Different Things God is teaching Me

THE TWO-FOLD PURPOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

PART 1 OF 2 series: The Problem of Mere Morality~ THE TWO-FOLD PURPOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the [Old Testament] Scriptures might have hope." ~Romans 15:4

We who live on this side of the cross (post New Testament times)...if the only conclusion we come to on the purpose of the Mosaic law and Old Testament history is that God was proving how holy and pure He is and how we are not...if this is the only thing we are taking from the Old Testament to apply to our lives and the church today...

...THEN WE ARE MISSING IT BIG TIME!

If God called Himself Israel's Father and now calls us Gentiles (non-Jews) our Father, then we ought to know and realize that a good father (much more, the Perfect Heavenly Father) does not just show his children what they lack in growth but will also both point to and provide the means (grace, mercy, longsuffering, atonement) by which they can fulfill what is lacking.

The purpose(s) God had in authoring-orchestrating Old Testament events and bringing forth the Mosaic law was to both prove to fallen man that morality alone could not pay the debt of man's sin, and also to capture/draw fallen man's despairing gaze to Himself; the Creator being the fulfillment/embodiment of sufficiency and atonement to created-man's insufficiency and doom.

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"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." ~Romans 8:3-4

"Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the [Old Testament] Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." ~Galatians 3:21-25

"Man's flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones stick out which once were not seen. Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, And his life to the executioners. If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness, Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’; His flesh shall be young like a child’s, He shall return to the days of his youth. He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness. Then he looks at men and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right, And it did not profit me.’ He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, And his life shall see the light.“ Behold, God works all these things, Twice, in fact, three times with a man: To bring back his soul from the Pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life." ~Job 33:21-30