CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

March 29, 2009

25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Yevette Mearns (1^st), Hannah Allen (2^nd), Kinlee Mearns (10^th), Ronnie Sadorra (10^th), Talia Gradney (11^th), JoAnna Ross (13^th), Sarah Cru thirds (28^th)

ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, it would be his fourth letter. The question that we must ask is, “What scriptures is he referring to?” At this time, c. 55 A.D., only four to seven New Testament books were available, and it is doubtful that all of them were widespread. Our theology in churches of Christ have emphasized the New Testament and have tended to ignore anything found in the Old Testament. Sadly, we have made a choice that has affected our understanding of scripture in total. There is no doubt in my mind that the Bible of the first century church was the Old Testament. Paul defended himself before both Jews and Romans using the Hebrew scriptures (see Acts 26:22-23). This being the case, we definitely need to spend more time in understanding the Old Testament.

There is much that we learn about God in the Old Testament. We learn His name, Yahweh, from Exodus 3:15. We also learn His character from such texts as Exodus 34:6-7: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Of course, God has not revealed everything about Himself, but enough for us to bow down and worship Him as the God of the universe.

The Hebrew scriptures are divided into law, history, poetry, and prophecy. Each style offers its challenges and sometimes they mix them; history in law and in poetry. There is an overarching theme however in the Old Testament. We have been created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), that is, we are made to be like Him in attitude and life. We learn the importance of community as we see that it is not good for man to be alone. We have responsibilities to reproduce and to care for His creation. While much of the modern environmental movement is extreme and pagan, we can present as God’s people a balanced perspective to the care of the earth and still realize that His creation can support humankind in still greater numbers.

The overarching theme is redemptive fellowship. Everything that we read in the Hebrew scriptures should have that idea in mind. One might read Genesis 38 or Ruth and ask why these are in scripture. Matthew 1 answers that question. God moves people and events along to the ultimate goal, that Christ died according to the scriptures. We can find those ideas in the Old Testament (because we have the New that explains it to us) in such texts as Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. They clearly, as we understand them now, speak of the death of Jesus. Certainly as Jesus revealed or opened the scriptures to His disciples in Luke 24, these were in view. But when it comes to resurrection, what scriptures would we search? We might look at the prophets who raised some from the dead or Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones in chapter 37. Like the noble Bereans, they searched through the scriptures to see that what Paul was saying was true (Acts 17:11).

Over the last decade or so, scholars have seen three themes from the Old Testament that can be applied in the New. They draw from the primary theme of redemptive fellowship. The three are Eden, Exodus, and Exile. Knowing these historical events can then be applied to us today as we live in this world. They were used by the New Testament writers, sometimes as a text to be used as a metaphor. Paul uses the parting of the Red Sea as a metaphor for baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1-13). When reading the Gospel of John, knowing the story of the Exodus is a great help in understanding John. Lord willing, we will examine these themes to see what we can learn from them.

Read through the twenty-seven books of the New Testament and see how much Old Testament is found in them. Seeing that, we come to realize a number of things. The Jewish people that were scattered at various times, being carried off by Babylon and Assyria, established communities were they where taken. Philip Jenkins makes mention of this in his book, The Lost History of Christianity. It is clear from the book of Acts that wherever the Apostles went, they looked first for Jewish synagogues in which to bring the message of Jesus to the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. Once again we can see God’s hand in the preparation for the spread of the good news. This might help to explain the reason and importance of the book of Esther. Recent research has found that Jewish influences have been found as far east as China.

In accord with the scriptures, we seek out Jesus in the Old. Not every scripture in the Old is referring directly or indirectly to Jesus. What we seek then is an understanding of God, for Jesus came and showed us God (John 14:9). In some texts we can see Jesus, like in Abraham offering up Isaac (Genesis 22) or some in the life of Joseph. David has a unique and special relationship with God and his Psalms we can see and apply ideas to Jesus. We certainly need to be careful in this, not wanting to read more into the text than is there. We also must keep in mind the historical and cultural context as we read through the Hebrew scriptures; they play an important role in our understanding.

We have been blessed by God with scripture given to us to learn how to live, what His purposes are, and to seek and following Him. Not everything is easy to understand; there is much mystery involved especially with the God of the universe (see Psalm 115:3). Enjoy the journey as we learn what is according to the scriptures.

George B. Mearns