The O.T., the N.T., and Redemption part 1

When I think of the events that take place on this Easter weekend, I am drawn to the Old Testament and the Prophets.  The Old Testament seems to be neglected by Christians and hated by those who are not Christians.  It would seem that this is due in part to a display of some of God’s attributes that do not preach well or leave us with a feeling of warmth after having heard or read it.  Things like God’s hatred of sin, a need for a blood sacrifice, and the true state of a sinner’s heart are clearly laid out within the pages of the Old Testament.  The state of helplessness on the part of the sinner and the truth of God’s sovereignty are laid out in clear contrast to each other within the pages of the Old Testament.  Where is the love, where is the compassion, where is the warm feeling?  My eyes turn toward Isaiah 53 where it says,

¹ Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ² For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. ³ He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? ⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. ¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53 (ESV)

Here is the love, that a Father would “delight to crush” His own Son.  Here is the love that the Son would willingly be crushed.  Here is the love, that He shed His blood as ours would be inadequate. Here is the fact, that it is we who do not love God, but it is God who loves us.  The very reason the cross was made necessary was not due to a failure on the part of God, but on the failure on the part of man.  So that created rebelled against creator.  It is creation that continues to rebel and God who continues to love.The Old Testament truly does show the love of God in relation to His creation as the above passage clearly indicates

Rememberig what got me to this place.

Psalm 1 ESV

1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

1:2 But, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.

1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

1:4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

John 15:1-17 ESV

15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

15:2 Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit e takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

15:3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whosoever aides in me and I in him, he is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

15:6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, and thrown into the fire, and burned.

15:7 IF you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will b done for you.

15:8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciple.

15:9 As the Father has loved m, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

15:11 These things I have spoken to you , that my joy may be n you, and that your joy may be full.

15:12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

15:13 Greater loe has no one than this, that someone lays down his live for his friends.

15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.

15:15 No longer do I cll you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give to you.

15:17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

The passages quoted above struck me. The theme of the two passages seems obviously similar and yet within the second passage we see the root, the completion, and the result of the first. The things mentioned in these passages are not possible apart from God, but it is God through Christ that makes these things possible. For it is God that chose us, it is God who chose us, it is Christ who made us righteous, and it is through Christ by means of the Spirit that we bear fruit so that we remain in Him because He is in us.

By means of a couple conversations I have had in recent days with people who I know care a great deal for me I was convicted that I had not read scripture as much as I should have been. With the lack of reading and meditation came anxiousness, frustration, and worry. Things that I had prayed for and prepared for for a long time where coming to be because of my dedication and preparation for them. But, it seems as though once I was blessed with the answer to prayers I set aside the prayer and meditation on such things, forgetting that in fact the prayer and meditation had only begun and that God's gift to me was only the beginning of what He has in store for me. The passages above have seemed to speak to what I was feeling and lacking.