Related to spiritual meaning, the central point of history for mankind relates to the life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. His death was necessary to meet the holy nature of God, which death countered the imperfection of mankind so to provide means for personal fellowship with God. Without that redemptive divine gesture there would appear no recourse to counter the lostness of mankind. Without that redemptive plan God could not maintain his integrity of perfection, and also receive human beings as his children. The unity of God has to be maintained. There is no hope for mankind beyond the grave without some plan that meets the nature of God, and provides rescue for imperfect (in nature, sinful) human beings. The redemptive plan countered the spiritual inadequacy of natural mankind so making those identifying with that plan acceptable to God and thereby made citizens of his Kingdom. We capture the consequence of that human/divine agreement as immortality. A factor in God’s nature is freedom. His offerings to mankind are freely given, and in the degree that human beings are free (in the context of nature) we freely receive. The great paradox, in the logic of the human context, is that the individual must surrender all that nature offers, both affirmative and negative, for what God offers. That means that earth’s freedom, declared and only partially available in the mortal context, gives way to God’s freedom – genuine freedom in the divine immortal context. That means it is: unrestrained, exempt from mortal liability, at liberty – not that of a slave, but a citizen. In the Kingdom of God, the perfection and liberty of God prevails. In that context the God protection is not perceived as restraining freedom, but empowering it.
Scripture is one, in two subdivisions identified as Testaments. The first is identified as the Old Testament, perceived as a document that offers legal orders from God and illustrating both the human keeping and violating of the laws of God that reflect his holiness. In the meaning of that holiness, righteousness for mankind is verbalized, sometimes identified as the Law of Moses. This is given to Israel, the nation representing all nations for God, so to make practical the story and understanding of the conduct and treatment of God’s communication and response in and by all nations. The whole of it is managed by priests for mankind, and prophets for God. It becomes clear that this context is a preparation for something future. Blood sacrifices become legal tender looking forward to a Messianic figure honoring the previous faith by offering adequate collateral so to meet the indebtedness. The debt was paid – past and future.
Old Testament persons looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, the persons following his earthly sojourn look back to him – so the New Testament introduced in the fulfillment of the Old. The debt paid there is no further need for blood offerings. This provides the New Testament revelation that the Messiah has come and fulfilled Scripture predicting his presence, authority and teaching. In the biographies of Jesus, the Apostles and their early converts, the effectiveness and truth of the message and claims of the redemptive story were and are verified. The world changed. The proselyting of Old Testament believers gave way to the evangelization of New Testament believers. Not only had the Old Testament plan been completed, but also the New Testament. Without the first there would not have been a second. The second explains the mystery of the first. Jesus and his followers drew largely from the Old Testament. They formed the New in the process. From the human side of things, with the growth of populations looming, the new was completed properly – in the fullness of time. (Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:10) Evangelism is more than the declaration of the redemptive story of Jesus, calling for a verdict from mankind. That persuasion is dependent also upon the model lives of Christians living out, to the best of their devotion the human righteousness reflective of God’s holiness. The details of that process are largely described, in some detail, in the commandments given of God to men and women in the clear statements of Scripture sometimes summarized as the commandments of Moses. The New Testament, assuming knowledge of the Old calls for Christians to be obedient – obedient in all things. (2 Corinthians 2:9) The call of God is that we should be obedient to the heavenly vision in word and deed. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020