What is the Point of the Old Testament?

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What is the Point of the Old Testament?

#2

June 18, 2023 • Walt Davis

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Dear Holy Ones of the Most High!

We are so excited to be back at Mosaic this Sunday on Father’s Day! We are nearing the end of our list of “The Top 10 Things Everyone Needs to Know, Especially Christians, about Christianity!” This week is #2 — “The Old Testament isn’t a collection of moralistic stories, but the revelation of Jesus’ Glory!”

Let’s face it, most of us have been taught certain select stories from the Old Testament and we have been taught to do our best to be like the good guy in the story and not be like the bad guy. "Be courageous like David! Fight your giants!” "Be righteous and upright like Noah!“ "Never waiver in your faith like Abraham!” Are we to read these historic accounts and try our best to be like the people in them? Maybe, but think about David’s courage. Didn’t he fearfully murder the husband of his lover, Bathsheba, because he was too scared for everyone to find out she’s carrying his baby? Think about righteous and upright like Noah. Didn’t Noah get slam drunk after the flood and lie around naked which ended up cursing some of his offspring? Never waiver in your faith like Abraham. Didn’t Abraham have sex with his wife’s servant because he didn’t think that God’s promise of a child through his wife would happen?

So maybe the point of the Old Testament isn’t just moralistic stories for us to mold our lives after. If that’s true, then what is the point? What is the whole purpose of the Old Testament? Well, we’re going to try to start answering that question this Sunday. Here’s a hint of what we’ll see. While the name “Jesus” doesn’t appear in the Old Testament, every last bit of it is about HIM! If we want to get to know Jesus, then we have to get to know the Old Testament because it isn’t a collection of moralistic stories but the revelation of Jesus’ Glory!

Hope to see you Sunday!

Walt Davis

More from 10 Things Everyone Needs to Know About Christianity

The Bible is One Book Containing Two Different Covenants

November 27, 2022 • Walt Davis

Hey Mosaic, Why is the Bible so hard to read and understand sometimes? Don’t get me wrong, some if not most of it is clear. But there’s a lot that leaves us scratching our heads at best. Sure, there are cultural differences between theirs and ours. Sure, there are language and translation difficulties. But sometimes the difficulty is more than that— it’s the content. For example, Jesus tells the Jews that God will forgive their sins only if they forgive other people's sins against them, but then Paul tells believing Christians in his letters that they are completely forgiven of all their sins—past, present, & future. Another example is that the same Bible says that God judged the Israelites because of their sins, but then we read Hebrews say that God remembers our sins “NO MORE!” So which is it? How do we reconcile these differences? I really hope you join us this Sunday at Mosaic, where we will try to unpack the truth that the Bible is one book that contains two completely different covenants. Knowing which covenant you are in makes a world of difference in what you believe about God, about yourself, and most practically, what you believe God thinks about you! Hope to see you there! Walt Davis

When the Old Has Faded Away

January 22, 2023 • Walt Davis • 2 Corinthians 3

Dear Saints, We look forward to celebrating Jesus and His finished work with you again this Sunday at Mosaic. We will continue our count down of “The Top 10 Things everyone needs to know, ESPECIALLY CHRISTIANS, about Christianity!” We are on number 9 this week: When we see the Old has faded away, the veil hiding our new heart is taken away! - 2 Corinthians 3. You see the New Covenant can be really hard for us to wrap our religiously trained minds around. We are trained to live based on morality. In the New Covenant we learn to live by the Life of Jesus within. Of course, Jesus’ life is a moral life, but Christianity isn’t learning about morality and trying our best to live up to it. Christianity is seeing the truth that our new spiritual core is the very glory of God. As we see this truth day by day we begin to live out who we now are in Him—not by trying but by trusting! Are you tired of trying to live the Christian life and continue to fail over and over? Maybe it’s time to stop trying and start trusting in the good news that Jesus not only lived the Christian life but IS the Christian life and His life is now your life in you, joined to you, one with you. This veil of trying must be removed. As it is, the glory of God in you goes on display through you! I really hope to see you Sunday! Walt Davis

Once and For All

January 29, 2023 • Walt Davis • 1 John 1:1–2, 1 John 2:12

Dear Saints! I hope you are each doing well! We look forward to joining with you again this Sunday at Mosaic as I continue down this list I call “The Top 10 things everyone, ESPECIALLY CHRISTIANS, need to know about Christianity!” This Sunday we are looking at #8 and possibly one of the most important: "Jesus’ Death cleansed us Once and For all, not over and over." 1 John 1:1-2;2:12. For the first 33 years of my life, I thought that God would forgive my sins one by one as I asked Him to -- daily, weekly, or whenever. I was taught things like: “Bring your sins before the Mercy Seat each day for forgiveness so that you don’t face them at the Judgment Seat one day,” or “to be a good Christian, you must keep short sin accounts with God.” I’m sure you have heard something like this. You, like me for 33 years, may have even subscribed to this idea of God still holding your sins against you until you ask Him not to anymore. In fact, most Christians live their entire lives with this thinking that they are dirty then clean then dirty then clean over and over and over. What is the truth? The truth might surprise you! The truth is that the Good News really is good news! We will see this Sunday that Jesus’ Death cleansed us once and for all, not over and over. Hope to see you Sunday! Walt Davis