From the moment Adam fell in the garden, God began to announce that One would come Who would crush the serpent's head, undoing the effects of the fall, though His own heel would be bruised. Over the next centuries and millennia, more and more was revealed about this One through the writings of the prophets, including:
- where He would be born (of a virgin),
- what kind of ministry He would conduct (healings, preaching in parables),
- that He would die a substitutionary death on behalf of His people
- that this death would have the characteristics later associated with crucifixion
- that He would rise from the dead and would open a way into heaven for His people.
In the same Scriptures, God revealed more about this One who was coming through the ceremonial law and through events in the life of Israel:
- In the manna, that He would come from heaven, would be pure and would be spiritual nourishment to sustain His people
- In the water from the rock, that He would be the source of living waters (the Holy Spirit) to grant life and grace to His own
- In the brass serpent, that by looking to Him in faith, there would be salvation from sin
- In Jacob's dream of the ladder reaching from heaven to earth, that He would span the chasm caused by sin and angels would minister to mankind on the basis of His work.
- In the temple furnishings, in the sacrifices, in the Passover, He is there and we can learn of Him
Finally, God taught us about Him in the offices of Prophet, Priest and King, and in the lives of people who served Him in the Old Testament: Adam, Moses, Melchizedek, Joseph, Judah and David, to name but a few.
There is much more that could be said in each of these areas, but when they are all added together, the people of God had a clear enough picture of their Messiah, His birth, His life, His death, resurrection, ascension and reign in glory so that they might trust in Him for salvation before He came.
And then, when the fullness of the time came, Jesus of Nazareth was born and He perfectly fulfilled all the types and shadows that the people of God had been given for hundreds and hundreds of years! God kept His promises, even though they were worked out over many many generations (at least 42, according to one account in Scripture.)
Now we come to the Table of the Lord, and we should hear this message as we take the bread and the wine - when the fullness of the time had come, God sent His Son into the world to redeem fallen sinners who would believe on Him. It all happened exactly as He had announced, so we see in the bread and the wine the pinnacle of the outworking of this glorious plan - the broken body and shed blood (the bruised heel) of the Messiah Who indeed crushed Satan's head and set at liberty those who were in bondage to sin and death.
This should fill our hearts with gratitude as we approach the Table - our God is faithful and has provided a way of redemption precisely as He promised!