George H. Warnock — Christology
b1 — The Feast of Tabernacles
Typological Christology — Methodological Framework
Warnock employs a consistent typological framework: the OT feasts are patterns and foreshadowings of NT realities in Christ. He formulates this as a universal scriptural principle:
“Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.” (1 Cor. 15:46)
From this he derives:
“First Adam, then the Last Adam. First the Passover, then the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”
And:
“In a very real sense these Feasts prefigure and typify the whole Church age beginning with the Cross and consummating in the manifestation of the sons of God and the glorious display of God’s power and glory.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 1.
Interpretation: Christology in Warnock is embedded in a typological hermeneutic. The historical Christ is the fulfillment of every OT type; knowledge of the type is the gateway to knowing the antitype.
Christ as the Passover Lamb — Atonement and Substitution
The necessity of blood
“There is positively no acceptance for any man before God except by the shedding of the precious blood of Christ. It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul, and ‘without shedding of blood is no remission.’ (Heb. 9:22).”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 2.
Propitiation
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (Mercy Seat) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Rom. 3:25, 26)
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 2.
Lamb without blemish — sinlessness
The Passover lamb “without blemish” is a type of:
“the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Pet. 1:18, 19)
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 2.
Personal appropriation
“God is eternally satisfied with the work of Calvary’s Cross, and we as God’s [people] beholds this one token: ‘When I see the blood I will pass over you.‘”
And:
“He was the fulfillment of every Passover Lamb which was ever offered in Jewish ceremony; and the Substance having been revealed, the type has passed away.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 2 (on Lk. 22:19).
The completeness of atonement
“That full and complete Atonement was made for the whole human race by Jesus Christ on the Cross, there is no doubt whatsoever.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
The once-for-all sacrifice
“In contrast, we are reminded that Christ was ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners’ and therefore needed not ‘to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s’ (Heb. 7:26, 27). Nor did He offer Himself often, as the high priest offered sacrifices year after year; for the sacrifice of Christ is eternally efficacious, and He offered Himself once-for-all.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
And:
“Christ died once-for-all, and so effectual was His redemptive work that there is ‘no more conscience of sins’ (Heb. 10:2).”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
Priestly Office and Ascension
Warnock develops the high priest typology in detail:
“True picture, indeed, of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and His entrance ‘into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us’ (Heb. 9:24).”
And:
“By his own blood he entered in once (for all) into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Heb. 9:12)
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
Christ is distinguished from Aaron as the forerunner:
“Christ went in as the ‘forerunner’—one who runs on ahead of others who shall follow later. (Heb. 6:20).”
And:
“Christ has entered the Holy of Holies, not just for a few moments, but to abide there forever.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
Resurrection — Christ as Firstfruits
Fulfillment of the type
“It is clear from the New Testament that Christ rose ‘the third day.’ (Matt. 16:21; Lk. 23:54-56; 24:46)… Christ was crucified on the day of the Passover, the sabbath followed the next day, and the Sheaf of Firstfruits was waved before the Lord on the ‘morrow after the sabbath.‘”
“in type it spoke beautifully of ‘Christ, the firstfruits.’ (1 Cor. 15:20, 23).”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 4.
Death as prerequisite for harvest
“Jesus Himself testified, ‘Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.’ (John 12:24). Except He die, there could be no harvest.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 4.
Resurrection as triumph
“Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once…” (Rom. 6:9, 10). He that overcometh according to the Bible enters into the very victory and triumph of Christ—a victory which can never be lost or forfeited.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
Christ as the Last Adam
The two Adam figures
“from the first Adam there came Christ, destined not only to become the Last Adam (the last of Adam, the last of the old race), but the Second Man (the beginning of the second creation).”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 1.
The life-giving Spirit
“the Last Adam (who had now become, by virtue of His death and resurrection, a ‘life-giving Spirit’—1 Cor. 15:45)—so now the Last Adam breathed into the disciples the breath of spiritual life, and they passed experientially from death unto life.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 5 (on John 20:22).
Identification with the Last Adam
“So thorough and real and vital is our identification with the Last Adam, that in all respects—His work, His ministry, His death, His life—we are to become like unto Him.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7 (on 1 Cor. 15:45, 48).
Incarnation
Warnock refers briefly but explicitly to the incarnation as a soteriological fact:
“Israel’s temple was abandoned and left unto them utterly ‘desolate’ because of their disobedience, and a new temple was brought into being by Incarnation.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 14.
And:
“He referred to the Temple which He was, the Temple of His body.” (on John 2:19)
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 14.
Sinlessness of Christ
“Christ was ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners’ and therefore needed not ‘to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s’ (Heb. 7:26, 27).”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
Second Appearing / Return of Christ
Warnock speaks of two “appearings” of Christ:
“the Appearing of Christ in Israel, and to the second Appearing of Christ now at the ends of the ages.”
And:
“this is the day and hour of His Appearing, the hour of His spiritual visitation within His saints. It is the day and hour when Christ shall be ‘formed within’ His people.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 14.
Interpretation: Warnock distinguishes a literal first coming (incarnation) and a “second Appearing” that he frames primarily in pneumatological and ecclesiological terms — Christ becoming visible within His people — rather than as a discrete eschatological end-point event. This is a hermeneutically notable position.
Christus Victor — Victory over Death
“This victory of which we speak is the very victory of Christ Himself… ‘Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.’ (Rom. 6:9, 10). He that overcometh according to the Bible enters into the very victory and triumph of Christ—a victory which can never be lost or forfeited. It is the very victory of Jesus Christ Himself.”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
Head and Body — Christ as the Whole Christ
“Christ is one, but a many-membered Body. This is a great mystery, as Paul tells us, that the Church should be bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh. Christ the Head, therefore, is not complete without Christ the Body.”
And:
“The Son of Man in Heaven is not complete without the fulness of the Son of Man on earth, even the Body, ‘The fulness of him that filleth all in all’ (Eph. 1:23).”
Warnock, The Feast of Tabernacles, ch. 7.
Interpretation: The concept of the “Total Christ” (Head + Body) is a central motif in Warnock. It pushes against the boundaries of classical Christology: Christ is not complete without the Church. [SPANNING with classical two-natures doctrine, which defines the person of Christ independent of the Church]