God’s Story All Along

This morning I read Matthew 1. Each time I start reading the New Testament I feel like I have been sailing over a vast ocean called the Old Testament and landed on this little Island called the New Testament. I start through this little island with machete in hand and then three days later I’m back in the water again in Genesis. Now, to be sure, both the Old and New Testaments are given by God. The Old Testament is not just to get you to the New Testament, but it certainly brings you there. One thing I’ve learn is if you are going to understand God’s Word, you are going to have to get a bit of a grip on the Old Testament.

Think about Abraham. He is in Matthew 1:2, “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob…” and so on. We read about Abraham in the Old Testament, and we read about Ruth, David, Bathsheba, and Solomon. We read about all these people in the Old Testament and we read about them in the first couple verses of the New Testament. Why? In Matthew 12:42 Jesus says, “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” What Jesus had to offer was greater. Jesus is the apex of all that came before.

In other words, the entire thing is a setup. Everything you have read up to this point is a setup. Matthew 1:22, speaking of the announcement of the Christ child by an angelic messenger, says, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying…” If you look at chapter 2, a theme is that all these Old Testament Scriptures was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” So, you have a setup and God is fulfilling that.

Just seven words into the New Testament you find Jesus. It starts, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” He is Jewish and virgin born just as God said He would be. God is not hiding the headline. You don’t have to slog through seven paragraphs to see what the story is about. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ.” In short, God is bringing heaven to earth. Verse 23 says, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” In other words, Jesus has been God’s story all along.

If that is true, there are a couple of takeaways. First, consider reading the whole story. You can’t come to grips with the New Testament fully if you don’t address the Old Testament. Now there could be a lot of things that strike you as odd, but they mean something. You may not always understand because you are reading from a modern, American, finite, perspective. If you read the whole story, it will take you a while, probably more than a year. I could not read it through in a year and understand anything I was reading. Nothing is worse than reading a bunch of words that mean nothing to you. If at the end of your reading you can’t give the purpose of the text, then slow down. It may be daunting, but there are tools and people that can help you. Consider reading the whole story. Don’t conquer the Bible; let the Bible conquer you.

Second, embrace the big picture, but enjoy the details as well. The Bible is so multilayered. It is simple enough in many ways that I can comprehend and take action on it, but there is also a God-given meaning that goes beyond the take away I have any given day. Embrace the big picture and also the details. I’m sure you watched or read something and wondered about an odd detail. Either the author is mindless or there is a reason and purpose for that detail. So many times we miss details way back in the Old Testament, but God is setting you up. The details are there for a reason.

Oftentimes, I am skimming general takeaways. I won’t get all the depth of what I am reading, but there may be some honest takeaways I can grasp for today. The question is not, “What does this mean to you?” The Bible means what it means and I need to find that out first, but I need to apply what it means to me. Read with purpose and curiosity. What is the point? Don’t just stumble over weird details and choke on the bones. Keep reading. This is a book about the generation of Jesus Christ. It is true of Matthew, but it is true of God’s Word in total as well.

Finally, keep it personal. I need to do more than think what it means to me or how I feel about it. I should think, “Why did God put this here? What is His purpose? What is the application that is fair?” Jesus is real and living. Keep is personal. The people in your life who know the Bible should be the best and godliest people you know. God intends you to take what He has said personally. God takes you personally. God loves you, sent His Son to die for you, and has revealed His plan for fellowship with Him in the words of His book.

There is a lot of the Bible that I don’t understand, but what I do understand energizes my life. Jesus has been God’s story all along. Consider reading the whole story, embrace the big picture, read with purpose, and keep it personal. It will make a difference in your life.