One of the joys of my last decade has been a deepening appreciation for just how much of the Old Testament lies in the background of so many of the New Testament realities. The continuity of God's plans for us and in us and his commitment to seeing them through are amazing.
Here, for instance, is something I had never quite seen as clearly before as I did while studying for a teaching I'm giving at our People of Praise Easter meeting. (The teaching is on the purpose of holiness.):
Exodus 19
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
I Peter 2
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The Seder meal (Passover celebration) we shared at the Maslow's house last night brought similar things to mind.
The only thing I would add is that these 'recognitions' are not simply a cool puzzle to put together. The Old Testament background for Peter's proclamation determines what he meant by it. You can never take a New Testament profession out of its Old Testament context and hope to make right sense out of it.
1 comment:
Amen and Amen! I can recall the days when I used to believe that the Old Testament was "boring." But once you begin to see the continuity in the Bible and the fact that the SAME God of the Old Testament remains; that the realities in the New Testament were prefaced by the Old, it's amazing. What a mighty God we serve. A blessed Easter to you all.
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