The Only One to Appear on Earth Before His Birth | Max Lucado | The Only One | Oak Hills Church

50:01 Thank you, class. This is lesson number four in a 12-week series entitled The Only One. We're exploring the uniqueness of Christ, pursuing answers to the question, what can be said about Christ that can be said about no other person who ever walked on our planet? But we've already pointed out that his story is your story and that the entire Bible exists to reveal Christ. We've pointed out that Christ is the only one to finish his work before his work began. He's the only one to create a universe, and today the only one to appear on earth before his birth. Interested?

50:56 Let's get to work. Gracious Lord, thank you for this opportunity. As we open your word, would you open our hearts? Surprise us, Father, please, with your teaching. You be the teacher today because our teacher needs grace and forgiveness because his sins are many. Help us to see Jesus, just Jesus. Through Christ we pray. and all God's people said.

51:27 My father was 40 years old when I was born. I never got a straight answer from my parents regarding the planned or unplanned question. They would always kind of duck the issue when I brought it up. I do believe that I was an 8.7 pound oops. For my adult life, when my parents were alive, I would always sign off on any email or correspondence with your favorite surprise.

52:05 My older sisters were 13 and 15 when I was born, and they always contended that I got the better end of the deal because since my dad was 40 when I was born, he was more mellow, lenient, patient. He certainly had more vacation time. I loved having a 40-year-old dad because of the particular feature that I would like to call the I was there feature. He was there. He was born in 1914.

52:50 So imagine by the time I came along in 1955, he had already experienced four of the most turbulent decades in the history of our country. He was a teenage hobo during the Depression, hopping trains, looking for work.

53:16 During World War II, he personally experienced the headlines of Hitler's invasion, D-Day V-E-Day he lost friends in the war he marched in the victory parade he was there so imagine how useful this was for me when as a middle schooler I started studying American history and I would make a comment to dad you know dad we're studying the Great Depression, the fall of 1929. Oh, I was there. Let me tell you about it. Or, Dad, I'm writing a paper on Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor. Boy, I remember that, son.

54:08 Let me tell you what I recall. Or, Dad, what was the Korean War all about? Well, sit down. We'll talk about it. It's one thing to read about history. It's something else entirely to live it. I was there, my dad would and could say. I was there, our Savior would and could say. Jesus made it clear that the entire Bible is his story.

54:44 He appears through every page of Scripture. Yes, he was physically present in the first century, but he was actually and actively present in all centuries. And the earliest images of Jesus are not found in the nativity story in Bethlehem, but in the era of patriarchs and prophets in the first covenant, the Old Testament. Jesus made this point very clear when he was comforting the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. You might recall this passage. We used it when we opened this series a few weeks ago. The two disciples were on the road to Emmaus. This is after the crucifixion of Christ. It's actually on what we call the first Sunday of Easter, or the first Easter Sunday.

55:44 They thought Jesus was dead. Their hearts were broken. Their faces were crestfallen. So Jesus came and walked with them, not telling them yet who he was, and they did not recognize him. So when they were discouraged, then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures. Thanks for reading those words out loud. This includes Genesis through Malachi. It's as if Jesus was opening the Old Testament saying, oh, I was there. That was me. There in the burning bush, there with Abram, there next to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the burning and fiery furnace.

56:38 Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the scriptures, read it with me, the things concerning himself. Oh, that was me. No, that was me. That was me. Jesus positions himself as the central character in Scripture. As Augustine would later write, in the Old Testament, the new is concealed. In the new, the old is revealed. The whole Bible is the story of Jesus. The Old Testament is Act 1. The New Testament is Act 2. but both comprise the same drama and central character, Jesus Christ. When Jesus mentioned this, it really ticked off the religious leaders of his day. They did not take kindly to this simple carpenter's assertion that he is the central character of Scripture.

57:33 But he told them this often. Here's an example. He said to them, you search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. but the scriptures point to me. Now, at the risk of stating the obvious, let me state the obvious. When Jesus says the scriptures, he's not talking about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which had yet to be written. He's talking about Genesis, Isaiah, Proverbs, Psalms, Malachi, every page of the Old Testament. So, if we seek an accurate view of Christ, if we want to understand how he is unique, how he is different to any person who has ever lived, we need to see how he appeared on earth before his birth. We need to consider the appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ.

58:34 I have two points, and then I'll be done. First, he was present figuratively, symbolically. He was present figuratively. The Old Testament is chock full of shadows and signs and events, all that point toward the person of Christ. Actions in the Old Testament were, according to a writer of the New Testament, a sketch and a shadow, a pattern and a foreshadowing, A copy and a shadow, a picture of the true things made in heaven. That's Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 5. Regardless of the translation that you use, the point is Jesus was signaling his work in advance. He forecasted his work.

59:27 You want to witness the work of Christ? Then revisit some of the early pages of the Bible. and see if you don't see glimpses of him at work. Find him, for example, in the first chapter of the first book. The Trinity said, let us make man in our image, us, our, an indication that Jesus in the Trinity, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, was involved in the decision to create mankind. Look at him in the first prophecy. To God, from God, excuse me, God declared to Satan, he, speaking of Jesus, shall fatally bruise your head and you shall only bruise his heel. This is a prophecy in the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 3, but already we get an indication, a signal that someday Satan will come after Christ, but the best he can do is bruise his heal, while Jesus will fatally bruise Satan's head of victory on the cross. Jesus appears.

1:00:33 He appears in the very first sacrifice, still in the book of Genesis. And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. Recall that prior to the fall, they were naked and unashamed, but after the fall, shame came, and they needed clothing, and so God provided a sacrifice. The first shedding of blood on planet earth was the killing of an animal to create skins for Adam and Eve to cover. Christ covers us in our sin by the shedding of blood. We see an image, a foretaste, a hint, a sampling of what Christ would do. Another example, Jesus in the story of Noah and the ark. The Lord closed the door of the ark behind them. Eight souls were saved. Noah built the ark, but someone had to close the door, and God did to keep them safe. Did you know that if you're in Christ, you have been placed in an ark, in a safe place, and though life may bring it storms and floods, you are protected because Christ has closed the door. Jesus said, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

1:01:57 No one will snatch them out of my hand. Why? Because he has closed the door. over and over we see these what can we call them church? hints appetizers clues advance notices Jesus was there he was there he was he was giving us a foretaste of what he was going to do he was in the Passover when the blood of the slain lamb protected the Hebrews from the death angel. The instruction was, paint the blood of the lamb over your doorpost and you'll be safe. Well, what does Christ say to us? Place your trust in the blood of heaven's lamb and you'll be saved.

1:02:52 Repeatedly these patterns appear, the pictures are seen. Moses strikes a rock in the wilderness and water flows out. Do you know what the apostle Paul said? He said that rock was Christ. What did he mean? Well, he's saying that that was a sampling of what Christ was going to do. Christ, our rock, struck by evildoers on the cross and the water, living water, came forth. Find the story of Jesus in Jonah. Three days in the belly of the whale, so Jesus was three days in the belly of the earth. find him in the story of the bronze snake in the wilderness people poisoned by the snake would survive only if they looked up upon a person on a pole and Jesus remembering that story said so the son of man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life you see a crimson colored thread stitches the pages of your Bible together he appears over and over I wonder if this is what the Hebrew writer was thinking when he wrote in the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways many times and in various ways maybe you've seen the way a playwright will include elements of a drama early in the scenes or early in the story that really you think, that doesn't make sense.

1:04:33 But then at the end of the drama, you look back and you say, oh, now I see what he was doing. Well, that's what God did. He worked into the drama of salvation, moments that make sense later in the story. So Jesus was present figuratively throughout the Bible. And if that's not enough, he was also present physically. Did you know that? Jesus was present physically long before he was in the womb of Mary or in the carpenter shop in Nazareth. Now there's a $2 theological term for this. It's called theophany. Theophany. Theo from theos, God. Phony from a Greek word that means appear. God appearing.

1:05:27 theophany. A theophany is different than the incarnation. The incarnation is when God became flesh, lived on the earth, walked on the earth, died on the earth, and rose from the dead while buried in the earth. That's incarnation. Theophanies are mysterious, somewhat brief appearances of God on earth, unsolicited, unexpected, surprising, and always with a blessing. These theophanies announce one truth. What my dad said, I was there. Jesus could say, I was there. Consider one of the most frequent forms of theophanies in the Old Testament, The angel of Jehovah.

1:06:24 The angel of Jehovah. Now in about three paragraphs, I'm going to tell you why we believe the angel of Jehovah is Jesus Christ. But before I do that, let me just give you some samplings of appearances of the angel of Jehovah. The angel of Jehovah appeared to a woman whose name was Hagar. Hagar was rejected by Abraham. She was cast out. She was alone. She had no resource, no comfort. The initial appearance of the angel of Jehovah in Scripture is to Hagar. So significant how this reveals the heart of Christ that he appeared to a female who had nothing and also was an outcast in society and really not a part of the Abrahamic covenant. The angel of the Lord appeared to her.

1:07:19 The angel of the Lord stopped the hand of Abraham when he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar and provided a substitute. Remember, a ram was in the thicket, just as God provides a substitute for us. The angel of the Lord, here's a practical one, went before the servant of Abraham when Isaac needed a wife. he provided and he guided sounds like something Jesus would do for us did you know the angel of the Lord was the one who appeared to Moses in the burning bush the angel of the Lord indwelt the fire by night and the cloud by day that guided the children of Israel through the wilderness These are samplings of the appearance of the angel of the Lord.

1:08:16 Now, why do we think the angel of the Lord was actually Jesus Christ? Simple. The angel of the Lord did things that Jesus does. The angel of the Lord, or the angel of Jehovah, did what only Jesus does. More than once, the angel of the Lord is equated with Jehovah. The angel of the Lord forgave or pardoned transgressions. Only God can forgive sins. The angel of the Lord said, I'll make covenants with my people. God is the covenant maker, and the angel of the Lord made covenants with people. The angel of the Lord received worship and was recognized as God. Nowhere in the Bible do angels receive worship. They refuse worship. but God invites worship.

1:09:10 Our list of theophanies could grow. I wonder if Jesus was that mysterious stranger or angel who appeared to Jacob and wrestled with Jacob in the mud of Jabbok. You've read that story. He changed Jacob's name. He gave Jacob a limp. He changes our name. and sometimes he leaves us to walk with our struggles. And Jacob, after the wrestling match, was convinced that he had seen God face to face. Could it be that Jacob wrestled with Jesus in the mud of Jabbok? Could it be that Jesus got in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Oh, if you don't know this story, I hope you'll get acquainted with it.

1:10:03 The king of Babylon was furious because the three friends of Daniel refused to worship the false god that he had created. Into the furnace they were tossed. They should have sizzled like steaks on a grill. But when the king investigated the furnace, he found out that not only were they alive, they were not alone. He said, I see four men walking around. Wait, there was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But there's four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods.

1:10:45 Was that Jesus? Well, he sure is known to get into the middle of stuff with people. He got into the middle of a stormy Sea of Galilee. He got into the middle of a hungry crowd on the hillside. It seems like Jesus got into the middle of the fire with the trio. And he also came to Joshua near Jericho. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted his eyes and looked. And behold, a man stood opposite him. In the next passage, this man will introduce himself as a commander of the army of the Lord. a real man who had a real voice who was holding a sword this wasn't a ghost it wasn't an apparition was this a theophany of Jesus makes sense to me the scripture says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday in the old covenant in today and forever Christ was always getting into the middle of stuff.

1:11:56 So a good question to close with might be this. Why? Why? Why was Jesus in the middle of so many stories even before his own birth? Why did he appear on earth before his birth? I have a sense for an answer to that question. I did something similar. When my oldest daughter went to her first day of elementary school. You ever want to see grown people cry?

1:12:37 Position yourself somewhere near an elementary school on the first day of first grade. Moms and dads wilt. Now by the second and third child, they celebrate. but the first day of first grade for the firstborn but you saw Jenna as a part of our worship team today and I still recall the day that I took her to her first day of first grade we got out of the car and I held her hand please note I was holding her much tighter than she was holding me and we went to the playground area because that's where all the students and parents were supposed to gather. And we stood there. And then we went to the primary entrance of the school. I was still holding her hand. And that's where her teacher met me and said, now we've got her, Mr. Locato. She had tears. I had tears, but I let go for just a few moments. Because then when the teacher disappeared around the corner and the Students went in the class.

1:13:48 I snuck in the hallway. Friends, this was decades ago. We don't do this anymore. But it was different in those days. And I crept down the hallway and I found her class. And I found that door. And that door had a window in it. And I pressed my nose right up against the glass. And I spotted the back of her pigtailed head.

1:14:12 And her teacher spotted me. and she walked over and opened the door and this time much more firmly said we've got her Mr. Locato so I left until recess and then I pulled my car up close to the school playground so I could spot her I didn't get out of the car but I could watch her and then I let her go until lunchtime. And then I went into the cafeteria and I pretended to be talking with grownups when really all I wanted to do was make sure she was fine and then I left until music class. Music also had a door, also had a window and I knew Jenna loves music and so I just stood there and, now why would I do that?

1:15:09 why well she belongs to me why would Jesus do this why would these theophanies take place why would these images these figures why would he signal his work long before he did his work why because we belong to him you belong to him Thank you. And since he came then, can we not believe that he comes still? some of you are facing some major challenges in life can I ask you to envision that challenge difficult conversation doctor's visit deadline what is something in your future that is giving you anxiety today what is it an exam a decision what is it that's in your future that's causing you to lose sleep lose peace right now can I say not only will Jesus be there, I would say he's already there.

1:16:35 He's already in your Wednesday. He's already in your October. He's already in your 2026. He's as much present on your final day of life than he is right now. I am with you always, he said, even to the end of the age. He is with you. he is the sacrifice in the Garden of Eden. He is the blood over the doorway as the Israelites were being protected. He is the one who closed the door for Noah and protected them. He's the commander who gave courage to Joshua near Jericho. He is the fourth in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he's in the fire with you today.

1:17:35 Can that be said about any other person in all of human history? No. Only him. Because he is the only one. Amen. Gracious Lord, thank you for this astounding story. open our eyes and our minds to comprehend more of how great you are. Through Christ we pray. Amen. We become a beneficiary. Thank you, Lord. We become a beneficiary of the work of Christ when we say yes to him. And he puts us under his covering and includes us in his protection. But if you've never said yes to Christ, dear friend, you're on your own.

1:18:28 You're on your own. Don't leave the room today if you've not said yes to Christ. That's why we conclude every service, and we'll conclude this one, with a prayer of salvation. And if you're saying yes to Christ today for the first time, we want to give you a round of applause. We'll ask you to stand up and applaud this decision that you've made. Repeat this prayer as I'll lead us in this prayer. Jesus, I'm not perfect, for I have sinned. But I believe in you. Save me. Change me. Forgive me. I give you my life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. As we raise the lights, I want to see who's saying yes to Christ for the very first time or coming back after a long time.

1:19:22 Would you mind standing up so we can recognize your decision? Who's saying yes to Christ?