『The Old Testament As A Foundation In Our Lives』のカバーアート

The Old Testament As A Foundation In Our Lives

The Old Testament As A Foundation In Our Lives

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The Old Testament As Foundational Knowledge My kids had one of their friends over yesterday. They're about ten or eleven years old. Since their visit, I've been reflecting on a conversation that was had. One of the thoughts that I keep having is: Who and what is God? The reason that comes to mind is because we were briefly talking about God. The boy who was visiting was telling us that his family believes that God is a beam of light that exists inside of everyone. They believe that Jesus Christ was the light given a body. I have been reflecting on this for hours (well, it could only be hours because the conversation was only yesterday). I don't actually know this kid's parents. They live in another town. I've met his stepdad a couple of times. His biological dad, as far as I know, doesn't talk about God a whole lot, but in his mother's home with his stepdad, they do quite a bit. I asked him a question: "Well, what does it say about God in the book of Genesis? And what does it say about us?" He looked at me and said, "I don't really know anything about Genesis. We don't talk about it. We only look at Jesus and the New Testament." The Pattern of the Old Testament My mission here is not to criticize him or anyone else who takes that approach to the scriptures. My mission is to ask a question: What are we missing about who God is, and who we are, by not investing more of our time in the Old Testament? There is a lot of focus on the New Covenant versus the Old Covenant. But the Old Testament is not simply an old covenant; it also provides a bunch of foundational knowledge about who God is and why He does the things that He does. The Old Testament gives the New Testament a foundation on which to stand. Jesus Himself regularly quotes the Old Testament. As an example, I'm going to turn to the very beginning of the book of Genesis: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Genesis 1:26–28 God didn't say anything about being a beam of light. He says, "I have an image. I'm going to create man after my own image." I think that is really important. This is not a discussion about who and what God is; this is a discussion of foundational knowledge. When I read the New Testament, can I really say that I understand it in full if I don't understand the foundation? If I haven't spent time building my foundation? Ready-to-Go Foundations I know that when Jesus was talking to Peter, He says, "Upon this rock, if you build, you shall not fall." There are different discussions about what that rock is. Some believe the rock is literally Peter; some believe that the rock is a testimony of Jesus Christ; others believe that the rock is our ability to receive truth directly from God—because right before that, Jesus had asked, "Do you know who I am?" and Peter said, "Yes." That answer came through God's Spirit. I am inclined to believe it's a bit of the latter—that upon this rock of receiving witnesses through the Holy Ghost, we will build our foundations. But it's also upon the rock of Jesus Christ Himself. Part of that rock is looking at what God has already given us. Why would I start building my foundation completely from scratch when God has already given me most of the foundation to start building on? That's what the scriptures are. You hold them in your hands; they are a ready-to-go foundation. By "ready-to-go," I mean we have it in the Bible. It's written, it's recorded, it's history, it's certain, it's sure. We can hold it in our hands, read it, and put it in our minds and hearts. As we do, we build a foundation that God desires us to have. I don't doubt that Jesus Christ did this Himself in many ways. If you look at His life, you will see patterns where He was applying principles from the Old Testament as well, using them as His foundation for following His Father. We see this when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, and Jesus responds by quoting the Old Testament. He was intimately familiar with it; it was a foundation for Him, and it will also be a foundation for us. Aligning Our Creativity with God Most of what I focus on has to do with being creative. So, I want to ask this question: How does this idea of knowing about the foundation affect our ability to be creative? For me, as I know more about who God is and why He does the things that He does, I find it easier to align myself with Him. I believe that creativity, to the varying degrees that we have it, are ...
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