Seeing
Jesus in the Mist
We talk about seeing Jesus in Old Testament shadows: through prophecy (such as Messianic Psalms, Messianic predictions, etc.), typology (such as the tree of life, Adam, Noah’s ark, the rainbow, prophets, priests, kings, prefigurations, Theophanies/Christophanies, the Angel of the LORD, etc.). Jesus is the Word of God who is revealed in the Word of God, which includes the forty-nine books of the Old Testament. Jesus says of the Old Testament Scriptures, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life” (John 5:39-40).
 |
| Image from Web |
If
we set our myopic proof-text hermeneutic to one side, and instead simply observe
the Word interpreting His own Word, are we able to see the preincarnate Jesus
in places, for example, such as the One who walked in the garden in the cool of
the day? Or, how about the following, “Before any plant of the field was in the
earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not
caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground”
(Gen. 2:5-6). Are we able to see the Word of God, Jehovah Elohim, in the
mist?
One
has a picture in mind here of “Old Faithful” in Yellowstone National Park. Did
the mist that went up come from a geyser? The NIV notes that the word “mist”
can also be translated as “streams”, “but streams came up from the
earth and watered the whole surface of the ground” (NIV). Is this what Jesus is
referring to where He says, “The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has
said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him” (John 7:38,
CSB). Is this view strengthened by Isaiah where he speaks of “a watered garden”,
“The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and
strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of
water, whose waters do not fail” (Isa. 58:11). Of course, it could also refer
to the river flowing out of Eden. “Now a river went out of Eden to water the
garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads” (Gen. 2:10).
However, the point we are making is that we’re asking if it is possible to see
Jesus in the mist or streams? Though both translations are acceptable, we
prefer the word mist over streams.
Notice
what the mist is about. It was to water “the whole face of the ground.” What
for? It was to prepare the ground for the creation of a man, for up until then,
there had been “no man to till the ground” (Gen. 2:5). “And the Lord God formed
man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). Adam is a true child of the mist! Do you
now see the Word who was to become flesh beginning to appear in the mist? “And
so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became
a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). So, we see that it is still all about
Jesus.
All the plants and herbs of the field were in relation to Adam’s creation. They were to be his food supply. “And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food’” (Gen. 1:29). While he was obedient to God, life was easy. After his disobedience, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:17-19). When doing road repairs, a water truck might be used to sprinkle the area. Why? To keep the dust down. Yes, at death, Adam would become dust, i.e., soil with the moisture (mist) removed.
With the plants and herbs of the field in mind, look at this reference to the last Adam, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground” (Isa. 53:2). Whereas with Adam, the ground becomes dry and dusty, with Jesus, “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.” (Isa. 35:1a, NIV).
The mist made the ground moist. The body weight of humans is a rough average of 55 to 60 percent water. Like a potter with wet clay, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.” It is little wonder that the last Adam, ICHTHYS, like the proverbial fish out of water, while gasping for air on the cross, said, “I thirst!” (John 19:28).
Seeing
Jesus in the First Man
If
we want to know what Adam looked like before the fall, then Jesus is our
paradigm. “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their
humanity … yet without sin” (Heb. 2:14a, NIV, 4:15b, NKJV). Indeed, it
is because of our fall into sin that we need God’s written Word, like a
shortsighted man needs his spectacles. Sin has entered into every aspect of our
being, body and soul and spirit. Therefore, that is why we’ve to be using the
Bible to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb.
12:2a).
Luke
traces Jesus’s genealogy all the way back to Adam. “…Adam, the son of
God” (Luke 3:38b). When God looked into the face of Adam as He created him, He too
was “looking unto Jesus.” For creation and the creation of man were in
preparation for the future. E.g., “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling
among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came
from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, NIV).
Jesus
is the One of whom the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased” (Matt. 3:17). The Father loves His Son, who is His perfect yet
distinct image. The Father, the Creator, created creation for His own glory,
yes, for His Son to dwell in with His bride. His Son is His glory. “Father, I
want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the
glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world”
(John 17:24, NIV). Thus, the first Adam was created in the image of the last
Adam. With the mist in the garden in mind, “And a cloud came and overshadowed
them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear
Him!” (Mark 9:7). Therefore, in answer to our question what is man? We answer,
Jesus!
 |
| Image from Web |
It
is worth slowly pondering the following words of the Belgic Confession, Article
34; The Sacrament of Baptism,
We
believe and confess that Jesus Christ, in whom the law is fulfilled, has by His
shed blood put an end to every other shedding of blood, which anyone might do
or wish to do in order to atone or satisfy for sins. Having abolished
circumcision, which was done with blood, He established in its place the
sacrament of baptism. By it we are received into God's church and set apart
from all other people and alien religions, that we may be dedicated entirely to
Him, bearing His mark and sign. It also witnesses to us that God will be our
God and gracious Father forever.
Therefore
Christ has commanded that all those who belong to Him be baptized with pure
water in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In this way
God signifies to us that just as water washes away the dirt of the body when it
is poured on us and also is seen on the body of the baptized when it is
sprinkled on him, so too the blood of Christ does the same thing internally, in
the soul, by the Holy Spirit. It washes and cleanses it from its sins and
transforms us from being the children of wrath into the children of God.
This
does not happen by the physical water but by the sprinkling of the precious
blood of the Son of God, who is our Red Sea, through which we must pass to
escape the tyranny of Pharaoh, who is the devil, and to enter the spiritual
land of Canaan. So ministers, as far as their work is concerned, give us the
sacrament and what is visible, but our Lord gives what the sacrament signifies,
namely the invisible gifts and graces; washing, purifying, and cleansing our
souls of all filth and unrighteousness; renewing our hearts and filling them
with all comfort; giving us true assurance of His fatherly goodness; clothing
us with the new nature and stripping off the old, with all its works.
Jesus
is the LORD God of whom the writer to the Hebrews says, “You, LORD, in the
beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of
Your hands” (Heb. 1:10). “But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What
is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of
him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; you have crowned him
with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put
all things in subjection under his feet.’ For in that He put all in subjection
under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not
yet see all things put under him. But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of
death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste
death for everyone” (Heb. 2:6-9). Matthew Henry comments on these verses
as they apply to Jesus
As applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole that is here said can be applied only to him, v. 8, 9. The moving cause of all the kindness God shows to men is the grace of God. The fruits of this free grace of God is that God crowned the human nature of Christ with glory and honour, in his being perfectly holy; that by his sufferings he might make satisfaction, tasting death for every man. As a reward of his humiliation in suffering death, he was crowned with glory and honour.[1]
It
is noted that the Cultural Mandate is in view here and that it is presently
gradually being fulfilled by Jesus through His disciples. His Church on earth
consists of those believing men, women, and their children. Like those who were
baptised in the cloud and the sea, these are to be baptised in the name of
Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48).
Says Westminster Confession of Fath, Chapter 28, Of Baptism, paragraphs 3 and 4,
3. Dipping of the
person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by
pouring, or sprinkling water upon the person.
4. Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.
We referred to a “myopic proof-text hermeneutic” as a way of describing how some Christians study the Bible to their own detriment. By taking this Mr Magoo reads Genesis approach, they miss, for example, seeing Jesus in the mist. An example of this may be found by restricting the word baptise and its cognates to mean only immersion. See, for example, Strong’s Concordance where it gives the meaning as baptist, baptize, wash (907). And the word bapto (βάπτω), from whence the words baptist, baptize, wash are derived, it says, “A primary verb; to whelm, i.e. cover wholly with a fluid; in the New Testament only in a qualified or special sense, i.e. (literally) to moisten (a part of one’s person), or (by implication) to stain (as with dye) – dip.” (911).
The debate Christians have over the mode of baptism is a theological one. It is wrong, therefore, to insist on immersion only when the word clearly can refer to Presbyterian and Reformed modes of baptism, i.e., by pouring and/or sprinkling. Yes, Biblical Theology helps us see what the outpoured Spirit of Christ is pointing us to in Scripture, i.e., “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
The
mist that made the ground moist from which God gave birth to Adam, is seen once
more in the poured out or sprinkled water of baptism, representing rebirth, as
in being born from above, which happens whenever the Spirit of Christ is
pleased to come upon you to sprinkle you with the shed blood of Christ and to breathe
the breath of everlasting life into you.
We
see Jesus in the mist when we see that the mist was in preparation for the
creation of Adam, who was the image of the Word, who says, “he who sees Me sees
Him who sent Me” (John 12:45). When Adam opened his eyes upon his creation he saw
Jesus clearly in the mist. May the Spirit of Jesus enable us to likewise see
Him.
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s
Commentary in One Volume, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 1961), 1912.
No comments:
Post a Comment