Now, I'm going to be moving on
in what I started yesterday and will continue through this week
in talking to you about the history of redemption. Really, it's about
the history of the Redeemer. Someone told me afterward I shouldn't
call it history because that assumes it's all past and we
still have our glorification. But I remind them, when I use
the word history, it's His story. his story, his story of redemption
from eternity. His story of redemption, we're
going to look today at from creation to the cross. Now, I know that
sounds scary, because you're saying, how are you going to
cover that all in 40 minutes? Well, I'm going to give you some
highlights, because the point that I want you to see is the
way that God has saved sinners has never changed. even before
the cross, the way that those from creation to the cross that
the Lord redeemed them is no different than how you or I stand
redeemed before God if we're redeemed by His blood. And that's
what I want you to see. And then Wednesday, tomorrow,
we'll look at really what took place at the cross, His story
of redemption at the cross. and Thursday, his story of redemption
and regeneration. These things took place outside
ourselves, and yet if he died for us, it's just like Brother
Richard was saying this morning, he's going to make it known to
us. In fact, in Romans 8 and verse 10 there, I don't know
if you noticed how that was put, but it's exactly as he was saying
it, that the Spirit is life. because of righteousness. Our righteousness isn't in the
Spirit. That righteousness was already established, and because
of that, the Spirit is life unto those for whom that righteousness
was established, and God accepted it and imputed it to their account
two thousand years ago. It's just the scriptures are
so simple when you read them for what they say. My righteousness
isn't in the Spirit's work, it's in Christ's work. Christ, my
righteousness. But the Spirit reveals that work. He works to glorify Christ and
that work that he accomplished. And then we'll proceed on the
rest of the week looking at Friday and our glorification, his story
of redemption and our glorification. Let me just tidy up one thing
from what we looked at yesterday with regard to this matter of
our redemption from the perspective of eternity. God ordained these
things. There's two verses that I want
you to look at in light of this, because I believe that they can
be misquoted or they can be misread for what they're saying.
Look in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9.
This verse is often quoted by those who say, well, as soon
as God determined it in eternity, it was done. There are those
that interpret Scripture that way. I believe that they're confusing
God's purpose. What he purposed to do and what
he did. Now, what he purposed, there's
no question that everything is going to take place exactly as
he purposed it. It's not going to deviate one
iota, but I don't find any believer in Scripture for their hope of
salvation looking back eternity and saying, well, as soon as
it was done, as soon as God determined that it was done, where does
the spirit cause sinners to look? To the cross. The cross. And I'm telling you this, if
we ever move off of that, if we ever get to where we begin
looking around the cross or moving away from the cross for any kind
of hope, it's a false hope. It's a false hope. I believe
as strongly as any person in this world that what God determined
to do, he does. And everything is happening,
the good and the bad, is coming to pass exactly as he determined
it. But that doesn't mean, we're
not to confuse prophecy with history, we're not to think And
this is this is what I believe causes people to get their eyes
off the cross, because if God could have decreed salvation
and it was done based on his decree, you can see what that
does. That takes away from the necessity
of Christ coming and laying down his life. And here's an example
here in Second Timothy one in verse nine. The reason why I'm
showing you this is because people have brought this up to me. They
say, well, you talk like salvation was accomplished only at the
cross. It was done in eternity. And they'll quote 2nd Timothy
chapter 1 in verse 9. But look here in 2nd Timothy
1 9. It says who has saved us and called us. And it's interesting
that word called here is the same word I explained to you
yesterday. It means to be named. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. It's called in that sense. So
we were saved. He has saved us and called us. with and holy calling. I don't
have any. That's what the Scripture is saying. On what basis am I
saved? Well, it took God determining
it. It took God naming me in that
will. That's all that Paul is describing
here. He's describing how it is that
we've come to be saved. And I say amen to that. I say
that it begins, it doesn't begin with my conversion. It begins
back there in eternity from God having determined it to be so.
If my name is in the Lamb's book of life, I was named back there
even before time. But this verse is just describing
then on what ground I was named. It's not saying I was saved back
then. It's saying on what ground, on
what basis this naming took place. in my salvation. We've been looking
at that since yesterday. The term salvation covers everything
from eternity to eternity, doesn't it? I've been saved, I'm being
saved, and I shall be saved. So that's important to understand.
But this salvation, it's according to having been called with a
holy calling, named in Christ. And it's a holy calling because,
as we saw yesterday in Ephesians, it's holiness that we might be without. We might be holding without blame
in him, but how is that at the cross? How is that righteousness
worked out? How is it that God can look upon
me as just? Well, it's the blood and righteousness
of Lord Jesus Christ. So, but it says here, but not
according to, but not according to our works, that naming that
election. But according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us, granted us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. That's what was granted to us.
But what was granted there had to be worked out in time. Not
only the coming of Christ as a man, his living, doing, and
dying at that cross, my subsequent calling unto him in regeneration,
my final glorification. I wouldn't glorify that, but
I'm still waiting to be glorified. And here's another verse that
I want you to see in Revelation chapter 13 in verse 8. Revelation
chapter 13 in verse 8. These things are not opposed
to each other. And some people say, well, you're
saying you're saying it's here at the cross when in reality
it was done back here. No, what was purpose back here
in eternity is the cause for all of this being worked out. That's what this whole book is
about, the working out. It's the revelation of what God
purposed there in eternity. Now, here's a verse again that
a number of people misquote. It says here, "...and
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names
are not written in the land's book of life slain from the foundation
of the world." I've been hearing that this verse teaches that
Christ actually died back there in eternity. Now, there's a couple
of things to note. In the way it's often quoted,
and you pay attention to this when people quote scripture,
let's quote what it says. It doesn't say here, the Book
of Life of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world,
does it? It says, from. Actually, it's the word sin.
You go back and look at that in the original. Now, that changes
everything. He wasn't slain back there. Christ
didn't have a body in eternity. There was no blood shed in eternity. He was the Lamb. And there's
that Book of Life. But He's been slain since the
foundation of the world. He's the Lamb slain since the
foundation, since the creation of the world. There was that
time. What did Christ say? A body thou
hast prepared for me. Great is the mystery of God.
I realize it's a mystery. Because we say, well, God doesn't
change. That's right. He did not cease
being God when he came. He took on a body. A body thou
hast prepared for them. And that's since the foundation
of the world. That's been since the foundation of the world that
this has taken place. Now, it's the book of the life
of the Lamb. There's no question those names
were written in that book of the life of the Lamb. But the
slaying has been since the foundation of the world. What it's showing
is that this is a done work. The book of the life of the Lamb.
My name was written there before time, but it took Christ coming
and actually dying. You see that? That's the message
of Scripture. Otherwise, it gets into this
form of mysticism. Some mystical, spiritual slaying
of Christ where it was done back there. And so, you know, I've
said this to a number that have tried to argue this way. I said,
if that were the case, when Christ hung on that cross and laid down
his life, he would have said, it's affirmed. It's affirmed. That's what you do when something's
already done. It's just affirmed. What did he say? It's finished. Finished means that there was
a work to be done, and it's been done. It's been done. And, dear
friends, that's why my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus'
blood and righteousness, purposed from eternity. I say amen to
that, but accomplished in time. And I have a friend that shocks
some people. He stood up to give a testimony.
people in testimony meetings, you know, saying, going back
and saying, well, I was saved in 19 such and such, 50 something. And he stood up one time and
said, I got a testimony to give. He said, I was saved 2,000 years
ago. You stop and think about it.
That's where our salvation was accomplished 2,000 years ago. Purposed in eternity, but accomplished
there at the cross, revealed by faith. And something that
I look forward to rejoicing in throughout eternity. All right,
so that I want you to see the importance of what we're doing
here. This is his story, his story of redemption, purpose
and eternity. But now worked out in time, worked
out in time. Let me just have you look over
here in Luke chapter 24. As we consider the story. Of redemption. His story. from creation to the cross. In
Luke chapter 24, we have the testimony of our Lord himself. With regard to all that we have
here in these pages in our Bible written in the Old Testament.
Now, back before the Lord opened my eyes to Christ and to the
gospel, I used to think this the Bible is like two separate
books. You had the Old Testament and you had the new. The old
had to do with moral obedience. And even though I said we're
saved by grace, I still thought that I had to go back there and
fulfill some sort of moral obedience in order to prove that I was
saved. And that's how I looked at the
Old Testament. But it was when the Lord, by his grace, began
that work of grace in my heart, I was just like one of these
here, where it says in Luke 24, when they were questioning Christ's
And Christ came along, it says there in verse 24, Luke 24, verse
24, certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher
and found it even so as the women had said, but him they saw not.
This is our Lord walking along the road to Emmaus with these
disciples. And the Lord, they didn't recognize
him. They didn't recognize him as
the resurrected Lord. And he said under them, verse
25, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophet
has spoken. Now, when he says all that the
prophet has spoken, he's talking about all the Old Testament.
All the Old Testament. Ought not Christ you have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses. Now, when you think about that,
it's talking about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, of Moses,
and all the prophets. That's how often the Old Testament
scriptures are described, the law and the prophets. All right? It says, he expounded unto them
in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. I'll tell
you what, dear friends, if you can understand By God's grace,
Him giving you eyes to see that all of these Old Testament scriptures
from creation to the cross. And sometimes we forget that
even Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for the most part, were
still before the cross, weren't they? When Christ came, you know,
these people that say, well, we still have to keep that law
and they'll go to the New Testament. They'll go to one of the Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And they say, see, even Christ
himself insisted on certain things. Well, that's because he came
to fulfill that law. He came to fulfill that law.
So, as you read, context is everything. At what point was the thing being
stated? But it says here, all of these
things concerned himself, concerned himself. You look on again down
in verse 44. Here he was partaking of some
fish and some bread with him. And it says in verse 43, he took
it and did eat before them. That resurrected body was a true
physical body. When he ascended on high, there's
a man seated in heaven. That's what we see here. And
he said unto them, These are the things which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled. Again, purpose. Purposed in eternity,
but fulfilled in time. That's what that salvation had
to be worked out, which were written in the law of Moses and
in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning thee. Dear friends,
Christ is the subject of all of Scripture. And as we read
it, that's what we look for. There wasn't a righteousness
in the Old Testament that set forth and a different one in
the New. You don't go back to the Old Testament and think,
well, this was a conditional righteousness that they had,
and now we've got one that's been fulfilled. No, it all has
to do with the same righteousness that the Lord Jesus Christ had
to fulfill that God might be just and justify. Well, we've
already kind of looked at part of this lesson. If you were here
Sunday night when I talked to you about Cain and Abel. If you
consider that time between the fall and the flood, you think
about how right from the beginning, God began in the scriptures to
reveal what he would do through his son. You say, how so? For those that weren't there,
look in Genesis chapter three. This is the first gospel message
that was ever preached. way to get some people's attention.
Can you think of the first gospel message that was ever preached?
It was preached by God himself. And don't turn to Matthew, Mark
or Luke or John. Go all the way back to Genesis.
This is the gospel in Genesis. And what was the message? Well,
look at look at verse 21. Galatians Genesis 3 and verse
21. They had those old figurines
on after the fall. They thought that that would
cover their nakedness. But what was the substance of the message
of the gospel? I know you hear long dissertations
on what the gospel is. I want to tell you what it is
right here from Genesis 321. This is what Ben revealed concerning
redemption. It was done in type, but nonetheless
the same truth. And it says, and unto Adam also
and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin. and clothed them. He made the
skins and he clothed them. You say, well, how do you make
the skins? Well, you, how do you make the skin? You have to,
you have to take it off the animal. You take it off the animal, you've
killed the animal. So what we have here, dear friends, is substitution
and satisfaction. The Lord already told Adam the
day that you eat of it, you shall die. He died. He died spiritually. He may not have died physically
for hundreds of years later, but he died spiritually when
he fell. Death passed from him to every
one of his descendants. He was the representative that
was there. What's the remedy? It took the slaying of an innocent
animal. And once the blood was shed,
it took the clothing of those for whom it was shed. When were
they clothed? When they believed it? I'm sure
they stood there and wondered at these things as they saw God
slaying that innocent lamb. I'm sure that he had to teach
them what this was all about. But that clothing, what I want
you to see is the slaying and the clothing was not delayed.
See, there's a lot of people who have this idea. Well, Christ
died back here, but it's when you believe them that you're
at the wrath of God is actually removed. He died here, but it's
when you believe that that righteousness then is imputed. So every time
someone believes God's taking that righteousness and clothing,
taking that righteousness and clothing. That's often the way
that it's understood, but that's not how it was set forth from
beginning. As soon as the Lamb was slain, what happened? And dear friends, as we go through
the scriptures, if you want to know a simple definition of the
gospel, I don't know how to put it more simply than this, it
was my sin being discharged from me and charged to the Lord Jesus
Christ in his death. But at the same time, I wasn't
even alive yet, but to my spiritual account, that very righteousness
of Christ was taken. in charge of my account. There's
no delay. If sin has been put away, there's
no more transgression. There's no more wrath. It's done. Now, up until the cross, we're
going to see that we were under that legal condemnation. There's
no question that that law had not been satisfied. But once
it was by the Lord Jesus Christ, and the payment fully made. You
know what? Even in my unbelief, before I
knew anything about it, I didn't owe a debt to law and justice. It had been satisfied. Now, I
was born in rebellion. I was born breathing out wrath
myself toward the Savior. But when he taught me the gospel,
I learned what? That it had all been taken care
of. They're all taken away, away. They're all taken away. When?
Not when I believe, but when he put away my sin. I tell you
what, that's when the Spirit reveals that to you, it just,
it brings rest to your soul because it teaches you of a salvation
that is totally outside of yourself and completely in the Lord Jesus
Christ and what he accomplished. Now, like I said, we could just
spend all our time taking examples from the fall all the way to
the flood. I want to jump ahead, I want to fast forward. You say,
what about Noah? What about Noah? Was Noah saved
in any different way? Well, let's go to the Word. Look
over here in Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6. We all know the story of Noah,
how the Lord told him to build that ark. and to enter in with
his family. And that ark is the top of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Do you realize that we all have to face the judgment of
God? Noah wasn't spared the judgment of God, was he? He went through
it just like the world did. You say, why was he spared? Well,
it fell on the ark. It didn't fall on Noah and his
family. Why? Because they were in the
ark. But they were judged with the world. You realize that?
They had to be. God cannot just look the other
way. He has to judge sin. Now, as
you fast forward, look at the cross. Our judgment took place
when? When the Lord Jesus Christ lived
and died. We were judged in Him. When He
died, I died. When He rose again, I rose with
Him. See, that's my justification. And anybody that does not have
Christ as that representative, does not have Christ as their
archenemy, they're going to know the full wrath of God. But I
don't. Why? Because it already fell
on his son. So that's what this is about. Now, you see here in
Genesis chapter six, in verse eight, what distinguished Noah? Was it because there was anything
good in him? No, it just says here, Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. But by grace, you say that that's
my testimony that you're there's nothing different there by grace. You're safe. No, if I'm grace
in the eye of the Lord, as you read on, and like I said, I'm
just kind of. Touching some of the highlights
here, but as you notice, everybody knows the story about how the
Lord brought these animals in two by two. There were all these
pairs, and we all like to remember, you know, how we first learned
about all this. But so often when the story of Noel is told,
there's something that's missing. And that is, there was over here
in Genesis chapter 7, in verse 2, there's a little
verse slipped in here that a lot of people never comment on. You
know, it's a two by two, that's fine. But here it says, of every
clean beast there was to be an extra, besides the two by two. It says, of every clean beast
thou shalt take to thee what? By sevens. What's seven? Number of perfection. Number
of perfection. Male and female. and of these
that are not cleaned by two, the male and female. So you had
your two by two, that's fine, those are uncleared. But when
it came down to the clean beast, there was to be the extra by
sevens. You say, why that? Why that? Well, you know as well as I do,
when Moses or when Noah came out of the ark, look over in
Genesis chapter eight. What was the first thing he did?
Now, the ark of the tithe and picture of our Lord Jesus Christ
and his person. But you cannot speak of Christ
apart from his work. See, this is his story of redemption. And what's the very first thing
he did? Noah built an altar unto the Lord and took of every
clean beast. How many? Seven of each. Took of every clean beast. and
every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Now, you can say, well, God purposed
to save Noah by that ark. Indeed, he did. That's why he
was saved by grace, but not without the shedding of blood. It's so
vital. You're going to see this. I remember
when the Lord first opened my eyes. I studied scripture. I studied the originals. I had
some knowledge of the text. I thought I had the world by
the tail, but when he opened my eyes and I saw I missed Christ,
I was taken all the way back to Canada. I can remember, and
thankfully, when I had to leave Africa, I left that Bible there,
otherwise it would have become an isle, I suppose, because I
read through that thing, read the covers off of it, going back
over again, looking for Christ. And everywhere I could, I'd write
Christ. I'd write satisfaction. I'd write substitution. I was
trying to catch up for years that I'd missed. But when the
Lord teaches it to you, I'll tell you, you look for it on
every page. This is His story. That's His story. And that's
what we see here, the shedding of blood. Well, like I said,
we can't dwell long on these things. Let me just jump ahead
and give you two more here, because our clock's about ready to ding
up there. We're going to jump all the way
from Abraham all the way to David. And the reason I do that is because
over here, if you look in the book of Romans, chapter These are the two men that the
Spirit of God directed Paul to refer to as examples in the Old
Testament of how it is that God saves sinners. We read here, starting with verse
1, What shall we say, then, that Abraham our father, as pertaining
to the flesh, hath found? As pertaining to the flesh. Is
there anything that Abraham could glory in? I remember hearing
Sunday school teachers when I was growing up kept pointing me to
Abraham's obedience. Look how he obeyed and you ought
to obey. They missed it. Right here, the
scripture says, did Abraham have anything that he in the flesh
that he could glory in? He said, for if Abraham were
justified by works, if he were justified by any work of his
own, He hath whereof good glory, but not before God. There may
be many glory in these things, but not before God. But what
saith the Scripture? It says, Abraham believed God,
and it was counted unto him, reckoned unto him for righteousness. Now here, as I first studied
this, I thought, well, if righteousness was established at the cross,
which it is, where it was worked out, then On what ground could
God declare Abraham righteous because it had not yet been worked
out? And so often the way this is
interpreted is that when it says Abraham believed God and it was
accounted that word if they replaced with the word righteousness.
They say righteousness was accounted for. Righteousness was imputed
for righteousness. Well, that doesn't make sense.
Righteousness was imputed for righteousness. Especially when
that word for is untrue in the original. Well, you keep reading
so often when when you're looking for an answer, don't run to a
commentary. First, I'm all for commentaries, reading and weighing
these things. But look what God's testimony
is first. And if you go all the way down
to verse nine, you'll see something here. Has come up this blessedness,
then upon the circumcision only what blessedness, the blessedness
of being justified. In Christ, by Christ, does it
come upon the circumcision only, in other words, the Jew, or upon
uncircumcision also, Gentile? Then he says, for we say that
what was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness? What does
your Bible say? Faith. Faith. Whoa. And it makes sense. Righteousness can't be imputed.
until it's actually been worked out, can it? Although it was
purposed. So what was reckoned to Abraham unto the righteousness
yet to be worked out by the Lord Jesus Christ? Faith. He believed
God. That wasn't his righteousness.
It was unto righteousness. But God taught Abraham. He gave him that faith not to
look to himself. Not even to look to those sacrifices
as any kind of salvation in them, but unto righteousness. What
did Christ say? Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. That's where he was looking.
And, dear friends, that better be where you're looking. See,
they looked forward to this one who was to come. We look back
to him who is to come. But you know what? Old Testament,
New Testament, we all have the same focal point. I don't care
whether it's Abraham or Abel. I don't care who it is. It's
the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if
that's not it, you've not seen the Lamb. You've not seen the
Lamb. Abraham, that's the example.
David, same thing. It says here, well, in verse
four, why? For to him, and now to him that
worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If it
was something in us, then it would be a reward, you see. But it says here, but to him
that worketh not. That's again, salvation completely
outside myself, dear friends. I didn't work this out. There's no righteousness even
to contribute to that work that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
accomplish. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth, who? The ungodly. Well, the scriptures
say, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. This took
place outside myself." You see, his faith is counted for righteousness. His faith is reckoned unto that
righteousness, is what it's saying. That's why God grants faith.
If you've been given the faith to believe in Christ and to rest
in his work of righteousness, it's because Christ worked it
out entirely on your behalf. That's what the Scriptures are
declaring. And then it says, even as David.
You can go all the way forward. Abraham to David. Describe us
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. Without works. It wasn't without
Christ's work. But it's without our work. It
was imputed because when he finished it, it was done. It was done. What's in my spiritual account?
and now, given faith, what do I look, Frank L. Abraham did,
unto that righteousness?