Title: The History of Christ Before the Incarnation
Contents
8 You have not seen Jesus, but you love him. Even though you do not see him now, you believe and rejoice with an indescribable glorious joy. 9 The result of your faith is the salvation of your soul. and Boo! 11 They searched carefully, 11 and searched for what time and what time they indicated that the Spirit of Christ in them was to testify in advance of His sufferings and of His future glory. 12 And it was revealed by revelation that this was not for Himself, but for you. Those who preach the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven have now been reported to you, which the angels want to examine.
1. Words that begin
People are very moved when they hear the song of a great singer, but they are not interested in how much blood and tears the singer put in to sing such a moving song. So we are losing a much deeper emotion and gratitude.
Most church members limit the grace of salvation to the history of Jesus Christ after the incarnation. So, some are curious about the issue of salvation before Jesus came, or they say that they are saved by the law or the works of conscience, or they falsely claim that there is salvation in all religions.
However, the atoning grace of the incarnate Jesus Christ is not a sudden event, but a decisive event of the eternal act of salvation. Therefore, the important thing for saving faith is not to see and miss Jesus Christ, but to gain spiritual understanding through the Holy Spirit. At the end of 1 Corinthians 12:3, it is said, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”
2. The joy of the saints who love and believe in the Lord whom they have not seen
Regarding the relationship between the saints and Jesus, the Apostle Peter said, "You have not seen him, but you love him. Although you do not see him now, you believe and rejoice with indescribable and glorious joy."
Unlike Peter, who lived with Jesus while working on the earth, the saints at that time had never seen Jesus, but they loved him. They had never seen Jesus as the Word became flesh and dwelt among people, showing the glory as the Son of God, full of grace and truth, and performing missionary work. I was rejoicing with joy.
“Pleasure” here is qa (χαρ?), which means not worldly joy or human emotions, but spiritual joy, that is, joy that comes from the assurance of salvation and is based on the knowledge that we are living under the grace of God. is. In other words, it is the joy that comes from the recognition that God has received and is still receiving the love of salvation, and it is the joy that comes from practicing love. This joy is the joy that is possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and it is the joy we enjoy in Jesus Christ. The more this spiritual joy is filled, the easier it will be to overcome persecution, tribulation, and all kinds of suffering.
A very gracious story is found in Acts 15:12 and below.
The apostles were spreading Jesus Christ by performing wonderful wonders and miracles. The people believed and praised the apostles, but the Jewish religious leaders did not overcome their jealousy and captured the apostles and put them in prison. But that night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison door and commanded that all the words of life be preached to the people.
When they were furious and tried to destroy the apostles, God saved the apostles' lives through Gamaliel, a teacher who was respected by all people. The apostles, who were scourged because of Gamaliel and were severely ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus, left before the council, rejoicing that they were considered worthy of reproach for the name of Jesus.
Everyone, I hope you believe that this joy that comes from the heart is spiritual joy and spiritual joy, even though you have been unfairly beaten and insulted while preaching the name of the Lord Jesus.
Great joys swallow up little troubles. The spiritual joy that can only be enjoyed by spiritual people who have the Holy Spirit overwhelms any kind of suffering. What is the secret to believing in and loving Jesus Christ, whom you have never seen, and enjoying spiritual joy even in tribulation? In a word, it is because we received the salvation of our souls in the end of faith. That is, because we are under the grace of justification and sanctification.
3. The History of Christ Before the Incarnation
We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, live a sanctified life according to the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and will be resurrected as a spiritual body in the future. it has come The prophets studied and diligently studied the grace of Christ, who would come according to God's providence of eternal salvation. They testified in advance of the sufferings that the Spirit of Christ who indwelled in them would suffer and the glory of the resurrection and ascension to come. However, I did not know when and under what circumstances the events such as the cross, resurrection, and ascension would take place, so I have been thinking about it.
But the surprising thing is that the events of Christ proclaimed by the prophets of the Old Testament were proclaimed by the witness of the Spirit of Christ who indwelled them. In other words, Jesus Christ did not only work after He became incarnated into this world, but also worked through the prophets before that. In other words, he waited for the day when he would become incarnate while reminding people of the Old Testament that they are saved through faith in God who promised to save those who believe in Christ.
In this way, the prophets of the Old Testament proclaimed the promise of God's Messiah according to the Spirit of Christ. As a result, it was revealed by revelation that the prophets of the Old Testament served not themselves, but the saints who believed in the Christ who had come. Regarding the prophecies of the Old Testament, Henry (M. Henry) said, “Many prophecies had various meanings. Their first intention was to deal with some nearby person or event, but their ultimate intention was to portray the suffering person or the kingdom of Christ.”
No, the prophets of the Old Testament proclaimed words for their contemporaries. However, the word of God through them has not only historical meaning limited to the circumstances at that time, but also has eternal spiritual meaning. And its ultimate meaning is to focus on Christ.
This amazing news of salvation was told by those who preach the gospel through the Holy Spirit who came after the Lord ascended into heaven, and even the angels want to look into it. In a nutshell, the gospel is the news that we are saved only by believing in the Christ who will come incarnate according to God's promise, and it is the news that we are saved only by believing in Christ who came according to God's promise.
Herein lies the unity of the Old Testament and the New Testament. In other words, the Old Testament is the record of the coming Christ, and the New Testament is the record of the Christ who came as promised. And the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, indwelled and worked in all the authors of the New Testament and Old Testament.
4. Conclusion
Many church members are grateful for the salvation work of the incarnate Christ. However, when we encounter the problem of salvation before Jesus came into this world, our faith in the one and only Christ Jesus may be shaken, or we may fall into the anti-evangelical idea of salvation through human works, that is, works of the law or conscience.
However, we must keep in mind the work of Christ according to God's eternal providence of love until we receive the grace of salvation. Christ, who has existed since eternity, did not consider equality with God to be robbery, but became incarnate and even died on the cross in order to save you, me, and all of us.
We earnestly pray that all of us who have been saved will be filled with the spiritual joy that overcomes all suffering.
(Pungseong Methodist Church. Books: Complete Commentary on New Testament Volume 27/ Commentary on difficult scriptures/ Prayer of Prosperity/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Understanding Paul’s Humanity/ Sermonbook 18. T. 426-3051)