Looking Forward To The Cross For Salvation?

Ever hear people say something like this: "Just like we look back to the cross for our salvation, people in the Old Testament looked forward to the cross for their salvation."  Do you ever get a verse to back up this claim?  Almost always, you don't.  Why is that?  I think our doctrine sometimes gets cloudy in the murk of traditional clichés and robotic statements.  For example, many that believe that water baptism is for the church, the Body of Christ, often will say that after salvations, you must follow the Lord in believer's baptism (a phrase never found in the Bible, by the way).  What is this insinuating?  Well, it would mean that the Lord is the pattern - that the Lord was lost, got saved, and then was baptized as a public profession of His faith.  This is prime example of just regurgitating what we've heard but never stopping to think about what we are saying.

Did people look forward to the cross in the so-called Old Testament?  I think the Scriptures would help us understand this issue.

People often will quote Galatians where it says that the gospel was preached unto Abraham.  Therefore, just like when they read the word "baptism" and automatically think of water, they read the word "gospel" and automatically think of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  In fact, Galatians says what the gospel was that Abraham heard.  Galatians 3:8 says that the gospel was preached unto Abraham saying, "In thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed."  Gospel means "good news" - that's all it means.  Therefore, the gospel or good news that Abraham heard and believed was that through him (Israel), the entire world would be blessed.  The Bible says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.  Nowhere is it said that Abraham trusted the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for his salvation.

Let's skip ahead to Luke.  Yes, Luke still stands doctrinally under the Old Testament (the Law of Moses).  In Luke 18, Jesus reveals that He is going to have to go the cross and die.  What is the disciple's response?  They didn't believe it!  In fact, Peter rebukes the Lord and tells Him that He is not going to go to the cross.  Now, how could they have been preaching the same gospel if they didn't even believe it?!  Furthermore, after the resurrection, they still didn't believe it.  They wanted proof!  Remember Thomas?!  Even Paul said in I Corinthians that the death of Christ was kept hidden, even from Satan.

Now, some will argue, "but what about the references to the death of Christ (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53) and the resurrection (Psalm 16)?"  Well, first the references to the death of Christ are only that.  We see Isaiah speaking directly about Jews and how this death will relate to them.  Verse 10 tells us the reason - that God was going to accept this as the sin offering for HIS PEOPLE.  Secondly, Peter in Acts 2 explains Psalm 16.  He says the reason for the resurrection has nothing to do with anybody salvation but has everything to do with somebody sitting on a throne in a kingdom.  We do not get any word of the efficacy of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ until Paul reveals it for us and calls it "my Gospel" (Romans 16:25).  This gospel is named, The Gospel of the Grace of God.

There is just not one shred of evidence to support the idea that people were looking forward to the cross for their salvation.  In fact, if they were, by keep making the animal sacrifices for sin?  Why not just rest in the finished work of Christ?