Christ Before Christmas · Scripture Study
Seen Beforehand, Long Before He Came
The gospel was not a late idea. Four movements tracing how far back Scripture says Christ was already known. Tap each open, then tap the gold phrases.
8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.
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Before Sinai — the gospel already in the ground
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| Gen 3:15 | The Seed of the woman who crushes the serpent — spoken before Abraham was born, let alone the law given |
| Gal 3:8 | Scripture “preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand”: in you all the nations shall be blessed |
| John 8:56 | “Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” |
| Gen 22:8, 13–14 | “God will provide for Himself the lamb” — and the ram caught in the thicket, offered instead of his son |
| Heb 11:13 | They died in faith, having seen the promises afar off, assured of them and embracing them |
| Heb 11:26 | Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt |
| 1 Cor 10:4 | They drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them — “and that Rock was Christ” |
| Heb 4:2 | “The gospel was preached to us as well as to them” — the wilderness generation heard it too |
Note what Hebrews 11:26 and 1 Corinthians 10:4 are doing: they do not say Moses and Israel anticipated someone. They say the reproach was Christ’s and the Rock was Christ. The New Testament writers are not being poetic — they are reporting who was there.
10Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you.
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Who saw what
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| 1 Pet 1:10–12 | The Spirit of Christ in them testified beforehand of His sufferings and the glory to follow |
| Acts 2:30–31 | David, being a prophet, foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of the Christ |
| John 12:41 | Isaiah “saw His glory and spoke of Him” |
| Luke 10:24 | Many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it |
| Acts 3:24–25 | All the prophets from Samuel onward foretold these days — “you are sons of the covenant God made with our fathers” |
| Acts 10:43 | “To Him all the prophets witness” |
| Rom 1:1–2 | The gospel God “promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures” |
27And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.46For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
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He is what the book was about
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| Luke 24:27 | Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself |
| Luke 24:44 | All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Him |
| John 5:46 | “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” |
| John 1:45 | “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote” |
| Acts 8:35 | Philip began at Isaiah 53 and “preached Jesus to him” |
| Rom 3:21 | Righteousness apart from the law — yet witnessed by the Law and the Prophets |
9who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
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Before the world had a first day
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| John 8:58 | “Before Abraham was, I AM” |
| Eph 1:4 | He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world |
| 1 Pet 1:20 | Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world, manifest in these last times for you |
| 2 Tim 1:9 | Grace given us in Christ Jesus before time began |
| Titus 1:2 | Eternal life, which God promised before time began |
| Rev 13:8 | The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (some translations attach “from the foundation of the world” to written rather than slain — cf. Rev 17:8) |
Put the four movements end to end and the timeline runs backwards from where most people start. Not: law first, gospel later. But purpose before time, promise before law, prophets before the manger, and Christ the subject of every page in between.
Reading Types Without Overreading
A note before you preach itEverything in this study is a place where Scripture itself makes the identification — Peter says the Spirit of Christ was in the prophets; Paul says the Rock was Christ; Jesus says Moses wrote about Him. That is a different category from a resemblance a preacher notices.
- Stated — the New Testament names the connection. Preach it as fact. (1 Cor 10:4; Heb 11:26; John 8:56; Luke 24:27)
- Foreshadowed — the pattern genuinely points forward and the New Testament develops it, even if not verse-for-verse. Preach it as what the passage foreshadows. (Gen 22 and the substitute ram; Melchizedek in Heb 7)
- Inferred — a resemblance you or a commentator noticed, with no New Testament warrant. Say so out loud, or leave it out.
The test is simple: can you name the verse that makes the link? If yes, it is stated. If the link is a pattern the New Testament picks up, it is foreshadowed. If the only support is that it sounds right, it belongs in the third tier — and a study loses more from one overreach than it gains from ten good observations.
He was not introduced when He arrived — He was recognised.
Luke 24:27 · NKJV