The Supremacy of Christ in the Old Testament

I pick up my Bible and begin rifling through the pages, uncertain what to read. “I just finished Galatians,” I think to myself, “so maybe I should read something from the Old Testament”. I begin flipping from book to book. “Jeremiah? Nah it’s too long. Isaiah? Too confusing. Hezekiah? Wait, no that’s not even real book in Bible. Song of Solomon? I still dunno if I’m old enough to read that. Leviticus? Too boring. Nahum? I forgot that book even existed…maybe I’ll just read one of the Gospels.”

This is a fairly common, yet slightly exaggerated, occurrence in my Bible reading, and I definitely spend a majority of my time in scripture with my nose between pages from the New Testament. It’s not that I don’t like the stories of the Old Testament, it’s just that sometimes I don’t know what I’m supposed to be learning. The New Testament makes a lot more sense to me because it’s all about Jesus. I can understand why Jesus is important, but it’s hard to understand why reading about the dimensions of the temple is important. While there is plenty of tough theology to wade through, at least I know what I’m working towards as I read to gain a better understanding of Christ so that I can know Him more truly, love Him more dearly and serve Him more fully.

The Old Testament on the other hand is a bit more confusing. Certainly, we can learn about God’s character, the history of the world and the dangers of sin, but something still doesn’t seem to line up because we’re always taught that knowing Christ is all important in our lives, and yet I don’t see Jesus walking around in the Old Testament. So, if understanding Christ’s work on the cross is such an important task in my Christian life, then why would I spend time reading the Old Testament when I’ve got the book of Matthew where I can read actual quotes from Jesus.

It doesn’t seem to make much sense – until I begin to look deeper into the narrative of the Old Testament. Lately I’ve been reading the Old Testament searching for hints of Christ, and to my surprise, it turns out that the Old Testament is all about Jesus too! While Jesus may not be walking around in the Old Testament, the entire story is laced with whispers of his coming, foreshadowing his heroic entrance. The Old Testament is full of feeble men who fail and heroic men of great obedience, and then in His perfect timing, Christ steps in to fulfill man’s failures and surpass man’s heroics to become the perfect savior we desperately needed, and thus understanding the Old Testament helps us understand the greatness and supremacy of Christ.

In Adam, one man’s sin doomed all men to eternal death, but in Christ, one man’s obedience gave all men the chance to seize eternal life. Adam reached up to pull sin off that cursed tree, so Christ reached down and allowed himself to be nailed to a cursed tree that men might be blessed. In Noah, God found a righteous man to save out of the crowd of sinners who were condemned to death, but in Christ, God found a perfect man to die for that crowd of sinners. Just as God called Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, in Christ we again see a Father sending His son to be sacrificed – yet this time God does not call off the killing. He had told Abraham “I will provide another,” and finally in Christ we see this “other” whose blood truly saves.

Joseph was scorned and sold off by his brothers, and Jesus too was rejected and betrayed by his own creation. And just as Joseph is sold into slavery by his brother, Judas traded Jesus in for a bag of silver, yet both men go on to become saviors for their people; however, while Joseph offered bread and water to satisfy the stomach, Christ is the Bread of Life and Living Water which satisfies the soul. Then comes Moses, paving the way to the promised land after wandering the desert for 40 years because of the Israelites disobedience. But Christ is obedient where the Israelites failed and faithfully fights temptation in the wilderness for 40 days, and then paves the way, not to the promised land, but the heavenly land. Like Boaz, He is our kinsmen redeemer, though we, like Ruth, are not worthy to be His bride. He is the blessing to all nations that the Israelites could never be; the eternal King promised by God to David. He is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Law that we might live under the grace of the New Covenant. He tore the curtain of the Temple that our own bodies may become living temples.

He is a more perfect savior then Noah, saving souls not bodies. A more glorious king than David, ruling an eternal kingdom not earthly. A stronger warrior than Gideon, conquering death not Midianites. A greater hero then Ezra, restoring lives not walls. He is more faithful then Isaiah, wiser then Solomon, and stronger then Samson. He is the perfect man, the God-man…the original superman.

Jesus is not absent in the Old Testament; in fact, it’s all a story pointing to his coming. Today we reflect back on what Jesus did on the cross, while the people in the Old Testament eagerly looked towards the coming savior, and our ability to see Christ in the Old Testament will give us a more clear and satisfying understanding of Jesus. He is the focal point of all scripture and so we’ve got to dig in to the Old Testament to find Christ to get a grander picture of who He is. We have to dig into the Old Testament, because it helps give us a greater understanding of the supremacy of Christ and His sacrifice on the cross.

I hope the Lord blesses you as you study the Old Testament, and I think we all ought to read Nahum soon and see what the Lord teaches – I think Nahum might be feeling a little neglected.

:: KL ::

“What Christ has done for all who are in Him is far greater than what Adam did for all who are in Him. it’s all about the superiority of the work of Christ for those who are in him over what happened to all who were in Adam.”

- John Piper