Month: June 2024

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 5

The New Testament makes clear that the old covenant is over.  But there is something hidden in the pages of the old covenant that commands our interest.  It is the message of the gospel.  It is the message of the coming Christ.

Jesus revealed this Old Testament message on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection.  “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).  “The Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament.  As they walked along together, Jesus explained to these two disciples all that the Old Testament was pointing to in the coming of the Messiah.

In the book of Acts, Paul preached Christ from the Old Testament.  “And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’ “ (Acts 17:2-3).  Again, “the Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament.

Paul also wrote about the Old Testament pointing to Christ is his letter to Timothy.  “And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).  The “sacred writings” are the Old Testament.  And they contain in them the gospel that leads to salvation by faith in Christ.

Finally, we have this introduction to the book of Romans, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son” (Romans 1:1-3).  Set apart for what?  Paul was set apart for the gospel promised in the “holy Scriptures”, promised in the Old Testament.  Concerning who?  Concerning God’s Son, Jesus the Christ.

So when we fast forward from the Old Testament message ABOUT Jesus to the cross OF Jesus, what do we find?  We find that the requirements of the old covenant have ended.  And the gospel message of the old covenant, formerly hidden, has become fully exposed and continues on to this day.

So, how do we locate the gospel message in the Old Testament?  How do we find Christ in the Old Testament?

We have an advantage that the Pharisees and other students of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day did not have in finding Jesus in the Old Testament writings.  They had their ideas, but they really did not know exactly who they were looking for in the coming of the Messiah.  We find Christ in the Old Testament prophecies because WE NOW KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE!  Thanks to the New Testament, we know WHO we are looking for in the Old!  We are looking for the Jesus we know!

Do you remember those once popular books, Where’s Waldo?  If we had zero idea of what Waldo looked like, we would have no hope of finding him in those complicated drawings.  But the cover of the book informed us of what Waldo looked like with his red and white striped attire.  We could find Waldo even in a crowd of 10,000 medieval knights or ancient Egyptians or Red Sox fans because we know what Waldo looks like.  We have a visual of who we are looking for.

Likewise, we know who we are looking for in the Old Testament because we personally know Jesus.  We know the Christ.  We know what He looks like.  Over the next several days, we will look at specific passages in the Old Testament; stories that contain a beautiful picture of Christ, our Savior.

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 4

The apostle Paul paints a picture for us of the end of the Law with an analogy about marriage in Romans chapter 7.  The death of a woman’s husband in this illustration represents our death to the Law.

“For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.  So then, if while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man” (Romans 7:2-3).

Just as a married person is committed to a relationship with their spouse while their spouse is alive, you were “married” to the Law until Christ’s arrival on the scene put the law to death.  So what is our connection to the Law now since we died to it?

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).

Do you see the sequence?  Just as a married woman is free to marry another after her husband died, so you are now free to “marry” another since you “died to the Law”.  And who is this “another” we are now joined to?  “Him who was raised from the dead.”  Jesus.

“For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from [set free, died to it, out from under it, no longer a part of our spiritual lives] the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:5-6).

How have we been “released from the Law”?  Through Christ’s death, “we died to the Law which bound us.”  We no longer live under the “old arrangement,” i.e. the Old Testament, law-keeping system. We now live under a “new arrangement” and walk in the newness of the Spirit rather than the oldness of the letter of the Law.

Over the past three days, we have shown that the old covenant is outdated and obsolete (Hebrews 8:13).  The old covenant has come to an end (II Corinthians 3:11).  We have died to the Law and it is of no consequence to us now.  It has no connection, no influence, no requirement for living the Christian life (Romans 7:1-6).

So what are we to do with the old covenant and the Old Testament that describes it?  Do we just forget about it, ignore it, tear it out of our Bibles, and move on?  We will talk about it next time.

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 3

The apostle Paul compares the old and new covenants in II Corinthians chapter 3.

“God made us ministers of a New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.  But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stone, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more filled with glory?  For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.  For indeed that which had glory, in this case has no glory on account of the glory that surpasses it.  For if that which is coming to an end was with glory, much more that which remains is filled with glory” (II Corinthians 3:6-11).

This is a long passage with a lot of back and forth between the two covenants.  To help us process what Paul is saying, I have listed which covenant he is referring to next to each phrase that describes it.  Read this passage again paying attention to what is said about each covenant.

“God made us ministers of a New Covenant, not of the letter (Old Covenant), but of the Spirit (New Covenant); for the letter (Old Covenant) kills, but the Spirit (New Covenant) gives life.  But if the ministry of death (Old Covenant), in letters engraved on stone (Old Covenant), came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit (New Covenant) fail to be even more filled with glory?  For if the ministry of condemnation (Old Covenant) has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness (New Covenant) abound in glory.  For indeed that which had glory (Old Covenant), in this case has no glory on account of the glory (New Covenant) that surpasses it.  For if that which is coming to an end (Old Covenant) was with glory, much more that which remains (New Covenant) is filled with glory” (II Corinthians 3:6-11).

Look at the words that describe the two covenants.  The Old Covenant is a ministry of the letter, the Law, of death, of condemnation; and has come to an end.  The New Covenant is a ministry of the Spirit, of righteousness, of surpassing glory, of life; and is ongoing.  Please notice this comparison, “coming to an end” vs “that which remains”.  “That which remains” is the new covenant.  The old covenant has come to an end.

But doesn’t the old covenant, known as the Law, play some role in the believer’s spiritual life?  Doesn’t God’s grace give us what we need to follow the Law?  Don’t we still have some connection to the Law?  Questions the apostle Paul will answer for us next time.

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 2

Taking off from yesterday, remember that the Old Testament is largely a description of the old covenant.  From Exodus chapter 19 to the end of the Old Testament (technically until the death of Jesus), the Jews lived under the old covenant arrangement.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament paints a clear picture of the contrast between the two covenants; the old and the new.  Over several chapters, the author unpacks the idea that the new covenant brought to us by Jesus is better than the old because …

Jesus brings a better hope (Hebrews 6:19-7:19),

Jesus is a better priest (Hebrews 7:21-8:2),

Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 8:4-13),

Jesus is a better sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-28),

Jesus is a better offering for sin (Hebrews 10:1-16), and

Jesus’ new covenant is built on better promises (Hebrews chapter 11).

The author summarizes the fate of the old covenant in this way, “But now Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.  For finding fault with them God says, ‘Behold days are coming when I will effect a new covenant’ … When God said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete.  But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”  (Hebrews 8:6-8,13).

“God made the first covenant [the old covenant] obsolete.”  What do you think about this concluding thought?  What do you think about the finality of the old covenant being declared obsolete?  Not only is the new covenant superior to the old (from the list above), but the old has actually gone away.

I like the paraphrase of The Message Bible for verse 13, “By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and His people, God put the old plan on the shelf.  And there it stays, gathering dust.”  That is quite a visual of the end of the old covenant.

Do you agree with that conclusion?  How does this make you feel about the old covenant?  How does this make you feel about the Old Testament?  Before you go too far down this road, let’s come back tomorrow and look at a comparison of the two covenants from the apostle Paul.

Introduction

In thinking about the Old Testament, let’s start with the word “testament”.  A testament is an arrangement.  Someone’s “last will and testament” describes the “arrangement” they desire for their affairs after they die.  Similarly, the Old Testament is describing the old arrangement between God and man.  This old arrangement was in place from Exodus chapter 19 until the death of Christ on the cross.  This old arrangement is called the Old Covenant or The Law.

Jumping to the New Testament, we see the unfolding of a new arrangement between God and man.  This new arrangement, called the New Covenant, went into effect with the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The torn veil in the holy of holies in the temple at the hour of Christ’s death signified the end of the old covenant and the start of the new.  Jesus told us ahead of time that the new covenant would be initiated by His death.  “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood’ “ (Luke 22:20).

In the age of now, believers live under the provisions and promises of the new covenant.  A few of these are the promise of a new birth, a new identity, a new heart, a new Spirit, a new purity, a new nature, a new self, a new power, and a new freedom.  We receive all of this new by believing the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).

We passed from death to life when we believed, accepted, put our faith in, the gospel message of Jesus.  And what is the gospel message of Jesus?  In its shortest form, it is believing that Jesus died in our place for our sins.

So with all this new going on, what happened to the old covenant?  Did the new covenant replace the old?  Is any part of the old covenant still in effect for us as new covenant believers?  Has the old covenant gone away, come to an end?

In this series, we will explore the role of the Old Testament in our new covenant experience.  Do we just cast it aside, useless in our new covenant world?  Do we seek to obey its laws and precepts?  Or do we land somewhere in-between?  Or is there even an in-between?  We will make a start next time by looking at what happened to the old covenant when Jesus and the new covenant appeared on the scene.