I just thought I'd say something before we go on about the schedule going forward here. I've started working through my book Systematicology chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. We did the introduction of theology. What is it? The doctrine of the Word of God and where does the Bible come from and how do we know it's authoritative and what about these challenges to the inerrancy of the Bible? We talked about that and then we came to this doctrine of the clarity of scripture. The Bible has written it away that ordinary people can understand it. And at that point where I hit the doctrine of the clarity of scripture and understanding scripture, I took a little detour and I've put in four or five extra weeks here of how to interpret the Bible. And so that's what we've been doing. And now we went through a number of principles of how to interpret the Bible. It's written in the ordinary language of everyday people. It's a historical document. It's about God. And we should look to see what the text tells us about God in each case. And then the original author had an application of reason that he wrote the text. And we should look and see what the original author's reason was and what he wanted the readers to apply to their lives. And so we talked about principles for word study, some computer resources for Bible study and things like that. And then we got onto this idea of tracing themes through the Bible. And that's where we left off before Christmas. And we've had a couple of weeks of break. What I'm going to do now is continue with that idea of tracing themes through the Bible. But especially how the Old Testament has a historical development over time as God is working through the Old Testament to show us more and more about what the Messiah would be like when He comes. And the Old Testament is looking forward to Jesus Christ. And so this is kind of an exercise in putting the whole Bible together and tracing these themes of what Christ would be like. I want to take some Old Testament passages starting with Adam and Eve and going on the creation of Adam and Eve, going on to their temptation, looking a little bit of the story of Cain and Abel. And what is that telling us? Cain killing his brother Abel, what is happening there and maybe Noah and the flood just kind of working through some situations in Old Testament history. As I look forward at the schedule, I realize in the fall I've been here and gone and here and gone, a fair bit. And Mike Langley is on me saying, no, it's a schedule. What's a schedule? Looks like so far this spring, I'll be gone March 19th and that's all. And so I just don't know if anything else is going to come up unknown, but as I look forward to the Sundays here through the spring, looks like we'll have some continuity and I'll do this week and next week on this topic maybe one more and then get back into systematic theology, the necessity of Scripture, the sufficiency of Scripture. And then how do we know God exists and the attributes of God and the doctrine of the Trinity and that's where we're headed for the rest of the spring. Just so you know where we're going. Here we are now, the witness of the old, oh yes I had one more little note just to encourage those of you who aren't here early enough to get the refreshments when they arrive and just chat with people. It is a time just kind of mingle round. I try to be here early and set up and be ready just to say hello to people about 745 or so. Anytime between 745 and 8 and you want to show up, that'd be great. If you kind of sit in your mind and be here by 8, that just helps get us going in the morning, makes the use of the morning. It's kind of early, but on the other hand, what a joy to get up so early and see that brisk morning. All right, witness of the Old Testament to Christ. These notes are a lot based on a man named Edmund Clowney wrote a book, The Unfolding Mystery, Discovering Christ in the Old Testament. Professor Clowney was my teacher at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia when I was there in the 1970s and he was president of Westminster Seminary. He just had an incredible skill of taking the old testament, tracing themes through it and showing how it looked forward to Christ. How does the whole Bible fit together? Well, that's the question I, one time found out that seminary students graduating from Trinity Seminary in Illinois where I'd taught, that was the one thing that they said they didn't get enough of in seminary. How to put the whole Bible together? How do you put the pieces together? Well, one useful approach is to summarize its teaching on various topics and we did that on the inerrancy of the Bible. The authority of the Bible will do that later on the Trinity and the deed of Christ and things. But another useful approach is to trace the historical development of themes from Genesis to Revelation. And there's a special term that people have used for that and the term that in the academic world is used for that is called biblical theology. Now, you might think biblical theology isn't all theology biblical? Well, for some reason, this kind of particular approach has been called biblical theology and the emphasis in biblical theology is an emphasis on this history of redemption. I put that timeline up here on this board where we start with creation and then the fall where Adam and Eve sin, Abraham, Moses, David, that on through the Old Testament and then comes Jesus, the life of Christ on earth, his death, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, his pouring forth, the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And then we have the church age and then Jesus will come back sometime and then there will be a millennial kingdom where Jesus will reign on the earth. Garth mentioned to me this morning, where did you put the tribulation? Yeah, the tribulation is in here but I'm simplifying. And so and then there are different views on that thing and then we go on to New Heavens and Newer at the after there's a final judgment and all and Garth makes all things new. So that's the salvage, that's not economic history, it's not military history, it's not history of art, history of music, it's history of salvation and that's the history of the whole world from God's perspective. And so when we trace themes throughout the history of the world then we begin to see more of how the Bible fits together, where we left off just that Sunday before Christmas was the story of the wise men coming to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and murder to baby Jesus in the manger and I said you know there are some themes here, one is here are Gentiles coming to worship a Jewish Messiah and when we see that we should think back in the Old Testament how God had a purpose that from Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed and then the occasional Gentiles brought into the people of Israel and brought to salvation but only very few but when the wise men come it's a signal to us that God is going to spread his saving message not just to Jewish people but to the Gentile world and here's the first example of that and then we have other examples in the Old Testament of how God has promised that ultimately the wealth of the earth and the honor of the earth would be brought to the worship of God in Jerusalem and the worship of his king of the Messiah and here we have the gifts of gold and frankincense and murder being brought to put at the feet of Jesus and so we're getting a hint of the wealth of the nations being flowing into the flowing into Jerusalem and that's going to happen in that revelation 21 in the New Heavens and New Earth in a much greater way than it happened Solomon for instance when all the wealth of the nations came into his presence and so we were seeing some themes like that now this is an emphasis on the history of redemption this history of redemption is attempting to understand how God was teaching people through patterns patterns or types that looked forward to Christ and this word type is a word that might not be very familiar to you in this sense it really comes from a Greek word Tupas and it comes especially in this verse for instance Romans 5 14 death rained from Adam to Moses here we are Adam a creation to Moses Paul says death rained at that time even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam who was a type Greek word is Tupas from which we were get the word type pattern model kind of a pattern a model an example who was a type of the one who was to come Adam was a type he was an example and so Paul says explicitly that Adam wasn't just ordinary person or any ordinary person he was an example of the one who was to come Adam how was Adam an example of Christ what was it about Adam that showed us that somebody greater was coming and that was Jesus well we'll think about that in just a minute clownie Edmond County in this book the unfolding mystery which I require students to read in one of my classes at the seminary the clownie says a type a type is a form of analogy that is distinctive to the Bible and like all analogies a type combines identity and difference so Adam is a type of Christ I think David is a type of Christ we talked about that with David killing Goliath a few weeks ago and think there are some others so now when I'm doing this I'm not just looking at those prophecies about Messiah is going to be born in Bethlehem or Isaiah 53 where he's going to suffer and bear our sins and by his wounds we were healed those specific prophecies I'm rather thinking about the historical events the narrative event how did those if we read those historical events we think about them how are they showing what God is looking forward to what he's planning to do in Christ now Peter tells us that the Old Testament was written for our benefit and these Old Testament prophets were really serving us and so now some of you have started how many of you started reading through the Bible in a year with that handout that we gave out here I gave out one here that EG armor were given us chronological and then Darryl also encouraged people to start reading through the Bible in the year and as you read through the Old Testament you think how these historical things point forward to Christ and the prophets how do they point forward to Christ well first Peter one says the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories so what Peter is saying is that the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Christ was in the Old Testament prophets now I know when I say prophets you think Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel those prophets but the Jewish people and Peter when he said prophets he really thought he was really thinking of the whole Old Testament because Moses was the thought to be the greatest of the prophets and then other books written by Samuel and others of the prophets so they're just I think they're really thinking I think Peter's thinking of the of the of the whole of the Old Testament and he's saying those people who wrote they they were wondering who was being indicated when the Spirit of Christ in them was predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories so now we're thinking about the sufferings of Christ I think it's not just Isaiah 53 I was just reading through the story of Joseph for instance we'll get on to that I think next week think about Joseph be trade by his brothers hmm I think there was a later Messiah coming who would be this trade by his own people see he was cast down into a pit they thought they were going to give him up for dead and he was really sold into slavery into Egypt and then in Egypt he was falsely accused hmm Lord servant is going to be falsely accused do you think is there somebody later who coming who's going to be falsely accused and he's put in prison but then he's exalted to rule over the land of Egypt at the right hand of the Pharaoh oh could God be hinting at the fact that later there's going to be a greater servant of the Lord who would be falsely accused and even suffer more than being put in prison he'd die but then he'd raised up to be at the right hand of the king not just the king of Egypt but the king of the universe could there be some hint there so the sufferings of Christ being predicted probably foreshadowed in Joseph's suffering and then exaltation to glory am I making sense with this see and and so Peter is saying that these prophets when they wrote these things now not just the predictions but I think the history too they predicted the sufferings and the subsequent glories I think when they recorded all the wealth of the nations flowing into Jerusalem under King Solomon and then all the kings of the earth coming to hear Solomon and his great wisdom I think it's making us think that there's a yet greater than Solomon coming one whose wisdom will be greater than all and all the nations will come to hear his wisdom one day so it's the subsequent glories that are being predicted too and so I want to get us to read the Old Testament thinking now is this looking forward to Messiah is this anticipate God is doing in a preliminary way what he's going to do in a final way in Jesus so it was revealed to these prophets that they were serving not themselves but you this is a great encouragement to read the Old Testament they were serving you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things into which angels long to look so the goal then is to view every text in the light of this whole sweep of Bible history Genesis to Revelation and say the whole of the Bible is God-centered we should look in each text for what God is doing what it shows us of him all scriptures breathed out by God it's profitable for teaching reproof correction and training and righteousness and Paul says whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction here again he's talking about the whole Old Testament it was written for our instruction that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope so we want to try to do that now with a number of Old Testament passages the whole of the Bible is historically structured so we should look at each passage to see how God is gradually unfolding his plan for history now I'm not saying this is just automatic or that it's easy to do it'll take some thought in some study even those who lived with Jesus during his earthly ministry were slow to understand how the whole of the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ in fact Jesus after his resurrection he was walking on the road to Emmaus with two disciples he hadn't revealed himself to them they didn't know for sure who he was and they were saying oh we're so sad we had thought he was the Messiah but he suffered he put it was put to death and he's and Jesus said oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory and beginning with Moses so that's back in Genesis Exodus Leviticus number he's going back to the narratives beginning with Moses and then all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself I think he's saying don't you remember how Joseph was sold into slavery and put into prison and then he was exalted he had to suffer first don't you remember how Jonah was cast into the sea and he went down to his death and then he came out and then he was able to preach he there was suffering and then then the God saved him isn't there a pattern among God's people didn't David have to be exiled and run and hide from King Saul and his life threatened before he was exalted to be King that is don't you see this that there's a pattern of how God works that there's suffering before he brings about his purposes for for his faithful servant and I think Jesus was explaining to them I think he was going section by section through the Bible and explaining to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself and so let's take some examples now from the Old Testament first of all there's Adam and Eve Paul says Adam is a type of Christ a type meaning an analogy a model but it has similarities and differences well are there some similarities God said let us make man an hour image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and all over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so God created man his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them now we start to think I'm not reading you all of Genesis 1 and 2 but we start to think about Adam and Eve as God created them well what were they to do well they were to rule let them have dominion over the fish of the sea the rule over the creation and so now we get to this timeline and we see back here God said to Adam or to Adam and Eve to to fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion they were to make the earth subject to them they were to rule over it but did they do it what happened with them and the creation did they just have this wonderful kingdom where all the food and all the animals and the fish and the birds were all serving them and everything was wonderful did that happen uh serpent comes wait a minute something's wrong here you're supposed to have dominion over the serpent but then they're letting the serpent tell them what to do all right there's something wrong and then when there's punishment God says thorns and thistles it will bring forth for you in the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the dust dust you are to dust you shall return is that ruling over the creation no that's the creation ruling over them and so wait a minute Adam is a type but he hints at the fact that there is somebody greater coming who is actually going to fulfill God's plan that human beings have full dominion over the creation see and and God God upset the pattern so the creation is bringing harmful and opposing them and being destructive toward them and so and so there's a struggle to gain food from the earth and and um how does that happen the the people are longing for a promised land that's flowing with milk and honey that'll be of great abundance and there's a prompt but it's temporary it's provisional they to rule over the earth and rule over the animals and well sometimes they rule over the animals rule over them they have lions attack them and they have um you know they have a drought and famine and they have to go to Egypt and all that so okay so it's not working quite but then Jesus comes and greater than Adam he begins to demonstrate sovereignty over the creation you short on food here's five loaves and two fishes okay we'll feed five thousand people with those got a storm gonna threaten you to destroy you see the creation is going to kind of drown you well Jesus says peace be still see here is the rule here's the true ruler the true man who's going to rule over the creation it's going to be subject to him and um all of a sudden we begin to see that something's going to be a lot better and eventually it's looking forward to the new heavens and new earth where it'll be the great glory of the heavenly city and all the creation will be useful to us and not not harming us but but helpful and there'll be no more um well detonators and earthquakes and famines and thorns and all that so Adam's Adam didn't didn't do it right but the idea of a ruler is that the image of God Adam and Eve were in the image of God that means they were like God and they represented God on the earth but when they start blaming each other and when they rebel against God and when they don't obey him um and then when evil and violence begin to multiply on the earth and people are lying to each other and they're murdering and they're stealing are they reflecting what God is like no they they fail in the image of God and so Adam and Eve when they sinned they didn't they they they they say retain some of the image of God but it was distorted it was marked is this looking forward to some time when someone would come who would be the true image of God and who could say he who has seen me has seen the Father and if whom Paul could say in him the whole fullness of God dwells bodily uh and he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation yes Adam was the image of God he was like God he represented God but he's looking forward to someone who is going to do it in a greater way well here's the son of God Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus back to son of such and such son of such and such the son of Seth the son of Adam the son of God so here's a son that God has created but there's I think looking forward to a greater son who is going to be uh not only a human creation but actually the true son of the Father for eternity and so when we read about Adam we think wow a wonderful creation but he failed to rule there must be a greater ruler coming we look at Adam and we think oh he's the image of God but he distorted the image so there must be a greater image of God coming we look at Adam we say here's the son of God someone that God created but he wasn't exactly a faithful son there must be a greater son coming and the New Testament then sets us up to look forward or the Old Testament sets us up to look forward to Christ and then the idea of marriage I think this shows us something of exclusive love that Adam and Eve we read at the end of Genesis that the man and his wife were naked and they were not ashamed they were dwelling in the Garden of Eden in harmony and joy there was love and fulfillment between them and therefore it says therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh Adam and Eve in their marriage were picturing something and we see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the beautiful love that they have for each other before before they sin with the New Testament wisdom we should look forward to and we should look at that look at Adam and Eve's marriage and say hmm you know here we have here we have Adam and Eve we have Adam and Eve as husband and wife in in their relationship to each other and Paul when he's writing over here in Ephesians he quotes Genesis 2 and he says therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh this is when he's talking about marriage in Ephesians 5 this is a great mystery and I take it to mean Christ and the Church that's Ephesians 5 about 31 or 32 now in Paul's teaching over here in Ephesians in Paul's teaching a mystery is something that was hidden and concealed in the Old Testament but that Paul now makes known the meaning of and Paul says Adam and Eve being married to each other he said that was a mystery that is back there in the Garden of Eden they didn't know it but Paul says I take it to mean Christ and the Church Paul's looking back and saying when God created Adam and Eve they were intended to be a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church did Adam and Eve know that that they were they were in their relationship picturing how Christ would love the Church no they didn't know that it was a mystery but God had it in mind all along and Paul says in Ephesians 5 it's a mystery but it refers to Christ in the Church so when we see Adam and Eve now with the help of the New Testament we should think you know what there's a greater husband coming and that is the Lord Jesus Christ and there's a greater bride coming the Church that is the bride of Christ and that means Paul says that for all marriages marriages were intended from the beginning and marriages now Paul says should reflect the relationship between Christ and the Church that's why he can say husbands love your wives as Christ love the Church gave himself up for her that's why he can say wives be subject to your husbands as the Church is subject to Christ so there's a relationship there that was intended by God from the beginning and it's what marriage is about and when we see the first marriage we're thinking it's looking forward to a greater relationship the exclusive love between Christ and his Church so that's Adam and Eve looking forward to a greater ruler a greater image of God a greater son of God and a greater marriage even than the first marriage no it's not anything oh yeah oh sure yeah I didn't get into that but but yes this let us make man in our image that us plural our plural I once so spend it there to looking at all the interpretations of the rabbis in Jewish literature after the Old Testament they were trying to figure it out and they couldn't figure out what that plural was they had different ideas but they were contradicting each other and I think it's an indication of plurality of persons in the Trinity right there sure right in Genesis 1
good okay that's Adam and Eve we try another one the fall okay the fall here we have the temptations the temptations God put Adam and even the garden and told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there's a temptation to disobey what happened they succeed they failed they failed so we look back here and we see Adam and Eve failed and so now here's a type of Christ but a type has similarities and differences this is the case where there are differences Adam and Eve failed in the temptation they ate of the fruit that they weren't supposed to and they sinned against God well so is that the end of the story is God going to give up no when we see Adam and Eve sinning we're thinking wait a minute that's not the end the story goes on there's got to be somebody else coming who is going to succeed in the temptations who's going to live a sinless life and so in that way the temptations look forward to the Messiah who's going to come and you know there are a lot of parallels between Adam and Eve in the garden and Jesus in the wilderness when he's being tempted by the devil because Adam and Eve although it's a lot harder because Adam and Eve had fellowship with one another and they could have encouraged one another Jesus was all alone the tempted by the devil Adam and Eve had everything they wanted to eat except that one tree Jesus had nothing to eat for 40 days and he was tempted to turn the stones into bread and so there are there are temptations temptations that Jesus succeeded in and the temptations look forward to someone who's going to succeed then after their sin then God gives them mercy he says in the day he was surely died but he doesn't carry out the sentence instantly now they start to die they're separated from God spiritually and then physically the aging process begins so the death eventually works out and God says dust you are until dust you shall return but there's mercy God doesn't kill them immediately he casts them out of the garden but he closes them with skins of animals there's mercy and the animals have to die in order to make those those garments that he those leather jackets and leather jeans or whatever God made for them and and so wait a minute with their thinking wait a minute a life has to be given up in order to clothe us in order to provide for us protect us from the shame and the guilt that we feel
might a greater life have to be given up to really protect us from the guilt of sin so there's a hint going forward in God's mercy and wait a minute where does that mercy come from if they were guilty before God and they deserved eternal separation from from God and they deserve to die how can there be mercy and thinking of that now with the benefit of the New Testament we realized that God must have already known that the reason he didn't carry out judgment was someone later was going to take the judgment so the mercy shown to Adam and Eve and any mercy shown to anybody in the Old Testament where it isn't just total destruction and the fires of hell any mercy shown to anyone looks forward to Jesus taking the penalty so Adam and Eve again looking forward to what Jesus would be like and then of course in Genesis 3.15 let me go let me get let me go to the next slide here the temptations show us that someone later will face greater temptations and will not fail and so we read it in the light of the whole of the Bible we read this temptation the mercy tells us that someone someone must be coming who will take the penalty and make this mercy possible and Romans 3.25 tells us that I didn't put that in the notes but Romans 3.25 says when Christ came to die it showed that God is just because He had given mercy beforehand and where is the justice and then there's promise of an offspring who would gain victory over the servant so Genesis 3.15 God says I will put in says to the serpent I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring he looking to be a person he shall bruise your head that is decisively finally wound you in a destructive way he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel that is he'll be harmed in the process this is again a mystery it's a kernel it's a seed it's a hint of something later to come but the Old Testament is filled with this expectation where is the offspring of the woman who's going to deliver us from Satan from the harm of the serpent where is the offspring of the woman is it able could be but no hand kills able it's not able is it Seth maybe but no Seth doesn't destroy the serpent is it Abraham no oh but God promises Abraham a child could it be that this child of Abraham will be the offspring of the woman who will bruise the serpent's head but wait a minute no child I'm 90 years old no child I'm 91 I'm 92 I'm 93 where's the offspring and so the longing for the offspring of the woman who's going to fulfill these promises is there and not till Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90 do we get Isaac and so the offspring is born but then God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac has he forgotten wait a minute if Isaac doesn't live how can the promise be fulfilled and so that tension of how is that promise going be fulfilled it's carried out throughout the Old Testament and then I'm just reading just was reading this morning about the story of Moses and the people in Egypt and how Pharaoh wants to put the Hebrew children to death what is that a threat to it's a threat to the fulfillment of the promise that the offspring is going to come you wipe out Israel you don't get a Messiah and so wait we're longing for the Messiah so the promise of an offspring in the fall all right let's do one more let's do Cain and Abel now Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain saying I've gotten a man with the help of the Lord and again she bore his brother Abel now Abel is a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel also brought of the first born of his flock and of their fat portions and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering but for Cain and his offering he had no regard no there's something happening here somebody taught them that they have to give sacrifices to the Lord the they just can't say Lord here I am I'm great don't you love me no wait a minute there's some moral guilt there and they have to give a sacrifice there's a scent when you've got sacrifice you've got a sense that there's got to be a payment for your sin
and the book of Hebrews tells us by faith Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain so it wasn't just that it was an animal as opposed to sacrifice of the vegetables or fruit of the ground it was that it was by faith that Abel brought his offering by faith and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering but did the offering of the first born of a flock really that really pay for a human being sin you offer a sheep or a goat or a cow that really enough to pay for your sin a human being sin you know when you think about it pretty pretty cheap price for the payment of a human life isn't it I think those offerings look forward and book of Hebrews tells us that it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins so the offerings tell us that a life has to be paid but they also tell us that this isn't enough they're looking forward to a greater offering that would come the offering of a human life that would pay for human sins Cain was very angry and his face fell the Lord said to Cain why are you angry and why is your face fallen if you do well will you not be accepted if you do not do well sin is crouching at the door it's desire is for you but you must rule over it then came spoke to Abel his brother and when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him Abel a faithful servant brings an offering in faith has God's favor on him he's put to death by someone from his own family put to death by his brother hmm starting to sound familiar might and the Abel wasn't the promised Messiah but might this hint that Abel is also a type of Christ that is that there would be someone later coming who would be faithful and who would offer a greater sacrifice than the sacrifice of the flock would offer the sacrifice of himself and God would be pleased with his offering and he would be put to death by those of his own family by those of his own nation as Abel was put to death so rose up against his brother Abel and killed him and then Adam knew his wife Eve again and she bore a son and called his name Seth for she said God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel here's that word offspring for Cain killed him and so the promise is still alive Abel is dead he's not the offspring that's promised Cain is evil he killed his brother he's not the offspring the promise where's the hope ah here's another child God has appointed another offspring to Seth also a son was born he called his name Enoch at that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord and so I think that Cain and Abel also indicate to us that human beings have to offer sacrifice for sin but the sacrifice they offer is inadequate and they're pointing to a greater obedient son who dies at the hands of evil doers and who makes a perfect sacrifice for sin now one other thing we can do in about three minutes left here is we can trace those themes beyond the life and death of Christ into our own lives and ultimately into the new heavens and new earth so we go back Adam as a ruler over the earth Christ as the true ruler Adam failed what about us well doesn't the New Testament say that we're going to reign with Christ hmm you've been faithful over little I'll set you over much you'll have authority over five cities you'll have authority over 10 cities John's going to run all the desalination plans over all the oceans of the world because I know he's been working on that what are we going to I think and I think that all of our work today in producing goods from the earth producing food producing computers producing trucks and cars and all that that's fulfilling this ultimate goal that God has that the will rule over the earth and it'll be subject to us um if you have pets same thing I think if you eat hamburgers it's the same thing actually but anyway that's ruling over the animals in a different way um are we in the image of God yes more and more excuse me and Paul says you are being renewed in the image of God we're to speak truth to one another because part of the image of God is speaking truthfully you're being renewed in the likeness of God in holiness and righteousness and we're being changed into his image from glory to glory so as we go on in the Christian life we're reflecting more and more we'll be going more like Christ so that not only is Jesus in the image of God but in the new heavens and new earth we also will truly in our moral character that sinless reflect the image of God as well and his purpose in Adam will be fulfilled in Christ first and then in us for all eternity and we'll all be sons of God or sons and daughters but we'll have the status of the first born son we'll have the privilege of of raining with him and uh we'll um and then of course uh Christ in the church um exemplified in the perfect relationship between him and us and then among all believers um temptations ultimately we face temptations but as Christ has overcome them he gives us strength to overcome them we experience mercy uh the offspring has come um and the sacrifices we don't ever all Jesus that offered the perfect sacrifice we don't have to offer sacrifices for sin anymore but uh the New Testament says in Hebrews when we offer worship that's a sacrifice that's pleasing to God or when we do deeds of kindness to others uh do not neglect to do good and share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God so we volunteer we don't have to pay for sins with sacrifices anymore but when we do good for others and care for them and help them and worship God then we are offering sacrifices much better than the sacrifice that uh able offered and it's because Jesus had offered the perfect sacrifice and now God is pleased with what we sacrifice not to pay for our sins but out of thanksgiving so we can trace those themes into our own lives as well what do you think that interesting um it just seems fascinating to me to do this we'll go on and do a little bit we'll do Noah and the flood next time and we'll do a few more stories like that just to see how this all looks forward to Christ this is the day that we're going to get out at nine fifteen because um one Sunday a month we have to get out ten minutes early because kids stuff coming in here comes in here i have one more final repeat announcement and then um and then i'll pray and we're gonna skip a skip of him tonight today and and we'll be dismissed the final announcement Georgian where are you? Georgian has asked that everybody thirty five and under if you would go through that door where is that way in the back to go through that door and she Georgian wants to meet with you about a class of social here coming up in the spring if even if you're just brand new to the class you're thirty five and under she doesn't include me sorry but she's asking you meet with her right right immediately after class that spray and we'll be done Lord we give you thanks for your goodness to us um what amazing amazing events that you caused to unfold as you gradually revealed your purpose through the history of the Old Testament and uh what riches are there Lord as we look and study and ponder and see insight into the mysteries that were hidden there for ages and generations and then became evident as the Messiah came your son our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for him and we thank you for your word in Jesus name amen