JDL - Direction Thirty-four - Unless The Fall, No Need For A Savior (Gen. 1-11, God’s Word!)

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

It has been said that God wrote the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. In other words, God knew what was going to happen in the New Testament and wrote the Old Testament accordingly. Certainly, if we do believe in an almighty God, a God who can do any and all things, this would not be difficult to believe. As Christians we often live in a paradox. We live with many Biblical tensions. Are we sinners, or are we saints? The answer is “yes.” Does God know what is going to happen? Yes. Does God make things happen? Not always. How can this be?

Because we live on this side of the resurrection, that is because the resurrection has already occurred, and because Jesus has fulfilled all the law and the prophets, there are many who would like to do away with the Old Testament and simply live as New Testament Christians. Also, because of the teachings of the belief of evolution and the fact that those beliefs do not and cannot coexist with the teachings of the Bible, and because some people would rather believe in the inexactness and ever changing theories of science (simply because it is science), there are many who would like to skip past the Old Testament.

The problem with doing away with the Old Testament is that we would then also have to do away with the New Testament. We cannot have a New Testament without an Old Testament. If God had not created the world, if Adam and Eve had not sinned, then there would be no need for a Savior. If there is no need for a Savior, then why would Jesus give up the glory that was His in heaven, take on human flesh and blood and be born humbly and lowly in a manger in a stable? If there was no fall into sin, then why would Jesus bother taking our sins upon Himself and suffer and die for those sins? Without the Old Testament there would be no need for the New Testament.

The fact of the matter is, Jesus did not do away with the Old Testament. Certainly He fulfilled all the law and the prophets completely and perfectly, but He did not do away with it (Matt. 5:17). With this understanding in mind, it is quite easy then, to understand that a God who is omniscient would know what was going to happen even before He created the world. Knowing what was going to happen does not mean that He initiated or caused it to happen. Knowing what was going to happen and promising to send a Savior to “fix” what happened, then it would be easy enough to understand how He would work and write the Old Testament in light of the New Testament.

With this understanding in mind, when it comes to our own lives, God certainly knows what is going to happen, but that does not mean He does not give us a mind to think and to make decisions. This does not mean we do not have free will. Of course, we understand that because we are living after the fall into sin and because we are conceived and born in sin, our free will is tainted which actually fights against God and can only choose sin. God knows what will happen to us in our lives, but we are the ones who are responsible for what we do.

God knows we are sinners, and we know it, too. Because of our sinful nature, we continue to turn to Him as He draws us to Himself. He has written our names in the book of life; heaven is ours even though we must pass through this world and all the while sinning in thought, word and deed. Thanks be to God that Jesus does direct us in our lives to guide us and lead us to His heavenly home.

Think About
When a “good” child is seated next to a “bad” child, who influences who? Why?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gifts of life, faith and forgiveness. Thank You for Your Word in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Forgive me when I fail to value both. Help me to see You and Your hand in both testaments, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.