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Preaching the OT in Christ and Christ in the OT

In a discussion with a couple of pastors this morning on the topic of Christ-centered preaching/teaching it occurred to me that one can bring the accomplished and applied work of Jesus Christ to bear on any passage of scripture, but do so in a way that flatly and simplistically portrays Him. It is good to remember that, for whatever reason, God brought his people Israel down a very long road before fully unveiling the glorious salvation found in Christ. When the Messiah did come, everything that he did and said was pregnant with a profound significance that wove itself through every story of the Jewish scriptures. It is for this reason that we must continually dive back into the world of the Old Testament in order to properly understand and teach others about Christ. To sum up the identity and saving work of Jesus without reference to the story of His people as presented in the OT is to miss who He really is. In a sense, whether we are studying for ourselves or teaching others, we must continually retrace the lines of redemptive history in order to properly place any given element from God’s story.

2 Comments

  1. joelsephus  •  Sep 10, 2009 @11:36 pm

    Here’s a comment from Keri, which she had to email to me because the comment function wasn’t working at the time:

    I have been reading through the chronological Bible this year and most recently have been in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  I love how the chronological Bible takes apart the prophets and books of Kings/chronicles to put them all in historical order and dividing the messages to Judah and to Israel – it has been SO helpful.  But more than that, just last night I was reading Jeremiah 33:17-18 and it struck me how Jeremiah is proclaiming that the eternal King is coming and that he will be from the line of David, and also that there will not cease to be a Levitical priest.  I had never really seen that passage before, but it so clearly points to Christ as king and as priest.  And in reading Ezekiel, it’s such a weird book and so graphic in parts, but I kept noticing that (I think) the bottom line is just God wanting to show how holy he is and how much our sin disgusts him.  All that to say – I really appreciated your post.  I am really gaining a lot by reading about the Israelites’ “long journey.”

  2. joelsephus  •  Nov 5, 2009 @2:42 pm

    Trying to understand the New Testament without reference to the Old is like trying to understand Lost when you start watching at Season 3 and don’t have anyone around to explain things to you.

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