1. The War of the Ages
a. In Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago, a great, cosmic, and mostly unseen battle was raging for the “town of Mansoul”
b. In ways that we cannot fully grasp at this point in our existence, this cosmic battle is being waged before an audience of the heavenly host—good and bad.
Eph 3:8-11 “…8To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in£ God who created all things, 10so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places….”
c. God the Father had a plan—and Satan did not know nor understand God’s plan—(1 Cor 2:6-8) "However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
d. Our Lord Jesus Christ had a Mission—To Crush the Serpent’s Head and Save Mansoul
e. Satan’s plan—confusion, as shown by his wavering back and forth, reacting to God’s bold moves.
(1) Satan took the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 very seriously, and he continually tried to so contaminate the seed of the women that he knew, so that no holy Seed could come from Eve’s daughters
(2) As God lavished attention and blessing upon Abraham, Satan did his level best to oppose God, planting Hagar in Abraham’s tents.
(3) Throughout the history of Israel, Satan made one attempt after another to destroy the Seed, but God always preserved a remnant.
(4) He tried to kill the Lord Jesus in the womb, by causing Mary to have to travel late in her pregnancy, so as to meet the requirement of the Roman Census.
(5) Satan tried to kill the Seed of the Woman through Herod, but God made a way of escape.
(6) In Mat 4, a very shocked prince of darkness is confronting the Messiah by tempting our Lord with the three primary lusts of mankind—the lust of the flesh (the fruit), the lust of the eyes (the false beauty of the kingdoms of the earth) and the price of life—to be seen and celebrated for Who He Is.
(7) In Matthew 16, Satan, speaking through Peter, tried to convince Christ to avoid the Cross, even though 1 Cor 2 plainly tells us that Satan did not understand what was happening.—(Mat 16:21-23) "From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" 23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.""
(8) Several times, Satan made attempts on the life of Christ—but “the hour” had not come yet—
(a) (John 7:44-46) "Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?" 46 The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!""
(b) (John 7:30) "Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come."
(c) (John 8:20) "These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come."
(d) (Luke 4:28-30) "So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way."
(e) (John 8:59) "Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."
(9) Then, from the arrest of Jesus on, the “rulers of the Earth,” Satan’s demonic minions, along with their human counterparts, pursued a policy of killing Jesus—which is exactly what God wanted them to do! Acts 4:23-28
f. If they had known what they were doing, the demonic forces would never have pursued this course. (1 Cor 2:7-8) "…7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
(1) Principle #1—God is in control of the universe
(2) Principle #2—God can take the evil intents of others and turn them to good—Gen 50:20
(3) Principle #3—Nothing is difficult for God—(Gen 18:13-14) "And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' 14 "Is anything too hard for the LORD?...”
(4) But God Himself had set the rules in His Law
(a) The Seed of the Woman, the Redeemer had to be kin
(b) The Redeemer of the Earth therefore had to be a man.
(c) The Seed of the Woman, the Perfect and only true sacrifice, had to be sinless and perfect.
(d) The Seed of the Woman, The Redeemer, must also be able to atone for the sins of a numberless (humanly speaking) multitude, so He must be more than a man.
(e) The Lord arranged all of these through the Virgin Birth
(5) There remained a couple of questions:
(a) How did God save the OT Saints and still maintain His Righteousness?
(b) How can He save the New Testament Saints (us) and still maintain His personal Righteousness?
2. Old Testament Salvation
a. Salvation is Salvation—The real answer to how Old Testament believers were saved is this: "God's people in the Old Testament were saved the same way that people are saved in New Testament times, that is, by grace, through faith in the sacrifice of Christ."
b. Now, someone will say, "The Old Testament believers were saved by faith in Christ? Brother Charley, how could they have faith in Christ? He was not fully revealed until He came in the flesh! How could the people in Old Testament times know anything about Christ?"
c. Example #1 of The Revelation of Christ in the Old Testament—Heb 11:24-26 “…By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt…”
d. Example #2 of The Revelation of Christ in the Old Testament Job’s Vision of the Eternal Christ—Job 19:25-27 “…For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
(1) Most scholars believed that Job lived in the times of Abraham—several hundred years before Moses.
(2) How could Job know about the Redeemer—How could Job know that the Redeemer would be God Incarnate—God the Son? There are some liberal theologians around today who read the Bible from cover to cover and can’t figure out that Jesus is God! Job had no Bible!
(3) The answer has to be, because there is no other answer, that God revealed to Job sufficient information for Job to have faith in what God was going to do. Job did not know the all details, though he knew a lot more than others, but Job believed in God's promise of redemption, because God had apparently revealed it to him in some way.
(4) Salvation doesn't just happen. This is really much the same way that it is even now, in New Testament times. God reveals the Truth about His Son to people so they can decide to trust in Christ Jesus: Mat 16:15-17, Mat 11:25-27
e. The answer line in the question of salvation for all times is this: The only way of salvation was always salvation by Grace through Faith.
(1) The Law was a parenthesis in the history of God's dealings with the human race. Grace, which was the only way of eternal salvation even in times of Law, was the heart of the covenant with Abraham, which came 400 years before the law!
(2) Gal 3:17 “…And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise…”
(3) Old Testament believers were justified by faith, just like New Testament believers.
(4) The main difference being that we look back to something God has done (the sacrifice of Christ on the cross), and they looked ahead to God's promise of redemption (which was fulfilled in the Cross).
(5) But How can the Cross (viewed as future to the OT saints) have taken care of their sins? Because God is outside of time, and He is not restricted to time—However, far more important than even that concept is this—what God has promised will come to pass.
3. God was just and righteous in forgiving the Old Testament Saints—“… This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ..”
a. To demonstrate His justice, God made the sacrifice of His Son public, for all to see.
b. This—What is “this?”
(1) The entire plan of God laid out in Rom 3:19-25
(2) “This” is the righteousness of God apart from the Law, which the prophets had given witness to.
(3) “This” Righteousness is gained through faith in Christ.
(4) “This” is God’s whole plan of salvation as a gift by Grace through faith in Jesus
(5) “This” is the blood sacrifice, the propitiation, the sacrifice that turns wrath aside, which is received by faith.
c. “…To show God’s righteousness…”
(1) God is Holy
(2) God never condones sin—sin is an abomination to God
(3) In order to be true to Himself, God does not forgive capriciously—sin must be dealt with. Either the sinner must die or a substitute must die.
(4) In forgiving us, God has taken care of sin, it has been dealt with, all debts have been paid.
(5) Even in that, God was gracious, He did not have to do it that way.
(6) And, on the Cross, God is declaring to the world that He is dealing with sin, that He is righteous and Just—Exo 34:6-7
d. “…Sins that are past…” The sins of the OT saints were forgiven based on what God was going to do—looking forward to the Cross
(1) God forgave Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Issac, etc.
(2) Heb 11:13 “…These all died in faith…”.
(3) God’s forgiveness has been justified in the Cross
(4) But God did not have to forgive, He forgave because of His forbearance, His merciful patience, as He Himself slowly unfolded the plan of Salvation.
4. God is Just to forgive You and I—“… 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus…”
a. What masterful language—To show, set forth, make a billboard of the fact, of God’s righteousness—remember, “angels are watching” Eph 3:10
b. “…At this time…” in the day we are in—
(1) Gal 4:4-5
(2) The Hour has come
c. His righteousness—God is righteous to forgive, God is just in His own dealings
d. Just and Justifier!!
(1) God is right, in every way—God is Just!
(2) God makes us right, in every way—He is the Justifier!
e. Of him which believeth in Jesus …
(1) The “Sin Question” was settled at the Cross, but only for those who believe.
(2) Again, the Cross does not take effect in anyone’s life until they believe.
5. Applications—
a. For the believer—your sins are paid for! You are free, free, free!
b. For the unbeliever—a great debt hangs over your head, you owe a debt you cannot possibly pay.
c. For the convicted sinner—the way of the cross leads home!
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