Yahweh said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your family and your father's house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing:
'I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you.' - Gen. 12:1-3 -
This blessing is ultimately experienced by the Church through the Sacraments in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The great redemptive act of the Old Testament is the EXODUS, the deliverance of God's people from bondage in Egypt. This is the Old Testament counterpart to the deliverance brought about by Christ through His death and resurrection. Through the Exodus, God revealed not only His sovereign power, but also his faithfulness and the depth of His covenant love for Israel.
This was followed immediately by the covenant between God and His people renewed at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law. God had already entered into covenant relationship with His people and had miraculously delivered them. This means that obedience to the Law cannot be understood as a requirement for becoming the people of God and enjoying His favour. The Law was given in the context of God's grace.
From the perspective of the New Testament, the Law may be interpreted as having several purposes. It was given to instruct the people about the absolute holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity. The Law also set Israel apart from the surrounding nations in order that the Hebrews might be pure channel by which the Messiah could come and accomplish His saving work for all humanity.
Through the prophets of the Old Testament the work of Christ was anticipated most clearly. They cautioned the people against presuming upon their relationship with God, as though being a member of the Jewish race were a virtue in itself. And they tried to lift the people's eyes from their national and political concerns to God's love for all nations. God's intent was to transform the entire fallen creation. He was not concerned only with the political sovereignty of the nation of Israel.
All along God was up to something far greater than the Israel realized. The prophet Jeremiah expressed this truth by referring to a "new covenant"which God would establish in the future. - Jer. 31:31-34 - The old covenant, particularly the Law, could not accomplish the goal which God had for His people and His creation. In the new covenant His Law would be written on the hearts of His people , and they would enjoy the lasting forgiveness of their sins.
God preserved His people through the experiences of the divisions of the kingdom, the destruction of the nations of Israel and Judah, the CAPTIVITY, and the resettlement of His people in Jerusalem. He continued to reveal Himself and His purposes through the prophets, who increasingly spoke of what God would do in the near future. In this spirit of anticipation His people entered the New Testament era with its great announcement of fulfillment and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Testament as Fulfillment..............
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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