Chapter 9
A Preview of the Promised Savior

1.	Although God made a number of promises to Abraham, why do we speak of “the promise”?
Because the Bible treats all of the promises that God made to Abraham as one.  All of them gain their purpose and their certainty from the greatest promise – “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”

2.	According to the Bible, how was Abraham saved?
Abraham was saved by faith in God’s promise of the Savior.

3.	Why do we believe that we are saved the same way Abraham was?
Because for us too, it is by faith.   Abraham was not saved by what he did or because he followed God’s commands, but rather because of his faith in the coming Savior.  So too, we are not saved by what we do, but rather in the Savior who has come and paid the penalty of our sin for us.
Faith is only as good as that in which it is placed.  When our faith is placed in Jesus Christ, it is placed on the solid rock of our salvation.

4.	What problem confronted Abraham’s descendants during the many years they waited for Christ to come to earth?
In regard to the promise that God had given Abraham, they had very little specific information about the coming Messiah.

5.	How did God solve that problem for them and for us?
Over the centuries, God supplied further information to fill in the picture.  
The author used this example: “God put together a mosaic of the coming Savior, one prophecy at a time.  When all these prophecies were put together to form a complete picture, God’s people would be able to recognize their Savior-King when he came.”

6.	What were some of the Messiah’s “fingerprints” that would help God’s people identify the Savior?
-	God told them about the Messiah’s person – that he would be a human being but also true God
-	God told them about the work the Messiah would do
-	God told them about the attitude the Messiah would have toward his work
-	God told them about the results the Messiah’s work would have
The Messiah’s person
1.	Which two natures did God predict would be joined in the promised Messiah?
He predicted that Jesus would be true God and true man

2.	Why was it necessary for the world’s Savior to be a human being? (2 answers)
a.	In order to meet the demands of God’s holy law
b.	In order to suffer the curse that God’s holy law announced

3.	List several Old Testament prophecies that made it clear that the promised Messiah would be a human being.
-	Genesis 3:15 – “her offspring…will crush your head” (He would be a male child born of a human mother)
-	Genesis 12:2,3 – “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (He would be a descendant of Abraham, a Jewish person)
-	Isaiah 7:14 – “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son” (He would be born of a woman)

4.	Are you surprised at the list of Jesus’ ancestors in Matthew chapter 1? Why or why not?
If we are surprised, what might surprise us is who the Lord used.  They weren’t the most popular; the most influential; the people with the cleanest record.  No, we see Judah who had an affair with Tamar.  We see a mother in Rahab who was a Gentile and former prostitute.   The Lord brought about his promise in spite of his people.

5.	Why do you think God chose to record the names of this family tree in the Bible?
To provide positive evidence that the prophecies of the Messiah were all fulfilled and to show that Jesus is a real human being

6.	Why is this genealogy appropriate for the Savior-King?
The idea behind this question lies in the word Savior.  Those who came before him, those who the Lord used in the line of Christ to bring about the promised Savior, desperately needed a Savior because of their sin and guilt.
Likewise, it is appropriate because this lineage traces itself back to the kingly bloodline of David.  He is a King, in every sense of the word.

7.	Why was it necessary for the world’s Savior to be God?
Because the work of defeating Satan and freeing us from his power is only work that God can do.
o	Only as true God could he fulfill the demands of God’s law
o	Only as true God could his death in the place of all sinners count as their death
8.	List several Old Testament prophecies which declare that the Messiah would truly be God.
-	Isaiah 9:6,7 – “To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, …Prince of Peace… He will reign on David’s throne…forever.”
-	Hebrews 1:8, “But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom,’” tells us that Psalm 45 is talking about Jesus when it says, “Your throne, O God…”

9.	Which American church bodies deny that Jesus is God? Which world religions do the same?
-	Jehovah Witnesses
-	Mormon
-	Christian Science
-	Scientology
-	Satanism
-	Atheism
-	Judaism
-	(Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confusionism)

Messiah’s Work
1.	In the Old Testament, what was the work God gave the kings of his people to do?
Thinking back to chapter 7, we see that the king was to shepherd God’s people both physically and spiritually.  They were to rule, not with military force but by loyalty to God and therefore be a role model by leading a godly life.  They were to protect and provide for the people.

2.	What unusual kind of king did the Old Testament prophets predict the Messiah would be?
That he would come as a servant

3.	Why did God want his people to know this, besides helping them to identify him?
Because he wanted them to know how he felt about them.  

4.	As Christ clearly foresaw the nightmare of suffering that lay ahead of him, what was his attitude?
His attitude was one of willing obedience

5.	In which two ways did Christ become our substitute?
a.	He gave God the perfect obedience you and I have withheld from him
b.	He accepted in his own body God’s punishment for our disobedience

6.	Explain the terms active obedience and passive obedience.
a.	Active obedience refers to Christ actively fulfilling the law in our place.  This is Jesus doing what we have not done.
b.	Passive obedience refers to Christ taking death as the suffering of punishment onto himself in the place of those who deserved death.  This is Jesus undoing what we have done.

7.	What difference does this teaching make for your life today? 
It makes all the difference in the world.  In reality, we can’t even begin to touch all the aspects it affects in our daily life, but consider these few:
-	It means I walk daily in the rain shower of God’s forgiveness which Christ won for me on the cross
-	It means that daily as I live, God sees me as the holy, perfect person he demands
-	It means I need not try to keep the law in order to satisfy God’s demands, they have already been kept for me.  Now I can try to keep the law in order to serve my Lord who has done everything for me.  The burden is lifted.

8.	What difference will it make for you on judgment day?
This, of course, is closely connected to the previous question.  But Christ’s active and passive obedience assures me that I need not fear punishment on judgment day.  It assures me that through Jesus I will hear, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance…”

9.	In what way does all of the Old Testament point to Christ?
Because God never dealt with his people apart from Christ.  
-	The calling Adam and Eve to repentance and promising them a deliverer revolved around Christ.
-	The promises to Abraham and his descendants revolve around Christ.
-	The way in which God dealt with his rebellious people revolved around Christ.  
10.	Agree or disagree: The age of miracles is past.
Disagree:  God, in his own way still continues to work miracles.  The greatest miracle he continues to do is taking stubborn, dead hearts and creating the life of faith within people by means of his Holy Word.

11.	List a couple miracles you have experienced since you woke up this morning.
a.	We’re still a believer
b.	God has not rejected us but still wants to be and is our God

12.	If Christ walked the streets of your city today, as he once walked the streets of Nazareth and Jerusalem, could you pick him out of a crowd? Explain.
Yes, on the basis of the descriptions of Scripture we could.  We have the blessings of seeing who he is, what he does, what we are to look for, his identifying characteristics.

No, in the sense that if he were walking down our streets as he did in Nazareth, there wasn’t a halo over his head but he looked like an ordinary man because he was true man.  While on earth he did not make full use of his divine glory, so he did not stand out in a way that would make him jump out of a crowd.  Instead, what we would need to do is listen to him, watch him, and take his actions and his words to the words of Scripture to see if he matches up with the prophecies.