Thursday, October 22, 2009

What of the Old Testament, then?

“I have made the argument that the law has no bearing on the life of the believer. But the Old Testament is a treasure that shouldn’t be disregarded. In the Old Testament, we find out how the universe came into existence. We read of the fall of the human race. We learn why there’s so much evil in the world. We experience the history of God’s interactions with his people. We see his faithfulness despite their faithlessness. We see God’s prophets at work and God’s mercy on display. We learn about what God calls wisdom and how it differs from humans’ sense of the same. We discover early indications of the coming Messiah, and we understand more fully how Jesus fulfilled prophecy.

“The Old Testament offers us something we can’t get from the New. It provides a thorough background in how God initiated a relationship with humankind and how we did whatever we could to ruin this relationship...

“To disregard the Old Testament is like covering up a huge portion of a portrait God has been painting for thousands of years... ”—The Naked Gospel, pages 68, 69

<idle musing>
Unfortunately, for a long time the church ignored the Old Testament. This is still true in many places. But, the equally sad thing is that in too many areas, the old covenant has been taught as if it were the new.
</idle musing>

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