousness to Abraham by faith apart from works (Gen 15:16), thus justifying the ungodly (Rom 4:5) based on Christ’s perfect righteousness, which leads to “justification and life for all men” (5:18; cf. 3:21-26).

Through Isaac God would affirm his covenant and name the promised offspring (17:19, 21; 21:12). This one would serve as Abraham’s greater “son,” through whom, by his substitutionary sacrifice, “the LORD will provide” pardon for many (22:13–14; cf. Rom 8:32). By becoming numerous, this singular “offspring” will conquer his enemies’ gate (Gen 22:17; 24:60; cf. 26:3) and stand as the one in whom all nations count themselves blessed (22:18; cf. 26:4), thus expanding the patriarch’s fatherhood (17:4). Upon Abraham’s death, Yahweh blessed Isaac (25:11).

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 4: Identity OT Types
Way 2: See the OT’s direct messianic predictions
The account of Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac and Yahweh’s response in Genesis 22:1-19 typologically anticipates God sacrificially giving his own Son for us all (Gen 22:2; Rom 8:32) and directly predicts Abraham’s individual offspring, Christ (Gen 22:17-18), who would possess enemy gates (Matt 16:18) and in whom the nations would regard themselves blessed (Gal 3:8, 16,29; cf. Acts 3:25-26).

Ishmael’s, Isaac’s, and Esau’s Generations (Gen 25:12–18; 25:19–35:29; 36:1–37:1)

At this point, the narrative includes a genealogy devoted to “the generations of Ishmael” (25:12–18), whom Hagar bore to Abraham and whom Yahweh said would become a great nation but not as the agent of his covenant (22:20–21). His descendants represent those living under a curse, in need of the blessing Abraham’s offspring would supply.
With the narrative associated with “the generations of Isaac” (25:19–35:29), Yahweh reaffirmed and developed his patriarchal promises. Rebekah’s twins would be rival nations/peoples, with the older serving the younger (25:23)—something soon realized when the elder Esau sold his birthright to Jacob (25:29–34). Furthermore, in commissioning Isaac to sojourn in the “land” (singular), God promised his presence and blessing, which would include the promised offspring inheriting “lands” (plural; 26:3–4). Quoting this exact promise, Paul identified Christ as the “offspring” that blesses the world (Gal 3:16, 29).

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 3: Recognize similarities and contrasts within salvation history
The continuity and discontinuity between the “land” (singular, Gen 12:1-2; 15:18; cf Joshua 21:43; 1 Kings 4:21) and “lands” (plurar, Gen 26:3-4; Rom 4:13) magnifies Christ as the one in whom this redemptive-historical development happens, culminating in the new heavens and earth.

Lastly, we learn of Rachel and Isaac’s deaths just before two genealogies associated with “the generations of Esau,” the content of which, again, details those surrounding Israel who needed Yahweh’s blessing (36:1–37:1).

Jacob’s Generations (Gen 37:2–50:26)

The book’s final chapters are devoted to “the generations of Jacob” (37:2–50:26), recording the preservation of Jacob’s twelve sons and their descendants, who would become the nation of Israel and through whom the promised Deliverer would rise. While Joseph is the eleventh born son, his father treats him as the firstborn (37:3–4), and the narrative anticipates his rise above his brothers (37:5–11). Yet his brothers sell him into slavery (37:28).
After a brief interlude on Judah’s offspring (chap. 38), the narrative returns to Joseph, who moves from Egyptian prisoner to second in command (39:1–41:40). Yahweh uses him to preserve life during a famine (45:5, 7). Once his family secured refuge in Egypt (47:26–27), Jacob declared Yahweh’s special blessing of Joseph’s offspring (49:22–26). Concerning Judah, though, he also declared that kingship would remain in his line until the promised one comes (49:8–12). Joseph would retain the blessing of the firstborn, then, but Judah would be the one through whom the offspring-Deliverer would rise “in the last days” (49:1).

See and Celebrate Christ in the OT
Way 2: See the OT’s direct messianic predictions
Yahweh’s promis that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah” and that a king would rise to whom “shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen 49:10) directly predicts the rise of Jesus Christ, who is “the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt 1:1), who will reign on “the throne of his father David,” and whose “kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33).

Summary


Read within its close, continuing, and complete contexts, Genesis details gospel hope climaxing in Christ. Its main idea is this: Despite humanity’s losing the blessing of eternally reigning over a very good world as God’s image bearers, Yahweh will restore this blessing to all nations when they place their faith in the woman’s royal offspring, who will descend from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, crush the serpent, and claim all lands. In short, Genesis is Christian Scripture in which we can see and celebrate the Messiah and the gospel’s hope. Observing and evaluating other OT books carefully should allow prayerful Christians to enjoy similar results.

1C. John Collins, “A Syntactical Note (Genesis 3:15): Is the Woman’s Seed Singular or Plural?,” Tyndale Bulletin 48.1 (1997): 139–48.
2James M. Hamilton Jr., “The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham,” Tyndale Bulletin 58.2 (2007): 253–73.

This blog series summarizes Jason S. DeRouchie’s forthcoming book, Delighting in the Old Testament: Through Christ and for Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024). You can pre-order your copy here.



Episode 232: Spiritual Warfare

By / Oct 11

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared and Ross discuss the biblical portrait of spiritual warfare and what it means for the everyday Christian life. Plus: a BIG announcement!



Start With The End: 3 Reasons You Should Try Writing the Conclusion of Your Sermon First

By / Oct 10

Have you ever listened to a sermon and felt like the preacher did not know how to stop talking? “Just land the plane” is an encouragement you may have heard before. Preaching is hard and ending the sermon with a satisfying conclusion is even harder. You can have the most engaging opening story, great exegesis, and helpful application and yet leave the audience exasperated at the end because you keep circling the runway instead of landing the plane. Or even worse, you can take the people on a great exposition that glorifies God and edify the saints and just crash the plane at the end because you didn’t know how to get out of it. How you close a sermon is as important as how you start the sermon.

Quintilian, the classic orator said “The peroration (conclusion) is the most important part of forensic pleading.” The conclusion of the sermon is place where you make a final plea and argument for your people to believe what God’s Word has said and apply it to their lives. Yet the temptation is to haphazardly wrap things up with an application point or closing anecdote. You will serve your people well when you close a sermon with clarity and conviction. If you find that a particular airline has pilots that tend towards uncomfortably, bumpy, and startling landings you will fly with someone else. And as important as it is for a pilot to get you to the ground safely, it is even greater that those of us who labor in the proclamation of God’s Word to his church conclude with clarity and satisfaction. Here are three reasons why you should try writing your conclusion first.

Clarifies the Central Main Point

Any impactful sermon aims to communicate a central truth or main point. (Yes, your sermon should have a main point that you are proving.) Too often, preachers lose sight of this focus during the sermon development process. You found a hilarious illustration, a fascinating detail in the text, or a place to do cultural engagement but what if those great things don’t actually serve your main point. They are your favorite rabbit trails, but going down the rabbit hole is not what a sermon is meant to do. You need to know your main point that you are bringing to your people in order to conclude the sermon. Writing the conclusion first can serve as a powerful antidote to this problem. Your work in the Word will lead to the main point of the passage. If you do your work, starting at the end really isn’t that hard. The conclusion ought to hit that main point home one final and forceful time to stay in the mind of your audience.

By crafting the conclusion upfront, you crystallize the central message you want to leave with your congregation. This focused idea becomes the lighthouse guiding all other parts of your sermon. As you construct the introduction and the body, you are constantly reminded of the primary point you want to make. It enables you to be sure that every element of your sermon—be it scriptural exploration, real-life applications, or illustrations—directly contributes to driving home your main point.

Pulls Together the Movements in the Sermon

A sermon isn’t merely a linear progression of ideas; it’s a journey that the preacher takes the congregation on. This journey has different movements—sometimes through contrasting viewpoints, parts of a story, or your classic three-point sermon. Knowing your conclusion from the get-go offers clarity to these movements. Your subpoints work like turns on the road or rocks in a creek. They get you to your destination. If you don’t know your destination, your conclusion, then your subpoints will take you somewhere else, or perhaps leave your stranded.

When you write the conclusion first, you essentially establish your sermon’s destination. With the end point clear in your mind, you can thoughtfully plot the course you wish to navigate to get there. Each movement in the sermon becomes a strategic step toward that pre-determined conclusion. Whether you are using deductive reasoning, building an argument, or engaging in storytelling, the movements will be more coherent and logical, helping your people understand and remember the message.

Makes People Want to Come Back and Listen Again

A strong, memorable conclusion leaves a lasting impression. It’s the part of the sermon that often resonates most deeply with listeners and gives them something to ponder long after they’ve left the church building. It is the last thing they will likely hear you say. Consequently, the conclusion can be a significant factor in whether people will want to come back and listen again.

Writing the conclusion first allows you to tie up loose ends, identify the key takeaways, and the emotional tone you wish to set. By identifying this emotional and spiritual landing point early in your preparation, you are better prepared to craft a sermon that captures attention from the beginning, holds it throughout, and releases it only after imprinting a compelling message on the hearts of your listeners. That’s something that I would want to come back and hear again

Conclusion

The task of sermon writing is both a privilege and a responsibility, and the approach one takes can make all the difference. Writing the conclusion first might seem counterintuitive, all the more reason to try it. I’m not saying pick a conclusion apart from God’s Word. Do your exegetical work, find your main idea, and when you sit down to write the sermon start at the end. It clarifies your sermon’s central point, gives structure and clarity to its various movements, and most importantly, leaves your congregation eager to return for more. Look, there is nothing magical about when you write your conclusion. But having a good conclusion that reinforces the conclusion is important and too easily passed without thought. So, the next time you sit down to pen a sermon, consider starting at the end.



What is Pure Act?

By / Oct 4

Editor’s Note: The Theology in the Everyday series seeks to introduce and explain theological concepts in 500 words or less, with a 200-word section helping explain the doctrine to kids. At For The Church, we believe that theology should not be designated to the academy alone but lived out by faith in everyday life. We hope this series will present theology in such a way as to make it enjoyable, connecting theological ideas to everyday experience and encouraging believers to study theology for the glory of God and the good of the Church. This week, pure act.

We are creatures torn between being and becoming. In the grand symphony of creation, everything reflects the tension between what is, and what will be. From the tiniest microorganisms to the greatest galaxies swirling in the cosmos, each created entity carries its unique blueprint of potentiality and fulfillment.

The fact that the world around us is full of potential is so common to our everyday experience that we hardly stop to notice. We don’t often pause to look at an oak tree in the park long enough to marvel at the acorns strewn about beneath. But there in those tiny acorns lies the potential to grow, given the right conditions, into a giant oak tree. This is because it is the very nature of an acorn to become an oak. An acorn, we could then say is potentially an oak tree. Looking from the other direction, we could say that a mature oak is a fully actualized acorn. That is, when the true nature of the acorn is fulfilled or actualized, it becomes the tree that it was created to become.

We humans, as part of God’s intricate design, also embody this principle. We are born helpless infants, brimming with the potential for growth and learning as we mature into the adults we are meant to be. Our lives are exercises in becoming, the pursuit of actualizing our dormant abilities and fulfilling our purposes to create and cultivate God’s creation.

All created things reflect this distinction between what they are, and what they can become. We live in a world where being and becoming are built into the very fabric of reality.

Yet, amidst this constant flux and change that characterizes the created world, God stands as the unchanging being. God’s essence is perfect, simple, and pure. He is the eternal “I AM” that knows no shadow or variation due to change. This divine unchangeability (immutability) reminds us of the profound difference between the Creator and His creation.

The world around us pulsates with potential, a testament to the exquisite design of creation, while God remains the epitome of pure being, untouched by the winds of change, and ever radiant in the fullness of His perfect existence. God, being the Creator of all things, is not like us. As pure existence, the One who has life in Himself, He has no need of becoming. To imply that He has need of becoming would be to confuse the Creator with His creation.

We could then say that God is purely actual, only ever and always existing and acting out of the fullness of His perfect, infinite life, never out of lack or need. In short, God has no potential to become anything other than what He already is, because He Himself is the fullness of life.

For the Kids:

As kids, you hope to grow up and be big someday. It’s why you play “grown ups” with your friends and pretend that you are doctors, firefighters, professional athletes, or moms and dads. Growing up is part of what it means to be a kid. It’s why you play and learn new things and why, when the time comes, you will learn to do less fun grown up things like work and chores. But that is a good thing! It means that you are becoming who God created you to be.

God, however, is not growing up and changing like you are. He is, and has always been, perfectly God, so He has no need to grow up or change. This is good news for you because it means that God does not lack anything! Since He lacks nothing, everything God does, He does it out of His abundant love, never out of need. In fact, God is so perfect and complete in himself that he chose to share everything He has with you, in Jesus. This is the good news of the gospel.

So as you grow up in a world full of change, always remember that God cannot be any more because He already is.[1]

[1] Thanks to Thomas Hext for this aphorism about what it means for us to confess that God is pure act.



Episode 231: FTC Mailbag

By / Oct 4

Everybody’s favorite feature is back! On this FTC Mailbag episode, Jared and Ross respond to listener-submitted questions and topics like pastoring without seminary, terms for elders, restoring disqualified pastors, what happens to the soul when someone dies, whether SBC churches should bring into membership those baptized as infants, and more.



05: Treasuring Christ in All of Scripture

By / Sep 27

“And Beginning with Moses” (Luke 24:27)

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). The only Bible Jesus had was what we call the OT, and he believed that his Scriptures bore witness about him (John 5:39) and that everything they said about him would be fulfilled (Luke 24:44).

Christ’s followers, then, should be intent to properly magnify Jesus where he is evident. As the Puritan theologian John Owen wrote in 1684, “The revelation … of Christ … deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations and our utmost diligence in them.” 1 To accomplish this faithfully, one must employ a multifaceted approach that accounts for the centrality of Jesus in all God is doing in history.

How to Engage in Christ-Centered OT Interpretation

Considering the relationship of the Testaments and Scripture’s unity centered on the divine Son, G. K. Beale has noted five principles that are rooted in the OT’s own story of salvation history and that guided the NT authors’ interpretive conclusions:2

  1. The NT authors always assume corporate solidarity, in which one can represent the many (e.g., Rom 5:18–19).
  2. Christ represents the true (remnant) Israel of the old covenant and the true (consummate) Israel, the church, of the new covenant (e.g., Isa 49:3, 6; Luke 2:32).
  3. God’s wise and sovereign plan unites salvation history in such a way that earlier parts correspond to later parts (Isa 46:9–10; Luke 16:16).
  4. Christ has initiated (though not consummated) the age of end-times fulfillment (e.g., Heb 1:2; 9:26).
  5. Christ and his glory stand as the end-time center and goal of history, such that his life, death, and resurrection provide the key to interpreting the OT and its promises.

These principles directed the way Jesus and the apostles interpreted Scripture, and they should inform every Christian approach to the OT.

Furthermore, the fact that God authored Scripture and gives it an overarching unity demands that all OT interpretation consider three distinct but overlapping contexts:3

  1. The close context focuses on a passage’s immediate literary setting within the whole book. Here we observe carefully what and how the text communicates, accounting for both the words and the theology that shapes those words.
  2. The continuing context considers the passage within God’s story of salvation. We examine how a text is informed by antecedent Scripture and contributes to God’s unfolding kingdom drama.
  3. The complete context concerns a text’s placement and use within the broader canon. We consider how later Scripture might use the passage, remembering that the divine authorship of Scripture allows later passages to clarify, enhance, or deepen the meaning of earlier texts.

Only by considering all three contexts will Christian interpreters be able to fully grasp God’s intended meaning of OT passages and understand how those texts point to Christ.

Six More Ways to Treasure Christ in the OT4

Along with tracing Scripture’s kingdom program climaxing in Jesus (discussed in the previous post), the salvation-historical, Christocentric model presented here proposes at least six other ways God exalts Jesus in the OT.

1. Treasuring Christ through the OT’s Direct Messianic Predictions

In Acts 3:18, 24, Peter stresses that every one of the prophets, from Moses onward, anticipated the Messiah’s suffering and the days of the church. The OT, then, is loaded with explicit and implicit direct messianic predictions. For example, Moses records that Yahweh promised Abraham that a single male offspring would “possess the gate of his enemies” and that “all the nations of the earth” would regard themselves “blessed” in him (Gen 22:17b–18). Paul, then, notes how in Christ God fulfilled his promise to bless the Gentiles (Gal 3:8, 14). So, when you read the OT’s messianic predictions, see and savor how the divine Son realizes these hopes.

2. Treasuring Christ through Similarities and Contrasts of the Old and New Ages and Covenants

Jesus’s saving work creates both continuities and discontinuities between the old and new ages and covenants. For instance, while both covenants contain a similar structure (i.e., God first redeems and then calls his people to obey), only the new covenant supplies freedom from sin and power for obedience to all covenant members (Jer 31:33–34). Similarly, whereas God used the blood of bulls and goats to atone in the old covenant, Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice alone provides the ground for eternal redemption (Heb 9:11–14). These kinds of similarities and contrasts encourage a messianic reading of the OT. We can treasure Christ’s work by identifying the patterns and transformations.

3. Treasuring Christ through the OT’s Typology

God structured salvation history in such a way that certain OT characters (e.g., Adam, Moses, David), events (e.g., the flood, exodus, return to the land), and institutions or objects (e.g., the Passover lamb, temple, priesthood) bear meanings that clarify, color, or predictively anticipate the Messiah’s life and work. The NT calls these pointers “types” or “examples” (Rom 5:14; 1 Cor 10:6). They find their counter in Jesus as their ultimate realization (“antitype”). When you identify OT types that clarify and anticipate Christ’s person and work, see and celebrate the Son as the substance of all earlier shadows.

4. Treasuring Christ through Yahweh’s Identity and Activity

Jesus said that no one has ever seen God the Father except the Son (John 6:46) and that “whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (14:9). Minimally, this means that those who saw God in the OT (e.g., Exod 24:11) were enjoying but partial glimpses of his glory (33:18–23). It may also imply that, at least in some instances where Yahweh becomes embodied in human form (e.g., Gen 18:22), we are meeting the preincarnate Son. In brief, when we meet Yahweh in the OT, we are catching glimpses of the coming Christ. As such, when you revel in Yahweh’s identity and activity, see and savor the divine Son.

5. Treasuring Christ through the Ethical Ideals of OT Law and Wisdom

Every law and wise saying in the OT are sources for magnifying the greatness of Christ on our behalf. He is the perfect embodiment of God’s character and the ideal image of law keeping and wisdom. Paul stressed both that in the law we have “the embodiment of knowledge and truth” (Rom 2:20) and that “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (7:12). The same can be said of Christ, who remained sinless (Heb 4:15) and “became to us wisdom from God” (1 Cor 1:30). Therefore, when you observe how the OT law and wisdom express ethical ideals, celebrate the justifying work of the divine Son.

6. Treasuring Christ by Using the OT to Instruct Others in the Law of Love

Jesus’s coming unlocks the significance of the OT (2 Tim 3:15), and through him we now have access to a massive amount of Scripture that can clarify how to love God and neighbor (Rom 16:25–26). Moreover, God now empowers us in Christ to keep the “precepts” of the law, as we live with circumcised hearts by the power of the Spirit (Rom 2:26, 29). Christ is our teacher, and his own fulfillment of the law now clarifies for us what it means to follow God (Matt 5:17–19). When we use the OT to instruct or guide others, calling them to love and thus fulfill the law (Rom 13:8–10; cf. 2 Tim 3:16), we should treasure the sanctifying work of the divine Son.

Conclusion

All things, including the very letters of Scripture, are from, through, and for the divine Son (Col 1:16). If, after evaluating any OT text through the seven above ways, you still don’t find a bridge to magnifying the Messiah, then recognize that we can treasure Christ in the mere fact that we have the written Word. God is speaking through the Old and New Testaments, and he is speaking only because Jesus purchased the grace that allows sinners to receive the sacred text. May we increasingly learn to proclaim “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2) from the initial three-fourths of the Christian Scriptures.

1. John Owen, “Meditations on the Glory of Christ,” in The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1862), 1:275.
2. G. K. Beale, “Did Jesus and His Followers Preach the Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts?,” Themelios 14 (1989): 90. The present author has added the scriptural references.
3. These categories are drawn from Trent Hunter and Stephen J. Wellum, Christ from Beginning to End: How the Full Story of Scripture Reveals the Full Glory of Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018), 42–69.
4. Much of what follows adapts material first published in Jason S. DeRouchie, How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2017), 481–89.

This blog series summarizes Jason S. DeRouchie’s forthcoming book, Delighting in the Old Testament: Through Christ and for Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024). You can pre-order your copy here.



Episode 230: Our Most Influential Authors

By / Sep 27

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ross Ferguson discuss the authors who have most influenced them and edified them in their Christian walk.



The Secret to Loving Your Wife Better: Love Jesus Better

By / Sep 21

I recently heard somebody say that one of the ways to endure well in ministry is to realize that ministry is not about you, it’s all about Jesus. The same is true of marriage. When you embrace that marriage is about Jesus first, and you and your wife second, one of the secrets of a joyful, enduring marriage comes to light: love Jesus better, and you will love your wife better.

As pastors, it seems we should know this instinctively. Our calling is directly tied to helping others come to know Jesus better. But we are no different than all of our church members when it comes to needing to be reminded constantly that the Bible says that marriage is about Jesus first and that it works right when we love Jesus first.

As I have studied what the Bible says about marriage, both for my own growth and for the growth of others whom I am trying to help, I have become convinced that Christ’s relationship with the church is the controlling metaphor that God has given us to help us understand marriage. A controlling metaphor is a word picture that explains something for an entire work of literature. At the beginning of the Bible, when God created marriage in the Garden of Eden, he initiated a human covenant relationship that he knew could reflect the relationship between his Son and his people. Even so many years before Jesus, even in the Garden, God was pointing ahead to his Son.

At the end of the Bible, when God plans a celebration feast for the consummation of the ages, he describes it using what term? The marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7, 9)! When we love our wives like Christ loves the church, we are playing our part in a story that has been told since the beginning of time, a story that will continue to be celebrated at the end of time as we step into the beginning of forever.

Paul points this out in Ephesians 5:31-32, when he quotes Genesis 2:24, and then explains that there are depths to marriage we can only begin to understand on this side of eternity: “‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Marriage refers to Christ and the church. God embedded marriage in culture as a quiet pointer to the gospel. So, when we love our wives well, we point to Jesus. But also, when we love Jesus well, we love our wives better.

After two decades of marriage, I have noticed a pattern: when I am closer to Jesus, I am usually closer to my wife. Why is this? Paul David Tripp helpfully explains in his book, What Did You Expect?, “A marriage of love, unity and understanding is not rooted in romance; it is rooted in worship…No marriage will be unaffected when the people in the marriage are seeking to get from the creation what they were only ever meant to get from the Creator.”

This applies to pastors as much as anyone else. Yet, there are certain dangers inherent in our vocation. We can think that because we are serving Jesus daily as part of our job, that we are naturally close to Jesus. But one test of a man’s walk with Christ is in how he treats his wife. This is not to say that if we are close to Jesus, that we will automatically at all times be close to our wives. The fact that you are a sinner married to a sinner in a world groaning under the curse, with a difficult calling as a pastor’s family, means that there will be ups and downs in your marriage. But making your relationship with Christ a priority is the start to finding the freedom and power to love your wife humbly and selflessly as Jesus loves, no matter what is going on in your relationship or ministry at the time.

When you remember that Jesus is your first love (see Revelation 2:4-5), then his love naturally overflows out of your life onto your wife. It’s not that loving Jesus and loving your wife are commands from God that are at odds with each other, it is that we can only love others rightly when we have our loves ordered rightly.

Jesus explained how loving God results in loving others: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Your wife is your closest neighbor, so the words of Jesus remind us of our order of priorities as shepherds of God’s people: love Jesus, love your wife, love your kids, and love others including your church family and community.

Fellow pastors and ministry leaders, don’t forget that there is a clear command from the Bible on loving your wife, “… be intoxicated always in her love” (Proverbs 5:19). God calls you to be madly in love with your wife. This is best for you, best for her, best for your kids, best for your church, and it glorifies God. So pursue her simply for the joy of pursuing her, and because you love her. But don’t forget that you will love your wife better when you love Jesus better. Root your pursuit of her in the fact that you have been pursued by Christ. Embracing this secret can be the secret to embracing a joy-filled marriage.

Rekindle your love for Jesus, and be in tune with his heart for reflecting the gospel in your marriage. Then your marriage will be like a fire that keeps you both warm, and at the same time gives light to others.



What is Assurance?

By / Sep 20

Editor’s Note: The Theology in the Everyday series seeks to introduce and explain theological concepts in 500 words or less, with a 200-word section helping explain the doctrine to kids. At For The Church, we believe that theology should not be designated to the academy alone but lived out by faith in everyday life. We hope this series will present theology in such a way as to make it enjoyable, connecting theological ideas to everyday experience and encouraging believers to study theology for the glory of God and the good of the Church. This week, assurance.

The doctrine of assurance wrestles with the big question, “How can I know I’m saved?” The answer it provides is, because of “the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, [and] the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are children of God.”[1] You can find the doctrine throughout Scripture (Romans 5:2, 8:15-16; Hebrews 6:11, 6:17-18; 1 John 2:3, 3:14, 3:24, 5:13).

The doctrine has an objective and subjective dimension which should be distinguished (but not separated). The first dimension we can refer to as “assurance of salvation.” It asks the big question in an objective sense: “How can I know I’m saved?” It refers to the ground of Assurance, the place we look outside of ourselves to see that salvation has been accomplished. And the answer is to one place: the finished work of Christ. This aspect of assurance never shifts because God’s promises of salvation in the gospel never do. A Christian can be sure of his salvation because God himself has promised!

The second aspect we can call “assurance of faith.” It deals with the subjective aspect of the big question–“How can I know I’m saved?”; as in, “That may be salvation, but how do I know that I have true saving faith which receives it?” It refers to the personal experience of assurance. A Christian can be sure of his salvation by looking inward at his fruit and the Spirit’s conviction in his heart that he belongs to God. This sense of assurance may rise and fall. Why?

“True believers may have the assurance of their salvation diverse way shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God’s withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light. Yet, are they never so utterly destitute of the seed of God and life of faith..this assurance may, in due time, be revived”[2]

The doctrine of assurance, then, is both a steadfast objective reality and a fluctuating subjective experience.

Assurance is a sweet doctrine for the Christian life for two reasons. First, it teaches a Christian’s salvation remains assured because the divine promises of salvation in the gospel never bend. Second, it acknowledges that while a Christian’s subjective experience of assurance may waiver due to sin, affliction, etc. they themselves remain just as held by God. Not only that, but it can always be buffeted and grown.

Because our salvation rests in the objective work of Christ and not our subjective experience, we can objectively assure one another even in the midst of our lack of subjective assurance that we are his until our experience “catches up” to truth. This is what the doctrine of assurance assures us of!

For the Kids:

“Assurance” refers to a Christian’s confidence of salvation and the genuineness of the faith that connects them to salvation. Assurance has two dimensions. The first is found outside of us and so is called “objective.” This sense of assurance comes from one place: God’s promises of salvation in the gospel. How can you be sure you’re saved? Because God promises it in the gospel!

The second dimension is personal, or “subjective.” It’s found by looking at our fruit and at the inner-conviction from the Spirit that we belong to God. Because it is related to ourselves, the experience of this second sense of assurance can be grown or diminished. How can you be sure you’re saved? Look at your fruit and the Spirit’s testimony within you!

Assurance is like a bicycle. The rear wheel (the objective dimension) never turns because it is held in place by the bike-frame (the gospel). The front wheel, though, can wobble from hitting rocks (suffering, God’s hiding his face, etc.). Not only that, but it can turn different directions due to the actions (sin or obedience) of the rider (the Christian). All make up the bike of assurance God uses to carry the Christian.

[1] Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 18.2: “Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation”

[2] Ibid. 18.4



Episode 229: Congregation Pet Peeves

By / Sep 20

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ross Ferguson return to the popular “pet peeves” series and turn the tables! Instead of focusing on peeves about leaders, we look at some annoying habits in congregations, with warmth and affection, of course, and an eye toward how to better love our churches and their leaders.