1 Corinthians 16:13-14 "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love."

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Do you know your Old Testament?

Lately I have been speaking with several Christians who seem to think that the Old Testament (O.T) really doesn't have a practical or important place in today's church. I couldn't disagree more. Without a proper understanding of the O.T. we can not fully understand what happened on the Cross when Jesus died. Do you know the significance of the day that Jesus died on? Do you know why he called the Lamb of God? Do you know of the picture in the O.T. of Jesus dying and coming back to life? You see, in the New Testament (N.T), the book of Jude speaks about knowing the O.T., Jude 4 "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe." You see, here we are told to "remember" those things that happened in the old days because they are an example for us today. If you continue reading in the book of Jude, you read things about Egypt, the fallen angels, Sodom & Gomorrah, Moses, Cain, Balaam and the rebellion of Korah, Enoch and Adam. IF I were to ask you how many of these things you could tell someone else about and explain what happened to them, could you? Could you explain how they point to Jesus Christ? Could you tell someone why God was angry with them and He exercised His righteousness judgement on them? You see, I believe that one of the biggest errors we can have today is not understanding the O.T. in the way the N.T. writers did. They used the O.T. for their scriptures and examples for living, why shouldn't we?

Romans 15:4 "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

You see, by knowing the the O.T. Scriptures, it will help with your hope in the Lord, that we may see what He has done in the past and we know that the Lord never changes so we can count on Him for us today. How is your hope in the Lord? Read about Job and his patience, Abraham and his heart to follow God, David and the years he waited for the promise of his kingship to come to pass. All of these men have something in common, they heard from God and waited for the promise.

2 Corinthians 5:10-11 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences."

1 comment:

Grammy said...

I have known many people who discount, or at least ignore, the OT. And when you discuss some of the moral laws of the OT, people will point out that's the OT, it doesn't matter any more. But Christ clearly said, "I came to fulfill the law, not to destroy it."

Aunt Doris