My church, Discovery Church, has embarked on a year-long over view of the Holy Bible. When I think of my first attempts to follow such a path, I have to admit I got so bogged down in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT that comprise the Hebrew Torah), especially books 3,4, and 5, that I threw in the towel more than once. Luckily a friend suggested I jump over to Matthew and begin my journey there. I’m very grateful for that advice (and I repeat it now when talking with new readers), otherwise I’m not sure I would have completed the journey. They also said I would know when to return to the Old Testament. To give full disclosure here, I couldn’t imagine that ever happening.
That was more than a decade ago. Much to my surprise, I find myself turning to the Old Testament for clarification and for the history of what I’m reading in the New Testament. I have to admit, I actually find it interesting, and at times even thrilling – especially after Deuteronomy. Today I realize that not only does the history shed light on my understanding of the New Testament, but I also grasp the mystery of the prophecies, their purpose, their fulfillment, and the stark contrast between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant as being indispensable for understanding God’s plan for humanity.
THE MYSTERY AND THE HISTORY
The mystery of the prophecies is clearly divulged in 2Peter 1:19-21, “…Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place – until the day Christ appears and his brilliant light shines in your heart. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.” The purpose of the Prophet was obviously to foretell future events, but the common message they shared with the world was, “Repent…turn from your sin and turn to God!” (Ezekiel, 18:30; Hosea, 14:1, Daniel 9:13, etc.)
The first prophecy can be found in Genesis 3:15 when the Lord said to the serpent: “From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This foretells the never-ending conflict between those who choose to follow “your offspring” (satan) and those who choose to follow “her offspring” (Christ). He (meaning Christ) will crush Satan at the cross; you (meaning satan) will cause Christ to suffer.
While the history contained in the Old Testament is in itself a treasure, the prophecies and their fulfillment points to an authenticity that no other book can proclaim. Many of the prophecies about world events were fulfilled before the coming of Jesus Christ, but the messianic prophecies point specifically to His coming as the Savior to the world. The Psalms, the books of Isaiah and Zechariah are quite specific about the birth, life and death of Jesus, and of the two hundred plus prophecies found in the O.T., about half of them were fulfilled by Jesus. As stated in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
THE MYSTERY UNVEILED
God’s plan for humanity is clearly stated in Ephesians 1:4, “Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” This clearly shows that his plan was always to send a Savior to do for us what he knew we could not do for ourselves. Romans 5:6 tells us: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” However, before “just the right time” arrived, God gave man an opportunity to “get himself right” with the issue of sin. At Mt. Sinai, God shared his standard in the form of the Ten Commandments. That presented a problem to the Israelites at that time, and it presents the same problem for us today. And the problem is: it’s contrary to human nature! (Remember, when sin entered the world it was a result of man taking the focus off God and putting it on himself. That’s been “human nature”, living to please ourselves rather than bringing honor and glory to God, ever since the Garden.)
I know many of you reading this are thinking, I have never committed murder; I haven’t stolen anything; I haven’t engaged in adultery. Good. But do you ever covet? Have you ever bore false witness against anyone? Have you always honored your father and mother? Have you taken the Lord’s name in vain? Do you have any idols in your life (money, job, power, prestige, house, boat etc.)? Hummmm The scriptures tell us if we break one of the commandments we are guilty of breaking them all! Ouch!!
The good news for the people in the Old Testament who lived under the Old Covenant, God gave them a means of worship and a means of dealing with the sin issue. That is described in the last part of the book of Exodus, and it is very exacting and very tedious. The only problem with this method was it was not a permanent solution. While the worship required the blood of sacrificial animals, the blood was not for forgiveness of sin, but only to cover sin and provide a relief from guilt. This is spelled out in Leviticus 17:11 when God was speaking to Moses: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (The good news is…there’s a new sacrifice coming that will offer us permanent forgiveness of sins.)
Bear in mind the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus Christ. It is a wealth of knowledge and stories from which we are to reap the benefit. We see people from creation until “just the right time” struggling with the same issues we struggle with today, ie. self-centeredness, pride, fear, anger, jealousy, etc. Under the Old Covenant we see man trying to earn favor with God through his own effort. What we are to learn from these experiences is that our effort, our self-sufficiency, is not sufficient. We will never become holy (sin free) based on our own effort, and according to 1Peter 1:16, “we have to be holy because God is holy” if we want to come into his presence. So the answer to our human dilemma still is, and will continue to be, yielding to the prophet’s call: “Repent! Turn from you sins and turn to God!”
THE GOOD NEWS OF THE NEW COVENANT
I will let Apostle Paul tell us about God’s plan for our deliverance. Romans 3:22-25 says, “We are made right in God’ sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy His anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.” These three verses represent the Gospel of Grace: it’s not about our work, but the work Jesus Christ did on our behalf.
When Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross, that signified the end of the Old Covenant. Jesus’ sacrifice represents a new way for us to be made right in God’s sight, and it is not about our effort, but about our faith and belief in what Jesus Christ did for us. Has God’s standard changed since Mt. Sinai? Absolutely not. But what has changed is how we live the Ten Commandments. Jesus changed the parameters. Under the New Covenant, our charge is 1. To love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind. And 2. To love our neighbor as ourself. If we call on the Holy Spirit – an inheritance to all Christ-followers – to empower us to focus on these two commandments, we will automatically live the other eight, and it will not be a result of our own effort, but because the Holy Spirit is empowering us to be the person God created us to be. We are now His masterpiece! Amen
My question to you is…are you still working to make yourself acceptable to God? How’s it going?
May God Bless ya, and feel free to respond to this posting.
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
hummm.. not sure.