The Old Testament was written to show us why we need a Savior. The New Testament introduces us to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
The beginning of the Old Testament lays the foundation for the message of the rest of the Bible. After the story of creation, sin is introduced in the Garden with man’s disobedience (Rom. 5:12). It was then that God had to send man out of the Garden to prevent him from eating of the Tree of Life where he would live forever in his sin. If he lived forever in his sin, man would never be able to have a relationship with God because God cannot be near sin. But it did not take long to show that man on his own could not regain that relationship back with God. Instead of moving away from sin, humanity grew deeper in sin. Cain killing Abel, the wickedness of humanity during the time of Noah, and the self-centered actions of humanity building a tower to heaven to make a name for themselves are all stories in the Old Testament that reveal the depth of man’s sinful nature. But God still desired to have a relationship with us. So he called Abram out of Ur to be the father of a nation that would show the world who God is and why we need a Savior. For the remainder of the Old Testament, the stories reveal to us these truths.
The stories of the New Testament begin 400 years after the closing pages of the Old Testament. The first four books of the Bible share the exciting news of Jesus’s birth and life. Through four different writers with four different perspectives, we as readers get to know the life and ministry of Jesus, our Savior. We learn about him turning water to wine, healing the sick, casting out demons, and even raising the dead. But more importantly the New Testament tells us about His love for humanity. He wanted all people to know His Father. His disciples knew He was from God but even they did not realize His ultimate plan for coming to earth, to die on the cross for our sins and be resurrected. It was not until after his ascension into Heaven that the disciples understood His real purpose. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and explained the true meaning of the cross and the resurrection. It was then that the disciples made it their mission to tell the world of their Savior. The remainder of the New Testament talks about the beginnings of the church and how the disciples and other followers of Christ, including Paul, shared with the world how to live the abundant life in Jesus Christ.
But there is still the question of how do the two testaments relate to us today? Should we still follow the law? Why aren’t we sacrificing animals for our sins? Join me in my next blog for an exploration into these questions.