The Old Testament: Foreshadowing the New Testament

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In the days of Christ’s life on this earth, believers did not have access to the Bible in its entirety as we know and are familiar with today. Believers in this ancient time period only had access to the Old Testament. However, through their access to the Old Testament, believers were provided a foundation for New Testament times. This foundation provided New Testament believers with the Lord’s established principles of right and wrong they were expected to follow. In addition, the Old Testament is overflowing with accounts of people whose lives exemplified the future life of Christ on this earth. These pictures allowed the Israelite nation to begin to have an understanding of why Christ needed to come as their Messiah and the work He needed to do on earth. Finally, there are common themes that are interwoven throughout the entire Old Testament. Three of these themes: transgression, redemption, and consummation point to the purpose of Christ’s atoning death on the cross. These themes portray God’s work both in the lives of Old Testament believers, but they also foreshadow God’s desire and plan for believers in New Testament times and beyond. The Old Testament is divided into six major sections. During each of these sections, elements of Old Testament history foreshadow various New Testament themes and events. Some of these various accounts recorded in the Old Testament are prophetical in nature and foretell specific details about various events that will be fulfilled in New Testament times. Each of the six major sections carries its own unique overarching theme that will in some way tie into New Testament history and theology. The six major sections of Old Testament are: creation (Genesis 1-11), covenant (Genesis 12-50), congr... ... middle of paper ... ...ver's Bible Commentary Old Testament. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992. Print. Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible: King James Version. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1994. Print. Scofield, C. I. The First Scofield Reference Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments. Authorized King James Version, with a New System of Connected Topical References to All the Greater Themes of Scripture, with Annotation, Revised Marginal Renderings, Summaries, Definitions, and Index, to Which Are Added Helps at Hard Places, Explanations of Seeming Discrepancies, and a New System of Paragraphs. Westwood, NJ: Barbour and Company, 1986. Print. Unger, Merrill F. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Ed. R. K. Harrison, Howard F. Vos, and Cyril J. Barber. Chicago: Moody, 1988. Print. Wilkinson, Bruce, and Kenneth Boa. Talk thru the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983. Print.

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