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From before the foundation of the world to the crucifixion
Fred R. Coulter—April 4, 2020
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The central theme of salvation begins with the Passover. The Passover is threaded through the whole Bible up to the time of Christ. Then the Passover of Christ is the whole focal point of the Bible going up to that point and going away from that point, and then back to it.
Right after the sin of Adam and Eve… It's interesting that God does things in a certain way. We do not know how long they were in the Garden of Eden before the serpent was released to go into the garden. Even though they were created with language within their brain, and they could communicate with God and with each other, we have no idea of how long God gave them before He tested them!
We can look at other examples: the whole time that Abraham was tested, from the time that he was called until the time that he was tested to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, which was a type of Christ, was forty years.
I'm not saying by that that it was 40 years before the serpent was loosed. However, God does not do anything unless the people know. Look at what we just covered in Jeremiah {Coronavirus: Call to Repentance} God gave them 40 years to repent, that He would destroy the city, wouldn't destroy the temple, but they wouldn't listen! We don't know how long it was, but the question is:
- What did it cost God because they sinned?
- What did it cost them?
That's all central to the Passover!
We know that it says that 'Christ is slain from foundation of the world. That refers right back here to Adam and Eve.
Because of their sin, and because of the judgment against them for their sin, then God had to become—and this was known from before the foundation of the world—a human being just like His creation! In other words, the way that God judged Adam and Eve and judges all people is the same. He took that judgment upon Himself, because He is Creator. Think about that! We find that right with their sin.
After Adam and Eve sinned they hid themselves. You can't hide from God! Think of how silly it is for people to think that they can hide from God, or not be answerable to God.
- What does God say?
- What is He going to judge? The secrets of men and women! Not just their actions, but their secrets!
Genesis 3:8: "…Then Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?'" (vs 8-9). Of course, God knew where he was all the time, but He wanted Adam to answer.
Verse 10: "And he said, 'I heard You walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, and so I hid myself.' And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?'" (vs 10-11).
Very important! People don't think they need to keep the commandments of God. But when there's free moral agency—independent free moral agency (IFMA)—God did not create us as robots. How would you like to live your life around robots that you made? Yes, you can have a conversation with them, but what is that going to be. There's no thought, because every thought in a robot you put in there!
God didn't make us robots! So, when there's free moral agency, you give choice. Are you going to do what God says, or not? That we find in Deut. 30. Notice what happens with human reasoning. God said, "…'Who told you that you were naked?….'" Adam never answered the question. Adam said, in so many world, 'God, it's Your fault.'
Verse 12: "And the man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'"
Why did you have to take it and eat it? You could have said no! What would have happened if Adam would have said no, though Eve ate of it? We'll never know!
Verse 13: "And the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.' And the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman…'" (vs 13-15).
Here's a prophecy of what God was going to have to do to solve it, because you have to solve it. In order for God's plan to be complete, finished and perfect, you've got to solve the problem of sin. That depends upon God! He alone can solve that problem. We can repent of our sins, that's true, but in repenting of our sins, if God didn't forgive us of our sins, then all of our repenting would be in vain. So, it all rests with God! God knew what was going to happen:
Verse 15: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed… [He's prophesying that He would come as a human being] …He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." A prophecy of the crucifixion, and the crucifixion happened on the Passover Day!
- What did Jesus say when that day came?
- Remember what He prayed to the Father?
- The hour has come!
Right down to the hour! Amazing!
Verse 16: "To the woman He said, 'I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception—in sorrow shall you bring forth children….'"
This does not mean the pain of delivery. This means the pain and agony of what happens to your children because they don't listen to you. It affects mothers and women more than it does fathers, because they carried that infant for nine months and then nursed it, coddled it, held it, diapered it, cleaned and all of this sort of thing.
What was the greatest sorrow that happened with the children of Adam and Eve? The killing of Abel by Cain! Greatest sorrow, and that was a 135 years into however long they were living.
"'…Your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.' And to Adam He said, 'Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife… [instead of Me] …and have eaten of the tree—of which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat of it!"—the ground is cursed for your sake. In sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life'" (vs 16-17)—sorrow to both, to men and to women! So, for all you women who think you're picked on, you're not picked on, sorrow is equally shared!
Verse 18: "It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and thus you shall eat the herbs of the field; in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (vs 18-19). That is a prophecy of the whole history of mankind!
Since we're made in the image and likeness of God, and God has a great and fantastic plan, the only One Who can solve this is God, but we must choose to want it! Everything we do is a choice!
Isaiah 9:6 is one of the most perplexing Scriptures to the Jews who reject Jesus Christ: "For unto us a Child is born…"
We're going to see how God did that, because that was saved for the knowledge of the New Testament, but prophesied all the way through.
"…unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God…" (v 6).
How can a man be called God? That's what Jews could not understand. They could not grasp it!
"…The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and over His Kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this" (vs 6-7).
How is that going to be? Because of the human nature and the sentencing that God gave to Adam and Eve, the One Who was Creator would take upon Himself the same thing. Have you ever corrected your children and they say, 'That's not fair!' Kids like to have it fair!
Was it fair for God to give them sorrow and human nature? Delores and I were talking the other day about America, which was difficult to come to and colonize and fight against the Indians. Then we had the Revolutionary War, and we won that. Then we had the war with Indians and then the Brits. Like after Pharaoh let Israel go, after they let America go, they started the War of 1812.
The general who won that war in New Orleans—Andrew Jackson—turned out to be one of the best Presidents, but the most hated. Guess what President has Jackson's picture hanging on the wall of his office? Donald J. Trump! Another most hated trying to do right.
Why is so hard to do right? Because human nature is so evil! Yet, God gave it! In that is a mixture of good and evil.
- How can a man live forever? It says that He will be "…The Everlasting Father…"
- How can man be God? Without the New Testament, you don't have a clue!
- What is the answer to this?
There are many other prophecies! We'll look at some of those concerning all the prophecies concerning Jesus' suffering, the agony, the ministry, everything all prophesied! Before He came in the flesh, Jesus knew everything that was going to happen.
Isaiah 53:1: "Who has believed our report?…."
That's what the Jews say, 'How can it be?' Go to John 10 and they were hunting down Jesus and they were going to stone Him. Jesus said, 'For what good work are you going to stone Me?' We're not going to stone You for a good work, but because You made yourself the Son of God, equal with God! Then Jesus quoted Psa. 82, 'Don't the Scriptures that you have in your hand say that you shall be gods.'
What does that mean? There it is in the Old Testament, just a little blip of the ultimate purpose of mankind!` You have to have a lot of other Scriptures to go with it.
"…And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor comeliness that we should look upon Him, nor beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not" (vs 1-3).
That's quite future to look forward to. I mean, He knew this going way back before it all started, and now it's being revealed.
Notice that this referring to all mankind, v 4: "Surely He has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted"—deserved what He got!
"…sorrows…"—What did He say to Adam and Eve? Sorrow'! Of course, we know from the Gospels that He knew what was in men! He new all!
Verse 5: "But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed."
Then He tells what it's like to be a human being. Look at the world today, they're just going here and there and everywhere else.
Verse 6: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Talk about sorrow!
You think you've had trouble and difficulty, how about Christ: all the sins of all the world—past, present and future—laid upon Him! That's something! The whole thing!
Verse 8: "By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and with His generation who did consider that He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death…" (vs 8-9).
Whose tomb was He buried in? Joseph of Arimathea, a brand new tomb carved out of a huge rock! All of this done ahead of time before He died. Think about that!
"…although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet, the LORD willed to crush Him and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin…." (vs 9-10).
That's why when Abraham was tested to take Isaac as a burnt offering, God wanted to know, because everything from that point on was going to hinge on what happened with Abraham and with Isaac. Notice that Isaac just asked one question: 'My father, I see the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?' What did Abraham say? My son, the Lord will provide! That's all that Isaac said; that's quite a thing back there, but that was a type of Christ.
Then God swore by Himself! You can't have any greater promise than God swearing by Himself. 'in blessing I will bless, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven.' That's the spiritual seed! Isaac was a type of Christ. And as the sand that is upon the seashore. That's going to come to pass, because it's not done being fulfilled, yet!
Verse 10: "Yet, the LORD willed to crush Him and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days…"
How long is He going to prolong His days? The resurrection! Jesus came to do what with death? Annul death! To make as if it never happened!
Verse 11: "He shall see of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; and He shall bear their iniquities." Amazing!
This is what God prophesied to come upon Him! Then you read here, as we covered in the sermon When Did Jesus Die?—Psa. 22—His own personal thoughts while He was on the cross!
Isaiah 52:13: "Behold, My Servant shall rule well; He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high." This has got to be after the resurrection and return to the earth!
Verse 14: "Many were astonished at Him—for His body was so disfigured—even His form beyond that of the sons of men. So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths because of Him; for they will see that which was not told to them; yea, what they had not heard, shall they consider" (vs 14-15). How many kings really understand that?
Isa. 50—this was how Jesus was educated. How did He learn what He learned? Remember, when He was 12-years-old He went up Joseph and Mary and the rest of the family all the relatives to keep the Passover and He stayed back there and was found in the temple talking with all of the religious leaders and they were astonished at His knowledge.
They said later that 'he was never schooled' (John 7). Don't you think that when Jesus started His ministry at the temple He came in unannounced, made a scourge and started cleaning up the mess. He drove out the oxen, sheep, kids, pigeons and spread the money all over and they came up and said to Him, 'By what authority do you do this?' Jesus never answered them!
Jesus said, 'Destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up.' They said, 'It took 46 years being built and You'll do it in three days?' They didn't understand that He was talking about His own body. But that was quite an entrance.
Isaiah 50:4: "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, to know to help the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as one being taught." The Father Himself taught Him!
- What did Jesus say? I do whatever the father commanded! I do what I see the Father do!
- How did He see the Father do? They had 'spiritual Skype' and They could see each other!
He talked to the Father and the Father would teach Him!
Do you believe that the Father would leave the little infant Jesus with a mother who didn't care? NO! Mary was selected because of who she was and her character. The step-father Joseph was selected, too, to do the right thing.
Do you think that they would send Jesus to the rabbinic schools where they have all the lies with their traditions? NO! He was the Savior of the world and taught by the Father directly!
Verse 5: "The Lord GOD has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backwards."
Here's a lesson in why the Bible was written. He it was talking about Him being educated by God the Father.
Verse 6 goes clear to the last day of Jesus' life: "I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting, for the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore, I have not been disgraced. On account of this I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together; who is My adversary? Let him come near Me" (vs 6-8). He is showing the eventual conquering of everything!
Let's see how God did this. 1-Tim. 3:16 was and still is a mystery. Is anything impossible for God? NO! It is not impossible!
1-Timothy 3:16: "And undeniably, great is the mystery of Godliness… [secret of Godliness] …God was manifested in the flesh… [How?] …was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles, was believed on in the world, was received up in glory."
Talk about a summary of His ministry, one little verse. Now let's see what Jesus had to do, the humility of God. Let's see what Jesus did in order to become a human being. First of all, all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. That was designed that way so that God could become a human and human beings could become like God. That's the plan, and that's why we're made this way.
The Word and God the Father planned this. The Word knew that when He made Adam and Eve what was going to happen, because of free moral agency. How is God going to make it right? Look at all the suffering that has happened with man under Satan the devil:
- all the misery
- all the agony
Where can you go in the world that is not
- evil
- wretched
- terrible
Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." That's the whole purpose of conversion! This is where we need to come to.
Verse 6: "Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself…" (vs 6-7).
- Could God do that? Yes, indeed!
- Emptied Himself to what?
You know the account when the angel Gabriel came to Mary. He said, 'That which is being begotten in you shall be called the Son of God.' He was made into a pinpoint of life! But still God! Then He was impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary.
Now He got human genes connected with His genes that He had with the Father. With that He took upon Himself human nature, the same nature that all human beings have. That was necessary.
In order to be just, what happened to mankind, God took upon Himself so that He could overcome all of it for all people and through His sacrifice.
Verse 7: "[He] emptied Himself… [that's how He did it] …and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant; and being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has also highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him a name, which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… [past, present and future] …took the form of a servant, of beings in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (vs 7-11).
He took upon Himself to be human being. We've covered many of the things concerning His life, His ministry, the sacrifice that He went through and so forth. But He did this so that salvation could come to those whom He called from the time of His first coming: the Church! Then we'll go to the whole world when He returns. But it all hinges on the Passover Day.
When Jesus was led away everything came to pass, all of the prophecies! We have in our books:
- The Holy Bible in It's Original Order, A Faithful Version
- A Harmony of the Gospels
- The Day that Jesus the Christ Died
28 prophecies that were fulfilled in that one day!
We keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread because of what God has done, what Christ has done.
Let's see why Christ's sacrifice applies to all, because He lived a perfect life in love and obedience to God, then He calls us and we repent and come to God. Then we're baptized and receive the Holy Spirit and that's the beginning of the most important part of our life!
But in order for that to happen, Christ had to go through everything He had to go through. We'll cover some of that as we get into the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
What was the first thing that Jesus said when He was raised up on that cross?
Sidebar on the cross: It's called a tree and it's called a stauros, which is the crossbar. The Romans executed so many people by crucifixion that they took a strong tree, trimmed everything off of it, and put iron flanges on it that would take the crossbar. When they would crucify someone they would nail their hands to the crossbar and then raise the crossbar up and then nail their feet to where the foot place was on the tree.
So, Jesus was crucified—stauros—and it was on tree but it was a cross.
Paul was discussing the problem that we have with sin and overcoming it, he says, because of Christ:
Romans 8:1: "Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit; because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death" (vs 1-2).
He hasn't removed it, but He's delivered us from it. Why? Because we have the Spirit of God, so:
- we can pray
- we can change
- we can grow
- we can overcome
- we have the forgiveness, upon repentance, to remove those sins
So, we've been delivered from it! The rest of our life after conversion is overcoming that.
Verse 3: "For what was impossible for the Law to do…"
- Why? It takes the Spirit of God!
- How many people really, really want to do good, but they can't? The desire is there, but you need the Spirit of God to do it!
"…in that it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; in order that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (vs 3-4).
So, all the righteousness of the Law can be fulfilled in us with:
- the love of God to us
- our love back to God
- the commandments of God
It can't happen any other way! That's why Jesus had to come and die. Quite a thing!
So, as we head to the Passover, let's keep all of these things in mind, and then what do we have right after Passover? The Feast of Unleavened Bread so that we can walk in newness of life!
Scriptural References:
- Genesis 3:8-19
- Isaiah 9:6-7
- Isaiah 53:1-6, 8-11
- Isaiah 52:13-15
- Isaiah 50:4-8
- 1 Timothy 3:16
- Philippians 2:5-11
- Romans 8:1-4
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Deuteronomy 30
- John 10
- Psalm 82; 22
- John 7
Also referenced:
Sermons:
- Coronavirus: Call to Repentance
- When Did Jesus Die?
Books by Fred R. Coulter:
- The Holy Bible in It's Original Order, A Faithful Version
- A Harmony of the Gospels
- The Day that Jesus the Christ Died
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4/8/20
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