Old Testament

Follow Along with the Message

1 Corinthians 15:1–10 (NIV)- Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Here is the big idea for today: The Old Testament chronicles God’s redemptive story - preparing the world for a Savior.

Christological Casket
C - Creation
A - Abraham
S - Sinai
K - Kings
E - Exile
T - Temple
E - Expectations
M - Messiah
P - Pentecost
T - Teaching
Y - Yet-to-come

When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. (Exod. 24:3)

“Judaism: originally a tribal cult of a single fiercely unpleasant God, morbidly obsessed with sexual restrictions, with the smell of charred flesh... —Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

The Hebrews were way ahead of their time.

Leviticus 18:6 (NIV)- “No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.”

1 Samuel 8:1–5 (NIV)- When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

1 Kings 6:1 (NIV)- In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.

Isaiah 53:3–11 (NIV)- He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Galatians 4:4–5- But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

“The Old Testament spans over two thousand years and includes thirty-nine books written by a variety of authors. As the story unfolds, there are times of great rejoicing as God's people celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of their God and marvel at his wondrous works. Yet there are also periods of profound despair and unimaginable loss and tragedy when his people suffer under his judgment for their rebellion and sin. Reading the Old Testament you will discover that there are many high and low points in this redemptive narrative, but when the Old Testament draws to its conclusion, there is strangely no climactic ending to this story. There is no king reigning on the throne in Jerusalem. There is no glorious restoration as depicted by the prophets. There is no establishment of a new covenant. There is no final defeat of Israel's enemies. Instead, the storyline of the Old Testament ends with God's people waiting for their God to act 
up a son of David who will establish an everlasting kingdom. They are waiting for God to deliver them and fulfill his promises of old. God's people are longing for the coming Messiah, who will bring the redemptive plan of God to its glorious fulfillment. This means that the Old Testament ends with the story yet to be finished. This is the storyline that is taken up in the New Testament as God acts on behalf of his people, according to his promises made to their forefathers. The story comes to a climax in the person of Jesus, whose life, death, and resurrection bring to fulfillment the promises of old. The empty tomb of the Messiah, therefore, lies at the center of God's plan of redemption.”- Dr. Carol M. Kaminski, Gordon-Conwell, Theological Seminary