Reading the Old Testament can feel really boring when compared with the New, right? I mean, I know the words we find cover to cover in the Bible are over 2,000 years old, but the Old Testament can feel so dry and outdated. It's more difficult to relate to the section of the Bible that happened before Jesus. The words, stories, rules, and ideologies we find there seem ancient, and they are often refuted or modified in the New Testament. So why bother?
The answer is history.
We've probably all heard the phrase "it's important to understand our history so that we don't repeat it," and it's no less true in this discussion. One piece of our religion that many Christians don't know or understand is that modern Jews and Christians all believe in the same God, and all believe in the words and teachings from the prophets we find in the Old Testament.
The Holy Lands surrounding Jerusalem are of paramount importance in both of these religions. Each believes that the same God was at work in those lands and that they played a significant part in their history. Jews and Christians alike believe that God revealed His will and teachings to the prophets that we read about in the Old Testament.
Okay, so if we all believe in the same God and we all trust in his words, what separates us from Judaism? What really makes us Christians? Now we arrive at the New Testament.
The New Testament can also be called the new covenant. It was brought to us by Jesus Christ, and it is what makes us Christians. We believe that Jesus is the living son of God and that he came to Earth to die on the cross in our place and wash us clean of our sins.
Jews, on the other hand, believe in rituals, traditions, prayer, and ethics as a dialogue with God, as we often see in the Old testament. Their religion acknowledges Jesus as a prophet but doesn't believe in His divinity and unity with God and rejects that He came to Earth in human form.
The Old Testament was written on stone tablets by God, carried down from a mountaintop by Moses, and handed down through the ages by prophets. These old laws were nothing more than a painful reminder that humans could never achieve the perfection demanded by God's righteousness.
The world was so broken and sinful that God sent a flood to wipe the Earth clean. He vowed never to do so again, but the world ended up just as broken as before. So he sent Jesus.
Jesus challenged the old laws and the religious leaders of the time. He turned over tables and wouldn't stand for their sinful and corrupt behavior in the temple courts. He brought a New Covenant of grace, love, and forgiveness of sins—one in which we can all have a relationship with God. He came to heal and provide a way out of our broken world.
In those ancient times, a veil was draped in front of the altar of the temple, and the High Priest was the only one allowed to cross it and be in the presence of God. But when Jesus died, that veil was torn in two. We were all given the Holy Spirit so that we can know God, have a relationship with him and feel his presence.
2 Corinthians 3:3 says, "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts." Verse 6 says, "He made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life."
So why do we as Christians believe that Jesus wasn't just a prophet, but the only son of God who came to walk the Earth in human form? The cornerstone of our faith is in the resurrection. It's a little daunting to think about, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ truly changes everything.
If Jesus was not crucified on the cross and raised from the dead on the third day, if the stone to his tomb wasn't rolled away by angels so Jesus could walk out and appear before his believers, if He wasn't taken up to heaven before their very eyes to sit at the right hand of God the Father, if it was all manufactured as a hoax... our faith means nothing.
But we believe in the new covenant brought to us by Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus lived a perfect life without sin but sacrificed his life for each of ours so that we could gain eternal life in heaven. We died with Christ. When He was resurrected, He overcame death. We were raised again and given a second chance. Jesus calls us to live and love like He did, and promises eternal life as a reward.
It is important for us as Christians to read, study, and understand the Old Testament. We need to know our history so that we can understand the New Covenant that Jesus—the one and only son of God—brought with him. 2 Corinthians 3:9 says, "If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!"
The entire New Testament is just a big collection of Jesus stories. Those stories are still happening today, and He is still speaking to us. Each of us must individually seek out how He is breathing into our lives and learn to understand His voice. The New Covenant was given so that we may all know God. It brings the promise of grace, love, and eternal life. The ONLY way to attain these promises is through Jesus Christ.