Jesus in Genesis

Every Sunday night we are going through a book of the Bible. As we go, we are looking at some major ways that Jesus shows up in the Old Testament book. Our study through the Bible will resume on Sunday Night, January 24. Make plans now to come and learn with us! The following are some major areas in the book of Genesis where we can clearly see Jesus:


Where does Jesus appear in Genesis?


The preexistent Christ, the living Word, was very much involved in the creation. "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). In Genesis 3:21, God had to make a covering of skins for Adam and Eve when they sinned. Animal blood had to be shed for the covering of sins, foreshadowing that Jesus the Lamb of God would have to die for the covering of our sins. Jesus' ministry is anticipated in Genesis 3:15, suggesting that the "Seed" of the woman who will bruise the Serpent's (Satan's) head is Jesus Christ, the "Seed" of Abraham mentioned by Paul in Galatians 3:16. Melchizedek is the mysterious king-priest of Genesis 14. The Letter to the Hebrews identifies him as a type of Jesus Christ, our King and High Priest (Heb. 6:20).


The greatest revelation of Christ in Genesis is found in God's covenant with Abraham in chapters 15 and 17. The promises God made to Abraham are fulfilled in Jesus, as Paul explains in detail in Galatians. Much of the Bible is built upon the Abrahamic covenant and its flowering in Jesus Christ.

Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac at God's command bears a startling similarity to the crucial event of the New Testament. "Take … your only son Isaac, whom you love … and offer him there as a burnt offering" (22:2) reminds us of God's sacrifice of His only Son for the sins of the world. Finally, Jacob's blessing upon Judah anticipates the coming of "Shiloh," to be identified as the Messiah. "And to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (49:10).

Christ is also seen in people and events that serve as types. (A "type" is a historical fact that illustrates a spiritual truth.) Adam is "a type of Him who was to come" (Rom. 5:14). Both entered the world through a special act of God as sinless men. Adam is the head of the old creation; Christ is the Head of the new creation. Abel's acceptable offering of a blood sacrifice points to Christ, and there is a parallel in his murder by Cain. Melchizedek ("righteous king") is. "made like the Son of God" (Heb. 7:3). He is the king of Salem ("peace") who brings forth bread and wine and is the priest of the Most High God. Joseph is also a type of Christ. Joseph and Christ are both objects of special love by their fathers, both are hated by their brethren, both are rejected as rulers over their brethren, both are conspired against and sold for silver, both are condemned though innocent, and both are raised from humiliation to glory by the power of God.

May God bless us as we endeavor to learn more about the Bible.

- Bro, David Crowe