Some years back I was doing a one-on-one Bible Study with a friend and she asked, “How does the Old Testament tie in with the New Testament, making it practical for today?”.
Yes, she knew that the Old Testament was filled with prophetic teachings about the birth of Christ, His crucifixion and the end times but she was missing the day-to-day applications for her life.
I think that is quite common so let me take a few minutes with you this morning to go through that.
I’m sure that most of you know the story of Abraham. He was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. The Lord told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that his descendants would be more numerous than the sand on the seashore. Abraham was the father of the nation of Israel but we, who follow Christ, are also his descendants.
God’s word is filled with blessings for all of us. The Old Testament is filled with rich and wonderful promises from God to His people. The New Testament tells us that when we are in Christ, the blessings made to Abraham and those in the Old Testament are available to us as well.
“Because of what Jesus Christ did, the blessing God promised to Abraham was given to all people. Christ died so that by believing in him we could have the Spirit that God promised… Now, in Christ, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or free, male or female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. 29 You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You get all of God’s blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham.” Galatians 3: 14, 28 & 29 ERV
God’s blessings are for our whole life – spiritually, physically and emotionally. His blessings bring wholeness. The blessings the Lord gave to Abraham were perpetual, they continued through the generations. Moses repeated them to the Israelites before they occupied the Promised Land.
” So remember that the LORD your God is the only God, and you can trust him! He keeps his agreement. He shows his love and kindness to all people who love him and obey his commands. He continues to show his love and kindness through a thousand generations, 10 but the LORD punishes people who hate him. He will destroy them. He will not be slow to punish those who hate him. 11 So you must be careful to obey the commands, laws, and rules that I give you today.
12 “If you listen to these laws, and if you are careful to obey them, the LORD your God will keep his agreement of love with you. He promised this to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you. He will make your nation grow. He will bless your children. He will bless your fields with good crops and will give you grain, new wine, and oil. He will bless your cows with calves and your sheep with lambs. You will have all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you.
14 “You will be blessed more than all people. Every husband and wife will be able to have children. Your cows will be able to have calves. 15 The LORD will take away all sickness from you and he will not let you catch any of the terrible diseases that you had in Egypt” Deuteronomy 7:9-15 ERV
When God first chose a people, Abraham’s descendants, to be His own, He blessed them in every area of their lives. Those blessings of the Old Testament are still valid for us today. But a greater blessing is ours as well. We have been made right with God through the sacrifice of Christ.
“…Â the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to his people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on better promises.” Hebrews 8:6 ERV
The Lord’s promises are still valid. He does not lie. Walk in His blessing today!