Summing up the Old Testament: “Christ is Coming”
Most people believe the Bible is a human originated book, a collection of nice fables and stories, with maybe some good moral lessons, but definitely not the words of any god. Rejection of the Bible is for many reasons, but the main one is that it offends the life people want to live. Confronted with the Bible, people have two choices: one, to accept it for what it claims to be and repent and live in conformity to it, or two, reject it for whatever reasons and continue to live the life one chooses to live. I suppose a combination of the two is possible, but regardless, the vast majority of mankind accepts option number two and can only hope that Jesus isn’t Who He claimed to be. If He is, they are in serious trouble (John 12:48; Matthew 7:13-14).
The Bible is not “just” a collection of nice, but largely unrelated, stories, indeed, it is not even mostly that. There is a oneness, a unity, to the book, a theme that pervades it from Genesis to Revelation. That theme begins in Genesis 1 with the perfect creation of God. The theme is necessitated in Genesis 3, when man sinned. That theme is implicitly announced in verse 15 of that chapter: man has a chance to regain fellowship with God, through eternity, through a Redeemer Who would come and “crush” the head of Satan. That theme, the salvation of man from sin, has three main parts: in the Old Testament, the message is “Christ is coming.” The first four books of the New Testament tell us, “Christ is here.” And the final 23 books of the Bible announce, “Christ is coming back.” Unless someone understands this, they will never understand the Bible. It isn’t difficult to grasp, but God does expect a little effort on our part—how badly do we want eternal life? Not badly enough, apparently, at least for most people.
The first 23 parts of this series have discussed “The Story of the Bible” as revealed in the Old Testament. I haven’t gone into great detail with the stories and specific actions of every Old Testament hero and villain: this is a survey, not a repetition, of the Old Testament. I hope I have been able to clearly trace the Old Testament’s major theme: Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, is coming. When the Old Testament ends (Malachi 4), it plainly indicates the complete story is not finished: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5). So, a “great and dreadful day of the Lord” was manifestly in view, and a great prophet (Elijah or someone like him) would precede that day. The Old Testament isn’t the end of the story. It was never intended to be. The Jews were God’s “chosen people” for only a season—entrusted with the Word of God (a responsibility they did, indeed, fulfill wonderfully), and the people through whom the Messiah would come. That happened, too. Sadly, the Jewish people were not, by and large, satisfied with serving God and mankind in these ways; they wanted more (power) and still do. They’ll never get what they want. That was never God’s intention. Eternal life through Jesus Christ, for all of mankind, Jew and Gentile alike, is the meaning of it all. The Bible, the complete Bible, makes no sense otherwise. And the complete Bible DOES make sense when that is understood.
Our “Story of the Bible” is not complete. The first corollary, “Christ is coming,” to the entire theme of the salvation of mankind is finished. Now we must move on to corollary number two: the arrival of the Savior.