Unveiling Jesus: The Old Testament's Rich Significance

First reason you should read the Old Testament is because it reveals Jesus. If I told you that I found thirty-nine bonus gospels, thirty-nine hidden gospels that not only prepared the church and the world for Jesus coming but was actually full of Jesus Christ, you would leap wouldn't you, at the opportunities to read them, and that's what we have in the Old Testament. It's not just full of preparation and predictions, it's full of Jesus Himself. [00:02:13]

The Old Testament helps us understand the New Testament. It is virtually impossible—I would argue as an Old Testament professor—it is virtually impossible to understand the New Testament without the Old Testament. When we're reading the New Testament and we come across a word or an idea that we don't understand, the first place we should turn is not the dictionary, or even a Greek lexicon. It's the Old Testament. [00:03:21]

The Old Testament is a manual for Christian living. And don't we need that today? All of us, when we're saved, we want to know how do we live in a way that keeps my relationship with God holy, happy and healthy. The Bible makes clear that God's given us moral principles to live by, that will help us keep that relationship with Him in a good state. [00:04:55]

The Old Testament comforts and encourages us. When we read it, we experience what the Apostle Paul spoke of in Romans 15:4, the comfort and encouragement of the Scriptures. Don't we need that today? Who doesn't feel the need for just a boost, for an encouragement, for a model to follow? And when we look at the Old Testament, that's what we have. [00:07:32]

The Old Testament was Jesus' Bible. When a president is interviewed, say President Obama is interviewed, he's sometimes asked what books have really impacted you. And people ask that because, well, they want to know what went into making this person what he is. And maybe they also want to have a wee bit of that for themselves. [00:08:32]

The Old Testament shows us the bigger picture of redemption. When we see that God's plan of redemption began long before Calvary, long before Bethlehem, when we see every event being meticulously planned, forecast, planned and played out. When we see that nothing happened by accident and everything is happening according to that perfect plan. [00:11:11]

The Old Testament explains our culture. Imagine if you walked into a play halfway through, maybe at the halftime interval, and you sat down and you started watching the remaining couple of acts. You'd be scratching your head wondering what's going on here. Maybe sometimes you'd think oh, I've got it. And then something else happens, you realize no, no I don't have it. [00:12:47]

The Old Testament, twelfthly, also gives us hope for our culture. Don't we desperately need hope for our culture? When we look around us, we just see so much degradation. We think, is there any hope? Oh, yes there is! You look back in the Old Testament, you see some really dark and delinquent times, don't you? [00:14:24]

The Old Testament makes sense of our story. We all have a story. We're all continually telling ourselves a story. We have a narrative about ourselves and our place in the world and our relationship to God and others in it. But we cannot make sense of our story, we cannot understand our story, apart from God's story. [00:15:56]

The Old Testament warms our hearts. Remember the two men, the road to Emmaus? Did not our hearts burn within us as He talked with us on the way, and as He opened the Scriptures to us? That need not be a [AD] 33 experience; it can be a 2014 experience. And many of you have experienced that, haven't you, as you've read the Old Testament and Christ has come out of the pages, into your life. [00:17:36]

The Old Testament makes us appreciate the New Testament even more. Yes, the Old Testament reveals Jesus, but there's also concealment, there's also shadow, there's also limitation. There's a sense when we're reading it that there's a frustration in it, there's a longing and a desire kindled that's not met. But when we open the pages of the New Testament and we find the incarnate Christ there, don't we appreciate Him all the more? [00:18:11]

Wherever we turn, wherever we read, a familiar name is what we meet. It's Jesus on every page. He wasn't idle and quiet for thousands of years just watching and waiting' till His turn drew near. He was busy and active in grace and in power. His mercy was growing in seed, bud, and flower. He is the Word by whom all things were made. [00:19:11]