Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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Christ Is God
Chapter 13 – Revelation Comes in Stages
The things God hides don’t get revealed all at once.
And when God gives new revelation, it never contradicts previous revelation. Rather, new revelation builds on prior revelation. And it therefore increases knowledge.
Revelation comes to us gradually…in chunks.
The Old Testament told us that God created the heavens and the earth. It also told us that God promised a redeemer – called Christ (Messiah) – who would one day be a king of Israel – a king even greater than King David.
The New Testament then reported the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead according to Psalms 110:1 and other Old Testament prophecies. They indicated that Jesus ascended to heaven as the Christ, and was seated at the right hand of God.
This is not the New Testament contradicting or changing the Old Testament. Rather, it’s the New Testament providing additional truth to the truth previously provided in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament presented Messiah as a human deliverer. The New Testament confirmed that truth…and added the truth that Messiah was more than just human. He was like an angel in His resurrection!
Matthew 22:30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
Jesus was the first to rise from the dead, so He was the first person about which this trait could be reported. But the New Testament added more revelation than just what happened to Jesus in His earthly life and after His resurrection. It also reported that Christ had existed before the heavens and earth were created. This truth was hinted at in the Old Testament, but not broadcast as a major theme. As for hints, notice the last two lines of this otherwise familiar Christmas card scripture:
Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.“
As for the additional New Testament revelation that God had created everything through Messiah, consider this subtle Old Testament hint:
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
There is also the following Old Testament verse, which until the revelations in the New Testament, was a real head-scratcher:
Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended into heaven and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has wrapped the waters in His garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name or His son’s name?
Surely you know!
By these examples, you can see that the two testaments of the Bible fit together much more closely than most people realize. We just have to keep re-reading it enough to find the connections.
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