Something Greater

Did you know the sinking of the Titanic was caused by a mirage?

According to a documentary I watched with Allison and my parents recently, the reason why the Titanic struck an iceberg was because of a mirage. We've all seen mirages as we drive down hot highway roads, and apparently they can happen on a dark sea as well. In the documentary, we learned that the Titanic's lookouts could not see the iceberg because the water reflecting off of the night sky made it invisible.

Thus, the Titanic struck the iceberg and the rest is history. If the men had seen the iceberg, they would have only seen the small top piece. Visibly, an iceberg is small. But although it seems small at first, we know that an iceberg is massive. The "tip of the iceberg," to use the phrase, is only a small indicator of a greater piece of ice.

In the Bible, Jesus is the central figure. We can look at the rest of the story of the Bible as pointing to Jesus. The other players in the Bible are just the "tip of the iceberg" to the glory that is Christ.

Many of the characters and great Bible stories of the Old Testament can be viewed as types. A "type" of Christ is a symbolic person or scene that points forward to a greater truth, to something that is to be fulfilled in Christ.

For example:

• Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt, but comes to a place of authority and ultimately saves his brothers - Jesus is sent to the cross and raised so that he can save his brothers.

• Jonah is swallowed up into the belly of a great fish but ultimately rises to preach and bring about revival to the people of Nineveh. Jesus is swallowed up into the earth in death, but raised from the dead to save his people. 

These are just very brief examples of what it means to be a type. In Luke 24:27, the resurrected Jesus explains that all Moses writings, and the prophets are written about him. In fact, many places in Scripture confirm this great truth: The whole Bible is written about Jesus.

This makes reading the Old Testament a thrill ride! When you can see the sacrificial system in Leviticus as pointing to God's ultimate redemption coming through the blood of Christ on the cross, it makes a mundane book come alive! We can see Jesus in creation, in the law, in Israel's life, David's life, in the Psalms, in the Proverbs, and all the prophets. 

A type helps us to see the greater reality of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God's plan to redeem sinners to himself, and it reveals great and beautiful things about our Savior. Let's read an account of David as a type of Christ. 

In this story, the newly anointed David has been seeking to honor anyone belonging to the deceased King Saul's household:

2 Samuel 9

And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. (ESV)

David's actions here are representative of Christ.

David is not concerned about the fact that Mephibosheth is crippled. His intent is to show him honor. Jesus draws the spiritually crippled, lame, and blind to himself and brings them into his honor and life. 

"Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:2-6 ESV)

What a Savior! Jesus doesn't care about where we are, what we look like, and how we sin. No matter how crippled we are by our sin, his grace can overpower and redeem us! You can become a new creation!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (ESV)

Look at what Mephibosheth says, "What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?" 

David excitedly greets Mephibosheth with an offer. "I will show you kindness...I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always." 

Jesus shows us the ultimate kindness, because by his death on the cross and resurrection, he makes the way for us to be reconciled, to have our relationship to God the Father restored. 

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

Once we have entered by faith into this relationship, we have a seat at God's table in Christ forever. "He ate always at the king's table." This is symbolic of adoption. Ultimately, through faith in Christ we become adopted as sons into God's family. 

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15-17 ESV)

God's love for us is so great. It isn't about how "crippled" we are when he finds us. God's love is about the overwhelming power of His grace to save sinners. 

Do you need to be spiritually healed?

Have you been adopted into God's family? 

Have you trusted Christ?

Isaiah 55:6

“Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near; (ESV)