From Defeated Ruler to Conquering King

Scripture Reading: Micah 5:1-15, Psalm 72:1-11, Luke 1:26-33

The weight of the gospel sunk deep into my bones when I started looking for Jesus on every page of His Word. Sure, He’s in the Gospels. Paul mentions Jesus often in his letters too. I even knew Jesus got the occasional Old Testament shout out in places like Isaiah chapter 9: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…” (v. 6).

But as God graciously grew my understanding of His Word, He also helped me see that the gospel is the thread stitching the entire Bible together. Jesus weaves in and out of every book. He is the point of every chapter and verse.

Suddenly, I saw Jesus at creation when the Godhead declared, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26, emphasis mine).  

I recognized Him at the first Passover (Exodus 12). As the Israelites sprinkled their doorposts with the blood of a spotless lamb, they were acting out the gospel. When the angel of death passed over God’s people because of the blood of that lamb, God was shooting up a beacon of hope throughout history. Jesus’ blood would soon save us from death’s wrath in much the same way. Our sin would be passed over because of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.

As I read about the scarlet cord Rahab the prostitute threw from her window as a sign of deliverance (Joshua 2), I saw the gospel thread there too. For I am a sinner who deserves destruction, yet Christ’s blood is the symbol that I shall be delivered from my enemies and some day live at peace with God’s people in the promised land. Here, in Micah 5, we find a prophet picking up the needle and threading it with the gospel story once again.

We’ve seen enough kids’ Christmas programs to recognize the significance of Bethlehem. It is the spot on the map where Christ was born in a stable “for there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). We’ve probably also seen Jesus painted as a shepherd in a Sunday school classroom or two. There are enough dots here for us to connect and realize that Micah is prophesying about Jesus. But let’s look at Micah’s words again, searching for every fray of that gospel thread. Don’t race past this. The implications are too wonderful:

“But you, O Bethlehem… from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days… and he shall be their peace.”
– Micah 5:2, 5

Jesus was always at work to come and rescue us, from the moment He poured the foundations of the earth. Way back in the ancient of days, He was already riding toward us with redemption on His mind. Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of man was always Plan A. No Plan B is necessary.

When I worry my sin might make the gospel give way, when I secretly fear I’m the one sinner whose brokenness grace isn’t big enough to cover, I can open God’s Word and trace the gospel thread back to the start. There I find Jesus, the Hero throughout the ages, who always had a plan to win me back, and I see that hope was always on the way. We were never for one nanosecond without the promise of it.

Erin Davis is an author, blogger, and speaker who loves to see women of all ages run to the deep well of God’s Word. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest.