Article 07

The Old Testament

“The Old Testament is not contrary to the New, for in both the Old and New Testaments eternal life is offered to mankind through Christ. Hence he, being both God and man, is the only mediator between God and man. Those who pretend that the Patriarchs only looked for transitory promises must not be listened to. Although the law given by God through Moses is not binding on Christians as far as its forms of worship and ritual are concerned and the civil regulations are not binding on any nation state, nevertheless no Christian is free to disobey those commandments which may be classified as moral.”

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Imagine you have just read a great detective novel, which you highly recommend to two friends who are murder-mystery fans. Both friends would like to borrow the book, but you only have one copy. What do you do? What you would not do is rip the book in half and give the first part to one friend and the second part to the other! If you did, friend number one would be left with the tantalizing knowledge that the Lord of the Manor was killed in the library with a lead pipe, but would have no idea how the story ends. Friend number two would know that the butler was the culprit, but would have no real idea what the butler did!

Nobody expects to understand a book unless they have read it from start to finish. Yet many people treat the Bible as if the first two thirds of it can be safely ignored. Although we may all have favorite Old Testament stories (perhaps from our time at Sunday School) most of us are more comfortable with the New Testament than the Old. However, the 39 Articles are clear that we must not dismiss the Old Testament: “The Old Testament is not contrary to the New, for in both the Old and New Testaments eternal life is offered to mankind through Christ.” The coming of Jesus is not an afterthought by God: the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is the story of God’s plan to rescue the world through the life, death and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.

The history of how God put that plan into action starts on the first pages of the Old Testament. Just like any other book, the message of the Bible can only be properly understood if we read its story from beginning to end.

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There are some conflicts in the world where the gulf between the two sides is simply too wide to be breached. It is now several years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but the world is still reeling from the horror of those events. As I listened to the news in the days following that September 11, I noticed that no politician or commentator was suggesting mediation or reconciliation between the democratic world and the faceless terrorist organization that was behind these audacious attacks. There was a general consensus that retribution and justice must be meted out to the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. It was only natural that this event immediately polarized the world into two groups: those who stand for freedom – and those who delight in terror.

One of the effects of the attacks has been to reveal how evil human beings can be. We are appalled to see the extent of human wickedness. Perhaps this gives us a deeper appreciation of the yawning gap that exists between a perfect, holy God and our sinful humanity. I shudder to think what would happen if God decided that no reconciliation with us was possible – that retribution and justice should be carried out against us.

This judgment is what we deserve – yet, amazingly, God has provided a mediator between himself and us. What kind of person could reconcile two such very different parties? Only a God who is man, and a man who is God. We need someone who can stand in both camps, understand both sides and bring the two peacefully back together. We need a God-man and we find him in Jesus: “Hence he, being both God and man, is the only mediator between God and man” (as the 39 Articles declare). Jesus is the only one who can bring God and humanity together, and he did so at huge cost to himself through his death on the cross. Our part in this marvelous reconciliation is to respond in gratitude and faith.