“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’” – Luke 24:44
Too many Christians wrongly think that the Old Testament is just that —old, outdated, archaic, no longer relevant, and does not apply to them. Some of the devaluation of the Old Testament may be caused by its very title. It was the early church father Origen (185–254) who first coined the phrases Old and New Testaments. Before this designation, the Jews and early Church would have only known what we call the Old Testament as the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, or the Scriptures. Origen’s confusion came from misunderstanding Jeremiah’s use of the Old and New Covenants in Jeremiah 31:31. By “new,” Jeremiah did not mean something detached from the prior works of God but something renewed or fulfilled. Therefore, the New Covenant is the
renewal or fulfillment of the old. The Old and New Testaments are equally inspired by God and important to the Christian life. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Since many of the books of the New Testament had not been written, this Scripture obviously refers in large part to all of the Old Testament.
Likewise, the New Testament is inextricably linked to the Old Testament as its renewed fulfillment. By way of example, God’s people in the Old Testament received saving grace from God in the same way that Christians in the New Testament do, simply by having faith in God’s promises that Jesus would pay the penalty for sin through the cross and empty tomb (Hebrews 11). In an amazing illustration of just how the New Testament is the renewed fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament, Paul says that Abraham believed by faith that his seed (Jesus) would save him—and this is the gospel (or good news) about Jesus Christ that Christians today still trust (Galatians 3:8,14).
Both the Old and New Testaments are about the same God. The opening line of Scripture introduces us to its Hero, God, who is revealed throughout the rest of the pages of Scripture. In the closing line of the New Testament, we are reminded that our hope is in “…the grace of the Lord Jesus…” (Revelation 22:21) Thus, the written Word of God reveals to us the incarnate (“in human flesh”) Word of God, Jesus Christ. Without the written Word, we cannot rightly know the incarnate Word.
The Old and New Testaments are about Jesus Christ —anyone can read the Bible, but only someone who reads it in the Spirit comes to this rightful conclusion. Some prefer the New Testament to the Old Testament because they wrongly believe that only the New Testament is about Jesus. However, Jesus Himself taught that the Old Testament was primarily about Him while arguing with the theologians in his day. In John 5:39-40, Jesus says, “You search the Scriptures [Old Testament] because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” The Bible is not just principles to live by but a Person to live with.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s devotional where we look at how the Old Testament is all about Jesus.
Have you ever found yourself being dismissive of the Old Testament because it does not seem relevant to you?
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