Prophecies Concerning Christ Study Guides
Confidence in the Coming King
January 2, 2024 • Pastor Spencer Fusselman
There are a lot of theories about the end times, and more specifically the rapture. Some believe that the rapture will happen before the tribulation, while others say it will happen in the middle of, or after the tribulation. In my professional opinion, unless it has an impact on the way you live ‘on a mission’ for Christ, the subject is irrelevant. That is to ask, how will the timing of the rapture affect the way you live for the King today? The study of the second coming is vital to instilling a confident hope in the coming King.
Moses and Jesus
December 18, 2023 • Pastor Spencer Fusselman
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He [a]expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:27 When Jesus appeared to some of His followers on the road to Emmaus, He told His story from scripture beginning with Moses. I would have loved to have been a fly on a camel's backside for that conversation! Imagine hearing every prophecy from scripture concerning Christ in one conversation with the LORD. In this week's message, we looked at Moses as a ‘type’ of Christ. As Pastor Steve titled the sermon, “My Deliverer”, we looked at how both Moses and Jesus would deliver their people from bondage. Moses delivered them from the oppression of Pharaoh and slavery in Egypt, and Jesus set us free from sin. Another notable way that Moses is a type of Christ is that he consistently interceded on behalf of the people with God. He had a personal relationship with God, brought the law to the people from the hand of God, and even offered to sacrifice himself so that the people, the sinful and rebellious people, of Israel might live. (Exodus 32:32) Later, Jesus, referencing His coming sacrifice, is quoted “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,”(John 15:13), and Jesus proved His love when He “laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16; cf. John 10:15). Jesus also said “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) Jesus proved His love by sacrificing Himself, delivering us from the bondage of sin while we prove our love by ‘keeping His commandments’. To be clear, we are not talking about works-based salvation, but obedience out of love for The Lamb of God. If we truly recognize the great and painful work of Jesus on the cross to set us free, then the only rational response from a sane person is to serve Him with our lives. Romans 12 reminds us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. If we truly are disciples of Christ, then we will follow His example and cling to His truth amidst a world of lies and deception. Jesus tells us (His disciples) in John 8:31-32 “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” As Moses set Israel free with God’s Truth, how has Jesus, (The Truth) set you free? In what other ways do you find Moses as a Type of Christ?
The Bronze Serpent
Pastor Spencer Fusselman
In our study of Numbers 21, we discussed several ‘Types’, a major one being the snake on the pole. After the people sinned and spoke out against God and Moses, the Lord sent serpents to bite the people. (The consequence also speaks to God’s wrath against sin) When they repented, God instructed Moses to lift a serpent on a pole so that anyone who looked upon the serpent would be healed. God disciplined His people while simultaneously showing that evil MUST be punished. Since He is a Good God, He must be committed to eradicating evil from His presence. His Holiness will not stand for anything less than perfection. It was Righteous for God to punish his people, as Christ had not yet come to take the punishment, therefore this moment was designed to parallel our lives with Christ’s coming. Now that Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, we can find peace with God knowing that we are no longer at war with Him as the wrath we deserved was already poured out on Christ!
Behold The Lamb Study Guide
December 6, 2023 • Pastor Spencer Fusselman
Many scholars connect Genesis 22, the account of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Issac, to Jesus’ statement in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” as Abraham seeing into, or fully understanding the plan of God. In many ways, Abraham ‘saw’ or spoke with The Word, and his faith was built on the belief and trust in that Word. He believed that God could raise the dead (Hebrews 11) and that God would provide a final sacrifice for people who could not provide for themselves. He saw the plan and had a glimpse into the future coming ‘day’ of Christ and rejoiced in it. I have always seen Genesis 22 as a form of a ‘dress rehearsal’ for the final atonement of sin as there are many parallels to the final crucifixion. Most notably, Moriah is the same geographical location for both sacrifices. It was unlawful to execute anyone inside the city so the crucifixion of Christ had to be done outside the city and took place on a hill that some scholars believe was the same hill Issac was almost sacrificed on. How could a human orchestrate that detail into law and set up the city at that precise location in order to parallel this promise?
The Scarlet Thread
November 29, 2023
This week at Christian Fellowship, we started a new series on the prophecies concerning Christ. Scholars often refer to these prophecies as the “Scarlet Thread” that binds the Old and New Testaments together. It is mysterious, and often hidden deep in scripture. Bible scholars suggest there are more than 300 Old Testament prophetic Scriptures fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. Circumstances such as his birthplace, lineage, and method of execution were beyond Christ's control and could not have been accidentally or deliberately fulfilled. While this in itself is a staggering statistic, let's also take into account that no other story has the same kind of unified storyline. The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years with some 40 authors and contains ONE storyline from start to finish. No other book has ever come close to that kind of consistency. Take Star Wars for example: the story was originally written just 50 years ago with one author and now has had over 100 authors culminating in an estimated 1,000+ Star Wars publications from books, movies, and video games, all the way to exclusive Content for Disney+. Each author has access to the original creator of the story, yet now the story is deeply fractured and has about 100 plots and subplots that don't match up. The Scarlet Thread helps us understand the Divine inspiration of Scripture and its Authority. Read Psalm 22 Together. Where do you find the Scarlet Thread linking to Christ? (The First or Second coming? Scripture cross-references)