‘Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!'” ‘ Matt. 3:1-3

We’ve covered three of the most often quoted or alluded to Old Testament passages in the New Testament.

They’ve dealt with 1) the Lord Jesus Christ sitting at the power position at the right hand of God in heaven (Ps. 110:1). 2) The Lord Jesus Christ sitting on His throne in Heaven (Isa. 6:1; Ezek. 1:26-28 are two examples). Hey, you mean Jesus is said to be at the right hand of God enthroned in heaven and sitting on the throne in heaven too? Yup, that’s what the scripture says. (Check out Revelation 7:10-17) 3) Loving your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18) which James calls the “royal law” (James 2:8). Number four most often quoted on our divine list is Psalm 2:7, “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee.’ ” (NAS) Most adherents of Bible study will count about ten references of this Old Testament passage in the New Testament. How they get there is by counting the Gospel accounts where The LORD says “This is My beloved son” (Matt. 3:17, 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35) or “You are my beloved son” (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22) or where Nathaniel says to Jesus, “you are the son of God” (John 1:49). The other three references in the New Testament (Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5, 5:5) are indeed more telling in their context for they point to the time this prophetic statement was actually fulfilled. Comprehending this prophecy points our understanding to the proper exalted position that Jesus Christ now holds. Is this important? Well, so important that the Holy Spirit impelled the apostle Paul to write in the New Testament letters the importance of the truer spiritual grasp of all things. “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9)  And the inspired reminder through the letter to the Ephesian brethren, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.” (Eph 1:18-21)  Later in the context of both these letters, the brethren were reminded that they too had been raised and seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1) As the plan of the LORD was moving forward towards the destroying and removal of all the physical remnants of the obsolete old covenant system (Heb. 8:13), seizing the spiritual would be the only means by which the people of God could persevere and propagate the Gospel. The seat in heaven at the throne of God is not only the power position for our Christ, but also for His people!  Amen.