Praise the Lord for leading us through these days.
The theme for our morning meditation is the mystery of Christ. All those who belong to the Lord are stewards of Christ. In other words, we are here to manage God’s mystery.
The first thing we must understand and know is God’s mystery. We not only need to know His mystery; we must also enter into His mystery. Then we can manage His mystery.
We look to the Lord that He will give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, the spirit of knowledge and understanding, so that we may truly know Him. We also ask the Lord to strengthen our inner man, that we may comprehend with all the saints the great love of God. Then we can be faithful stewards of God’s mystery.
It was mentioned that, if we want to see the mystery of Christ, we must see Him from eternity past, because Christ exists in eternity. He is the self-existent God. He is the beloved Son of God, the Word, and God’s own Son.
When we see such a Christ, we worship from our inner heart. The Father is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and truth. Brothers and sisters, first we must be worshipping people.
Yesterday we shared that we see the mystery of Christ in creation. All things were created in Him, through Him, and for Him. We are His creatures. We were created for His pleasure and for His purpose.
Especially those who have received redemption from the Lord, we are His love-slaves. We live in this world just for Him. We live for His will, that His heart may be satisfied.
This morning we will go another step further. We have looked from eternity past to creation. Now we want to go from creation to prophecy and see the mystery of Christ in prophecy.
Prophecy is not according to man’s wisdom or man’s will. Prophecy came as men were moved by the Spirit of God and spoke from God. Through the prophecies, we come to know the mystery of Christ.
What is the meaning of prophecy? In our common conception, prophecy is the foretelling of the future. Yes, prophecy includes that, but it is more than that.
Prophecy is not only foretelling; it is also forth-telling. It not only tells what will take place in the future, but it also declares God’s heart to us. In ages past, God spoke through the prophets in many portions and in many ways; in these last days, He has spoken to us in His Son.
Prophecy is a word from God. God declares the end from the beginning and says that there is none like Him. He uses prophecy to unveil the mystery of Christ to us.
The Scriptures are full of prophecy. Sometimes prophecy foretells the future, and sometimes it declares God’s mind. But the most important and central prophecy in all the Scriptures has to do with the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are prophecies concerning the nations, Israel, the church, and the end times. But we must remember that all these matters are linked to Christ. If we remove Christ and try to understand prophecy, we will become confused.
If we fail to see Christ in prophecy, we may see only the nations, Israel, or even the church. But if we do not see Christ in all these prophecies, we do not know what prophecy truly is.
Revelation 19 tells us that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. God’s interest is not merely in the nations, Israel, or the church. God’s interest is in His Son. The nations and Israel are significant because of the Lord Jesus.
Therefore, the spiritual meaning of prophecy is for the Lord Jesus. Prophecy is like a lamp shining in a dark place. In the midst of darkness, we thank God that we have prophecy.
Those who belong to the Lord do not need to live in darkness. When we read prophecy, the lamp shines upon us. We must read prophecy until the morning star shines within our hearts.
The morning star is the Lord Jesus. He is also the Sun of righteousness. One day He will appear openly as the Sun of righteousness, with healing in His wings. Then the problems of this world will be solved.
But before the Sun of righteousness appears, those who love Him and wait for Him may see the morning star within their spirits. Before the sun rises, the morning star appears. Only those who are alert and watchful can see it.
If you love to sleep and sleep late, you will never see the morning star. The morning star is a very beautiful thing, but it is seen by the person who is watchful.
When we read prophecy, the morning star must shine from within. If the morning star is not shining within, we cannot understand prophecy. When we read the prophecies, we must see the Lord. We must see Him as beautiful as the morning star. This is the reason why we read prophecy.
The Bible is full of prophecies, and we cannot look through all of them within an hour. So I will mention only a few prophecies connected with Christ.
The first Scripture is in Genesis 3:15. This prophecy took place about four thousand years before Christ. Adam had fallen, and God came into the garden seeking him. In the midst of judgment, God spoke this prophecy.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed:
He shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise His heel.—Genesis 3:15
Spurgeon said that this is the first gospel in the Bible. The One who preached the gospel was God Himself, and the audience was both man and Satan. In judging Satan, God unveiled the gospel.
This passage shows us the enmity between Satan, the serpent, and the woman. Satan deceived man and sought to use the offspring of fallen man to establish his own kingdom. Therefore, God put enmity between Satan and the seed of the woman.
God would use the seed of the woman to counter Satan and establish His own kingdom. God would raise up a Person who could challenge Satan. This Man is the seed of the woman, and today we know that this seed is the Lord Jesus.
Satan would bruise His heel. This refers to the flesh of the Lord Jesus. In His flesh, He suffered much, and He was crucified. Yet the seed of the woman would bruise Satan’s head.
By His sacrifice on the cross, the Lord Jesus put Satan under His feet. Praise God! When man sinned, God had already given His promise and shown His salvation. Through the seed of the woman, He would deliver us from this world.
The second prophecy is found in Genesis 22:17-18. Abraham offered Isaac in obedience to God. God saw a man who loved Him to such an extent that he would not withhold even his only son from Him. Therefore, God made covenant with Abraham and revealed His will.
That in blessing I will bless thee,
and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens,
and as the sand which is upon the seashore;
and thy seed shall possess the gate of His enemies;
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.—Genesis 22:17-18
Abraham received much blessing. God blessed him not only with earthly goods but also with heavenly blessing. Abraham is the father of faith and the friend of God. God revealed to him the city which hath foundations.
The Lord said that Abraham saw His day and was glad. Abraham lived about two thousand years before Christ, yet before the incarnation he saw the Lord Jesus. He was indeed a blessed man.
Abraham’s earthly offspring would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and his heavenly offspring would be as numerous as the stars of heaven. The heavenly offspring refers to the church, those who follow Abraham in the way of faith.
But Galatians 3 tells us that the word “seed” is singular. The seed is Christ. From Abraham would come this Seed, the Lord Jesus. He would possess the gate of His enemies and put them to shame.
All nations of the earth are blessed because of this Seed. This does not ultimately refer to Isaac, though Isaac was a type. Through the Lord Jesus, the whole world receives grace.
When Matthew wrote his Gospel, he began with “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Christ is the seed of Abraham. In prophecy, He is that Seed through whom all nations are blessed.
Let us turn to Numbers 24. The Israelites had come to the land of Moab on the other side of the Jordan. The king of Moab was fearful, so he hired Balaam, a Gentile prophet, to curse Israel.
Balaam was a greedy prophet. Yet every time he wanted to curse Israel, the Lord changed his words, and he blessed them instead. In his final oracle, Balaam uttered one of the most significant prophecies concerning Christ.
The oracle of him whose eyes are opened,
The oracle of him who heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.—Numbers 24:15-17
Balaam said, “I see Him, but not now.” This was not for that immediate time; it was something yet to come. This prophecy was given about fifteen hundred years before Christ.
The star comes from heaven and speaks of heavenly authority. The sceptre speaks of royal authority arising from Israel. The star and sceptre belong together.
When the Lord Jesus was born, the wise men from the east saw His star. They journeyed to worship the King. The Lord Jesus is the star, and He is also the sceptre.
We have seen the star, but we have not yet seen the sceptre in its full manifestation. When the Lord Jesus came the first time, He came like a star to give us light. When He comes the second time, He will come as the sceptre and rule the world with a rod of iron.
There is another prophecy in Deuteronomy 18. I need to correct a reference that I gave previously. The verse concerning the division of the boundaries of the nations is Deuteronomy 32:8. But now we turn to Deuteronomy 18:18-19.
I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee;
and I will put My words in His mouth,
and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words
which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.—Deuteronomy 18:18-19
God spoke to Moses and said, “I will raise up a Prophet from among your brethren, and this Prophet will be like you. I will put My words in His mouth. He will speak for Me and tell you all My commandments.”
When Stephen testified in Acts 7, he quoted this passage and said that this Prophet is the Lord Jesus. God has already sent this Prophet to us. If anyone refuses to listen to Him, God will require it of him.
This Prophet is none other than God’s only Son. In times past God spoke through the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken in His Son.
Let us move forward to about one thousand years before Christ, to 2 Samuel 7. Here we see David. Because David loved the Lord so much, he wanted to build a house for God. This touched and moved God’s heart.
When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,
I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels,
and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for My name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.—2 Samuel 7:12-13
God promised David that He would raise up a descendant from him and establish his kingdom. This descendant would build a house for God’s name, and God would establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
On the surface, we may think this refers to Solomon. Certainly Solomon succeeded David, established his kingdom, and built the temple. But Solomon’s kingdom did not last forever, and the temple he built was made of stone and timber.
Solomon represents One greater than Solomon. The Lord Jesus is the One who continues forever. His kingdom is forever, and He builds the true temple of God with living stones, that God may rest among them.
Matthew wrote, “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” The Lord Jesus is the Son of David. He is the King who comes to establish God’s kingdom and build God’s house. This is the mystery of Christ in prophecy.
Let us move another two hundred years forward, to Isaiah, about seven or eight hundred years before Christ. Isaiah lived in Old Testament times, yet in many ways he ministered as a prophet of the new covenant because God enabled him to see the glory of Christ.
The book of Isaiah is full of prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus. Let us look at a few portions.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call His name Immanuel.—Isaiah 7:14
Ahaz would not believe, so God gave him a sign. A virgin would conceive and give birth to a Son. Whether we read the Hebrew or the Greek, the reference is clear: this virgin is a pure virgin.
The One born of the virgin is the offspring of the woman. His name is Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” Matthew applies these words to the incarnation of the Lord Jesus.
For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder:
and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.—Isaiah 9:6
The Holy Spirit uses words very carefully. A child is born to us, because when the Lord Jesus was born into this world, He was a child. Yet a Son is given to us. The child born is the Son of God given to us.
The government rests upon His shoulder. God has put all authority upon Him. His names reveal the greatness and fullness of Christ.
He is called Wonderful. God is wonderful and beyond our complete understanding. He is a mystery. He is the self-existent God. We all have an origin, but He is the Origin. He is the beginning and the end.
He is called Counsellor. This refers to the counsel within God, His eternal purpose and plan. The Lord Jesus is the Counsellor through whom God’s purpose is carried out.
He is called Mighty God. By His power He created all things.
He is called Everlasting Father. This does not confuse the Son with the Father in the Godhead. The original meaning is the Father of eternity. Eternity begins with Him; He is the source and possessor of eternal life.
Those who believe in Him have eternal life. Before we believed, we were temporal; but through faith in Him, He puts eternity within us.
He is called the Prince of Peace. When He comes, He will bring peace to this earth. All these names represent our great Christ—from eternity, through creation, to His coming into this world, and onward to His second coming.
These names do not merely describe His nature; they also reveal His titles and His work.
Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom,
to establish it, and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.—Isaiah 9:7
The zeal of the Lord will accomplish this. God will come and take over all things. His kingdom is forever, and He will rule the nations with justice and righteousness.
We cannot go further in detail, but Isaiah also reveals the suffering Christ. In Acts 8, the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53. The Holy Spirit sent Philip to explain the passage to him, and Philip preached Christ from Isaiah 53. The eunuch believed, was baptized, and returned to Ethiopia rejoicing.
Isaiah 63 reveals the conquering Christ who is coming. Isaiah is full of prophecies concerning Christ, all written about eight hundred years before His coming.
God is faithful. He has called us into the fellowship of His Son. God has revealed this mystery to us not merely for us to think about it in our minds, but so that we may have a share in His Son and enter into all that Christ is.
As we look at these prophecies concerning Christ, how can we enter into the sharing of them?
The Lord said to the Jews:
Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life;
and these are they which bear witness of Me;
and ye will not come to Me, that ye may have life.—John 5:39-40
The Jews read the Scriptures, thinking that through reading them they would have life. Yet although the Scriptures are God’s words, all they had was the letter. They did not receive the real meaning because they refused to come to the Lord Jesus.
They knew that the Messiah would come in the future, but when the Lord Jesus had already fulfilled the prophecies, their eyes were blind. They refused to come to Him that they might have life through Him.
The Lord also said that Moses spoke concerning Him. If they believed Moses, they should believe the Lord Jesus, because Moses wrote about Him.
On the road to Emmaus, the two disciples were sad. They had hoped that the Lord Jesus would redeem Israel, but they thought that He was dead. The Lord explained to them from Moses and all the prophets the things concerning Himself.
He showed them that the Christ must suffer and then enter into His glory. As He opened the Scriptures to them, their hearts burned within them.
The Lord used the books of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms to show that all these things were written concerning Him, so that they might believe Him.
What is the reason for reading prophecy? It is so that we may share in the mystery of Christ and believe in Him.
If we see the Lord Jesus in eternity past, we become worshippers. If we see Christ in creation, we become His love-slaves. If we see Christ in prophecy, it turns us into believers.
We believe the Lord Jesus because faith comes from God’s Word. God has spoken, and therefore we believe. We believe Genesis 3:15: Christ is the promised seed of the woman, and the seed of the woman has bruised the head of Satan through His victory.
We believe that He is the seed of Abraham. We believe that He is the Son of David. We believe that the government is upon His shoulders, not upon ours. He is our King.
Many times we call ourselves Christian believers, but do we really believe? Yes, we believe that the Lord Jesus is our Saviour, but that is only the beginning. We must continue believing, because we are believers.
When we live on this earth, our life must be based on the principle of faith, not on the principle of emotion. The life principle of a believer is faith.
By faith we are justified, and by faith we are sanctified. We not only are justified through faith; we are also sanctified through faith. We live a holy life, please God, and overcome sin by faith.
If we rely upon ourselves, we can never live a sanctified life. The old self-life cannot be improved. We must live by faith and believe that we have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Christ is my life.
Many people cannot overcome temptation or sin because their lives go up and down with their emotions. If they sleep well, they are full of faith; if they wake up depressed, they do not know how to live the Christian life.
We need to believe God’s Word. We need to believe in our Lord and live on what He has accomplished for us. If we believe, we discover that what Christ accomplished on the cross is for us.
Why do we need to be baptized? What does baptism mean?
Colossians tells us that through faith we were buried with Him, and through faith we were raised with Him. If you go to baptism without faith, you only go and take a bath. You may become clean outwardly, but you have not entered into the spiritual reality.
Baptism is effective because you act upon faith. You believe that you died with Christ and were raised with Christ. Christ died once, was buried once, and rose again once. Because He lives before God forever, this is our faith.
When we pray, we need faith. If there is no faith, there is no reason to pray. Whenever we pray, we must believe that we have received, and we shall receive.
Whom do we believe? Not ourselves. We believe Him. If we believe Him, there is nothing impossible.
When we challenge our enemy, we need faith as our shield. Our whole life is a life of faith. This faith comes through seeing Christ in prophecy.
When you see Christ in His prophecies, how can you not believe? You cannot help but believe. If you believe Him, you will follow Him to the very end. Praise God!
If we believe Him, all things are possible, because He is the almighty God.
Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that Thou wilt open our eyes to see the mystery of Christ in prophecy.
Oh, that faith may rise from our hearts, that we may believe Thee and follow Thee, Lord Jesus. Thou hast the words of life. Where should we go if we do not go with Thee?
Father, we commit ourselves to Thee. We want to tell Thee that we believe. Lord Jesus, Thou art not only our Saviour; Thou art our Lord and our King. Thou art everything to us.
We praise and thank Thee because Thou dost say that all things are possible to those who believe. Lord, we believe; help our unbelief.
Amen. In the name of our Lord Jesus.