The Testaments
As you may know, redemption is not a New Testament idea. Instead, what Jesus accomplished through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension was the fulfillment of promises made thousands of years before His birth. If you will, take a moment and read this passage from Isaiah written about seven-hundred and forty years before Jesus was born.
The Redeemed Shall Walk There
Isaiah 35:10 (ESV emphasis added)
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Doesn’t this resonate with the same truths proclaimed in the New Testament? Sometimes I fear we have built too high of a wall between the Old and New Testaments.
Old Testament Scriptures
When Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV), by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The Scripture to which Paul referred was the Old Testament, for the New Testament had not yet been written. In fact, 2 Timothy is thought to have been written around 67 AD (https://tinyurl.com/vo2kctx). Well before many other books in the New Testiment.
Get a Bible Reading Plan
If you get some extra time off from work during the holidays, make or download a Bible reading plan for next year. Be ready for January 1, 2020. I believe all Christians everywhere will need an extra measure of grace next year.
Benediction
I pray: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. – Numbers 6:24-26 ESV
Photo by Tanner Mardis on Unsplash
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https://rockexcavationservice.org/2019/01/06/old-books/