The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

The relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament can be effectively understood through the idea of progressive revelation , which affirms that God has revealed himself progressively and definitively throughout the history of his people, and finally through Jesus Christ The concept of progressive revelation includes God’s continuous revelation of himself to us through creation, through specific manifestations and occasions, and in these last days through his Son. The OT explains and reveals the NT through the person of Christ, and both testaments focus upon God’s final and full revelation of himself in Jesus Christ and his kingdom reign. Augustine’s epigram (saying) nicely summarizes the relationship between the two testaments: “In the OT the NT lies hidden; in the NT the OT stands revealed.” This complementary relationship is seen in how the OT provides an introduction to the NT’s conclusion about Christ, the OT’s anticipation of the person and work of Messiah, and the NT’s identification of Jesus of Nazareth as the climax of that anticipation. Also, the OT serves as the shadow (prefiguring) of the person and work of Christ and the NT as its embodiment, and the OT is seen as the ineffective former revelation of God’s salvation consummated later in the NT revelation of Jesus. Finally, what was particularized to Israel in the OT was universalized to all nations in the NT. The motif of promise and fulfillment in OT revelation affirms the promise of God for his own chosen One to redeem humankind and to destroy the devil’s work, a promise fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth The NT provides several central texts which affirm how the OT’s work is to provide compelling and definitive witness to the person of Messiah fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 22.25-27, 44-48; Matt. 5.17-18; John 1.45; 5.39-40; Heb. 10.5-10 with Ps. 40.6-8). This witness can be seen in the history of the patriarchs, the nation of Israel, the Messianic prophecies, and the moral standards of the Law. The major motif that links all biblical revelation in Scripture is the promise and fulfillment motif. This theme affirms the unity of the Old and New Testaments, in terms of God’s intention to reveal himself, to redeem his people, and to do this through the promise made to Abraham and his descendants fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

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