Old Testament Clues To Christ

I think two years ago, I did a project on how we could find Jesus in the Old Testament. It was a very edifying and mind-stretching experience to be studying the Word of God. I want to share it with you so you could see Christ in the Old Testament. We could see the Old Testament pointing to the Gospel, the person and work of Jesus Christ. Give thanks to God because we worship a God who defeated Satan, sin, and death through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Passage	Description or Outline
Genesis 3:15	There will be hostile between Satan and the woman, and his offspring and her offspring. Offspring, seed, does not come from her seed, but God prophecy that He will miraculously put a seed in the woman, Mary, to give a virgin birth to a Son, who is Jesus. Jesus shall bruise Satan’s head, and Satan shall bruise his heel. Ultimately, Jesus will have the overall victory.
Genesis 12:3	Through offspring of Abraham, all families of the earth SHALL be blessed. This offspring is the coming the Messiah who will come to take away the sins of the world and bringing people back in fellowship with Him.
Genesis 49:10	Scepter symbolizes royal authority. Thus, the One who holds the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff (lawgiver) from between his feet. This tribute (Shiloh – Messianic title), “until he comes to whom it belongs” according to the footnote, means that the One that has all royal authority comes because He is the lawgiver. And to Him (Jesus) shall be the obedience of the peoples. The gospel is not only that Jesus died for our sins, but He also obeyed every commandment in our place while we broke every commandment out of disobedience to Him.
Deuteronomy 18:15	Moses is FORTH-telling that God will raise up a prophet. Jesus is the greater prophet that is yet to come. In reference to Hebrews 3:1-6, Jesus is greater than Moses because “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (v.3).
Joshua 5:13-15	Jesus is the commander of the army of the Lord. A similar event happened with Moses at the burning bush. God told Moses to take off his sandal for he is standing on the holy place. Likewise, the commander, Jesus, told Joshua to do the same thing.
2 Samuel 7:16	God was making an unconditional covenant with David spoken through the prophet Nathan. As a Great King, Jesus’ house, kingdom and throne will be established forever. Jesus is making the new heavens and the new earth, and He all authority of the heavens and earth belongs to Him. He will rule as the Great King and Saviour.
Psalm 22	This 1st part of the chapter reminds me of Jesus when He was on the cross, being crucified. While Jesus was on the cross, He echoes verse 1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In verse 6-8, it describes the humiliation and sorrow that David went through, which also describes Jesus’ mockery and insult from the crowd and soldiers. When Jesus was the cross, soldier mocked Him that if He was God, then He could save Himself. On the cross, Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced (v.16). However, the 2nd part of the chapter reminds me of the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. He didn’t hide his face from anybody. He did not despise the people, but invites them to turn to the Lord and praise Him in reverence (v.27-28).
Isaiah 7:14	“Therefore, the Lord (Jesus) Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin SHALL conceive and bear a son (Jesus), and shall call His name Immanuel” (God is with us).
Isaiah 9:6-7	Isaiah prophecies, “For to us a child (Jesus) is born, to us a son (Jesus) is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace...”I see that Jesus will on David’s throne and rule over His kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
Isaiah 11:1-2	Isaiah gives us a picture of the branch to describe the descendent. Jesse, David’s father, will have a branch coming forth from him. This branch (Jesus) from his (Jesse) roots shall bear fruit. Holy Spirit will rest upon Him (Jesus). Holy Spirit will give Him wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and knowledge and fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 53:1-12	Isaiah describes the very detail of the suffering of Christ. Jesus was despised and rejected by men. Jesus was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Jesus has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. Jesus was crushed for our iniquities. It was God’s, the Father, will to lay His wrath on Jesus the iniquity of us all. Jesus was oppressed, and Jesus was afflicted, yet he didn’t open his mouth. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was led to the slaughter. The will of the Lord shall prosper in Jesus’ hand. Jesus, out of the anguish if His soul, shall see and be satisfied. Jesus poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Jeremiah 23:1-8	Jesus being the righteous Branch whom God will raise up for David. Jesus shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In Jesus’ days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. Jesus will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
Ezekiel 21:24-27	During this time, God said that Jerusalem will be overthrown. “Ruin” is said three times to describe the intensive nature of the destruction that will come. Prince of Israel, probably Zedekiah, will come to an end as the Babylonian overtakes Jerusalem. Jesus shall come who is the one to whom judgement belongs, and God will give it to Him. Other commentator says that “The priestly and kingly offices would not return until the coming of Him whose right it is – the Messiah.”
Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45	The stone described in the passage is Jesus. He shall break in pieces of all these kingdoms (the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold) and bring them to an end. The stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth, and this stone shall stand forever.
Daniel 7:13-14	Daniel sees a vision of the One that looked like a son of man. Jesus Himself used the name, “Son of Man”, to emphasize His humanity as the incarnate Son of God. Jesus was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. All peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. Jesus’ dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. His kingdom shall not be destroyed.
Micah 5:2	Bethlehem shall come forth the One, Jesus, who is to be ruler in Israel. He is coming forth from of old, Ancient of Days.
Habakkuk 2:14	Like the waters will cover ocean, so will the knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth. Jesus will come as the glory of the Lord in full manifestation of His divine being on earth.
Zechariah 9:9-10	Jesus is the coming King of Zion. Jesus is righteous and has salvation. As foretold, Jesus will be humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus shall speak peace to the nations. And He will reign from sea to sea like the River flowing to the end of the earth.

At The End Of The Day

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Psalm 73:25-26 ESV)

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
(Psalm 16:2 ESV)

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
(Psalm 16:11 ESV)

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14 ESV)

He Must Increase, but Lin Must Decrease

When I was in high school, I started picking up basketball and played three years of intramural basketball. I wasn't very good at it, but practicing with my friends paid off a bit. I enjoyed shooting hoops and I practiced my 3-points shot a lot. When it comes to actually playing in a real game, my confidence decreases (it happened in high school). Nonetheless, I do miss playing basketball. When I try playing again, the result of it would lead me to having blisters on my foot. The last time I played basketball was during my missions trip. It brought back a lot of memories, but the skills that I had were pretty much gone.

For the past 12 days, the rising of the NBA point-guard player, Jeremy Lin, leads the New York Knicks to 7 straight victory. Sports center and media around the world are noticing this young talented player. It's an uproar because a lot of people are talking about him, even my mom. It's the internet viral! He's been called "Lin-Sanity". After watching many of his games, I get excited watching the NBA again because I get to see my brother and soldier in Christ fighting hard for the glory of God as an NBA player. I'm very happy for Jeremy in what he's doing.

However, let's not forget why he's doing this. After post-games and interviews, he would praise Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is for the glory of God. Also, remember that he is proclaiming the name of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the world! Just like the time when John the Baptist although he wasn't an NBA player, but he was a prophet, a messenger, whom a lot of people knew and looked up to. He baptized a lot of people and proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The priests and the Levites asked if he was the Christ, but he confessed that he was not. He exalts Jesus Christ in John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease."  John the Baptist was a messenger who was preparing the way of the Lord.

Jeremy Lin has been an encouragement and inspiration to a lot of people in the world. I believe that Lin strives to make Jesus known to the media and sports network. He's a team player and not a selfish player. He's very bold despite a lot oppositions are coming along his way, but may we, as Christians, continue to pray for him that he would continue his spiritual warfare against the evil one by the power of the Holy Spirit, that he would humble himself before God and fight against the perils of pride, and that God would use him mightily for His kingdom and His glory.

Amen!

Animation (Maya Software)

I want to make a quick update of what I'm doing lately.

I've accomplished one of my projects for filming class. I want to upload it, but I need permissions from the subjects in the video.

I've been doing a lot of animation today because I have an individual assignment due tomorrow. If you're curious, then check out this website (my online portfolio) to see what I've been working on: http://sdtwforce.wordpress.com/

Hope to make more entries on my relationship with God.