Which is more important, the Old Testament or the New Testament?

        We often hear people say that they do not like reading the Old Testament (OT) because it is too boring or difficult to understand.  On the other hand, we also hear people say that they do not like the New Testament (NT) because the chief author, the apostle Paul, is too masculine or bashes women.

        In general, however, many people, perhaps the majority, seem to prefer the NT over the OT. The NT, they say, is more kindly, and more compassionate, even though the book of Revelation seems to be too frightening.  Well, what do you think?

        When we read the entire Bible in the context of the creation, the Fall, and the restoration of humanity to divine favour and perfect godliness, it is impossible to place one section of the Bible above the other. Both testaments are inextricably linked making up God’s entire plan of Salvation. The one complements the other.  As we will see, both testaments of the Bible comprise not just the history of the earth, but the whole history of God’s universe. Some refer to this as, His-Story, events celestial and terrestrial of God’s plan for the entire universe.  We can only rightly begin at the ‘genesis’ of all things as we seek answers.  As the first book of the Bible puts it, ever so simply but yet so profoundly, Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

        So right from the outstart God made clear to all humanity that He was the mastermind, the ‘nous’[1] as the philosophers of old termed it, behind the existence of all things, animate and inanimate and that there was no other God before Him. Isaiah, in the biblical book that carries his name put it very succinctly, Isa. 45:18 “For thus says the LORD who created the heavens…who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited), I am the LORD, and there is no other.”  This concept of creation is the oldest humans have about the origin of the earth.  All other allegations to the contrary and that support evolution were yet to exist in the distant future.  A study of the nations of the earth and their existence makes this point unassailable.  In the oldest book of the Bible, Job, Moses the author of the book, has Job calling God His maker (my maker: Job 35:10) and in Job 12:7-9 he boastfully bids us to enquire of the animals and they will declare to us that God indeed is the creator of all things.

        The book of Isaiah is perhaps the most forthright in declaring God as the Redeemer, Creator, and Restorer of the earth and of the new heavens which will never perish. In Isa. 65:17 he writes: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”  There are several other passages in the OT that record God as the only creator of our world, and that there is no other God but Him.  We see, therefore, that the Old Testament is essential to the story of creation, the Fall, and the restoration of humanity.  There is no other ancient book that so clearly sets out this saga of creation and its derivatives so smoothly and so well interconnected. Certainly, some books refer to the creation, even to the separation of God and humans; these stories even refer to some sort of afterlife however, as we observed above, the OT presentation is the most logical and reasonably presented. 

        The OT also makes many allusions to, or prophecies concerning, the incarnation of God in human flesh the earliest of which is found in the book of Genesis. The sacrificial system was also a living display of this forthcoming incarnation.  It is also interesting to note that the sacrificial system seemed to be born out of the OT’s reference to creation and the Fall, showing this to be an ancient concept whose description is most clearly set out in Genesis. 

        At this juncture, it is important to point out that if there were not a follow-up of these OT references and themes in other literature then there would be no way to verify the credibility of these OT prophecies and allusions apart from the discovery of these themes in ancient writings and art.  So far the clearest verification of the OT prophecies is found in the New Testament.  There is a strong, perceptible link between these two books. Without the New Testament, the OT would fall into the musings of the town folk except in the realm of science where creation really has no credible contender.  As things stand, then, the OT is a display of God’s story or history of how all things came into being and the credibility of this is in the NT where God’s divine plan for the fallen race can be tested and verified.  The NT witness and verification of the OT is no little matter.  The whole historical verification of God’s existence and His creation and redemption of fallen man is certainly made plain in Holy writ as far as historical records go.

        For example, the OT testament predicts the incarnation of God in human flesh for the one purpose of redeeming man from sin and death.  In the NT we have the historical records of Jesus, not to mention the secular references to the historical Jesus.  The first OT reference outside of the gospel is that comforting text found in Galatians 4:4, 5 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” In this text, we not only find the reference to the historical OT prophecies but the great spiritual component of God’s plan for human redemption first mentioned in the OT.  It is through His Word that God speaks to us; down through the ages God has been appealing to His people and through us to the world.  And this applies to all dedicated Christian people. First, there were the giants before the Flood whom God selected to call people back to Him and away from idols and the enslavement to sin in all its horrible forms; there was Enos, Enoch, Seth and many others culminating in Noah; these were men that ‘found grace in the eyes of God’, (Gen. 6:8), men whose sole purpose was to fill the kingdom of God with men and women whom God had redeemed but whom the great deceiver was constantly attacking.

        Next God raised up the patriarchs after the Flood to lead mankind Godwards once again. From the great patriarch Abraham, God produced a nation to rival all other nations, but a nation whose job was to not merely conquer other nations, but to spread the good news of God’s restoration of humanity.  This nation that God formed in the OT constituted the historical and physical link between the old and the new dispensations.  Some still refer to this as BC and AD, but more than that, the NT is the essential spiritual link in all of this, of God’s continued love for humanity.  In fact, in the OT God calls this his ‘eternal’ love, as God is everlasting.  Very compassionately Jeremiah writes (Jer. 31:3) “The LORD appeared to him, in past times I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.”   

        The NT takes up this Old Testament theme and says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.  In John 14:16 the words of Jesus are: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No Man comes to the Father except through me.”

        Perhaps the gospel of John in John 1:1-3 and other verses in that chapter are among the clearest NT statements that link the OT with the NT and hence also link cosmic and terrestrial history, all broadcasting God’s great plan for His Universe.  Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created the universe-the heavens and the earth.  Further in Genesis 1, we read that the Spirit of God played an active part in this creation, and John 1:3, 4 clearly states that Jesus was also active in the creation.  So while Genesis 1 and 2:1-3 in the OT speak of the plurality of God in this creation, the NT, in John 1:1-14 and 14:16, 26 reveal the participants in this divine creation, thus inseparably linking not just the two dispensations of the Old and New Testaments, but the entire universe to earth.

        We, therefore, submit that the two divisions of the one Bible cannot be broken apart, they constitute one history (His Story) of our sad universe but reveal also the most pristine glorious future that awaits us who love Him and have chosen Him as our God.  What a Day that Will Be when such a union shall have been accomplished.  This song puts it beautifully https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycz4s2xwDhc.  My friends, our world and every human being are in a great human conflict between good and evil. The good news is that the battle has already been fought and won by our great Creator, Brother, and Redeemer.  No human ought to lose in this battle, because with God all things are possible, even victory over our sinful tendencies and nature.  The sad news is that there will be many human losers ONLY because these humans will have CHOSEN not to be saved.  There is one thing our Creator God will not do and that is to force us to obey Him. Obedience must be spontaneous and must be driven only by love and gratitude.  Attraction to God may not start with love and gratitude, but as we walk along with Him we will learn to love and appreciate Him.  The Bible, then, is a complete whole and constitutes God’s love letter to the universe.

        My plea for each one is, as much of the world celebrates the birth and resurrection of Jesus this month, for us to boldly, and happily, go to the Throne of Grace where we will find joy and everlasting happiness.  Blessings to each one of you and happy Christmas.  

[1]Ron Henderson, unfinished doctoral thesis, PHILOSOPHY OF ORIGINS: A PROGRAMME FOR TEACHING SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST SECONDARY SCHOOLS. Evolution? Anaxagoras (500-428). Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI., 2003

If you have any comments or questions please contact Pr. Ron Henderson at ronhende@outlook.com.

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