In the late 1980's a British children's puzzle series called where's Wally, or Waldo, became the popular in thing to do. (I'm guilty of a few hours lost in the activity.) More recently in our culture, the challenge to find the elf on the Shelf became the "in thing" to do.
I would like to propose to you the challenge that was presented to our ministry group and others at a 3-day convention in Orlando Florida this past February. Pastor, public speaker, author, life coach, Dr. Bishop Mark Chironna challenged us with a question, "Can you preach the gospel of Jesus from the Old Testament?" We all had to ask ourselves, "Could we find Jesus in the Old Testament?" And the answer was, "Not really?" This began our journey to find Jesus where we had never really looked for Him before.
Here is a great revelation and teaching that I was blessed to learn and it begins in Genesis. I invite you to follow along with me through Scripture as we search for Jesus. But first let us look at a few New Testament scriptures that tell us who Jesus is.
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus was the Word.
John 1:8 "He (John the Baptist) was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." Jesus is the Light.
Mathew 9:6 "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,..."
Jesus is the Son of man having taken the form of man, made from clay.
John 4:10 "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."
Jesus is the Living Water.
So now let's play looking for Jesus. We will begin in the beginning Genesis 1:1-5, on the first day He gave us light.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. "
Verses 6 through 8 was the second day and He gave us the waters.
"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."
Verses 9 through 13, the third day and there was Earth.
"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day."
Remember He said let there be light in verse 3? Is not the sun created are in verse 14 who is the light ,who is the water ,who came to be the form of man made from Earth? The Bible tells us Jesus is.
Chapter one verse says 14 through 19 we have day and night. See verse 18 was fourth day , Stars, the moon ,the Sun. Verses 20 -23 the fifth day again Waters. Verses 24 through 31 the 6th-Day and God said it was good. Again we have The Living Waters, The Morning Star , The Vine, our Jesus.
"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
How exciting to see Jesus in the first chapter of Genesis! And there is so much more foreshadowing of Jesus in the Old Testament. This is just a small snippet. So again I challenge you to go and explore the Old Testament and find Jesus!
"There's a private place reserved for the devoted lovers of Yahweh, where they sit near Him and receive the revelation-secrets of His promises." Psalms 25:14 TPT