The Relationship between Biblical Vision and Christ

 

The Relationship between Biblical Vision and Christ

Isaiah 6:1 “I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the train of His robe filled the temple.”
Isaiah 6:5 “Woe is me, for I am undone… for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Daniel 10:5–6 “A man clothed in linen, girded with a belt of fine gold… His face like lightning, His eyes like torches of fire, His arms and feet like burnished bronze, and the sound of His words like the voice of a multitude.” 

Era	Person	Cause	Meaning	Purpose	Example	Application	Relationship to Christ	Related Scripture
Patriarchal Era	Abraham	God's call and promise	Establishing covenant relationship	Selection and promise of descendants	Saw smoking furnace and burning torch passing through sacrifices	Faithful obedience and assurance of God's covenant	Prefigures Christ as Abraham's descendant, mediator of God's covenant with humanity	Gen 15:17-18
	Jacob	Fleeing from brother Esau	Assurance of God's presence	Comfort and promise of protection	Dreamed of ladder with angels ascending and descending	Looking to God's presence in difficulties	Christ is the ladder connecting heaven and earth, mediator between God and humanity	Gen 28:10-17
	Jacob	After wrestling with God	Life transformation	Change of name and identity	Saw God face to face yet his life was preserved	Intimate relationship with God brings transformation	Prefigures complete life transformation through encounter with Christ	Gen 32:24-30
Exodus Era	Moses	Shepherding at Mount Horeb	Called to deliver Israel	Commissioning deliverer and covenant	Saw burning bush unconsumed, God's self-revelation	Responding to God's call, accepting difficult mission	Prefigures Christ as true deliverer, God's revelation dwelling among humanity	Exod 3:1-4:17
	Moses	Receiving law at Mount Sinai	Establishing theocratic kingdom	Giving law and tabernacle pattern	Saw God's glory, spoke face to face with God	Obeying God's instructions, establishing worship system	Prefigures Christ as mediator of new covenant, fulfiller of the law	Exod 19:16-25, 24:9-18
	Moses	After interceding for the people	God's mercy and presence	Reaffirming promise of God's presence	Asked to see God's glory, God's goodness passed before him	Interceding for people, experiencing God's mercy	Prefigures Christ as perfect mediator, interceding for people	Exod 33:12-34:35
	Moses	Before end of life	Prophecy and blessing	Preparing Israel for future	Viewed Promised Land from Mount Pisgah	Faithful to the end, leaving blessing for generations	Prefigures Christ leading us into heavenly promised land	Deut 34:1-12
Judges Era	Gideon	Israel oppressed by Midianites	God's selection and equipping	Raising up deliverer	Saw angel sitting under oak tree, fire from rock	God uses weak people to accomplish great things	Prefigures Christ choosing weak people to accomplish great salvation	Judg 6:11-24
	Manoah and wife	Childless	God's promise and plan	Announcing Samson's birth and mission	Angel appeared announcing Samson's birth	God's timing and plan exceed human understanding	Prefigures Christ's miraculous birth, God's predetermined salvation plan	Judg 13:2-23
Kingdom Era	Samuel	Serving as child in temple	God's word revelation	Establishing prophetic office	Heard God's voice calling in the night	Cultivating relationship with God from youth	Prefigures Christ as complete revelation of God's word	1 Sam 3:1-18
	Elijah	Spiritual low at Mount Horeb	God's comfort and re-equipping	Restoring faith and mission	Met God in gentle whisper	Seeking God's presence in difficulties	Prefigures Christ's comfort and support in our weakness	1 Kings 19:9-18
	Elisha	When Elijah was taken up	Receiving double portion of spirit	Succeeding in prophetic office	Saw Elijah taken up by whirlwind in chariot of fire	Faithful following, receiving spiritual inheritance	Prefigures Christ's ascension and power of Holy Spirit's coming	2 Kings 2:9-15
	Elisha	Aramean army besieging Dothan	Revealing God's protection	Strengthening servant's faith	Saw mountain full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding	Spiritual vision seeing God's presence and protection	Prefigures Christ as our protector and victorious commander	2 Kings 6:8-23
	Isaiah	Year of King Uzziah's death	Called as prophet	Cleansing and commissioning	Saw Lord seated on high throne, seraphim touched lips with coal	Recognizing God's holiness and own unworthiness	Directly prefigures Christ's glory and His work of cleansing sinners	Isa 6:1-13
	Jeremiah	God's predetermined selection	Becoming prophet to nations	Conveying message of judgment and hope	Saw almond branch and boiling pot	Faithfully conveying God's word despite difficulties	Prefigures Christ as faithful witness, proclaiming God's judgment and salvation	Jer 1:11-19
Exile Era	Ezekiel	By Kebar River in exile	Revealing God's glory in despair	Comforting exiled people	Saw four living creatures, throne and God's glory	God still reigns even in adversity	Prefigures Christ's glory and His presence in suffering	Ezek 1:1-28
	Daniel	In Babylonian court	Historical prophecy and God's sovereignty	Revealing God's plan for nations	Saw great statue and four beasts, Son of Man receiving authority	God's sovereignty in history and ultimate victory	Directly prophesies Christ as Son of Man, establishing eternal kingdom	Dan 2:1-49, 7:1-28
Return Era	Zechariah	During temple rebuilding	Encouragement and hope	Motivating people to complete rebuilding	Saw golden lampstand, flying scroll, four horses, etc.	God's Spirit accomplishes God's work	Multiple prefigurations: Christ as High Priest, King, Branch	Zech 1-6
New Testament Era	Mary	Virgin conception	Announcement of incarnation	Unfolding salvation plan	Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary	Obeying God's will even without understanding	Direct announcement of Christ's incarnation	Luke 1:26-38
	Joseph	Confusion over Mary's pregnancy	Comfort and guidance	Protecting holy child and Mary	Saw angel in dream explaining Mary's pregnancy	Faith accepting God's wondrous work	Direct confirmation and protection of Christ's birth	Matt 1:18-25
	Shepherds	Jesus' birth	Announcement of Savior's birth	Revealing salvation to humble people	Angel proclaimed good news, heavenly host praised God	God chooses humble people as witnesses	Direct announcement of Christ's birth and Savior identity	Luke 2:8-20
	Simeon	Holy Spirit's revelation	Confirming Messiah	Witnessing salvation's arrival	Spirit revealed he would see Christ before death	Waiting and recognizing God's promise	Directly recognized baby Jesus as Christ	Luke 2:25-35
	John	Baptizing Jesus	Confirming Messiah's identity	Publicly declaring Jesus' identity	Saw Spirit descending like dove on Jesus	Mission of witnessing for Christ	Directly confirming Jesus Christ's Messianic identity	Matt 3:13-17
	Peter, James, John	On Mount of Transfiguration	Revealing Jesus' divinity	Strengthening disciples' faith	Saw Jesus transfigured, Moses and Elijah appeared	Receiving heavenly encouragement before difficulties	Directly revealing Christ's divine glory and transcendence	Matt 17:1-9
	Paul	Going to Damascus persecuting Christians	Complete life transformation	From persecutor to apostle	Saw great light, heard Jesus' voice	God can completely transform a person	Directly encountered risen Christ, life transformed	Acts 9:1-19
	Cornelius	God-fearing Gentile	Salvation coming to Gentiles	Opening Gentile mission	Saw angel instructing to find Peter	God's salvation knows no racial boundaries	Prefigures universality of Christ's salvation, Gentiles sharing promise	Acts 10:1-8
	Peter	Prejudice against Gentiles	Revealing gospel's universality	Accepting Gentile believers	Saw all kinds of four-footed animals descending from heaven	Breaking traditional boundaries to accept God's work	Revealing Christ's salvation transcending racial boundaries	Acts 10:9-16
	John	On island of Patmos	Revealing end times and Christ's victory	Comforting persecuted church	Saw Son of Man walking among seven lampstands	Maintaining hope and faithfulness in persecution	Direct revelation of glorified Christ and His ultimate victory	Rev 1:9-20

Classification of Relationship to Christ

Typological Relationships (Old Testament Visions)

1.      Redemptive Types - Moses' burning bush, Abraham's covenant, etc., prefigure Christ's salvation work

2.      Mediatorial Types - Jacob's ladder, Moses' intercession, etc., prefigure Christ's mediatorial office between God and humanity

3.      Royal Types - Daniel's Son of Man vision, directly prophesying Christ's eternal kingdom

4.      Prophetic Types - Various prophetic calling visions, prefigure Christ as complete revelation of God's word

Direct Relationships (New Testament Visions)

1.      Incarnation - Angelic announcements to Mary and Joseph, directly concerning Christ's coming to world

2.      Identity Confirmation - Baptism, Transfiguration visions, etc., confirming Christ's divinity and Messianic identity

3.      Resurrection Appearances - Paul's Damascus road experience, encountering risen Christ

4.      Eschatological Revelation - John's Patmos vision, revealing glorified Christ and His ultimate victory

Christological Unity

From the visions throughout the Bible, all visions point to Christ:

• Old Testament Visions: Point to Christ through types and symbols
• New Testament Visions: Directly reveal Christ's person and work
• Eschatological Visions: Reveal Christ's ultimate victory and glory

Common Characteristics of Vision Generation

Types of Causes

1.      Call and Selection - God actively choosing specific individuals for missions

2.      Crisis and Adversity - Divine intervention in national or personal crises

3.      Turning Points - Sacred revelation at important historical moments

4.      Spiritual Need - God's response in spiritual low points or seeking

Purpose Categories

1.      Revealing God's Plan - Showing God's work in history

2.      Comfort and Encouragement - Giving hope and strength in difficulties

3.      Call and Commission - Equipping God's servants for missions

4.      Warning and Judgment - Reminding of repentance or declaring God's judgment

5.      Confirmation and Validation - Confirming God's promises or identity

Application Principles

1.      Faith Response - Accepting and obeying God's revelation with faith

2.      Life Transformation - Allowing visions to bring life change

3.      Faithful Transmission - Faithfully proclaiming God's entrusted message

4.      Patient Waiting - Trusting God's timing and plan

5.      Community Witness - Sharing God's work with faith community

Historical Development Context

l   Patriarchal Era: Focused on God's covenant with chosen people

l   Exodus Era: Concentrated on God's salvation, covenant establishment and law giving Other

l   Old Testament Eras: Visions focused on God's covenant with chosen people, salvation and judgment

l   New Testament Era: Visions focus on salvation's accomplishment, church establishment and eschatological hope

Visions in the Bible are not merely supernatural experiences, but important means of God's communication with humanity, guiding God's people in different eras to know and obey God's will.

 

*Please refer to the June 2025 Summer Training, General Topic: Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (Part 3), Chapter 9: The Vision, Experience, Enjoyment, and Expression of the Supreme Treasure of Christ for the Genuine Church Life

與基督的關係與基督的關係