In this opening study of “Unfolding Calvary,” we begin a journey through the Scriptures to watch the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ progressively unfold as the centerpiece of God’s wisdom in redemption. We begin at Calvary itself, where the Son of God was crucified.  We look at the cross.  We look at it again.  We look backward.  We look forward.  And finally, we end with the glory of God's manifold wisdom in Christ crucified.  This opening study is designed to preview what is to come as we observe God progressively unfold His manifold wisdom on the stage of inspired revelation from Genesis to Glory.  Get ready to see Calvary Unfolded and to be exhorted by God's Spirit to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In this second study of “Unfolding Calvary,” we begin our consideration of the first major angle of God’s sevenfold revelation of the cross: Calvary Typified—the Shadow. Before examining specific Old Testament types, we first establish what a biblical type actually is by looking at the Scriptures’ own language of shadows, figures, patterns, and examples. We look at the law, where its sacrifices and ordinances are called “a shadow of good things to come.” We look at the Passover, Israel’s wilderness experiences, and Adam, each of which God designed to point forward to the greater reality revealed in Christ. And as we put these passages together, we discover that biblical types are real, divinely designed, prefigurative, partial, fulfilled, and ultimately Christ-centered. The shadow was never meant to leave us looking at the shadow—it was designed to point us to the substance. And so, as we begin to trace these shadows across the Old Testament, get ready to see Calvary Typified as the light of completed revelation brings the substance of the shadow into view!

In this third study of “Unfolding Calvary,” we begin our consideration of the first substantive shadow under Calvary Typified by examining the coats of skins God provided for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:21. We first trace the entrance of sin, shame, and nakedness through Adam’s disobedience, and then consider man’s immediate attempt to cover his condition with fig leaves—a picture of the insufficiency of human works and religion to deal with sin before the all-seeing God. In contrast, Genesis 3:21 reveals God Himself moving toward guilty man to provide a covering, pointing forward to the greater provision of Calvary, where the innocent Christ died for the guilty. The coats of skins thus typify the righteousness and salvation that God supplies through Christ, reminding us that our own righteousness can never cover our shame or save us from judgment. The shadow points us to the substance: Jesus Christ, who bore our sins, paid sin’s demanded price, and became our righteousness. This is Calvary Typified in the Shadow of the Coats of Skins!

In this fourth study of “Unfolding Calvary,” we continue our consideration of Calvary Typified by turning our attention to one of the clearest and most powerful shadows of Christ’s substitutionary work in all the Old Testament—the offering of Isaac in Genesis 22. We first consider the great trial of Abraham as God requires his beloved, only son of promise, and then observe Abraham’s faith that God was able even to raise Isaac from the dead if necessary to fulfill His own promise. As Abraham and Isaac ascend Mount Moriah, we see a remarkable picture unfold: the father who spares not his beloved son, the son who willingly bears the wood of his own sacrifice and submits himself to the will of his father, and the ram caught in the thicket and offered in the son’s stead—a striking picture of the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Abraham’s declaration that “God will provide himself a lamb” points forward to the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world, and Jehovah-jireh testifies that God Himself would provide the sacrifice necessary for sinners. The shadow points us to the substance: Jesus Christ, the beloved and only begotten Son, who was delivered over to death, bore the cross, submitted Himself unto death, and died in the place of the guilty. This is Calvary Typified in the Shadow of the Offering of Isaac!

In this fifth study of “Unfolding Calvary,” we continue our consideration of Calvary Typified by turning our attention to the Passover in Exodus 12. As the LORD prepares to judge Egypt and deliver Israel from the death of the firstborn, we see that the difference between Israel and Egypt was not their righteousness, but the blood of the Passover lamb. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” reveals the great principle of substitution: the firstborn was spared because a lamb had died in his place. The lamb was to be without blemish, carefully examined before being sacrificed, pointing forward to Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God, who was found without fault and gave Himself at Calvary. Its blood was applied to the doorposts, and the lamb was roasted with fire, pointing to the judgment borne by Christ as He became our substitute. And Paul gives us the inspired interpretation when he declares, “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” The shadow points us to the substance: Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb who shed His blood for our deliverance and bore the judgment of God in our place. This is Calvary Typified in the Shadow of the Passover!

In this sixth study of “Unfolding Calvary,” we continue our consideration of Calvary Typified by turning our attention to the serpent in the wilderness in Numbers 21. Because of Israel’s sin and murmuring, fiery serpents brought the sting of judgment and death, but when they acknowledged their sin, the LORD provided a remedy in the brazen serpent lifted up upon a pole. “Look and live!” is the message, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself tells us this was a picture of His own death: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” The serpent, though fashioned in the likeness of that which brought death, had no venom in it, picturing Christ who was without sin yet was made in the likeness of men and lifted up on Calvary to bear our judgment. And just as the bitten Israelite had only to look in faith and live, the sinner today is saved by believing the gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. This is Calvary Typified in the Shadow of the Serpent in the Wilderness!

In this seventh study of “Unfolding Calvary,” we move from Calvary Typified to Calvary Prophesied, turning our attention from The Shadow to The Scripture. From God’s first promise in Genesis 3:15 to the many prophecies fulfilled at Calvary, the Scriptures foretold the sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Christ Himself declared, the things written in the law, the prophets, and the psalms concerning Him “must be fulfilled,” and Paul likewise declares that Christ “died for our sins according to the scriptures” and “rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” The betrayal, crucifixion, piercing, and burial of Christ all demonstrate that Calvary was not an unexpected event, but the fulfillment of God’s prophetic Word. This is Calvary Prophesied in The Scripture—As It Is Written!