Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday,
January 16, 2019
We are now looking at the Chronology of our Lord as He fulfilled the plan of God for His life.
- We began with a study of the period of time before the creation of the world and before the creation of Angels; Pro 8.
- The place of the angels and the division between the Elect and the Fallen angels after they fell as well as the members of the human race who are divided into believers and unbelievers.
- Many of the Jews followed our Lord as He presented the doctrinal views that our Lord took over in the Old Testament especially under the Mosaic Law.
- We are now ready for a study on what we call a Theophany usually identified as "The Angel of the Lord" or "The Angel of God."
There was never a time in history when some part of the world did not "see" the Lord Jesus Christ = the doctrine of Theophanies.
A Theophany is a manifestation of the person and work of Jesus Christ in His pre-incarnate state or before He became a member of the human race.
Theophany = a theological term for the appearances of Jesus Christ before the First Advent.
Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared as the angel of the Lord, which is the primary Theophany in the Old Testament.
Look at how our Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush; Exo 3:1-6; Acts 7:30‑35.
Exo 3:2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
In this section of the Scriptures we will see that "the angel of the Lord refers to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Exo 3:2, our Lord appeared to Moses in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush which describes His deity and His omnipotence or the fact that He is the God of all power or Almighty God.
In EXO 3:3, Moses saw the marvelous sight of why the bush is not burned up which refers to His omnipotence or God's power.
EXO 3:4 When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to look at the burning bush and we are told that it was God who called to him from the midst of the bush.
Notice EXO 3:6 where the angel of the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ said "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God referring to the fact that our Lord, as the Theophany, is God.
This is our Lord guiding and directing Moses by revealing that Moses has been talking to the Lord or the Angel of the Lord who is Jesus Christ as a Theophany.
Angel of God = the Lord was also revealed in the pillar of the cloud by day time and the pillar of fire by night to lead Israel through the desert; Exo 13:21, 14:19, 23:20‑23, 32:34.
This time the Theophany is found in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
Under this principle, the Lord Jesus Christ also appeared to Abraham as a man in Gen 18:1‑33.
The Lord appeared to Abraham in his tent as a man and he announced that Sarah, who was past the menopause, was going to be pregnant.
We also have our Lord appearing as a man and, as such, He was also the wrestler with Jacob in Gen 32:24‑32, also mentioned in Hosea 12:4.
Now, look at who Jacob was wrestling in GEN 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."
When God wrestled with Jacob, He also permanently injured him so that Jacob became one of the greatest wrestlers in the ancient world because until the Lord he took on the Lord.
Jesus Christ appeared in the clouds of the air where Jesus Christ is called under the "the cloud of the Lord, the glory of the Lord" as in Exo 40:38.
EXO 40:36-37; And throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;
EXO 40:37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.
This passage reveals a few of the doctrinal Privileges and the Promises that our Lord made to Moses, Aaron, and to the Jews.
Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared throughout the Old Testament in a visible form as the angel of Jehovah or the angel of the Lord.
Prin: You must remember that the Lord is the only visible member of the godhead called in Theology, a Theophanies.
Inanimate Theophanies = the cloud over the tent, which was the visible sign that Jesus Christ was dwelling inside of the Holy of Holies as the Shekinah glory.
There were many different manifestations of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.
Once in human history during the Dispensation of Israel when our Lord actually dwelt inside of sacred buildings.
There were three of them, and he actually indwelt these sacred buildings.
Our Lord was speaking at this time as the God-man, and as such, He is making a statement about His resurrection, ascension, and session.
Notice the last part of the verse = "because I live, you shall live also."
He says to the disciples "you will see me" and "because I live you also will live."
He is talking to the disciples who would go into the Church-age as the initial believers of the Church-age.
The Church-age believers would live in the same power system with the same divine assets as the humanity of Christ.
What our Lord says in verse 20 is the prophecy of how they would see Him again.
It is also a hint as to the Purpose of the Indwelling of Christ.
Joh 14:20 "In that day referring to the Church-age, the dispensation of the Royal Family of God;
"shall know" is the future-middle-Indicative of the verb ginosko which means that you will come to know.
In 1JO 3:24, we have a very dramatic passage about the indwelling of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as well as the indwelling of the entire Trinity.
We have the indwelling of God the Father; EPH 4:6.
EPH 4:6 = there is one God and Father who we are told is "of all,"
"over all," "through all" or "in all."
Most believers fall because of not being able to control the sins of the tongue = the source of quarrels and conflicts among believers as well as the source of your pleasures or lusts that that wage war in the members of your body.
Then the apostle James warns us not to be envious or jealous and you cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel with other believers..
It is the last part of verse 2 that says "You do not have because you do not ask."
JAM 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
This is a greater-grace believer who is "of all."
A greater-grace believer who is all "over all."
There is a greater-grace believer who is "through all."
There is also is a greater-grace believer who is "in all."
1JO 3:24 The one who habitually keeps His commandments [obeying His word and precepts], abides and remains in Him [in the Lord Jesus Christ],
and He [the Lord] - also abides in him. By this we know and have the proof that He [really] abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us [as a gift].
We also were given the indwelling of the Son; Col 1:27; GAL 2:20;
Joh 14:19-21.