The Old Testament Window

Pastor Jim Reger–Scripture–

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.” John 5:39

Many of us struggle with the Old Testament. There are weird customs, strange names, and odd realities and declarations that don’t fit our modern lives. At times the differences seem overwhelming and irrelevant. So why do Christians insist on having both the Old and New Testaments? Why not simply read the New Testament and glean as much as we can from it? Because the Old Testament gives the New Testament perspective. The Old Testament gives deeper understanding to the New Testament, and the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. They are intricately and forever linked together.

Specifically, there are three crucial reasons why the Old Testament should be part of your daily reading:

1. A deeper understanding of God. Sometimes God specifically mentions himself, while his sovereignty and divine plan are always at work. The Old Testament offers beautiful windows into who God is, his character and his glory. It gives awareness of him, what he is about, what he focuses on. Most importantly, his holiness is defined and described.

2. A deeper understanding about you. The Old Testament provides a clear picture for what’s wrong with the human condition. The first half of the Bible is not a collection of stories with moral lessons. They give insight into your complete helplessness and inability to save yourself.

3. A deeper understanding of your need for God. Page after page pictures are given to the progressive revelation of God’s great plan of salvation. The Old Testament describes the overwhelming dilemma all people are in, and points to a savior to rescue us. It says only Jesus Christ will save you.

Another way to put it is to ask three questions every time you read the Old Testament. Who is God? Who am I? Who am I before God? This can be summed up in learning who God is, who we are as human beings created in his image yet marred because of the Fall, and of the great need for salvation—your need for Jesus Christ.

Jesus says in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.” He was talking to folks who read and studied the Old Testament, yet they completely missed him.

The Old Testament is full of stories. Most have learned that it offers lessons about life or faith. The need for Christ is often reduced to the messianic prophecies or help to improve this life. However, the stories have something better to tell you. The characters in the Old Testament stories are not heroes to model after. They are full of flaws. Even the heroes in the stories point to one who will be the greater hero, the true deliverer, the ultimate judge, the better king, the highest priest, the final prophet.

The Old Testament then is a window to your great need for Jesus Christ. It tells the story that finds its end in him alone. Every story is an image, a metaphor, a comparison or analogy, that provides deeper understanding of Jesus and your great need of him.

So, read the Old Testament, look for Jesus, and be in awe of him and his worth