What Child Is This? - part 1
preached Dec 9
The Offices of Christ
God ordained three offices to serve the people of Israel: prophets, priests, and kings. The priests offered sacrifices and prayers to God on behalf of the people. The kings ruled as God’s representative and organized the nation’s defense. The prophet spoke God’s word to the people. These three offices foreshadowed Christ’s own work. (Calvin was the first to organize Christ’s work this way in Institutes of the Christian Religion.)
It is helpful to answer the question, “What child is this?” in thinking in terms of what He did and how it was done. Today, we begin a three part series that looks at who Christ is based on these categories. Let’s begin with the role of the prophet.
The role of the prophet
The prophet was to speak what God said.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
Deut. 18:18
In Deuteronomy 18:18, we see the role of a prophet in general. They spoke the Words of the LORD as it was given to them. ‘Thus says the LORD’ fills the prophetic books, because the only authority prophets had was that they spoke on God’s behalf. They were separate from kings and priests in that they held no governance. They were typically a rogue in the order of society, because the messages they brought were for countering the worldly patterns of kings or disrupting the corruption of priests.
Think about it this way: If the people were behaving as God designed (the kings ruled fairly and just, the priests served in obedience), then what message would God need to send?
“Good job”?
But in times when God’s people were being led astray by the leaders who were appointed to serve them, God would raise up a prophet to correct the ship.
This brings us to the two aspects of prophecy ‘forth-telling’ and ‘foretelling’. Typically when someone talks about a prophet, they mean ‘fortune-teller’. But remember, the prophet is speaking for the LORD, whether in regards to future events or current events. Most of what prophets spoke about had to do with current events. When Israel veered away from God, the prophets told them. For example, when Nathan confronted David about Bathsheba, he gave him a prophetic telling about what was happening right then. David was in the midst of his sin. Nathan did tell what would happen because of David’s sin, but it had to do with the now, not later.
However, in regards to ‘foretelling’, God gave the prophets much to say as well. In fact, what makes prophecy so interesting (or frustrating depending on your attitude about it) is that when dealing with future fulfillment, there is an aspect know as ‘partial fulfillment’ and ‘greater fulfillment’.
What do I mean by that? Well, let’s return to Deuteronomy 18.
The Lord told the people through Moses that He would ‘raise a prophet like Moses’ to speak to the people. This prophecy was fulfilled each time a prophet arose. However, it found a greater fulfillment in Christ.
When we look at the life of Christ, we see both of these characteristics of prophecy at play. He ‘forth-tells’ through ethical teachings and the kingdom of heaven. He ‘foretells’ by speaking of His resurrection, the destruction of the Temple, and other end times prophecies yet to come—including His own Return.
However, Jesus is not just another prophet.
When the Bible speaks about Jesus, He is not named ‘the Prophet’ or ‘a prophet’, even though He fulfills the role of a prophet. That is because He is superior in two very important and distinct ways: He is the one about whom the prophets foretold, and He is the God whom spoke through the prophets.
Prophecies about the Messiah
Depending on who is counting, there are about 400 prophecies regarding the coming Messiah.
We’ll only look at a few, and I’ll very briefly comment on them.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15
Satan will continue to corrupt for generations and will bruise the heel of Eve’s offspring. However, an offspring of Eve will bruise his head—meaning Satan will be defeated by a human.
The Messiah will crush Satan’s head.
I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Genesis 22:17-18
From Abraham’s family will come a blessing for every nation on earth.
The Messiah will come from Abraham’s family.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
The sign for Israel’s salvation will be a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name will be ‘Immanuel’—God with us.
The Messiah will be born of a virgin.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
This same child will be ruler of the world, called ‘Mighty God’.
He will have authority over nations.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:4-6
His death will bring us healing.
“I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:13-14
His Kingdom will last forever.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Micah 5:2
He will come from Bethlehem.
God Revealed In Fullness
God’s Word made flesh.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:15-20
This passage points us to the truth about Jesus’ identity—Jesus is the Son of God, God Incarnate. He is greater than the prophets, because He is not just a human who hears from the LORD, He is the LORD come down to us.
1) He is the “image of the invisible”—what we could not see, God has made plain.
2) Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation”, because it is through Jesus, the Son, that creation even exists. He existed before creation as the Word of God, and by God’s Word “all things hold together”.
However, do not make the Arian mistake that Jesus was God’s first creation. Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God. God exists in Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—all three God, and all three One.
3) Jesus is the head of the body, the Church. This building houses the Church, God’s people who are already reconciled to God, calling others to be reconciled as well.
4) He is the “firstborn from the dead”. Jesus was the first to resurrect from death, but He will not be the last. Those in Christ will be resurrected to life at His return, while those without Jesus will be sent to perish forever in hell.
5) He “was pleased to dwell” with men in order that God and man can be reconciled. Jesus came to make peace as the Prince of Peace.
Thus, we see Jesus as superior to all the prophets of God, because He is God. “What child is this?”
This is Jesus, who eternally existed before creation, through whom creation exists, and through whom humanity is reconciled to the God whom we rebelled.
Today, I ask you to embrace Jesus as your God who loves you, and who wants to save you from the corruption of this world and sin. Though we have been bruised by Satan’s work, we can be freed from his grip, because Jesus has already bruised his head.