Some Christophanies of Jesus Christ
shared with you by
Kraig J. Rice
www.breadonthewaters.com
Some Christophanies of Jesus Christ
shared with you by
Kraig J. Rice
www.breadonthewaters.com
Approaching God on your knees |
The Eternality of Jesus Christ means that Christ is eternal- He does not have a beginning
or an ending. Certain names and titles prove His deity because only God is eternal. Jesus Christ existed in
times past, He exists now, and He will always exist in the future. That means that Jesus
Christ was pre-existent. The definition of pre-existence means that He existed before
His birth. One evidence for Christ's pre-existence is proved by His Christophanies.
But before we study His Christophanies, let's take a look at a few other scriptures that
help prove His deity:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"
"Jesus answered, "The truth is, I existed before Abraham was even born!"
"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him"
(John 1:1).
(John 8:58).
(Colossians 1:15-16).
God will give us the victory |
What is a Christophany? A Christophany is just a fancy religious word that refers to
the appearance of Jesus Christ in bodily form in the Old Testament times. Why is
studying this important? Because it is part of the proof of Christ's deity. Also
it shows that He is not just a transcendent God but an imminent God. He is actively
involved in His creation. What does that mean to you and me? It means that He is always
near to help us when we get into trouble just like He helped His saved people in Old
Testament times. Remember, Who He is. He is God the Son. In other words,
the Christophanies of Jesus Christ prove that He is eternal- and only God is
eternal. Jesus Christ was called the Angel of the Lord before He came in His incarnation
(when He was born as a baby). Let's take a look at a few Christophanies of Jesus Christ in
the bible:
Remember what the Lord of Armies (Hosts) did in Old Testament days:
"The Angel of The Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was
the spring that is beside the road to Shur- she gave this name to The Lord Who spoke to her:
"You are The God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen The One who
sees me"
"But The Angel of The Lord called out to him from heaven,
"Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy,"
He said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have
not withheld from Me your son, your only son"
"There The Angel of The Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within
a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought,
"I will go over and see this strange sight- why the bush does not burn up."
When The Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush,
"Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground." Then He said, "I Am The God of your
father, The God of Abraham, The God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."
At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God"
"Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered
them into the hand of Midian for seven years,
and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the
children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds
which are in the mountains.
So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites
and the people of the East would come up against them.
Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far
as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.
For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as
numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they
would enter the land to destroy it.
So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children
of Israel cried out to the Lord.
And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because
of the Midianites,
that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, "Thus
says the Lord God of Israel:
"I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage;
and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of
all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land."
Also I said to you, "I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you dwell." "But you have not obeyed My voice."
Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in
Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed
wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him,
"The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!"
Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this
happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about,
saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has
forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."
Then the Lord turned to him and said,
"Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"
So he said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the
weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
And the Lord said to him,
"Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man."
Then he said to Him, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a
sign that it is You who talk with me.
Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my
offering and set it before You." And He said,
"I will wait until you come back."
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah
of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he
brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him,
"Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth."
And he did so. Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand,
and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock
and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord
departed out of his sight.
Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, "Alas,
O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face."
Then the Lord said to him,
"Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die..."
"Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord
delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose
name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children.
And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her,
"Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive
and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink,
and not to eat anything unclean.
For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon
his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he
shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me,
and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very
awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.
And He said to me, Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink
no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be
a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, and said, "O my Lord, please let the Man of
God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the
child who will be born."
And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the
woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.
Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, "Look,
the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!"
So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to
Him, "Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?" And He said,
The Angel of The Lord came back a second time and touched him and said,
"Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you."
So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and
forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave
and spent the night. And The Word of The Lord came to him:
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Was the Angel of The Lord also the Holy Rock mentioned by the apostle Paul?
So, Who was the Rock (the Rock of Ages)?
"As Joshua approached the city of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man
facing him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and asked,
"Are you friend or foe?"
"Neither one," He replied. "I AM Commander of the LORD's Army."
At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. "I am at your
command," Joshua said. "What do you want your servant to do?"
The Commander of the LORD's Army replied,
"Take off your sandals, for this is holy ground."
And Joshua did as he was told"
(Joshua 5:13-15).
Remember the outcome of this war. The Israelites with the help of God went into the
Promised Land and had complete victory rather than annihilation. It was because the
Lord went before them as their military leader.
(Genesis 16:7,13).
(Genesis 22:11-12).
(Exodus 3:2-6).
(Judges 6:1-23). MKJV (Modern King James Version)
"I AM."
Manoah said, "Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy's rule
of life, and his work?" So the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah,
"Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.
She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine
or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe."
Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, "Please let us detain You, and
we will prepare a young goat for You." And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah,
"Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering,
you must offer it to the Lord."
(For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the Lord.)
Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, "What is Your name, that when
Your words come to pass we may honor You?"
And the Angel of the Lord said to him,
"Why do you ask My name, seeing it is Wonderful?"
So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon
the rock to the Lord. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife
looked on- it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar- the Angel of
the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw
this, they fell on their faces to the ground.
When the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then
Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord.
And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!..."
(Judges 13:1-22). MKJV
(1 Kings 19:7-9).
"For it is my desire, my brothers, that you may keep in mind how all our fathers
were under the cloud, and they all went through the sea;
And they all had baptism from Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
And they all took the same holy food and the same holy drink: for they all took of the
water from the Holy Rock which came after them: and that Rock was Christ"
(1 Corinthians 10:1-4). (Modern English Translation)
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