This post is a follow up to the "It's Too Late To Apologize.." post summarizing part 2 of Destination Truth sermon series. Someone messaged me saying " You chart thing mentions 2 things 1. that the only way into heaven is through Jesus and 2. God, therefore as a messenger reveals himself and presumably makes an impression on everyone so as to give them the choice to accept or not accept salvation. Factually however, this is inaccurate as there were people in existence before Jesus,". Inherent in this comment is the question,"What about the people before Jesus? How were they saved?"
Todd Philips, the teaching pastor of Fronline, explains it best "Before Jesus came to earth, since the fall of Adam and Eve, basis of salvation has always been the death of Jesus of the cross. All of time permeates out from the centrality of the cross of Christ. Whether you go back in time, or forward from that point of the cross, everything wraps itself around the reality of the cross. " TAKE A MOMENT TO ENJOY THE VISUAL PICTURE I CRAFTED ABOVE AND SAY 'OOOOO..... AHHHHHH' JK. But seriously, the point is that regardless of the time in history, the fall of Adam and Eve, Noah's ark and the flood, Abraham's covenant with God, the birth of Moses, Esther becoming queen, the birth of Christ, the death of Christ, the invention of the printing press which allowed the bible to be mass produced, my relative Christopher Columbus accidentally finding America, the declaration of independence, the great depression, or present day, salvation was/is via faith in Christ alone. Estimated dates for biblical events can be found here.
And finally, for those of you who want a little more back up to my claims about it always being belief that Jesus is the only way even before He came, see the chart below. For more information please see the whole article where I took the information from.
Todd Philips, the teaching pastor of Fronline, explains it best "Before Jesus came to earth, since the fall of Adam and Eve, basis of salvation has always been the death of Jesus of the cross. All of time permeates out from the centrality of the cross of Christ. Whether you go back in time, or forward from that point of the cross, everything wraps itself around the reality of the cross. " TAKE A MOMENT TO ENJOY THE VISUAL PICTURE I CRAFTED ABOVE AND SAY 'OOOOO..... AHHHHHH' JK. But seriously, the point is that regardless of the time in history, the fall of Adam and Eve, Noah's ark and the flood, Abraham's covenant with God, the birth of Moses, Esther becoming queen, the birth of Christ, the death of Christ, the invention of the printing press which allowed the bible to be mass produced, my relative Christopher Columbus accidentally finding America, the declaration of independence, the great depression, or present day, salvation was/is via faith in Christ alone. Estimated dates for biblical events can be found here.
And finally, for those of you who want a little more back up to my claims about it always being belief that Jesus is the only way even before He came, see the chart below. For more information please see the whole article where I took the information from.
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Enjoyed the post...per usual!
ReplyDelete1 question though - if salvation through Christ was obtainable before He even came, why did individuals in the Old Testament still perform sacrifices? Truly just wondering if Todd touched on that idea at all!
Hey Martha! Unfort Todd didn't touch on that, but I think this will answer your question.
ReplyDeleteAnimal sacrifices were commanded by God so that the individual could experience forgiveness of his sins. The animal served as a substitute--that is, the animal died in place of the sinner. Animal sacrifices have stopped with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrificial substitute and is now the only mediator between God and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5). Animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. The only basis on which an animal sacrifice could provide forgiveness of sins is the fact that Christ would sacrifice Himself for our sins, providing the forgiveness that animal sacrifices could only illustrate and foreshadow.
Does that help?