Jesus of the Shadows: Part 5
Mike Criswell
Over the past few weeks, we've been searching for Jesus in the shadows. It’s not that Jesus is hiding from us, but that God's ultimate revelation of His Son unfolded gradually, according to divine timing.
Our series began by exploring Jesus before the world existed, noting that even before “time” began, He was present. He served as the crucial “Logos” through which all creation was made.
We also learned that after humanity sinned, God promised to send the “Seed of woman” to defeat Satan, the ultimate tempter. From Genesis 3:15 onward, we saw Jesus foretold and represented throughout Scripture, setting the stage for the salvation ultimately found in Christ.
We’ve explored the mysterious realms of “prophecy,” where inspired figures like Isaiah predicted Jesus’ virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), his suffering and sacrifice (Isaiah 53), and his eventual victory as “King of kings” sitting on the spiritual throne of David (2 Samuel 7).
We also examined “typology,” where key Old Testament figures serve as living symbols (types) of the coming Messiah. We observed that Jesus is the New Adam, offering life instead of the death the first Adam brought, and the New Moses, guiding God’s New Israel just as Moses led national Israel.
Throughout the Old Testament, many people and official offices pointed toward the ultimate fulfillment found in Christ.
There’s another interesting area that we should definitely look into. Many recognize that Jesus appears in prophecy and typology, but we often overlook that long before Jesus became the baby in Bethlehem, he appeared in fleshly form at various points in Israel’s history.
This raises a challenging theological question. God has always made it clear that “no one could look directly on his glory,” and no one was allowed to see His face and live (Exodus 33:20). Yet in the Old Testament, “God” appears to people; they see His face and survive! How can this apparent contradiction be explained?
The key lies in “theophanies,” where God manifests Himself in human form through the personage of Jesus. We will examine some instances, such as the heavenly visitors to Abraham (Genesis 18), the mysterious encounter in which Jacob wrestles with the Angel (Genesis 32), and Joshua’s meeting with the “Commander of the Lord of Hosts” (Joshua 5).
In each case, these men of God are said to come face to face with Yahweh and yet survive to tell the tale.
Join us this Thursday online as we drill down into the possibilities of these shadowy events.
