Immanuel God with Us - Christ in the Old Testament

And that's what we're going to be looking at this morning. Emmanuel, God with us. We're looking at the mystery of God in the flesh. And I'm excited about what we're going to be looking at in the next few weeks. Now, I think all of us know that Thanksgiving is behind us. We've just had a whole week of Thanksgiving. I even thought about it like this last night. Thanksgiving might not be behind us if we ate too much. Thanksgiving might be in front of us. I think we've had a long week of Thanksgiving, and I'm very, very thankful for that holiday. It does allow us as Christians to reflect back on the blessings that the Lord has blessed us with.

And then also the fact that we get to spend some time with family and friends and travel, some of those things. But Christmas is right here in front of us in our culture. As soon as Christmas is over, excuse me, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, we're just staring right here at the Christmas holidays. I was reminded of that this week or this weekend. I was in one of my girls' rooms, and they had this little room decoration. And I think it said something like 25, 26 days till Christmas. That was kind of sobering. That showed me that it is right around the corner.

Now, for me, most of the past few years, I have spent probably the week of Thanksgiving, maybe even the week before, preparing for Christmas. What I mean by that, it seems that most years, just before Thanksgiving or the week of Thanksgiving, I began to read the Christmas stories from the Gospels. Now, all four Gospel accounts are different, but all four Gospel accounts are wonderful in how they deal with the Christmas story. Now, if you know how the Apostle John wrote his Gospel, you know that it is unique. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, led John to begin the Christmas story, and eternity passed.

John chapter 1, verses 1 and 2 reads, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He," that is Christ, "was in the beginning with God." Now, personally, I love how John was led to start with the eternality of Christ, and the deity of Christ. Then the Apostle Luke, he was led of God to give us a lot more information. Luke gives us a lot of information about John the Baptist and John the Baptist parents. Of course, John, his parents were Zachariah and Elizabeth, and I really love reading how God used those two common individuals. I love reading how God used Mary.

I love how Mary, the mother of Jesus, reacted to the news that she would give birth to the Christ child. She simply surrendered to God's will and plan for our life. And then we have Mark's account. Mark's gospel is really totally different. The Holy Spirit of God led Mark to give really quick, short snippets of information all throughout his gospel, and the Holy Spirit led Mark to give a quick, short snippet about John the Baptist, and then he jumps right into the baptism of Jesus. Really, Mark does not give us any record or information about the birth of Jesus. But Matthew's account is different as well.

Matthew starts with the genealogy, the earthly genealogy of Jesus, and then he moves right into the birth of Jesus. I personally love how Matthew proves that Jesus was a true descendant of Abraham, and then he gives us the story of Joseph and Mary. But really what has gripped me this year has been two verses. Chapter 1, verse 22, and verse 23. Truthfully, Matthew here in verse 23 is quoting the prophet Isaiah. Your Bible might have a little footnote there, a reference system that shows you that. And Isaiah was one of the Old Testament prophets who prophesied about the promised coming Messiah.

Now, at this point, I want to show you where we will go for the next couple of weeks. We will work from Matthew, chapter 1, verse 22, and verse 23. Really, you can say we'll work from Isaiah 714, because Matthew is quoting the prophet Isaiah here. And that will be our home base, like I said earlier. I want us to start with this Old Testament scripture. I want us to start with this scripture that speaks of the promised Messiah. And then we will work from some Old Testament scriptures to the familiar New Testament accounts of Jesus.

When we study the Christmas story, I think that we make a mistake of isolating the birth of Christ from the Old Testament scriptures. Another way that I might say that, I think that we need to understand the story of the birth of Jesus from the Old Testament scriptures as well. Simply, the story of the birth of Jesus is a Bible story, not simply a New Testament story. Now, the title of the message comes right out of these verses that we've read. Comes right out of Matthew, chapter 1, verse 23, or Isaiah 714. Emmanuel, which means God with us. So our title is Emmanuel, God with us, specifically Christ in the Old Testament.

Let's go back and look at these phrases, these words, these verses in Matthew. Look at verse 22. All of this took place. What is this? All of the events of the birth of Jesus. All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Who's the prophet? This is Isaiah. And now, Matthew is quoting Isaiah, verse 23. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. That's Isaiah 714, which means God with us. Now, we will look at many passages this morning. It may be good for you to note some of these passages. Note them for your own personal study.

But follow along with me this morning as we see how the Old Testament speaks of Jesus as the promised Messiah as Emmanuel, God with us. In looking back into the Old Testament, the first observation I want us to make is what Jesus did during his earthly ministry. You might say, how can we look back into the Old Testament? If we're going to look at what Jesus said in the New Testament, that might seem contradictory to you. And I know that, but let's follow along with me. I want us to see that during his earthly ministry, Jesus always presented himself within the context of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the promised Messiah.

Jesus always presented himself as a fulfillment of those Old Testament prophecies. I want to give you a few verses that will help us see that. During the Sermon on the Mount, we know what the Sermon on the Mount is. It's the greatest single sermon that Jesus ever spoke. Jesus said in Matthew 5, 17, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Now, I know this passage is not a prophecy about the promised Messiah, but Jesus tells us a lot here. Here, Jesus is saying that he is a fulfillment of everything written in the law.

He was and is a fulfillment of everything written in the Old Testament, especially those passages concerning the promised Messiah of God. So Jesus is declaring at the beginning of his earthly ministry that he was the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. The disciple Luke also explained this reality. After the resurrection, as Jesus was walking on the road to Emmaus, he was there with a group of his followers, and Luke gives us what Jesus shared with him.

In Luke chapter 24, verse 27, Luke writes, "And beginning with Moses and all of the prophets, he," that's Jesus, "interpreted to them," that's those followers with him, "in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself." Here we see that Jesus explained that all of the Old Testament pointed to him. He also used those passages about the promised Messiah to explain who he was. Simply, he was saying, "I am the one that God promised to sin, and it's spoken of all throughout the Old Testament scriptures." Now, both of these passages are similar, but they're different.

In Matthew 5, 17, we see that Jesus was a fulfillment of the Old Testament, whereas in Luke 24, 17, Jesus used the Old Testament to prove who he said he was. Both passages show us Jesus presenting himself in the context of the Old Testament scriptures, the Old Testament promises, and those Old Testament prophecies. Now, one more passage or one more example. We know that Jesus was constantly confronting the religious leaders of the day. We know that. We have one of those, I call it a showdown. We see it there in John chapter 5. I want to read you five passages here, verses 39 to 40, and then verses 45 to 47.

Jesus said to those religious hypocrites, because that's what they were, he said to them, "You, you search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they, the Old Testament scriptures, that bear witness about me. Yet," verse 40, "you refuse to come to me that you may have life." And then starting in verse 45, notice, "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope." What is he saying?

"On the day of judgment, Moses will condemn you." And then verse 46, "For if you believe Moses," or Moses' writings, "you would believe in me, for he wrote about me." But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Now question, what is Jesus doing here? Jesus is telling the religious leaders that if they truly believed in Moses' teaching, they would believe on him. Because Moses' writings were all about Jesus. Simply Jesus is saying, "If you believe the Old Testament writings of Moses, you would be following me right now." That's just what he's saying.

"And because you do not, Moses will rise up against you on the day of judgment." So notice with just a handful of scriptures what we're seeing here in the Old Testament and the New. Jesus is saying that he did not come to do away with the Old Testament scriptures, but to fulfill them. More specifically, he said that the Old Testament scriptures speak about him. He used the Old Testament to prove who he was. Jesus showed the religious leaders of his day that although they thought they were right with God, because they knew the Old Testament scriptures, they had totally missed the mark.

He told them that if they truly believed the writings of Moses, then they would worship him because Moses was writing about him. Now what is my point? Jesus never presented himself outside of the context of the Old Testament. Jesus never detached one miracle, one sermon, or one spoken word from the Old Testament. Now look at the wonder of it all. Take a step back with me. Bible scholars tell us that the Old Testament was written over a 1000 year time period, and it contains almost 300 direct references to the promised Messiah, and all of them were fulfilled in Jesus. That is purely amazing.

Now I want to add to this amazement with a couple of Bible passages. I'm going to ask you to turn with me. If you would turn with me first to Genesis chapter 3, that should be easy for you to follow. Genesis chapter 3. Now we know the story there. That's the fall of man and Adam and Eve when they sin there in the garden. But specifically, I want to focus on verses 14 to 15. This is when God himself is dealing with the ramifications of the fall. And he starts off with the serpent, and notice what he says. The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this. What did he do? He tempted Eve.

Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all livestock and above all of the beasts of the fields, and on your belly you shall go, and thus you shall eat all of the days of your life." Verse 15. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, and he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Whether you know it or not, the end of verse 15 is the first Old Testament prophecy, which speaks of Christ. Yes, right there. Immediately after the fall, God himself speaks of the coming Messiah. "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." That's speaking of Christ.

Now, if you would, turn with me over to Luke's Gospel. Luke chapter 2 specifically. Luke chapter 2. I want to read several verses here. Verses 25 to 32, and then verses 36 to 38. These are familiar passages for you. Here, Jesus is being presented at the temple according to the law of the Old Testament. And verse 25, "Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, and he was waiting for the consolation of Israel." What is that? He's waiting for the Messiah. This promised Messiah spoken up back in Genesis.

"And the Holy Spirit was upon him, and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." Verse 27. "And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parrots brought the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took them up in his arms, and he blessed him, and he said, 'Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation, that you are prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory of your people Israel.'" And then move on down, starting in verse 36, because the story continues. "And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Penuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was 84. She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and in prayer night and day, and coming up at that very hour.

She began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel." Now, what do we see here? Both Simeon and Anna recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah of God. Now, a question here, how did they know this? Sure, God the Holy Spirit was working within them. We see that in the Scriptures, but they knew the Old Testament Scriptures concerning the promised Messiah of God. Now, listen, this is a quick glimpse of a few Scriptures that show us the story of Jesus is not merely a New Testament story, but an entire Bible story.

The birth of Jesus is a story which comes to us from all of God's Word, starting there in Genesis chapter 3. Now, a question for us in application, what should we take from this quick observation or quick lesson? Now, is there Bible knowledge and information that you have obtained? Sure. Maybe some of you did not even know that there was so much about the promised Messiah and the Old, but what is one lesson that we must take home here? I believe it can be summed up in one word, and that is faithfulness. God's faithfulness. God was faithful to do what He promised that He would do. God was faithful to send the promised Messiah.

And listen, good and faithful Jews study the Old Testament generation after generation after generation, year after year after year, waiting on that promised Messiah, and God was faithful. And for you this morning, you just may need to be reminded of God's faithfulness. God was faithful then, and God is faithful now. Now, in our second observation, I want to examine how the New Testament goes about presenting Christ. We know the story of the New Testament. I want us to see how the New Testament presents Christ.

Now, both the apostles, we know who they were, the early church fathers, and the writers of the New Testament had two things in common. Both the apostles and the New Testament writers presented Christ as risen from the dead and a fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. Again, we will look into the New Testament so as to look back into the Old Testament. Now, I want us to see a few passages in exactly how these men presented Christ. Again, we will see that Jesus is presented as a fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. He was never taken out of the Old Testament context.

Now, we see very early in the ministry of the New Testament church and the apostles, we see how these men presented Jesus. In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John, they healed the lame beggar there at the temple, and Peter spoke to the crowd there at the temple, and starting in verses 17 and 18, we see his response and notice what he says. "And now, brothers," now what does he mean by brothers? "Brother Jews," he's speaking to Jews. "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your rulers." What is he talking about? They were ignorant of who Christ was.

Verse 18, "But what God foretold by the mouth of all of the prophets, that is, Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled." Peter is explaining their guilt in rejecting Jesus, but he goes beyond their guilt. He explains that their actions were a direct fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. He explains that the promise Christ was to suffer, was to bleed, was to die, because the Old Testament prophecies said it was to be so. So Peter is proving Christ as the Messiah, not by reason, not by argument, but from the Old Testament scriptures.

And then as we progress in the ministry of the apostle Peter, we see other examples of this preaching in Acts chapter 10 specifically. Now, in Acts 10, God is about to rock the world of Peter and the early church. And he's about to do that by taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Much to Peter's surprise, God was going to use him in the work. And as Peter was preaching Christ to Cornelius, that Gentile, and to all of those who were in his home, Peter says in verses 39 to 43, "And we, we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem." Now, what is he talking about? Talking about the cross.

And he continues, "They," that's the Jews, "put him to death by hanging him on the tree. But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." Verse 42, "And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead." Verse 43, "To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of their sins." Here, Peter is explaining to the Gentiles how God revealed his promised Messiah first to the Jews.

Then Peter moves on to explain that God was revealing his promised Messiah to them as well. But Peter makes his case for Christ by referencing the resurrection and then by saying that all of this in Christ was a direct fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets. Go back to verse 43, "To him all of the prophets bear witness." We see this same pattern in the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church. Paul defends Christ as the Messiah by referencing the resurrection and the Old Testament scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4, Paul says, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received." What is that?

The message of the gospel of Christ. That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and that he was buried and he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. Simply as Paul was teaching on the resurrection of the dead, he went straight to the Christ that was presented in the scriptures. He is revisiting that message but he is referencing the resurrection and the fact that Christ died and resurrected according to the Old Testament scriptures. And there are many many more in the New Testament examples. In Acts chapter 13, when Paul and Barnabas were on their first missionary journey, they do the same thing.

In Acts 17, when Paul and Silas were there in Thessalonica, we see the same message. We see this in Romans 1 verse 2 and then in 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 2 to 6. So notice what we are seeing here again with just a handful of scriptures. The apostles and the New Testament writers all had one thing in common when they presented Christ. They all presented the resurrection as a historical fact and they all presented Christ's suffering as a fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. The arguments are pieces of evidence consistently given to prove that Jesus was the Christ, was the resurrection and the Old Testament scriptures.

Again, notice my point here. These men never presented Jesus outside of the context of the Old Testament. To these men, Jesus was a part of the entire story of the Bible. Again, what do we have here? A great and wondrous work. Think with me for a moment. The entire Bible was written over a period of time of about 2000 years with some 40 or so different authors. We have 66 books with some 40 or so different authors with one message, one message of redemption through a promised Messiah and that Messiah was Jesus. I want us to look at one more passage that will kind of drive this point home.

I want us to see this as one Bible story just one more time. So if you would turn with me from Luke, I want you to turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. I want us to look at a few verses here starting in verse 4. We'll go down to verse 8. Verse 4. 1 Peter chapter 2. Now, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, I was talking about the cross, the Jews rejecting him, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture.

Notice, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." Verse 7. "So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," or cornerstone. And verse 8. "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Now, notice what's taking place here. In verse 6, it is a direct quotation of Isaiah 28 verse 16. And that same verse in Isaiah is quoted in Romans 9 verse 32 and 33, in Romans 10, 11, and in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 20.

All of them are referencing Jesus as the Messiah seen in the Old Testament. Verse 7 here in 1 Peter, it is a direct quotation of Psalm 118 verse 22. And that same verse in Psalm 118 is quoted by Jesus himself in Matthew 21 verse 42. He is using that verse claiming to be the promised Messiah of God. And then in verse 8, it is a direct quotation of Isaiah 8 14. And that same verse is referenced in 1 Corinthians 1, 23, and in Galatians 5, 11. So what do we see? If we study the teaching of the apostles and the New Testament writers, we will see this constant referencing of the Old Testament.

Those men constantly held up Christ as the promised Messiah from the Old Testament scriptures. Truthfully, when we begin to take notice of what these men did, these passages are woven all throughout the scriptures all the time. And now a question in application. Besides learning information and having more Bible knowledge, what should we take from this quick observation or lesson? I think one word in application, consistency. Jesus is the consistent message of the entire Bible. The Old Testament is about the coming Messiah. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is about the Messiah who has come.

And the rest of the New Testament is all about the promised Messiah who came. Let me repeat that. The Old Testament is about the coming Messiah. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are about the Messiah who has come. And the rest of the New Testament is all about the promised Messiah who came. And for us this morning, we must see that our consistent message must be Christ, not just at Christmas, not when we're going about to witness to our lost neighbors and friends and co-workers. Listen, Christ must be our consistent message as well.

Now, as we move away from what I call the body of the message, I want you to think about the fact that we live in time. Now think about that for a minute. We live in time. We are contained in this particular day and this particular time. I was gripped this morning by the fact that today is the first day of December. November has moved fast. And we're here in December of 2019. And you know, I may be able to reach back in time and reach forward in time, but I'm still contained in time. I don't know why, but I thought about this reality for me in my life.

I remember talking to my grandfather and him telling me about how he would talk with his great uncle, who was a Civil War veteran, Uncle Jack. And I think about it like this. You know, as he related those stories about his Uncle Jack and about how he lived there in the mid and late 1800s, in a way I'm able to reach back in time. Most of you know that I have young daughters. I thought about it like this this morning. If they live a long life, you know, they'll be able to live to say, 2080 or 2090. And I guess in a way I'm able to reach out into time.

But you know, no matter how far I may reach back in time or reach forward in time, I'm still contained in time and in space and in history. And no matter how long you may live, you are still contained in time and in space and in history. But notice this hard fact. Human history has two bookends. Human history has two bookends, eternity past and eternity future. Hanging against the backdrop of eternity past and eternity future is this thing that we call human history and stepping straight into human history, we have Christ Jesus our Lord, the promised Messiah of God. And we have a record of this event. We have it right here before us.

We have one book with one main character who had one purpose. And his purpose was to save a people for himself for the glory of God. And that's why that verse, Matthew 1, verse 23, which is a direct quotation of Isaiah 714, means so much. What does he say? Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. So what have we looked at this morning? Emmanuel, God with us. And we have looked at Christ in the Old Testament. Let's pray and then we will close out our service this morning.