The Old Testament: The Four Threads Part 1

Old Testament Overview

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY
CREATION. ABRAHAM. MOSES. DAVID. ELIJAH. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to-Come.

At the outset of our study of the Old Testament, we were challenged with these penetrating words from A. W. Tozer:

What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. 

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. 

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most [important] fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.

Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, "What comes into your mind when you think about God?" we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man.^[1]

Our view of God is critical to our spiritual growth; therefore, that is where we began. 

To help us understand the Bible, we've identified four key threads that run throughout Scripture: "Who is God?" "Who is man?" "How can I know God?" and "How can I live for God?" As we now conclude our study of the Old Testament, let's return to these four threads, giving particular attention to the first, "Who is God?" 

God is the All-Powerful Creator 
"In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Here, in the very first words of the Bible, we are confronted with a mind-blowing statement about the immensity of God. Consider "the heavens and the earth": our galaxy, the Milky Way, is just one of roughly two trillion known galaxies, each with billions of stars. The Milky Way alone is 87,000 light-years in circumference. If you could drive around it at sixty miles per hour, it would take about 1.1 billion years; even flying at 550 miles per hour, the journey would still take around 120 million years. 

God spoke all of this into existence, a display of power our minds simply cannot comprehend nor understand. 

And this powerful God formed man as his crowning creation and stooped down to breathe life into Adam. To reveal his covenant relationship with humanity, he joined the name Yahweh to Elohim. Yahweh expresses God's faithfulness and his unwavering commitment to keep all his promises to his people. 

God is Holy
From Genesis to Revelation, God is revealed as completely pure, morally perfect, and distinct from all creation. There is no one like him. In the year that King Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a throne, while angels called out, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" (Isa. 6:2). This threefold declaration of God's holiness proclaims that God is utterly unique. The question then becomes, "How can humanity approach a holy God?" 

God is Redeemer and Savior
God made man and woman and placed them in a perfect environment—the Garden of Eden. They had everything they could ever want or need and were given only one command. The clear consequence of breaking that single command was death–physical, spiritual, and eternal separation from God. Yet through Satan's deceit they broke it, and through Adam and Eve, sin entered the world. They tried to hide from God and covered themselves with leaves, but to no avail. God found them and clothed them with the skins of an animal, signifying that a living creature had died so that they could live. In that moment, God provided a substitute—a life taken so that their lives were spared. 

The system of using animals as substitutes to cover over our sins—substitutionary atonement— was established by God and used throughout the Old Testament. However, it was never meant to be a permanent solution. Rather, it foreshadowed the time when God would become man and Jesus would be revealed as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). 

Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God proclaimed that Jesus would come. He told Satan that he would send one through the human race to crush Satan's head (Gen. 3:15). The layers of this promise gradually unfold throughout the Old Testament until, at last, Jesus—the Word—became flesh and moved into our neighborhood (John 1:14). 

God's spiritual and physical redemption and deliverance is seen in the Old Testament as he delivers his people from famine, grants victory in battle, and brings them out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery. Throughout the Old Testament, God declares to his people that he is their "Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 43:14) and that salvation is found in him alone (Isa. 43:11; 45:21; Jonah 2:9). 

God is the all-powerful Creator. God is holy. God is our Redeemer and Savior. As we finish today, hold fast to these truths about who God is—for they are the foundation of our faith and our hope. 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on God's attributes in today's teaching. How does understanding God as Creator change the way you view your life and purpose?

Talking to God: Ask God to help you marvel at his immensity. 

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