Yes! There is Good News! October 1, 2016

In last week’s article, we saw that there are “types” of scriptures. Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son, “his only son whom he loves.” God uses the same words for Issac that He would later use in describing Jesus - God’s only Son. Some people think that this was a terrible thing for God to do to His servant Abraham. But the reality is that God, who is love itself, was having Abraham set up a type; a symbol of the reality of what was to come some 2080 years in the future.

I mentioned that this played out in Genesis 22, and if you have read the chapter, then you know how Isaac asked his father as they walked up the mount, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham’s response is very telling: “God will Himself provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” This answer from a father to his son is “the gospel,” for God our Father did indeed provide the lamb for a sacrifice. It is in the book of John wherein John the Baptist says to his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 and 36) as he pointed to Jesus.

Now if you’ve been following along you can see how both Mathew and John work hand in hand to reveal information. Matthew said that his book concerned, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.” We’ve looked at the son of Abraham and correlated the account in Genesis with John calling Jesus “the lamb of God.” (I told you this was getting good!) And if you are paying close attention, you’ve noticed that the opening statement in Matthew says that Jesus was the Son of David.
David’s son was Solomon and he became king when David died. The name Solomon is derived from the Hebrew word for peace, “shalom.” And we know from Isaiah 9:6 that Jesus is called “Prince of Peace.” But more than that, Solomon was to be the one who would build God’s house - God’s temple. This is also a type for us to learn from in the Old Testament because in the book of Hebrews, Jesus is referred to as the builder of God’s house. (Heb. 3:1-6)

If we consider these two “types” from the Old Testament, we can see that God wishes to teach us that Jesus, as the Son of Abraham, was sacrificed for us as the Lamb of God and, as the Son of David, He would become the King of kings and reign over the house of God.

This is pretty special, isn’t it?