THE COVENANT CHRIST:
The Blueprint of God's Unveiled "CHRIST" found in Scripture
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. John 5:39
As Christians we believe that the Scriptures are the inerrant or infallible Word of the living God. It contains history yet it is not a history book. It contains poetry and prophecy yet it isn’t defined by these genre’s either. Christianity tends to want to isolate or doctrinize certain Biblical passages to such an extent that the overall message of the Scripture text loses its original meaning or purpose. That being exclusively the message of Christ that was revealed in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Most importantly, the one thing that is clear according to Jesus, is the message and intent of Scripture was given to man as a witness and testimony of Jesus himself. This is where we must start in interpreting any Scripture because Jesus said that eternal life wasn’t to be found anywhere in them but only by believing they testified of him. The apostle Paul establishes the fact that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is for the equipping of man unto good works. Jesus Christ embodied his words found in second Timothy because his life set the example for us that God established through him.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17
So to better understand Jesus as he is portrayed throughout all Scripture is to become a better equipped Christian. I believe it can not be emphasized enough that the inspired Hebraic language that portrays this portrait of Christ is a picture language. The vast landscape of Scripture is written as a covenant portrait of the meaning and purpose of God’s "Christ".
We are creatures bound by time. Being as such, we are limited in our God definitions in trying to understand His Majestic nature. Unless we have an Isaiah experience of standing before the throne of God and having angel’s touch our unclean lips with hot coals because of our unworthiness, understanding the "Christ of God" is the closest we’ll come now to comprehending God and His holiness.
So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged." Isa 6:5-7
When I read this vision Isaiah experienced I image a man who because our language is so inadequate in describing our God experience, wrote from inspiration in only a way the Hebrew language could explain that encounter. Yes, I believe Isaiah’s experience was real but more importantly I believe he could only use the words he best knew to explain it. Because of our limited vocabulary in trying to define God, I believe that is what the whole of the Scripture text is trying to do in painting this portrait of Christ in the imagery of covenant language. Helping us to better encounter God through the experience of a picture language that paints a picture of promise and hope through the person of Jesus Christ.
Genesis through Revelation is simply a blueprint of God’s unveiled "Christ". For example, when I read the creation account found in Genesis I begin to see the unveiling of this Jesus that we experience in our daily search of God. The promises of God have oftentimes been described in the language of covenant. Do I need the Scripture to define to me that some external being of enormous power and intellect designed all that we see and experience, of course not. The Scripture tells us that even a fool has to admit there is a God thus by doing so, affirming His creation as well. That history lesson of God as the creator of all things was written on our hearts the day we were born.
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." Psa 14:1
With that in mind, is it necessary for us to read every account in Scripture as though it is a literal rendering of history or historical markers that define the age of the earth or as in the case of the first two chapters of Genesis or could we be looking at something even more beautiful because it deals with the beginning of what one day who would be born in Bethlehem? Could it simply be that Genesis is the beginning of that testimony Jesus spoke of concerning himself? I believe Jesus’ words found in John 5:39 speaks directly to this evidence that Genesis is covenant language concerning a divine contract that would one day unveil a cross. And that cross would consummate that eternal promise as a witness for all mankind to behold in its sacrifice through which eternal life could be achieved.
"In the Beginning" of Genesis , we are taken on a journey that leads to a garden where the Bible begins to unravel a pattern of relationship God once shared with mankind. In the mist of that garden is a tree. Actually two tree’s of importance but only one that represented Christ, the tree of life. That same Christ found in Genesis 3:15. We find that same special tree at the end of Revelation. Every inspired, breathed word that fills those pages of Scripture in between testify of the one called the Nazarene. This same Nazarene that declares " I Am the Alpha and the Omega" the beginning and the last". In declaring these words Jesus affirms his given authority that began in the Genesis account and is affirmed on every page of Scripture until his grace is extended to all mankind at the end of Revelation.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev 22:13
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Rev 22:21
With this blueprint of Scripture in mind it isn’t to far-fetched to image that the language beginning in Genesis chapters one and two is no different than the language of Revelation. The writer of Revelation declares it to be the Revelation of Jesus Christ that is about to unfold in its apocalyptic language. A language describing the of the end of an age that established Jesus authority in all its covenant language from the very beginning of Genesis.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; Rev 1:1 (a)
Covenant creation is nothing less than covenant Revelation. As the Word or Jesus as John Gospel depicts him says, "let those who have ears" understand that God’s unveiling of His "Christ" didn’t end in Revelation, it was only the beginning of a new understanding of how we experience God today.
James Robert Kessler
Because of Him Art Ministry 2008
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