Nothing New Under the Sun

Our culture today realizes that each age brings its own set of presuppositions and has its own errors. One irony of our age of course is how we see ourselves as so uniquely different from other times.

The reality is there is nothing new under the sun as scripture teaches. Relativism is not new and contextual thinking is not new. We are only different from other ages by our degree of struggle with certain issues.

We are worse on some issues than other ages and better on others. The human condition is constant. All men are born in sin and born into cultures which promote errors.

Ultimately history repeats itself because the most essential element of man. His fallen nature and estrangement and enmity with God is always unchanged.

The expression of depravity in each age shifts a bit this way or that but it is always the same. The age we are in today is never as unique as we think.

Technology and many societal structures have changed, but each man is born with the same dark heart. The central question that each man should desire to answer in each age is how to solve his enmity to God.

The answer in every age is faith in Jesus. Before Jesus' incarnation on earth it was a looking forward and trusting in the promises of God in the future. The trust was in the promise of God that he would send a Messiah. Now we look back to the Messiah.

Many people scoff that the faith is the same. The expected Messiah and the Messiah who came seem somewhat different from what much of Israel was expecting. Of course the reality is that it is the faith which is credited as righteousness.

We always see through a glass dimly. Scripture states this plainly and the fogginess with which those of faith at times see is no argument against the nature of faith.

Prophecy as Apologetic

The Old Testament is full of imagery of Jesus. Much of the temple imagery is based upon what would later be fulfilled by Jesus.

All through the Old Testament the bible is filled with prophecy of Jesus.

I have heard some people say that the most powerful apologetic for Christianity is explaining the Old Testament prophecy related to Jesus. I agree with this point.

It is often a far more helpful apologetic to unfold the Old Testament prophecy regarding the coming Messiah than to argue solely by reason. You see reason is heavily influenced by emotion. We often only accept what pleases us.

The Old Testament prophecy regarding the Messiah is more powerful for various reasons. First it bypasses human reason in the sense that we meet something we cannot explain by human reason. We meet God telling us what will happen if we have ears to hear.

Also we meet in the bible an appealing reason to accept God. If we truly understand who God is then we will desire to accept him.

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.