7 Ways of Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

No pastor wants his preaching to be considered “Christ-less” or something other than “Christ-centered.” Still, it is sometimes difficult to understand what exactly is meant by this kind of terminology. Likewise, no pastor wants to “read into” the text something that is not there.

In the initial chapter of his book, Preaching Christ from Genesis, Sidney Griedanus lays out seven ways that a preacher can legitimately preach Christ from the Old Testament. I’ve adapted the examples for each category in order to keep the focus on how there are multiple ways to preach Christ from an Old Testament account (such as Noah).

1. Redemptive-Historical Progression

The redemptive-historical road to Christ is the “broadest and foundational path from an Old Testament text to Jesus Christ” (3). It takes into consideration the history of redemption which begins with the opening chapters of Genesis and culminates in the vision of a restored paradise in Revelation. This journey from creation to new creation takes us down a path of redemptive history in God’s acts in Israel, through Christ, and then through the church. We take into consideration the place we are in the biblical storyline and then look forward to the climax of Christ’s death and resurrection.

An example would be the story of Noah. More than a simple story of warning against judgment, it is also a continuation of the Genesis plotline, where the seed of the woman must avenge the heel of the serpent. God’s preservation of Noah is the way He keeps His promises, and we anticipate the coming of the Seed – Jesus Christ in His first coming and then His second.     Continue at Trevin Wax

The Bible as One Story

How does the Bible hold together into a single, cohesive story?

It’s an important (and intimidating) question reserved for the discipline of biblical theology, an angle of scholarship that focuses on sections of Scripture, sometimes the whole of the Bible, to show how the texts fits together within the unfolding drama of redemption and consummation in Jesus Christ.

Edmund Clowney, the noteworthy theologian and preacher who passed away in 2005, said the lessons most easily transferable from seminary life to pulpit ministry was what he learned in biblical theology. There seems to be a direct line between advances in careful biblical theology and robust preaching and discipleship.

One new book release this summer has the potential to play an important role in how local churches put the whole Bible together. It's titled The King In His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Baker), written by Thomas Schreiner, the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. Dr. Schreiner joins us on this episode of Authors on the Line to talk about his book, about whole-Bible biblical theology, and why biblical theology matters for local churches and discipleship.    Continue at Tony Reinke

The Glory of the Coming Lord

In southern California, where snow may be seen only on the peaks of the distant San Bernardino mountains, Santa Claus rides a sleigh, his illuminated plastic effigy following Rudoph's red nose across the roof tiles of a Spanish hacienda. Santa may also be found in malls and on public property, where political correctness has banned the crèche-unless, of course, the sheep and oxen are joined by Donner, Blitzen, Rudolf, the Lion King, Pocahontas, and Mickey Mouse. Yet in Vanity Fair Mall the faint background music still includes "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "O Come Let Us Adore Him." 

Jesus the Christ, however, is not reduced to background music in our time. He was born in history; he now rules history as the risen Lord. His is not the "virtual reality" of digital entertainment nor the unreality of multicultural myths, but the first and final reality: the personal, living God incarnate. He is the Alpha and the Omega: the creating Word who has the last word, for when he comes again, we face not a jury but the Judge. Human history cannot contain his glory, but we need the depth dimension of Scripture history to reveal it. 

On the first Easter morning, when Jesus walked, unrecognized, with Cleopas and a companion, he did not remove their doubts and fears by saying, "Cleopas!" as he had said "Mary!" in the garden. They needed to know more than the fact of the resurrection-they were walking away from the fact of the empty tomb and of the presence of angels reported by the women. They needed to understand its meaning: the glory of Jesus Christ that was gained through his suffering. What they foolishly failed to grasp was the message of Scripture. 

Jesus, therefore, beginning with the books of Moses and the prophets, explained from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Lk 24:27). He was not willing to show Cleopas that he was somehow alive, since in a chance universe anything can happen. The good news is not that there was once a resurrection. The good news is "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3f). 

We, too, need to know the fact of the resurrection in the context of its meaning. The teaching of Jesus that burned into the hearts of those two disciples has not been forever lost because Cleopas lacked a tape recorder. We have Christ's resurrection teaching during those forty days in the inspired New Testament. That is why the sure guide to our understanding of the Old Testament is the New Testament.  Continue at Edmund P. Clowney