Welcome to the Cultivating Growth Podcast, where each week we discuss different ways in which we can grow as followers of Christ. This week, we have John with us, as usual, and we will discuss how we can grow in our appreciation of the Old Testament. So we'll talk about what the Old Testament is and how we can put it to use and its importance even today, uh, as we live here in 2024. 

And so I'm looking forward to that discussion. And with that, we'll get right to it. 

Well, Jeremy, as That's, that's two people who have spent a lot of time studying the Bible and teaching. I know you've spent a lot of time in the Old Testament. I spent a lot of time in the Old Testament. Honestly, if I'm teaching a Bible class, I prefer teaching the Old Testament. I really enjoy that aspect of teaching and studying, but I think sometimes.

It's worth, uh, hitting pause and just reflecting on what we have in the Old Testament. Obviously, we are New Testament Christians. That's where we get our guidelines and we follow the teachings of Christ and the apostles as they wrote, uh, letters that are combined into the New Testament. Uh, but we always have to remember that the Old Testament, just like the New Testament, is the inspired Word of God, and it is so important for our development.

As New Testament Christians. And so this week we thought it would be good to just take a moment and talk about how we can grow in our appreciation of the Old Testament. There's aspects of the Old Testament that are sometimes difficult to read. The laws can be challenging. Uh, there's a lot of cultural things that we see in the Old Testament that can challenge us a little bit as well.

But there are some really important parts that we, we must, as Christians, recognize the impact that it has on us still today. We aren't bound by the Old Testament law any longer. But there is so much there that God wants His people to know and to study. And we learn so much about God Himself. through a study of the Old Testament.

So I'm just kind of curious as we start, uh, kind of what your relationship with the Old Testament has been throughout your life. Uh, I, I know you and I have, have talked enough. I know, uh, some of your favorite books are also in the Old Testament like mine are. Uh, but, but how has that love and appreciation and understanding of the Old Testament evolved throughout your life?

Well, for me, there's really two things that kind of drive it. Uh, one is, you know, we talked about growing in our faith just, uh, several weeks ago already on this podcast, and a lot of times when we do that, we reference passages like Hebrews chapter 11, right, that talks about all of these incredible examples of faith, all of which come from the pages, you know, of the Old Testament, but in that, in that passage, you have there an passage Hebrews chapter 11 and verse six, where it says, you know, but without faith, it is impossible to please God.

And so you really have the importance placed upon faith. You have it or without it, it's impossible to please God. And then, but then he goes on to say that you, it is for he who comes to God must believe. That he is, and that he is a rewarder to those who diligently seek him. And I think about a passage like that. 

And I think about how important faith is, an inarguable, you know, aspect of the life of a follower of God. And then you read a passage like this, and you start to understand a big part of what faith is. It is understanding who God is, and so you've got to understand who God is before you can begin to trust in what he says.

And there is simply no better place to go to understand who God is than the pages of the Old Testament. It establishes God from the very beginning, but over and over. Book after book after book, it is a picture of God and who he is. And then he translated that into the reality that he is unchanging,  that the God that we study about and read about in the Old Testament is the God of today.

And so a big part of your faith is understanding who God is, one of the best places to build that understanding is the pages of the Old Testament. I had some of the same thoughts, and actually I'm in the middle of teaching through the book of Genesis right now, and I just jotted down a few things that we learn about God.

God just in the book of Genesis. If you didn't go anywhere else, just in the book of Genesis, what are some things that we learn about God? Because that's where God, as you said, God is introducing himself to mankind. And so as he introduces himself, what is it that we learn about him? Well, we learned that he's a God of order.

He's a God of pattern. He's a God of love and beauty and justice and relationship. He is faithful to his promises. Uh, we read about that in Genesis 8 and 9 at the conclusion of the flood and Noah and his family come off. And God makes the promise that he's not going to destroy the world by water any longer.

And he puts the rainbow in the sky as a reminder to that. And he is faithful to that promise. And we see the, the promises that he makes to Abraham about the nation that's going to come through him, the land that's going to be given to his descendants and how all nations through him are going to be blessed.

And we see God being faithful to fulfill those promises and throughout the rest of scripture. All of these things about God and about who He is, just in the first few pages of the Bible. And certainly, you can see some of those things in the New Testament as well. I'm not suggesting that you can't. But, what becomes even more powerful is when you go to the pages of the New Testament, and you're building on this understanding of who God is.

that he's shown us in the Old Testament. Now, that's when your faith really starts to grow by leaps and bounds because you're building upon these principles of who God is as he introduced himself to mankind. And that can only be found in the Old Testament. That's what God wants us as Christians today to be able to look back and to remember this is the same God that created the heavens and the earth.

This is the same God that saved Noah and his family. And the same God that made these promises to Abraham and those understandings give us a foundation on which our faith can really flourish. Yeah, and you also see it kind of how God deals with man. You see how God deals with man when he's pleased with them.

You see how God deals with man when he's not. Pleased with them. You see how God deals with his own people in the Israelites, uh, that the New Testament writers will lean on in talking specifically about the church. They'll make that parallel over and over and over again. And so there are so many different things that you can grab hold of.

I mean, and that's why you have passes like Romans chapter 15 in verse four, when it makes the point that, listen, those things that were written. Before we're written for our learning. So we're learning about God. We're learning about what pleases God, what displeases God. We see that,  you know, through the various characters, you know, that we can, we can pull from a study.

We've made mention already of Hebrews chapter 11, a huge list of very positive, uh, uh, Faith building, you know, kind of characters to certainly pull off of. I'm a huge Moses fan. There's so much that I've learned, you know, from Moses about leadership and about a gentleness and about patience. I mean, all of these incredible attributes you can really.

build and grow, you know,  as you look back into the Old Testament and you study about, uh, you know, all of those characters and their interactions with God. You know, it's, it's really interesting. I was just flipping over to Galatians chapter 3 and, you know, towards the end of of that chapter, Paul makes the point, he looks back to the old law and he, he, he shows us that it's the old law that really teaches us about what sin is.

And in doing so, it brings us to a greater appreciation of what Christ has done by freeing us from the bondage of sin. But it's the old law that taught us what sin was and what it meant. To be confined under sin. And without that, we would, there would be a piece missing in the story. And so even Paul, he's pointing to, he's talking to new Testament Christians, but he's pointing them back to the old law to help them understand the grace and the mercy and the forgiveness that's been found in Jesus.

And even Jesus himself on multiple occasions, he will reference back to the law and the prophets. I mean, clearly this was a big part of his life for all of the Jews during that time period. The old law was all they had. The Torah, the first five books was really all that they had. And then obviously, and those writings are becoming more and more widespread as well.

Uh, but, but that was really what he pointed back to was the law and the prophets and what they had written and what can be learned from that and then built upon that with his teaching. And I think that really is a good template for how we should approach teaching as well.  You know, sometimes it can be a challenge for people who are first coming to the Bible to read through some of the pages of the Old Testament.

It can be kind of challenging, but we shouldn't neglect that part of someone's learning just to get to New Testament teaching. We need to allow them to build that foundation that's found in the Old Testament so that the New Testament teaching has that solid platform on which to grow. And it's through the messianic prophecies of Isaiah and the Psalms and all of those beautiful writings that we have there that our understanding of Christ and our appreciation for who He is and what He's done for us really grows.

Yeah, I mean, you start to, you know, you think about, you know, all of the kind of New Testament concepts that are so vital to our walk as Christians. Those, those things are are enhanced by a study of the Old Testament. I mean, we've, we've not used the word yet. We've certainly alluded to, you know, the, the various, you know, types and shadows that you have playing from, you know, from the Old Testament and the New Testament, uh, and, you know, we've, we've, uh, we've alluded to already a couple of those things, but, you know, you start to think about, uh, New Testament worship.

And how vital that is to our life and our commitment to God right now. Well, you go back to the pages of the Old Testament and you study about worship there. And you study about what sacrifice really, you know, was and is all about. That enhances, it enhances your, uh, you know, understanding of worship for today.

You're able to have a fuller picture of all of these things by going back into the Old Testament and seeing that's what God has given it to us. I mean, all of those, you know, types and shadows, many of which the New Testament points you directly back to so that you're able to see it. I mean, the book of Hebrews nearly does it from the beginning to the end of it.

And so God, no, he knew in giving us that part of his word of how helpful that that was going to be. For us today, it certainly I understand we're not bound by the old law as the Israelites were during the time that they walked on this earth, but there was so much to be gained that enhances our relationship with God today that can be pulled from the Old Testament.

You know, one of those. One of those shadows that, that you mentioned, uh, was in Genesis chapter 22 and we get the story of, of Abraham being told to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, and we get the story of Abraham being told that and immediately going to do just that and right as he was ready to kill his son on the altar and offer him to God, God stops him from doing that and then you take that story.

Yeah. And you read the New Testament where God sends his only son as a sacrifice for mankind, the Lamb of God, and where God stopped Abraham from moving forward with sacrificing his own son. He didn't stop himself and was willing to do that and to offer his son as a sacrifice. On our, on our behalf in that story of Genesis 22, it just brings so much emotion to the story of, of Christ, because we can all relate in some way as, as you and I, as fathers, we can relate to the love we have for our children.

And we would never want to do anything to hurt them. We would want to do everything to protect them at all, at all costs. And yet God sent his only son. And was willing to watch him be crucified for us. And so we can relate to what Abraham went through and that helps us better understand what God experienced as he sent his son.

And so that sacrifice becomes even more real to us because of what we read about in the Old Testament. And we could go on and on about different aspects of the Old Testament and different stories that really bring to life some of these New Testament stories and principles for us. That's just one example of a whole lot that we could pull from, but it just makes that story so much real for us.

Yeah, I was thinking, um, I think yesterday, you know, about this topic and knew that we were going to kind of come in here and talk a little bit about it, and I was thinking about, well, how is it? That you get someone to kind of begin that process, right? How do you get somebody to gain that appreciation and to really grow in their understanding and appreciation of the Old Testament?

And the thought that hit me first, you know, I immediately was like, well, that's a little simple and silly. And so I tried to come up with, you know, something else and just really couldn't. And it is, you know, it was as simple. The thing that hit me first is, just, just, Give it a, give it a go, right? Open it up and, and read.

I mean, you made mention of the book of Genesis. I mean, what an incredible place to start. I mean, literally right there at the very beginning, and, and allow yourself to, to, to see what's there, and allow yourself to see the practicality of it, uh, the learning that can come from it, and, uh, you know, I wish there were, you know, something, you know, A little bit more in depth that I could probably have come up with in my own simple mind, but it is as simple as that.

It's God's Word. Open it up before the book of Matthew and really see what's there. And I think if that is something that you haven't done a lot of in the past,  When you do that, I think you're going to be surprised at what you find, because it is  integral to really understanding what our relationship with God is all about.

On that same note, I think it's really helpful to remember that the Bible is One cohesive document that God breathed out to mankind and it from the very beginning Genesis chapter 1 to the very end. It tells a story. It is a story now Not all of the Bible is narrative There's law that's being given.

There's prophecy that's being given. There's instruction being given. Uh, but it is a story that God is sharing with mankind from his creation and to the fall of man and his plan to restore mankind and bring about salvation to them through his son, Jesus Christ, and then to take us home. to be with him in heaven one day for those who are faithful.

This is a story that God is sharing with mankind to help us understand that, to help us become obedient to his will for mankind. And when you approach it, not as, well, that's the old Testament. This is the new Testament or, and there's, there's benefit to breaking it up to, you know, this is law and this is wisdom and this is poetry.

And this, these are the letters that's there's benefit to all of that. But if you just kind of hold the Bible and think of it about, think of it as. One cohesive document that is leading me closer to God and closer to his son. Then when you start to read it from the beginning, it starts to make a little bit more sense because you can see God moving creation along through the story of the Bible, bringing us closer to him over time.

And I think that that's really been helpful for me to think about it in that way.  It is that full picture, that we don't look at it in two parts, right? I mean, that really becomes, God has given us one book, right? He's giving us, He's given us one book to pull from. Not two books, He's given us one book that we are, you know, to pull from and If we can see it that way and understand it that way, I think it makes a big difference.

I agree. Well, let's wrap things up with a passage in 2 Timothy chapter 3. And I think this is just a helpful passage considering what we just said about the cohesiveness of Scripture and that all of it is beneficial to us, Old Testament and New Testament alike.  And as Paul wrote to his dear friend Timothy in 2 Timothy 3, beginning in verse 16, he said, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast. Whatever platform you're listening, rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus widely and effectively as possible. Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk again next week.