Does the Old Testament matter to me as a Christian? This is another question that really bugs a lot of Christians. The answer is yes – but we have to be careful. In what way does it matter to us?
Two Ways The Old Testament Links To The New
You see, you have to understand how the Old and the New Testament are linked. And there are two ways I want to point out, through which they are linked, today.
1. Promise And Fulfilment
The first one is what you can just call promise and fulfilment.
Certain things are promised in the Old Testament… that are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ
In other words, there are certain things that are promised in the Old Testament, whether through individuals – and how they embody their lives – or through propositions that God makes, or through events, or through certain structures. And they are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Jesus Now Mediates, Jesus Now Saves
So, for instance, the temple was a structure that was the meeting place between God and man. But now, in the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man, because He is God that is a man.
The same thing is that God, through proposition, promised Abraham that through his offspring, he would save the world. And that offspring was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
2. Example And Principle
But there’s another way the Old Testament matters to us and that is through what you can call example and principle.
The Old Testament reveals the character of God and what is expected of his people.
That is, we see examples of certain things done in the Old Testament, that reveal the character of God and what is expected of his people.
And 1 Corinthians 10:6, for instance, points to this. That says look, we shouldn’t, by example of what we see in the Old Testament, set our hearts on evil things. We should not be idolaters.
There Is Only One God Of The Bible
God is always one God in the Old and in the New Testament, and his people must worship him exclusively.
