The Fulfillment of the Old Testament

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. The promises and ritual of the Old Testament point toward Jesus' life and work.

God's covenant and promises with Israel were fulfilled in the final form when his only son Jesus took on human flesh. The Old Testament points toward the final victory of Jesus.

The continuity between the Old and New Testament is that the Old Testament finds its ultimate significance in the person and work of Jesus. Often the discontinuity of the testaments is exaggerated.

In reality the Old Testament is in complete continuity with the New. It is unclear how easily much of the prophecy in the Old Testament would have been understood.

Liberal scholars often attempt to make a case that since the prophecy in the Old Testament might have at times been misunderstood by its readers the prophecy could not be about Jesus. It is of course a fallacious argument of the worst type. The misunderstanding of a text does not make the misunderstanding the valid reading of a text.

The Old Testament points to Jesus. The final covenant between God and mankind commenced when God sent his only son Jesus to fulfill all righteousness on our behalf.

The Lamb of God

In the Old Testament each year a spotless lamb was sacrificed to purify the people. The sins of the people were washed clean by the sacrifice of blood.

This lamb is a visual representation of the Messiah Jesus who was to come. It is no surprise then John the Baptist a messenger appointed by God to pave the way for the Messiah exclaimed:

"Look the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world."

You see Jesus is the fulfillment of the old covenant. Many people see Jesus as issuing a new covenant and it is partly right but his new covenant is more a permanent fulfillment of the old.

Since he has fulfilled the covenant perfectly much of the old covenant is modified and looks very different. But really the covenant is more of a continuity than a separation.

It is simply that Jesus fulfilled everything once and for all so a large number of repetitive elements are ended. The discontinuity is because of the efficacy of the sacrifice making parts of the old covenant obsolete.

The continuity is far greater than most people see. At first the discontinuity seems greater but as you look you can see the continuity far out ways the discontinuity and the discontinuity is based on the efficacy of Jesus' work.