Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT)

David was a complex person. He was a warrior and a worshipper. He was a lover and a fighter. He was an unknown shepherd living in obscurity in the tiny little village of Bethlehem, who was handpicked by God not just to be the greatest king in the history of Israel, but to be a part of the most exclusive genealogy in human history, the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

But there’s one thing David was not, and that’s an obvious choice. He wasn’t the first king of Israel. That honor fell to Saul, a tall, physically impressive man who looked the part. Unfortunately, that’s all he did. It turned out that his heart wasn’t nearly as impressive as his physical stature.

The Lord rejected Saul and instructed the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse, to find the next king of Israel. Samuel’s arrival was a pretty big deal. Prophets of God didn’t show up in little places like Bethlehem every day. And when Jesse was given the opportunity, he took advantage of it. He proudly paraded his seven strapping sons for the prophet.

These guys were the original Magnificent Seven. They were top-notch physical specimens. The stuff of royalty, you might say. But as the prophet looked at each one, the Lord said no, no, no, no, no, no, and no. “Do you have any other sons?” Samuel asked.

Jesse replied, “Yeah, I’ve got one more son. He’s out in the field watching his flock of sheep. He’s a little weird. He’s a musician, and he writes songs about God.”

“Bring him in,” Samuel said.

David came bounding in with enthusiasm and energy. The Lord said to Samuel, “That’s my boy. Anoint him.” So Samuel poured oil on David’s head, officially anointing him to become the king of Israel.

God defied everyone’s expectations when He chose David. He didn’t look like a king—and that was the point. God wanted people to be drawn to David’s heart, because David was a man after God’s own heart (see Acts 13:22 NLT). You can’t judge people’s wisdom, integrity, sensitivity, humility, courage, passion, or leadership potential by their appearance.

That point was driven home centuries later when God’s promise to David was fulfilled, and the long-awaited Messiah—Jesus, the descendant of David—arrived. To casual observers, He was an unlikely Savior. He didn’t live up to people’s expectations about what the Messiah would be like. Isaiah 53:2 says, “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him” (NLT). If you want to see how God works, you have to look past the surface—of others and yourself.

If you have faith in God, if you believe that God can use you, if you are willing to take a step of faith here and there, then God can do incredible things through you. One thing I have said many times over the years is that God is not looking for ability but availability. He can give you ability in time. But God is looking for someone to say, “I would like to make a difference where I am. Lord, I am available.” You just watch what God will do.

Reflection question: Why does God often use unlikely people to accomplish His work?

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“Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16 NLT)

This verse from 2 Samuel 7 is part of a promise God delivered to King David through the prophet Nathan. David was troubled by the fact that, as king, he lived in a beautiful cedar palace while the ark of the covenant, where God’s Spirit dwelled among His people, was kept in a tent. David’s ambition was to build a beautiful temple for the Lord.

But God (through Nathan) said no. David wasn’t the person for that job. That task would fall to David’s son Solomon. After declining David’s offer, God makes a stunning promise. It’s known as the Davidic covenant, and it deserves to be read in full.

“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies.

“‘Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings! For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do. But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever’” (2 Samuel 7:8–16 NLT).

God reaffirmed the promise He made to Abraham about a land for his descendants. He promised that David’s son would succeed him as king of Israel. And He promised that David’s kingdom would last forever. This is a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who was called “the son of David” (see Matthew 21:9 nlt). Not only would Jesus be a descendant of David, He also would be closely identified with the beloved king.

What kind of person receives such an honor from the Lord? That’s the question we’re going to explore over the next several days.

David was a shepherd, a musician, a poet, an outcast, a warrior, and a king. In fact, he was the greatest king Israel ever had. He was part of the most exclusive genealogy of all: the ancestors of Jesus. And aside from Jesus, there are more verses written about David than about any other Bible character. He’s also the only person in the Bible God calls “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22 NLT).

God dealt with him the way He dealt with many people He was preparing for greater ministry assignments. David was anointed king of Israel as a young teenager, but he didn’t ascend to the throne until he was thirty. God used that interval to prepare David for what was ahead. Some of that preparation involved hardship.

When you have gone through the desert of hardship, God uses you to more effectively minister to others. Do you find yourself in a “desert experience”? Maybe God has some training in mind for you. Remember, you can never be too small for God, only too big.

Reflection question: What does it mean to be a person after God’s own heart?

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“So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!” (Numbers 21:9 NLT)

Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. But the journey was anything but pleasant. The Israelites complained repeatedly about the traveling conditions. They accused Moses of leading them into the wilderness to die.

God parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could walk through the middle on dry ground to escape the Egyptian army. He caused fresh water to flow from a rock in the desert when the Israelites were thirsty. He sent manna and quail to feed them when they were hungry. Still, they complained.

God gave them a miraculous military victory over the Canaanites. But after the battle, when Moses led them around the land of Edom instead of through it, “the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. ‘Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?’ they complained. ‘There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!’” (Numbers 21:4–5 NLT).

The Israelites needed to learn a hard lesson. “So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.’ So Moses prayed for the people” (verses 6–7 NLT).

Lesson learned (for the moment). The people sinned and faced the punishment for it. They confessed, repented, and prayed. And God sent them a way to be saved. He instructed Moses to make a bronze replica of a snake and attach it to a pole. Anyone who looked at the bronze snake was healed and saved from death.

Of course, there’s more going on in this story than people recovering from snake bites. This is a preview of the work of Jesus on the cross. In John 3:14–15, Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life” (NLT).

And in John 12:32, He said, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (nlt). The apostle John adds this note in the following verse: “He said this to indicate how he was going to die” (NLT).

Everyone has sinned and faces God’s punishment of death. The only way you can be saved is to confess your sins, ask God’s forgiveness, and place your faith in the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.

You might wonder, “Why would God be concerned about me?” Job asked, “What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often?” (Job 7:17 NLT). There are many reasons, but the most notable would simply be that He loves you! He loves you with an everlasting love!

The amazing thing is that the God of the universe loves you and is watching over you. He will bless you, smile on you, keep you, and give you His full attention and peace because He cares for you.

Reflection question: Why is Jesus the only way to be saved from God’s punishment for our sins?

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“At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.” (Genesis 28:11–12 NLT)

God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation from Abraham’s descendants.

Step one of the promised nation-building was giving Abraham and his wife Sarah a son, which God did when Abraham was one hundred years old. The son’s name was Isaac. When Isaac was a young man, he married a woman named Rebekah.

When Isaac was sixty years old, Rebekah gave birth to twin boys. They named them Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first. In the culture of that day, the firstborn son was given special privileges, known as the birthright. The birthright included a leadership role in the family, the right to make judicial decisions, a double portion of the father’s inheritance, and a special blessing from the father.

One day Esau returned from hunting, famished. Jacob was cooking a bean stew. He offered to give his brother a bowl of stew in exchange for Esau’s birthright. Esau agreed, which showed how little he cared about his birthright. Later, Jacob posed as his brother to trick his nearly blind father into giving Jacob his special blessing. The blessing gave Jacob divine protection. Whoever cursed him would be cursed by God, and whoever blessed him would receive God’s blessings.

Esau was devastated—and furious—when he learned what his brother had done. He plotted to kill Jacob after their father died. To protect Jacob, Rebekah sent him away until Esau cooled off. While Jacob was on the run, he spent a night in a land named Luz. There, he had a dream in which he saw a stairway that extended from the earth all the way to Heaven. He saw angels going up and down the stairway.

God spoke to him from the top of the stairway. He reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham and reminded Jacob that the land where he slept belonged to him and his descendants.

What Jacob didn’t realize is that God had given him a glimpse of Jesus’ future work. Sin separated humans from God. There was no passageway between earth and Heaven, no hope for eternal life. But Jesus’ sacrifice changed that. He became the stairway to Heaven, the only way to eternal life.

Jesus identified Himself with Jacob’s dream when He said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth” (John 1:51 NLT).

In Genesis 32:9–16, Jacob prayed as he was on his way to make amends with Esau. He acknowledged the God of Abraham and Isaac as the true God. He confessed his own unworthiness. He brought his petition to the Lord. But it would have been better if he had said, “Lord, what should I do now?” Instead, he prayed and made his plans. In other words, he decided what he was going to do and then asked God to bless it.

Is that not like us? We make our plan and then ask God to bless it. But that is not really praying about a matter. Instead, we should pray along the lines of “Lord, give me wisdom from Your Word and from godly people who will guide me scripturally. Help me do the right thing.” But Jacob did not do that. He wanted what was right, but he went about it in the wrong way.

God helps those who can’t help themselves. This is what Jacob needed to realize. Let’s learn to seek out God’s will rather than bypass it.

Reflection question: How do you feel about the claim that there are many different paths that lead to God?

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“Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.” (Genesis 22:13 NLT)

In Genesis 22:2, God gave Abraham one of the most challenging commands imaginable: “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you” (NLT).

Abraham had waited a long time for his son. Isaac was precious to him. He was the fulfillment of God’s promise to build a great nation from Abraham’s descendants. He was Abraham’s legacy.

Yet Abraham didn’t hesitate to obey. Verse 3 says, “The next morning Abraham got up early” (NLT). He began the journey as soon as he could. He didn’t try to bargain, plead, or stall.

Hebrews 11 is known as the “Faith Hall of Fame” because it records the names and actions of people of God who stayed faithful to Him during extraordinary circumstances. Abraham’s name is prominent in that list. Hebrews 11:19 says, “Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again” (NLT). That’s an amazing statement when you consider that, at that time, no one had ever been brought back to life before.

Abraham trusted God to bring ultimate good from the situation, no matter how it played out. His life, and even his son’s life, were less important to him than God’s will was.

And just as Abraham was obedient to God, Isaac was obedient to his father. He willingly went along with the preparations, even when it became apparent that he was the intended sacrifice. Isaac was a young man. He easily could have overpowered his father and saved himself. But he didn’t. He, too, remained faithful.

And, of course, so did God. Just as Abraham raised his knife to sacrifice Isaac, an angel of the Lord appeared. “‘Don’t lay a hand on the boy!’ the angel said. ‘Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son’” (Genesis 22:12 NLT).

I believe this was Jesus Himself intervening at this strategic moment, which was a perfect picture of what He Himself would experience at the cross of Calvary. Abraham offered his son, his only beloved son. And Jesus said in John 3:16 that “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (NLT).

As we see in Genesis 22:13 above, God arranged for Abraham a different sacrifice in the form of a ram whose horns were caught in a nearby thicket. Isaac was saved because God provided a sacrifice to take his place.

In this story, we see Jesus and His saving work. Every one of us has sinned. We deserve God’s punishment, which is death. Even though we sinned against Him, God loves us so much that He provided a sacrifice to die in our place—just as He did with Abraham and Isaac. If we believe in Christ, we will have eternal life.

Reflection question: What does the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac reveal about God?

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“The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre.” (Genesis 18:1 NLT)

Abram (who was later renamed Abraham) was given an extraordinary promise. God announced that He would bless Abram with a son and a land for his descendants. Those descendants would become a great nation—one that would bless all other nations.

God didn’t include a timetable with His promise. He wanted Abram and his wife Sarai (who was later renamed Sarah) to trust Him. But as time passed, that became more and more difficult for the childless couple.

In Genesis 12, God instructed Abram to leave his country and move to the land of Canaan—the Promised Land. When Abram got to Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and confirmed His promise to give the land to Abram’s descendants. And in Genesis 17, the Lord appeared to Abram to make a covenant with him. If Abram served God faithfully and lived a blameless life, God would give him countless descendants. The Lord then changed Abram’s name to Abraham because he would be the father of many nations.

One day, Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day when he saw three men nearby. Abraham recognized one of them as the Lord Himself. The Bible doesn’t say how Abraham recognized Him, but it may have been because he had already encountered the Lord on two previous occasions.

So the encounter at Mamre was the third time the Lord appeared to Abraham. And on all three occasions, it was Jesus he came face to face with. It couldn’t have been God the Father. The apostle Paul wrote of Him, “No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will” (1 Timothy 6:16 NLT). Jesus Himself touched on His encounter with Abraham during His confrontation with the Pharisees in John 8. “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” they replied (verse 57 NLT). They couldn’t wrap their minds around the idea that the One who stood before them had also stood before Abraham centuries earlier.

Unlike the Pharisees, Abraham knew exactly who he was talking to. And it must have gratified him to hear the Lord confirm again that Sarah would give birth to a son. Sarah, on the other hand, had a different reaction. She laughed to herself when she heard the Lord’s words. She was, after all, nearly ninety years old, and Abraham was nearly one hundred—not exactly the prime childbearing years.

Jesus reassured the couple with an important question by quoting Genesis 18:14: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (NLT) Within a year, they would have their answer. And they would name him Isaac.

It is interesting how Jesus came to different people in the Bible. To Abraham, Jesus came as a traveler. We know that Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56 NLT). Why did the Lord come to Abraham as a sojourner? That is what Abraham was.

Jesus meets us where we are, in a way that resonates with us. He appeared to Abraham and Sarah to encourage them to be patient, to trust God’s timing, and to prepare for the blessings and challenges that lay ahead. He does the same thing for us, as often as necessary, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Reflection question: How might the Lord reassure you or give you the perspective you need to trust His promises and His timing?

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“This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” (Genesis 6:9 NLT)

Once sin entered the world, it didn’t take long for it to reach a tipping point. Genesis 3 tells us about the temptation of Adam and Eve and their decision to disobey God. And just three chapters later, we find these words: “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart” (Genesis 6:5–6 NLT).

Because God is just, He has wrath and anger. Some people have a hard time with this. “How can God be loving and wrathful?” Is it really that hard to figure out? If God loves what is good, then He hates what is evil. And if He is just, there has to be a penalty for breaking His laws. He demands punishment for sin. That punishment is death. God determined to destroy every living thing on the earth. What stopped Him? “Noah found favor with the Lord” (verse 8 NLT).

Noah was not a sinless man, but he was a righteous man. He had a close relationship with God. He prioritized God’s will and was obedient to His call. Because of Noah’s faithfulness, God provided a way to save those who were connected to this righteous man from His judgment.

Noah built an ark—an enormous sailing vessel—according to the Lord’s precise instructions. He herded two (male and female) of every type of animal onto the ark, along with the necessary provisions. Then he, his wife, his three sons, and their wives boarded the vessel.

Seven days later, the rains started. Torrential downpours continued for forty days. Everyone and everything that was not on the ark was destroyed by the floods. Eight people were saved from God’s judgment because of one person’s righteousness.

Noah and his family, along with the animals on the ark, were responsible for repopulating the earth. They were part of God’s new creation. But Noah’s righteousness was imperfect, and sin reared its ugly head again. People pursued evil instead of good. They disobeyed God instead of following His will. The trend toward wickedness continues today. We don’t have to look far to find Satan’s influence in our culture.

And because God is still perfectly just, that means another judgment is coming. Jesus says in Matthew 24:37–39, “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes” (NLT).

And this time, He is the means of salvation. What the ark did for Noah and his family is what Jesus does for everyone who believes in Him—that is, offer protection from God’s holy wrath. Noah’s salvation came from an ark made of wood. Jesus’ salvation comes from a cross made of wood. If you trust in Him, you will be saved.

Reflection question: How can you help someone who doesn’t realize that God’s judgment is coming?

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“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NLT)

The first promise of a Savior came almost immediately after the need for one was created.

God designed a paradise for the first two humans. The Garden of Eden supplied their every need. Tending the garden gave them a sense of purpose and fulfillment. The perfect harmony of nature within the garden surely gave them a sense of emotional well-being. And God Himself walked in the garden in the cool of the evening. Because they spent so much time in God’s presence, it’s probably safe to assume that their every spiritual need was met.

Everything in the garden was available to Adam and Eve—except the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were forbidden to eat it. God warned that if they disobeyed His one rule, the punishment would be death.

But one creature in the garden cared little about God’s rule. The serpent convinced Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. She, in turn, gave some to Adam, who ate it as well. When they realized what they had done, they hid. They hid because they realized that they were naked and because they were afraid of God’s punishment for their sin.

Of course, nothing is hidden from God. Adam blamed Eve for their sin, and Eve blamed the serpent. God revealed to each of them the consequences of their actions. His judgment on the serpent is found in the passage above. In it, we find what some Bible scholars call the proto-evangelium—the first reference to God’s plan of salvation and redemption.

The woman’s offspring is Jesus. He would do what Adam and Eve couldn’t do: live a sinless life. God didn’t kill Adam and Eve. But He also didn’t waive the punishment of death. That punishment would fall to their sinless offspring.

“He will strike your head” refers to Christ’s ultimate victory over the serpent and his offspring. The apostle Paul wrote, “In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross” (Colossians 2:15 NLT).

And that ties into the final phrase of Genesis 3:15: “And you will strike his heel” (nlt). Christ’s ultimate victory would come at a cost. The shedding of sacrificial blood would be necessary. Genesis 3:7 says Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness—and, in a sense, to cover their sin. But look what God does in verse 21: “And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife” (nlt). An animal had to be sacrificed to cover them—and their sin. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (NLT).

In the third chapter of Genesis, we find the first promise of Jesus, the Savior, who would shed His innocent blood to provide forgiveness and salvation to everyone who believes in Him.

What’s more, our ancient enemy was soundly defeated at the cross. There, he lost his stranglehold on the life of the human race. As a Christian, you have been set free by the power of Jesus Christ.

Reflection question: What does God’s original plan, as well as His response to Adam and Eve’s disobedience, reveal about Him?

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“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT)

As we mentioned in the previous devotion, this month we’ll be looking at passages in the Old Testament in which Jesus appears or is referred to. Before we do that, though, let’s briefly review how the Bible came to be. The more we understand about what God’s Word is—and isn’t—the better we can appreciate its specific references to Jesus centuries before His birth.

The Bible is the most amazing document ever given to man. Technically speaking, it is not one book. The Bible is a compilation of sixty-six books with more than forty different authors. It has been separated into two sections.

The first section contains thirty-nine books that make up the Old Testament. The second section contains twenty-seven books that make up the New Testament.

Overall, the Bible was written over the course of approximately 1,500 years and was written in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) by people all over the place—from kings to peasants to philosophers to laborers, poets, statesmen, and scholars. Moses was a political leader trained in the schools of Egypt. He wrote the first five books of the Bible that we know as the Pentateuch. Peter was a fisherman. Joshua was a military general. Daniel was the equivalent of a prime minister. Luke was a doctor. Solomon was a king. Matthew was a tax collector. Paul was a rabbi.

 The Bible is the most ambitious literary project ever conceived. And it’s a miracle. There’s no earthly reason for so many disparate parts to form such a seamless whole. But there is a heavenly reason. God guided every author, every step of the way. He didn’t dictate the words of Scripture. He allowed each author to use his own writing style and personality. But God made sure that they wrote what He intended. He inspired them to express His truths in their own words. And though they all bring different perspectives to the material, they all tell a single story.

The Bible is the story of God’s love for us, even after we sinned against Him, and His amazing plan to save us from the punishment we deserve for our sin. The Bible is the story of Jesus. He is the golden thread that runs through its pages. He bridges the Old and New Testaments. He connects sixty-six separate books into one.

We see the promise of Jesus in the Garden of Eden. We see the work of Jesus in Noah’s ark. We see the ancestors of Jesus in the stories of Abraham, Jacob, and David. We see specific predictions about Jesus in the Old Testament books of prophecy. And we see the fulfillment of everything written about Him in the Gospels.

God’s perfect plan of salvation can be seen in the perfect Book He gave the world.

Reflection question: How do you know God’s Word can be trusted?

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“Then Jesus said to them, ‘You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?’ Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25–27 NLT)

Did Jesus exist before the nativity in Bethlehem? Was there a Christ before Christmas?

The answer is yes.

Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem is when the incarnation took place. The incarnation is when God became a man. But that’s not when Jesus came into being. Jesus, being God, has always been and He always will be. He is eternal because He is God. Understanding that opens up Scripture to us in a whole new way.

The Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament covers events that occurred before Jesus’ birth. The New Testament covers events surrounding His birth and after. It’s similar to the way we divide history. The Old Testament is BC (before Christ); the New Testament is AD (anno Domini), which is Latin for “in the year of the Lord.”

Casual readers of the Bible may assume that Jesus is a New Testament figure, an AD man. But that’s not the case. Remember, He’s eternal, so there’s no such period as BC because nothing existed before Christ.

John 1:1–2 says, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God” (NLT). And in Colossians 1:17, the apostle Paul writes of Christ, “He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together” (NLT).

Not only has Christ existed forever, He is also the central figure of Scripture. Not just the New Testament, but the Old Testament as well. That’s the theme for our devotions this month: Jesus in the Old Testament. You can’t fully appreciate God’s amazing plan of salvation until you connect the dots between the Old Testament passages that anticipate Christ’s coming and the New Testament passages that detail His saving work.

Luke 24 tells the story of two followers of Christ who were walking to the village of Emmaus three days after Jesus’ crucifixion, just as news of His resurrection was starting to spread. They were sad and confused. Jesus appeared to them, but God kept them from recognizing Him at first.

Jesus’ words to them—“You foolish people!”—may seem harsh. But Jesus wanted them to understand that it wasn’t the time for mourning or confusion. The Messiah was alive! God’s plan of salvation had been accomplished! Death had been conquered! Centuries of prophecy and promises had been fulfilled!

Verse 27 says, “Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (NLT). These men likely were no strangers to Old Testament Scripture. But they had failed to make some very important connections. Not only were Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection all part of God’s prophetic plan, but so was just about everything else He did. The evidence was there, in the words of Scripture, for anyone who searched for it. Jesus helped His followers recognize the clues they had missed.

We are never alone in life. That’s the message we see from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus has always been there. He appeared to Abraham and Jacob, among others. He was never far from the minds of the Old Testament prophets. And to those who are His disciples, He says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NLT).

Reflection question: What does the Old Testament reveal about God and His plan of salvation?

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