Want to begin the message this
morning again in John chapter five, and then we will go in
just a few minutes to the book of Genesis. But here in John chapter five
and verse 46, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me. For he, that is Moses, wrote
of me. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke these
words to the Jewish religious leaders of his day, those who
persecuted him and attempted to slay him, because according
to them, he was guilty of breaking the Sabbath when he healed the
man who had been there at the pool for 38 years, and the Lord
Jesus Christ said, rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And that
man took up his bed and walked. Therefore, in their eyes, he
was guilty of breaking the Sabbath, because he was carrying his bed,
his mat. And when they asked him, who
told you to carry your bed? He said, the man who healed me.
Who is that? That's Jesus, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they accused him of breaking
the Sabbath. And when they questioned him,
he responded, my father worketh hitherto and I work. And then
they recognized that not only had he broken the Sabbath according
to them, but he being a man made himself equal with God. And as you read on through the
chapter, that's in the first part of the chapter, you find
that he brought forth three witnesses. He gave them three witnesses
that testified to his deity, that he is God. The first he
mentioned were the works which the father gave him to do, the
miracles. No man can do these works are
these miracles which thou doest, except God be with thee. And
when you read through the Gospels, you see the various miracles
the Lord Jesus Christ wrought, opening the eyes of the blind,
unstopping the ears of the deaf, loosing the tongues of the dumb,
causing the lame to walk, and yes, even causing the dead to
rise. We see in all of these physical
miracles, the spiritual truth, that He is the one who opens
the eyes of the blind sinner, that we might see our need, first
of all, of a Savior, and that we might see that Jesus Christ
is that Savior. And the same is true of all of
those physical miracles. But He brought forth His miracles,
His works, as a testimony to them that He is God Almighty
in the flesh. And then he gave the voice of
the father who he said, you've never heard his voice, but the
Lord did testify. God did testify with a voice
from heaven. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
baptized, when he first entered into his ministry at the age
of 30, remember he was baptized by John the Baptist. And there
was a voice from heaven which said, this is my beloved son,
in whom I am well pleased. And of course that was the voice
of the father. And then the third witness that
he mentions, the scriptures. If you notice in verse 39, search
the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which testify
of me. They thought that in just having
the scriptures, and that's a great blessing, no doubt about it.
They thought in reading the scriptures, and that's a great blessing.
They thought in hearing the scriptures, and that's a great blessing.
They thought in just having the scriptures that they had eternal
life, but they did not recognize that the scriptures testify of
Christ. And then he said, you will not
come to me that you might have life. Notice in verse 40, and
you will not come to me that you might have life, that you
might have eternal life. Man by nature does not have eternal
life. Yes, we come into this world,
we have physical life. But a person must know Christ
as their Lord and Savior, must be in union with Him. He is life. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. And no man cometh unto the Father
but by Him. And a person must be in union
to Christ to have life. And he said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. Now these people to whom he spoke
these words, they were the leaders of the nation of Israel. They
were the masters of Israel. They were the somebodies in religion
of that day. When people had a question, they
looked to them for an answer concerning the word of God, the
scriptures, the Old Testament. And they themselves claimed to
be the disciples of Moses. We'd be the disciples of Moses. That was their profession. And
then our Lord said, if you had believed Moses, you would have
believed me, because Moses wrote of me. 1,500 years, more or less, before the
Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, God inspired Moses to
write the first five books of the Bible. And Moses wrote of
Christ. And I want us to look today at
four examples in the book of Genesis, the first book that
Moses wrote, where we see that he clearly wrote of Christ. First, Moses wrote of Christ
in creation. Now, last time I mentioned the
first verse of the first chapter. In the beginning, God, the triune
God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
created the heaven and the earth. In the letter of Colossians,
the Apostle Paul, inspired of God by the Holy Spirit, wrote
these words, for by Him, and he's talking about Christ, Him
refers to Christ, for by Him, were all things created that
are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
speaking of the angels, no doubt, all things were created by him
and for him. Moses wrote of me, that is Christ,
the eternal Son of God. who is with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, the efficient cause of all things. There's nothing,
when I say all things, I mean all things. There's nothing created
that He did not create. He is the eternal Son of God. Moses wrote of me. But I want
you to look especially here in this first chapter in verses
26 and 27. Genesis chapter one in verses
26 and 27. And in these verses, we have
the history of the creation of man. And God said, let us, now us
is a plural pronoun. Let us, God, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, let us make man in our
image. We have a plural noun, or pronoun
rather, subject with a verb that is singular. God is one. He doesn't have two wills or
three wills. He has one will, God. God said, let us make man in
our image. After our likeness, and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Now notice this
next verse. See that the word create are
created three times. So God created man in his own
image. In the image of God created he
him. Male and female created he them. It's not by accident that we
see the word create or created here three times in this verse,
testifying that the work of creation is the work of God. And God,
yes, He's a trinity of persons. Our Lord said, Moses wrote of
Me. Moses wrote of Him because He
is the eternal Son of God in the flesh. Moses wrote of Him
when He wrote of creation. Now, in the week of creation,
man was created last. As you read through Genesis chapter
1, you see that man was created last as the crown jewel, if you
please, of God's creation. Man, unlike the other animals,
stood erect. All of the other four-footed
animals were made, they were created to look down. Man was
created erect to look up to the heavens. The heavens declare
the glory of God. Yes. He was made for God's glory. And this is something, I know
this flies in the face of everything today people believe, but this
is the truth according to the word of God. God does not exist
for man. Man exists for the glory of God. Man is God's creature, and God
is not the creation of men. No, no. If you look in chapter
2 of Genesis where we have a little more detailed account of the
creation of man, and verse 7, And the Lord God formed man of
the dust of the ground. That body in which you live today
was made of dust. And isn't it amazing when we
see, now many people choose cremation, how little dust and ashes are
left. God created man's body. From
the dust, the red earth, the word actually means. The red
earth, God created man's body. But that body was lifeless until
God breathed into him the breath of life and man became a living
soul. Unlike the animals that God gave
breath to, God gave a soul, an immortal soul, unto man. When an animal dies, that's the
end of the animal. When a man dies, his soul will
continue to exist throughout eternity. There's no cessation
of existence for any man. God gave him his immortal soul. And I see even in this, the Lord
Jesus Christ. In the Gospels, when the invitation
is gone out by the king to go out into the highways and the
byways and invite everyone to the feast. Everyone, come, come
to the feast. And the invitation declares all
things are ready. You don't bring anything. You
don't contribute anything to the gospel feast. All things
are ready. Come. Don't we see in this how
the Lord Jesus Christ prepared everything for man before man
was created. Created the beautiful garden
in which he was to live. gave him the dominion which he
had over all the animals, and gave him a helpmate. In this I see the goodness of
God, don't you? The goodness of God. So first
of all, Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote of Christ in creation. Now I want you to look over to
chapter three, Genesis chapter three. And I would say here,
Moses wrote of Christ in promise, in verse 15. Now we know before
we come to verse 15, that Adam and Eve in this beautiful garden,
everything at their disposal, everything to satisfy them, They're
entered into the garden of fallen angel, Satan. And he was able
through a serpent to speak to Eve. Now, Eve, Paul tells us
in the New Testament, Eve was deceived. And we can see how
easily she could have been deceived because no other animal, no other
creature spoke. But here is a serpent who is
speaking to her, tempting her. Because you see, God had given
that one tree, the fruit of that one tree of the knowledge of
good and evil and commanded Adam not to eat. He was subject to
God. He was God's creature. He was
under the dominion of God. Everything around him was under
his dominion, man's dominion. And we see that today, don't
we? Those astronauts today who are circling the globe. We see
how that God has given dominion to man. But man has a as a God, as a God
to whom he is responsible. And yes, men can do great feats. And we live in a day when science
has developed a great deal, no doubt. But man still has the
same problem that originated at this time in the garden, and
that problem is sin. And of course Eve was deceived
by the serpent, and she ate, and then she gave it to her husband.
Now Adam was not deceived. Adam knew, as we often say, with
his eyes wide open, he understood what he was doing. When I eat
this fruit, I'm bringing death upon myself, and not only upon
myself, but upon all of my posterity. Because you see, he was a representative
man. And the apostle tells us in Romans
chapter 5 and verse 12, wherefore, as by one man, and that one man
was Adam, sin entered into the world, that one sin of Adam. Now Adam lived hundreds of years,
and he committed many sins, no doubt, throughout his life. Those sins or not imputed or
charged to his posterity. It was this one sin, this one
sin, as a representative when he sinned, he introduced sin
into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. Is there no hope then? Man's
a sinner. God is an absolute holy God. Is there no hope for man? Must
all men perish eternally, separated from the presence of God? God
came that day and revealed that there's going to come a man.
He's going to be the seed of the woman. Notice that in verse
15. God said to the serpent, and
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. The seed of the woman is promised
to come, who would bruise, who would crush the head of the serpent. He would be a man. He would have the same nature
of the man who sinned. Now some people say, well how
could he have the same nature when all men have a sinful nature? I would just remind you of this.
Adam was a man before he ever sinned. He was a man before he
ever sinned. And the Lord Jesus Christ, by
being made the seed of the woman, not a seed of a man. If he had
been the seed of a man, he would have inherited that sinful nature
from his father Adam. But seeing he is the seed of
the woman, he comes into this world, he's a man, yes. God,
man, yes. It was man who sinned, and it
must be man who answers for that sin. But he is a man without sin of
his own. He did not partake of that sinful
act of Adam because he was not represented by Adam. So the Apostle
Paul tells us, in the fullness of the time, years passed on,
when Adam and Eve had their first son, it seems like Eve thought,
here he is! Here he is. Here's the one. When Cain was born, I've gotten
a man shot from the Lord. Oh, how disappointed, right?
He turned out to be a murderer. Murdered his brother. She thought
that was the fulfillment of this promise. But oh no. Years and
years, centuries and centuries passed. And while he was revealed,
they had to look forward to him who was coming, the seed of the
woman. But Paul tells us in the fullness
of the time, God's time, about 2,000, a little over 2,000 years
ago, on God's calendar, the day came and Mary brought forth her
son. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law,
that he might redeem us from the curse of the law. Do you see why? Do you see why
the Lord told these people, Moses wrote of me? You claim to be
the disciples of Moses, but if you had believed Moses, not just
read Moses, Not just heard Moses read in your presence, but if
you had believed what Moses wrote, he wrote of me. And you will
not come to me that you might have life. Now I want you to
turn to another place in Genesis chapter 22. And in preparing the message, The difficulty was deciding which
four passages of Scripture I wanted us to turn to, because we see
Christ all through this book of Genesis. But I had to look
at this one, Genesis chapter 22. And who doesn't know the
story of God commanding Abraham to offer up his, and these are
the words of God, his only son, Isaac, whom he loved as a burnt
offering, a holocaust. That's what that word is, a holocaust. Take now thy son, thy only son,
Isaac, whom thou lovest. Get thee into the land of Moriah,
and offer him there for a burnt offering a holocaust upon one
of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." We know that Moses,
that Abraham rather, early the next morning left with his servants
and his son Isaac, and they carried the wood, they carried the fire,
and they carried the knife. And they came to the place where
God told Abraham, or showed him, that's the mountain, that's the
place. And he left the servants and the asses there at the foot
of the mountain, put the wood on Isaac, Abraham carried the
knife, and they start up the mountain. And notice the words
in verse eight. These are the words of Isaac. Or verse seven, rather. And Isaac
spake unto Abraham his father and said, My father? And he said,
Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood. But where's the lamb? For a burnt
offering, for a holocaust. Where's the lamb? You know, this
is the first time we have the word lamb in the English translation
of the scripture. even though the Lord Jesus Christ
is referred to as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world
in the book of Revelation. Where's the lamb? Where's the
sacrifice? Where's the propitiation? Where's
the atonement? Where's the redemption? The blood
redemption? Where is it? And notice Abraham's
words, verse eight. Abraham said, my son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide himself
a lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He provided himself by coming
into this world as the God man, as the lamb. The one sacrifice,
the one offering that truly is a propitiation for sin. Where is it? God will provide
himself a lamb. And he provided himself the lamb. And notice, we could read this,
God will provide himself in order for God to be just and justify
the ungodly men and women like you and I. He must provide himself
a sacrifice. He must be propitiated. Keep your places here, but look
with me in Romans chapter three. Quickly in Romans chapter three. Beginning in verse 23, Romans
3 and verse 23, the apostle says, for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. Now watch this, to declare, I
say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him. which believeth in Jesus. God shall provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. Back here in Genesis 22, what
we see here, Moses wrote of Christ as a type, as a type. We see satisfaction. Satisfaction,
the son of God, was the satisfaction for the sins of God's people.
If you look down to verse 13, after they got there and after
Isaac submitted himself, I might say, Isaac was not a little boy. Isaac was a grown young man and
he submitted himself to being tied by his father, Abraham. and placed on that altar of stones
that he had built. And as Abraham lifted his knife
to slay his son, in obedience to his God, and in his heart,
he offered him. There's no question in my mind.
In his heart, he offered Isaac. But God cried. God stayed his
hand, right? And God showed him In that bramble
bush over there, there's a ram. The Lord Jesus, when he was here,
he said, Abraham saw my day, and he rejoiced. Was it that
day, was it that day when he saw that ram, when his knife
was raised to obey God and slay his son? Was it that day that
he saw Christ's day? And he took that ram and offered
him in the stead. Notice that, in the stead. Verse
13, I believe it is. Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by
his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering. in the stead of his
son. Do you see what we see in type
in these two places here? We see Moses wrote of Christ. He wrote of Christ as a satisfaction,
the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice, the holocaust. And
he also wrote of Christ as a substitute, the substitute for guilty men
and women. Now one other place, if you will,
turn with me to Genesis chapter 49. Moses wrote of Christ in
prophecy. In prophecy, Genesis chapter
49. The picture here is, the history
is, that Jacob is near the end of his life and he's down in
Egypt and he has his 12 sons there. And he begins to prophesy
concerning each one of these 12 sons, which represent the
12 tribes of Israel. And he prophesied concerning
Reuben, his firstborn, then of Levi and Simeon. And then he
comes to Judah, his fourth born son. And this is what he says,
beginning in verse 8, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise. Now, why would all of the other
Israelites, why would they praise Judah out of all those 12 sons
and all their descendants? Why would it be that they would
praise Judah? Because it was from Judah. Shiloh would come. Notice that
in verse 10. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah. In other words, Judah would remain
a tribe in which they could trace their genealogy. Most of the
tribes by this time, because remember many of them, 10 tribes
had been carried off into captivity years before this. And when they
came back out of captivity, even Judah and Benjamin, Judah was
the one tribe. They could trace their genealogies.
In A.D. 70, now listen, in A.D. 70, the
Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and with it all the records.
There's not a Jew in this world today who can actually trace
his genealogy back to any one of these tribes. That's all gone. But God promised that Judah would
remain a separate entity until Shiloh came. I don't know if
any of you watched the miniseries this past week of General Grant,
but in that first episode, one important battle was fought at
Shiloh Church. And the commentator said, Shiloh
means peace. And of course, his emphasis was
there at that place, a church building named Shiloh, a place
of peace. There was such war and killings. Yes, that's one of the names.
If you notice in verse 10, one of the names of Christ, the scepter
shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet
until Shiloh come, the peacemaker the one who would make peace
between God and man by the blood of his cross until Shiloh comes. And then he said, and unto him
shall the gathering of the people be. I want you to look with me at
one other passage of scripture in John. So we see that Moses
wrote of Christ in creation, in promise, in type, and in prophecy. But I want you to turn with me
now, if you will, to John chapter 11, and remember what this last
prophecy said, until Shiloh come and the gathering of the people
shall be unto him. Here in chapter 11, we have recorded
the Lord Jesus Christ raising Lazarus from the dead. And as
a result of that, more opposition, more persecution came upon the
Savior. And notice in verse 47. John 11, then gathered the chief
priests and the Pharisees, a council. Now these are the people that
the Lord has spoken to, many of them, no doubt, in John chapter
five. They held a council and they
said, what do we? What in the world are we going
to do? For this man doeth many miracles,
many works. If we let him thus alone, all
will believe on him. And the Romans shall come and
take away both our place and our nation. And one of them,
who was named Caiaphas, notice he was the high, John tells us,
being the high priest that same year, said unto them, you know
nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that
one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not. Now notice what John says about
that statement. And this spake he, not of himself,
Cephas didn't just think of this, oh no, but being high priest
that year, he prophesied. In other words, God the Holy
Spirit gave him that statement, those words, that Jesus should
die for that nation, now notice, and not for that nation only.
Thank God, right? It wasn't just for the Jews that
He died, not just the Jewish nation, not for that nation alone. But that also He should gather,
notice that, to Him shall be the gathering of the people unto
Him He should gather together in one the children of God that
are scattered abroad. And the question for you, the
question for me today is simply this. Have I been gathered to
Christ? Have I been gathered to Shiloh? Have I looked to Christ? Am I
resting In him, trusting in him only, as all my salvation, have
I been gathered to Shiloh, to the peacemaker, and has his blood,
his precious blood, redeemed us from all iniquity? I pray
that the Lord would bless this word, this message. Moses wrote
of me. The Lord willing, I want us to
look again at Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy. Moses wrote of me, wrote of Christ. Let's turn in our hymn books
now to