HIStory

This Christmas may we celebrate His Story - Jesus fulfills the ENTIRE Old Testament may we acknowledge He has no peers, has no rivals, and has no successors.

It is HIStory we celebrate on Christmas!

From “The Principles of Theology” by W.H. Griffith Thomas we read the following:

A careful study of the Old Testament will reveal three lines of spiritual teaching.

(a) It is a book of unfulfilled prophecies. From the beginning to the end (Gen. 3:15 to Mal 4:1), while there are prophecies of a temporal and temporary nature which find their fulfillment, the bulk of the announcements refer to the Messiah, and the Old Testament closes with the spirit of expectation.

(b) It is also a book of unexplained ceremonies. On almost every page there are references to sacrifices and offerings, and yet there is comparatively little explanation of the meaning of these elements of worship. When the entire organization of Levitical sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies comes into view the necessity of their explanation becomes more acute, and yet the book closes with little or no real elucidation.

(c) It is also a book of unsatisfied longings. From the opening pages to the close there is the frequent expression of desire for God and satisfaction on the part of man. The heart cries out for the Living God and for the blessings God has promised; and though there is great, there is no perfect satisfaction, for notwithstanding all the references to the King and the Kingdom, and to God in relation to the spiritual life, as recorded in the Psalms, the book closes in incompleteness (Heb. 7:19). These are the three threads running through it, and they enable us to understand that the Old Testament is almost entirely concerned with the Divine preparation for the redemption of the world; the preparation of the Messiah for the people, and of the people for the Messiah.

It is only when we turn to the New Testament that we find the explanation of all this incompleteness. On the very first page we have the keynote, "That it might be fulfilled," and we are soon able to realize that

(a) Jesus Christ the Prophet fulfills (in His life) the prophecies;

(b) Jesus Christ the Priest explains (in His death) the ceremonies; and

(c) Jesus Christ the King satisfies (in His resurrection) the longings.

And so "Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King" is the key of the lock, the perfect explanation of the Old Testament and the justification of all its spiritual teaching.

There is a unity between the Old Testament and the New Testament and the ground of this oneness between the two Testaments is articulated in Luke 24:27.

We may rest in the fact that all things are resolved in the New Testament’s focus on Jesus Christ

1. Jesus fulfills in his life the prophecies

2. Jesus explains in His death the ceremonies

3. Satisfies in His resurrection the longings

In Summary

• Jesus fulfills the ENTIRE Old Testament

• Jesus has no peers

• Jesus has no rivals

• Jesus has no successors

Gracious God in Heaven,

What we know not - teach us

What we have not - give us

What we are not - make us

For Your Son’s sake, Amen!

❤️

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