The storyline of Scripture: God redeeming a people in Christ
In my last post, part 2 of 5 on Christ-centered interpretation, I said Luke 24 is the most important chapter for learning how to correctly read the Bible. There Jesus teaches two men on the road to Emmaus and His apostles how to read the Old Testament in light of Himself.
If Jesus is the Word (John 1), then to rightly read the Word, we must interpret it in light of Christ. Luke 24 provides an example of Christ doing this twice, once with two men we know nothing about and hear nothing about outside of this account. This suggests that to rightly interpret Scripture, we must do so in light of Christ.
So how do we do this?
Creation, Fall, REDEMPTION, Consumation
Scripture, at its core, is one big story. It is a story with a lot of texture: it features poetry, narrative, theologically-oriented history, letters, prophecy and apocalyptic literature. It is a story built upon propositions and absolute truth claims: God’s definitive voice recorded for all men and for all eternity. But it is still a story, with a beginning, middle and end.
The story of Scripture begins with creation. Genesis 1-2 gives the account of God creating all things out of nothing, with man as the apex of God’s creation, made in His image (Gen 1:26-28). God gave men tasks, things to do and things not to do.
Not long after creation comes the fall. In the fall, Adam and Eve sin against the God who created them. As their Creator, God had absolute rights over Adam and Eve. They had no just reason to disobey God, but, longing to be their own gods, they chose to anyway (Gen 3).
Thankfully, God does not leave men in this state. He has every right to, but as an act of sheer grace and mercy He does not. The next step in the story is redemption. At this point, you may be thinking, “I’ve heard this before: God creates, man sins and then comes Jesus. John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world…”
No doubt John 3:16 reveals the center of God’s plan of redemption for mankind. But what about the hundreds of chapters between Genesis 3 and John 3? What about the rest of Genesis and the 38 books of the Old Testament that follow it?
The Old Testament: A Messianic document, written for a Messianic purpose, from a Messianic perspective[1]
God’s plan of redemption begins in the very same chapter in which men fall: “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). Here God curses the serpent, declaring that one day the offspring, or seed, of woman would crush his head.
This seed is Christ.
From Gen. 3:15 on, God’s people would look for a seed who would crush the head of the serpent. (How gracious a God: He announced a plan of redemption in the very pronouncement of the curse!) This promise of a serpent-crushing seed is the first of many given by God to His people:
- In Genesis 15, God promises Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- In Gen. 17:19, God promises to establish an everlasting covenant for Isaac’s offspring.
- When God gives the law to Moses (Exod 20&ff, Deut 4-29, in particular 26-29), he promises to curse those who break the law and bless those who keep it.
- In 2 Samuel 7:12-16, God promises to establish the throne of David’s kingdom forever.
In addition to these promises, the Old Testament is filled with instances of redemption:
- Joseph in Egypt (Gen 39-50). Without Joseph in Egypt, God’s people would have died from starvation in Canaan.
- The Exodus from Egypt with Moses (Exod 4-15). God leads His people out of bondage to slavery.
- Israel entering the promised land with Joshua. A glorious entrance into the land flowing with milk and honey. But this glory would not last…
- Judges. There is a pattern in Judges: Israel sins against God, God provides a judge — meaning warrior-savior, not judicial ruler[2] — God delivers Israel through the judge.
With all of these tastes of redemption, however, there is nothing lasting. Israel disobeys God, again and again. Kings die. How can there be an everlasting kingdom, God’s promise to David, when the king always dies?
You need a person who is alive forever to fulfill God’s promise of an everlasting covenant with Isaac’s offspring. You need a king who is alive forever to fulfill the promise to David of an everlasting kingdom. You need a warrior who is alive forever to truly and finally crush the head of the serpent.
You also need a king who fears the Lord and keeps all the words of the law, not turning aside from the commandment to the right or to the left (Deut 17:19-20). For this is what God requires of His king. You need a righteous man who always walks not in the counsel of the wicked of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers (Psalm 1).
In short, you need King Jesus.
Every post-fall Old Testament text carries a yearning for a Savior. Every post-fall Old Testament text cries out for God’s redemption. Every post-fall Old Testament text advances the plan of God to restore a people of God through the Son of God.
You can see that with this approach to the Old Testament, it pops with life. It is almost as if it is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword… (Heb 4:12).
John 3:16 in light of God’s plan of redemption
With this reading of the Old Testament, John 3:16 has a broader context in which to take place. God so loving the world means God causing a woman to conceive a child who would live a perfect life. God so loving the world means this child, His Son, crushing the head of the serpent by dying and rising from the dead (1 Cor 15:3-4).
With the life, death and resurrection of Christ, the everlasting kingdom God promised to David was inaugurated. This brings us to consummation.
Christ has come and gone, but He will one day return. His kingdom is established, but not yet fully realized: His saints are not yet perfected, the world not yet recreated. But God is continuing to work toward these realities. We, God’s people, are citizens of His kingdom, extending His message of hope and life in Christ.
The Messiah.
The one in whom all the promises of God find their yes, and amen (2 Cor 1:19-20). The One whom God sent because He so loved the world.
[1]This heading comes from a presentation by James Hamilton, given as part of a panel discussion at Southern Seminary on Christ in the Old Testament
[2]For more on judge as warrior-savior in the book of Judges, see David Prince’s article in the spring 2008 issue of the TIE, the Southern Seminary magazine.