Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20020721.htm

JESUS CHRIST IN OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
Part I: Christ's Predicted Lineage And Our Liberty From Legalism
(Genesis 3:15; 12:3; 22:18 with Colossians 2:12-17; Galatians 3:13-19)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

A serious debate rages in Christian circles today regarding how we Christians are to please GOD -- by keeping part of the Mosaic Law or by keeping a noted teacher's "principles" or by living "free from all such false legalism by God's grace" as some say (as follows):

(1) A number of groups teach the believer's need to obey at least some parts of the Mosaic Law in order to please God:

(a) An unsolicited book I was mailed teaches: "While Christ's death ended the authority of the ceremonial law, it established that of the Ten Commandments. Christ took away the curse of the law, thereby liberating believers from its condemnation. His doing so, however, did not mean that the law was abolished, giving us liberty to violate its principles." (Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , p. 244).

(b) Within conservative, Bible teaching churches, many pastors teach the need to heed the Mosaic Law regarding financial contributions: many in the pew are told they must "tithe" or give 10% of their gross income to the Church as is taught in Leviticus 27:30.

(2) However, apart FROM the Mosaic Law, many Christians are told to heed stipulations taught by various teachers to please God:

(a) Some hold that since Abraham who was BEFORE the Mosaic Law paid tithes of the spoils of war in Genesis 14:20, we Christians who are likewise NOT under the Mosaic Law should pay 10 % of our gross income to God's ministries in order to please Him!

(b) One Christian leader holds wives are always to obey their husbands instead of God on issues involving conscience, and that even if it goes against their own consciences, cf. Bill Gothard, Rebuilder's Guide, p. 78, 110, 154, 224, 235.

(3) Yet, in an e-mail message I received from a friend, a former staff worker with Campus Crusade for Christ complained that calls to keep even "principles for successful living" touted by a nationally known Evangelical teacher fell into the error of "Legalistic" Pharisees that plagued the Early Church.



Well, ARE we today to keep some or all of the Mosaic Law, or ARE we to heed the rules Christian leaders or pastors lay down for us to please God, or NOT? How do we KNOW?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Some say I must obey the Mosaic Law or heed the principles a certain leader teaches to please God while OTHERS tell me we are FREE from all such legalism'! HOW then do I PLEASE GOD?!"
  1. Jesus explained to the disciples on the road to Emmaus how He fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies, Luke 24:25-27.
  2. As these men were edified by Christ's exposition of those passages (Luke 24:32), we also view them, following the list of prophecies named in the Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, s. v. "Messianic Prophecies."
  3. The first messianic prophecies relate to Christ's LINEAGE, and reveal the Christian's DELIVERANCE from ALL LEGALISM:
    1. Genesis 3:15 is the first Old Testament messianic prophecy, and it predicts that at the cross, Jesus, Who would be born of a woman, would crush Satan's head while Satan would bruise His heel:
      1. Though Genesis 3:15 predicts the general enmity between serpents and man, Satan is also there identified as the serpent since he is called "that old serpent" in Revelation 12:9, the one who spoke through the serpent of Eden to tempt Eve into sin, Genesis 3:1-5.
      2. As such, Christ is predicted to defeat Satan at the cross as shown in Colossians 2:15 (Lightfoot, Colossians and Philemon, p. 190-191).
      3. Hence, though Christ was wounded unto death at the cross like a serpent wounds a man's heel, Christ crushed the head of Satan, "that old serpent" at the cross to ruin his rule over man.
    2. Then, Genesis 12:3 with 22:18 predicted Christ would come from Abraham's "seed" to provide God's blessing to all the Gentiles:
      1. God separated Abraham from the wicked Gentiles to promise to bless all the families of the world through him, Gen. 12:1-2, 3.
      2. More specifically, God later explained that through Abraham's singular "seed," Christ, would the nations be blessed, Gen. 22:18.
    3. These lineage prophecies highlight God's plan for the believer to be free from life by jurisdiction of external rules (legalism):
      1. Regarding the Genesis 3:15 prediction that Christ would crush the serpent's head, Colossians 2:12-17 emphasizes the liberation that event would produce for Christians from the Mosaic Law's rule:
        1. Paul wrote God viewed the condemning ordinances of the Mosaic Law as nailed to Christ on the cross, Colossians 2:14.
        2. When Christ thus died, He died to that Law's rule, Rom. 7:4.
        3. Thus, Satan's effort to keep man condemned in sin by way of the condemning Mosaic Law was removed, causing Christ to conquer Satan's effort to force man unto eternal hell, Col. 2:15.
        4. Consequently, the CHRISTIAN is NOT to let himself be subject to the RULE of the Mosaic Law, and that goes for its ceremonial regulations (meat, drink, holy days, new moons) as well as its Ten Commandments (Sabbaths), Col. 2:16-17!
      2. As for the Genesis 22:18 promise by Abraham's "seed," Galatians 3:13-19 reveals this promise was made APART FROM the Law to SIGNAL the believer's coming freedom from the Law's rule:
        1. Paul wrote the "seed" in Gen. 22:18 refers to Christ, Gal. 3:16.
        2. As God's promise of blessing the nations through this "seed" came 430 years BEFORE the Law (Gal. 3:17), God's blessing could not be set aside by the Law when it arrived, Gal. 3:17.
        3. Accordingly, Paul explained the Law came only to expose sin so as to show man his need of Christ's salvation (3:19); then, when men believed in Christ, they could receive the promised blessing of the Holy Spirit as God's gift, Galatians 3:13-14.
        4. Thus, we CHRISTIANS must "stand fast . . . in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free [from the Law], and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage," that is, the BONDAGE to the RULE of the LAW, Galatians 5:1 KJV.
        5. Paul later BROADENED this application, telling us NOT to be subject to MAN-PRESSURED enforcements of the Law, Col. 2:20-22. That ALSO means we must NOT be governed by any OTHER MAN-authored "principles," Matt. 15:9.
      3. This all does NOT mean we should be LAWLESS: rather, we live by means of the INTERNAL Holy Spirit's CONTROL RATHER THAN BY means of the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law or man-made "principles" (legalism)! (Rom. 8:3-4)
Lesson Application: God PLANNED Christ's LINEAGE to RESCUE man from Hell, and THAT by DELIVERING him from God's own WRATH at man's VIOLATION of the LAW; thus, believers could be FREE from RULE by EXTERNAL LAW and live by the JURISDICTION of the INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT, Rom. 8:3-4! (1) Hence, we must believe on Christ (a) to be saved from Hell, and that (b) saves us from obligation to keep external rules to be RIGHT with GOD, John 3:16; Rom. 5:1. (2) As such, (a) we believers can live RIGHTEOUS lives by the indwelling Spirit's power (Rom. 8:3-4), (b) and thus be FREE of the RULE of EXTERNAL RULES of the Law or of anyone else!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 In our introduction, we revealed some Christian leaders teach we should give 10 % of our gross income to the Church or to Christian ministries as did Abraham in Genesis 14 who was PRE-Mosaic-Law.

However, we need to explain the error of this belief in view of our sermon notes as follows: though Abraham tithed of his spoils of war, no post-Law writing in the Church era ever dictates tithing. In fact, 2 Corinthians 9:7 NIV says just the opposite as follows: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

If some believer decides for himself that he wants to give 10 % of his gross income, he is FREE to do so! However, another Christian may want to give 15 % or even more based upon his ability and willingness to do so, and still other believers may only be able and willing to give 5 % or less! The point is this: the amount the believer gives is to be determined as he, the GIVER decides in accord with his own ability and relationship with the Lord, cf. 2 Corinthians 9:6.

To protect this LIBERTY on regarding giving, we do three things at Nepaug Bible Church: (1) Every Sunday morning, the Pastor announces that giving is the overflow of one's walk with God, that it should come freely from the believer as he decides himself. (2) The Pastor and Board of Deacons are not informed by those who collect those offerings on just who gives what. That information is held in confidence by the Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and two Auditors who are each elected annually by congregational vote. (3) No Church leader ever sends out letters or calls various wage earners urging them to give up to some per cent of their gross income to meet a quota. This all preserves our LIBERTY from the Mosaic Law and from the pressure of "man-made principles."

We are COMPLETELY free from ANY obligation to keep any and all RULES of the MOSAIC LAW or PRINCIPLES of men in order to BE right with God. Rather, if we live by the indwelling Holy Spirit's power, we WILL DO what PLEASES GOD as we HEED HIS revealed will for US in SCRIPTURE.