Lord’s Day 7
Q19. From where do you know this?
From the holy gospel, which God himself first revealed in Paradise. Later, he had it proclaimed by the patriarchs and prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law. Finally, he had it fulfilled through his only-begotten Son.
Scripture Proofs — King James Version
Genesis 3:15
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Genesis 12:3
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 22:18
“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
Genesis 49:10
“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
Isaiah 53
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”
Jeremiah 23:5–6
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Micah 7:18–20
“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.”
Acts 10:43
“To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
Hebrews 1:1–2
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”
Hebrews 10:1, 7
“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. … Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”
Romans 10:4
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Galatians 4:4–5
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
Colossians 2:17
“Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Commentary — Zacharias Ursinus (1616)
This question corresponds with the third question of the Catechism, where it is asked: "Whence knowest thou thy misery?" Out of the law of God. So it is here asked: "Whence knowest thou thy deliverance? Out of the gospel." Having, therefore, spoken of the Mediator, we must now speak of the doctrine which reveals, describes, and offers him unto us — which doctrine is the Gospel. After having spoken of the gospel, we must in the next place, speak of the way in which we are made partakers of the Mediator, and his benefits — which is by faith. First, then, we must speak of the gospel, which is, with great propriety, made to follow the doctrine of the Mediator, and the covenant, 1. Because the Mediator is the subject of the gospel, which teaches who and what kind of a Mediator he is.
2. Because he is the author of the gospel. It is a part of the office of the Mediator to reveal the gospel, as it is said: "The only begotten which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (John 1:18.) 3. Because the gospel is a part of the covenant; and is often taken for the new covenant.
The principal questions to be discussed, in relation to the gospel, are the following: