I've heard it argued that the difference in a good storyteller and a mediocre one is how they lay the foundation of a story. Do they draw you in and make you identify with each character? Or do they skip over details and bring in unknown characters at the end? In writing, as well as in life, there is no substitute for a good foundation. It is essential.
Growing up, I always wondered why God made the Old Testament such a big part of the Bible. The New Testament seemed so much more important to me. After all, it contained all the parts of Christianity that we live by and cling to today. Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Mosaic law, everything seemed to be there.
In my own mind, I thought of the Old Testament as little more than a historic account of events leading up to the coming of Christ. In fact, it even promoted a religious system that we do not follow today. So why is it all there? So many stories, so many events, so much information.
The answer is that the Old Testament is our foundation. It represents and explains everything we believe today. Every question and emotion in our lives is represented in its pages. Examples of human frailty and weakness, examples of strength and determination, it's all there. Even the basic question: why do I need to be saved?
All of the patterns established in the Old Testament, God would build on with the coming of Jesus. The blood of goats and lambs had been sacrificed for centuries before Jesus Christ provided the perfect sacrifice that would end all others. The foundation had been laid for hundreds of years, and Israel more than recognized their need for a savior. However, as prophesied Israel must reject their Deliverer, so that the Gentiles might be grafted in. Salvation came for all, not just the Jews. God needed to provide us (the strangers) with the same foundation that had been given to Israel.
In no less of a miracle, the Old Testament, slowly became known and read among the Gentile world. These sacred manuscripts of the Jewish leaders had been guarded and protected from outside eyes for thousands of years, but God decided that we should all have a foundation. We all needed to see the necessity of a sacrifice. To read the account of Adam's fall and the struggle of man to regain our position with God through acts of the flesh. We needed to see how the blood of goats and lambs could not cleanse us from our sins, nor could penance and self-sacrifice make us perfect.
The Old Testament shows us that we cannot find security in strong leaders or powerful nations. The glorious military victories of Joshua did not guarantee the security of Israel, nor did the wisdom or wealth of Solomon promise happiness and contentment. Only when the people turned to and trusted God were they delivered and lived in peace.
In the early chapters of Matthew, when Jesus Christ came to dwell among us, he provided all the answers to the questions of the Old Testament. Now we can accept his salvation by faith because of the foundation that was laid thousands of years earlier.
Never doubt the importance of a foundation in your own life. Teach your children about Jesus when they are very young. Make sure to take the time to explain to them all about God and why we need a savior. There is no substitute for a good foundation.
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." I Cor. 3:11 |
