In our current series we’ve been going through an old list of questions and answers contained in the Westminster Larger Catechism published in 1648. Last time we saw that Jesus is a prophet because he declared the will of God while on earth. This week I want to show you that Jesus is a prophet because he declared God’s will in all ages.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God which means Jesus has always existed. Jesus shows this when he claims to have lived before Abraham and to be the great ‘I am’ (another name for God). Jesus said to the Jews: ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”’ (John 8:56-58).
But not only was Jesus alive before Abraham, Jesus was the one that spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament. Peter says: ‘Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things’ (1 Peter 1:10-12). Peter is clear: The Spirit of Christ was speaking through the prophets in the Old Testament before Jesus was born into the world. Therefore Jesus was exercising a prophetic role in revealing God’s will long before he took on human flesh and spoke God’s word with human lips. So Jesus has been proclaiming the same message of salvation from sin through trust in God from the beginning, not simply since two thousand years ago. And wonderfully Jesus still exercises his prophetic role today as he declares the message of salvation in the Bible to us. In the pages of the Scriptures, Christ still prophesies.
So do you recognise that Jesus is a prophet who has spoken through all ages? Have you trusted in him for eternal life?
Joel Radford, Preaching Elder.
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