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Tag Archive - Preaching Christ from OT

What does it mean to “Preach Christ?”

Jan 23, 2013 • By David Murray • 2 Comments

“Strange as it may seem, we are not at all clear on what it means to ‘preach Christ,’” says Sidney Greidanus in the opening pages of Preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Common answers, moving from narrow to broader, are to:

  • Link verses to Christ’s crucifixion
  • Connect sermons to Christ’s death and resurrection.
  • Present Christ as the eternal Logos, who is also active in Old Testament times (especially as the Angel of Yahweh, God’s Wisdom, etc.)
  • Preach God-centered sermons (as Christ is God, a God-centered sermon is Christ-centered).
  • Substitute the name of Christ wherever we see “Jehovah” in the Old Testament (because Christ is Jehovah).

As the New Testament is full of preaching Christ, it must be our guide and model. Gredianus quotes C. H. Dodd’s survey of Apostolic preaching, which identified six core themes:

  1. The age of fulfillment has dawned.
  2. This has taken place through the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
  3. By virtue of the resurrection, Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God, as Messianic head of the new Israel.
  4. The Holy Spirit in the Church is the sign of Christ’s present power and glory.
  5. The Messianic Age will shortly reach its consummation in the return of Christ.
  6. The proclamation always closes with an appeal for repentance, the offer of forgiveness and of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of salvation.

Greidanus concludes that “a quick scrutiny of these six elements indicates that preaching in the New Testament church indeed centered on Jesus Christ – but not in the narrow sense of focussing only on Christ crucified, nor in the broadest sense of focussing only on the Second Person of the Trinity or the eternal Logos.”

For the New Testament Church, preaching Christ meant preaching “the birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus of Nazareth as the fulfillment of God’s old covenant promises, his presence today in the Spirit, and his imminent return. In short, ‘preaching Christ’ meant preaching Christ incarnate in the context of the full sweep of redemptive history” (Greidanus, 4).

6 Tips for Choosing Books on the Old Testament

Jul 5, 2012 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Like me, you’ve probably been disappointed by many books on the Old Testament. The covers look great, the titles sound enticing, and the blurbs appear exciting. But one chapter in and you’re beginning to flag. So boring, so academic, so impractical, and so suitable for your large pile of “read-one-chapter” books. So, how can you improve your chances of selecting a book on the Old Testament that will bless your life?  Let me tell you six qualities I look for when I’m choosing books on the Old Testament for my own spiritual edification.

1. I want a reverent and diligent handling of the text of Scripture. For too long the Old Testament text has been treated with less respect than a daily newspaper. It’s been attacked, lampooned, and neglected, not just by those outside the church but also by many within it. So I want to be sure that an author views the Old Testament as the inspired Word of God, and then works hard to mine the maximum meaning out of each precious word.

2. I expect any interpretation to start with the original context and park there for a while. Many books and sermons seem to regard the Old Testament as something hot-off-the presses and addressed directly to 21st century culture.  They fail to consider the original message to the original audience thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away. If you want to get on the wrong track immediately, and lead others astray, that’s a sure-fire way of doing it.

3. While accounting for the slow progressive unfolding of God’s truth over many years, the book should also portray that truth as having one clear and constant message. At times, some writers imply that God started with Plan A; and when that didn’t work He tried Plan B, then C, the D, etc. In other words, instead of seeing God’s message of a gracious salvation for sinners through the Messiah as one seed that gradually grows from root to shoot to stem to flower to fruit, they imply that God was forever starting over; planting then uprooting, replanting then uprooting, etc.

4. I look for a book that follows Jesus’ and His disciples’ example in using the New Testament to interpret the Old. I know of one Old Testament professor who refuses to allow any New Testament verse ever to be mentioned in his classes – kind of like studying with the lights off. Of course, we should not read into the Old Testament what was only known to those in the New; but as Christ and His apostles make clear, there was a lot more knowledge of the Gospel in the Old Testament than is usually thought.

5. The book must demonstrate that both Old and New Testament believers were saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. Was Old Testament faith as clear or strong? Did Old Testament believers see Christ as we see Him? Were Old Testament believers in possession of as much of the Holy Spirit? No, no, and no again. However, they did have saving faith, it was in the Messiah alone, and without the internal work of the Holy Spirit regenerating, sanctifying, indwelling and preserving them, they had no hope.

6. The book must apply the truth to the modern Church. Too many Old Testament books are addressed only to the head. They stop way short of connecting the truth to people’s hearts and lives. Worship, communion, obedience, and service are almost swear words to some writers.

Well, you’re probably thinking by now, “There aren’t many good Old Testament books like that around today, are there?” You’re right, I’m afraid. But I’m glad to announce that a new one has just been added to their ranks. It’s this book on the Tabernacle by my friend Danny Hyde. And what a rare treat it is to read!

  • Danny handles the text with reverent carefulness and rigorous diligence, mining the text for all its meat and milk.
  • He describes the original context, people, and situation so graphically that eventually you wonder if he possibly lived in Tabernacle times!
  • While respecting the varying degrees of revelation through the ages, he demonstrates the covenantal unity of God’s sovereign and gracious plan in both Testaments.
  • He avoids the pitfall of imputing New Testament understanding to Old Testament believers, but also welcomes the graciously provided light of the New to understand the Old.
  • And, at last, a modern book on the Old Testament that treats the believing Israelites as brothers and sisters in Christ rather than as slightly confused, animistic, legalistic idolaters.
  • Of course, if you’ve read any of Danny’s previous nine million books  you’ll know that he has a passion to bless the Church with books that minister to the head, the heart, and the hand. This book is no different. It will lead you to worship, it will prompt obedience, and perhaps above all it will inspire you to commune with the God who delights to dwell among us and in us.

This will be a great book for pastors and teachers who have been inspired by the wonderful resurgence of interest in the Old Testament, and especially of a Christ-centered understanding of the Old Testament, and yet open their Bibles at Exodus and Leviticus and wonder, “Eh, what do I do now?” Danny shows you, “Here’s how!”

But any serious Christian will also benefit from this book. It will not only open up previously undiscovered parts of the Bible, it will also show you the wonderful unity of the Scriptures from start to finish. Above all it will inspire you to seek communion with God through Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.

From the Foreword to God in our Midst by Danny Hyde.

Law and Gospel in the Old Testament

Jul 4, 2012 • By David Murray • 1 Comment

“The Old Testament is Law. The New Testament is Gospel.”

That seems to be the most common view of the relationship between the two Testaments.

Paul appears to confirm this in Romans 10 when he quotes Moses to illustrate attempts at salvation via law-keeping. “The man who does those things shall live by them” (Romans 10:5 quoting Leviticus 18:5)

That settles that then, doesn’t it.

Oh, wait, he quotes Moses again in the next verses to explain salvation by faith in Christ (Rom 10:6ff quoting Deuteronomy 30:12ff).

Either Moses and Paul are very confused; or we are.

I think I’ll take the safer option there.

Moses related Law and Gospel in the Old Testament in the same way as Paul did in the New.

Oh, and Jesus too! (Luke 10:28).

Calling all Women’s Bible Studies

Jun 8, 2012 • By David Murray • 1 Comment

As it’s about this time of year that many small-group Bible studies begin thinking about new curricula for the Fall and Winter sessions, I’d like to heartily recommend Nancy Guthrie’s Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series. Nancy has now written two of these 10-week Bible studies, the lastest of which is The Wisdom of God – Seeing Jesus in the Psalms & Wisdom Books. Let me give you seven reasons to consider these wonderful resources:

  • These are Gospel-centered Old Testament studies. Yes, there are lots of practical lessons, but there’s also much of Christ.
  • You’ll not just learn about the passage you are studying, but also about how it fits into the big picture of Scripture, a huge help when studying other parts of the Bible.
  • A good mix and balance of personal stories. You’ll probably feel that you’ve met Nancy by the time you finish the book!
  • The books have been written specifically with Women’s Bible studies in mind. I’m pretty sure that Nancy has sat in many of these, and has used her experience to tailor the content and structure of the books to perfectly fit this audience and context.
  • The books are also suitable for personal study.
  • A big plus for those who feel a bit intimidated by the Old Testament is that Crossway have also produced teaching DVDs to accompany the books.
  • The Psalms and Wisdom book ventures into rarely explored parts of Scripture, and you’ll be amazed at the treasures you’ll come back with.

Although I take a different tack to Nancy on the Song of Solomon, both approaches end up at Christ. I hope many will experience the blessings of spiritual heartburn through these books (Luke 24:32).

Can you preach the Gospel from the law?

Mar 5, 2012 • By David Murray • 3 Comments

I’ve been slowly blogging my way through Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching (here and here) and now reach Christopher Wright’s chapter on “Preaching from the law.” Given the author, I was expecting this chapter to be excellent, but it’s actually outstanding – probably the best chapter in the book. Here’s a summary of the ten most important points, largely in Wright’s own words:

1. On the basis of 2 Timothy 3:15-16, write above every OT chapter, including legal chapters, “This Scripture is inspired by God and is useful…” [47].

2. “Before we preach law to people, we need to make sure they know the God who stands behind it and the story that goes before it. It is the God of grace and the story of grace” [48].
This is perhaps the most important sentence in the chapter (if not in the book), and if fully grasped would transform most people’s view of the law in particular and of the Old Testament in general.

3. “The law was given to people whom God had already redeemed” [48].
“Grace comes before the law. There are eighteen chapters of salvation before we get to Sinai and the Ten Commandments…I stress this because the idea that the difference between the Old and New Testaments is that in the OT salvation was by obeying the law, whereas in the NT it is by grace, is a terrible distortion of Scripture” [48].

4. “Obedience is the only right response to having been saved, and the way to enjoy the fruits of redemption, not to earn them” [49].
Always preach OT law on the foundation of God’s saving grace. Anything else will lead people to legalism, or to despair, or to pride [49].

5. By shaping Israel in the image of God, the law had a misional purpose [51].
“The law had the function of shaping Israel to be that representative people, making the character and requirements of God known to the nations. That is a missional function…The purpose of the law was to make Israel visibly different, in such a way that would draw interest and comment, and essentially bear witness to the God they worshipped” (Ex. 19:6; Dt. 4:6-8)” [51].

“We should preach OT law in such a way as to remind Christians not only of the grace of God to which they must respond, but also of their mission responsibility: to live distinctively as God’s people among the nations” [52].

“Imitation of God is a strong theme in OT law, but it does not stop there. It is the same basic principle that undergirds the teaching of Jesus about our behavior. We are to model what we do on what we know God is and does (Matt. 5:45-48; Lk. 6:27-36)” [54].

6. The law hangs like a hammock between the two poles of God’s past and present grace [52].
“The law is suspended like a hammock between two poles: the past grace of God’s historical redemption, and the future grace of God’s missional promise. Between these two poles Israel, and ourselves, are called to live in the present as those who know where we have come from and where we are going. The law in other words, makes sense within the whole story of redemption, past and future” [52].

7. Preach the law in a God-centered not man-centered way.
“Our preaching of OT law should not merely be moralistic – focusing on the minutiae of behavior and burdening people, as the Pharisees did. Rather we preach the law in such a way as to point to the God who stands behind it, asking what it reveals of his character, values and priorities. That seems to have been the thrust of Christ’s preaching too” [54].

8. The law was given for human benefit (Mk. 2:27; Dt. 4:40), as the Psalmists certainly appreciated (Ps. 19:7, 10; 119:45, 47) [55].
“The least one can say about people who express such enthusiastic sentiments for the law is that they were certainly not groveling along under a heavy burden of legalism. They were not anxiously striving to earn their way into salvation and a relationship with God through punctilious law-keeping. They were not puffed up with the claims of self-righteousness or exhausted with the efforts of works-righteousness. They did not, in short, fit into any of the caricatures which have been inflicted upon OT law by those who, misunderstanding Paul’s arguments with opponents who had distorted the law, attribute to the law itself the very distortions from which Paul was seeking to exonerate it” [55].

“Jesus became angry when the law was turned into a burden, instead of a benefit to the needy” [57]

“There is plenty material in the law that shows the heart of God for the needs of human beings, especially the vulnerable, those who are socially, economically, ethnically or sexually disadvantaged in our fallen world” [57].

9. “Old Testament law anticipates failure, judgment, and future grace” [57]
“We should not imagine that the failure of OT Israel to keep God’s law somehow surprised God so much that he was forced to come up with plan B…Deuteronomy 29-32 make clear that the fault is not in the law itself, but in us” [58].

10. The Old Testament preaches the Gospel [58]
In this next paragraph, I believe Wright is using “law” in the wider sense of the whole Pentateuch, or at least the Pentateuch’s exposition and application of the law.

As Deuteronomy 30 contains a powerful evangelistic appeal to return to God…”we can preach OT law, not to drive people only to despair at their failure but to lead them from the realization of failure back to the love and promises of God – as contained in the law itself. Failure is a fact. Failure is foreseen. But failure can be forgiven through the grace of God. The law itself expresses all three great Gospel truths and can be preached accordingly” [58].

Conclusion
Before giving an example sermon, Wright closes with a couple of priceless pages on how to move from OT law to a message for today, and concludes:

As I work towards a preachable sermon from the legal text with such questions in mind, I keep in mind also the above core principles: God’s grace as the starting point; the need for God’s people to live for the sake of God’s mission; the paradigmatic function of Israel’s law for future generations; what the text teaches about the character of God and the demands of human well-being; the realities of sin and failure and the need to preach all God’s Word with the profound sense of preacher and audience alike being sinners in need of forgiving grace [60].

Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching: Narratives

Jan 5, 2012 • By David Murray • 1 Comment

Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this book. The result of a 2009 Academic Study Conference in Cambridge, I wasn’t expecting too much, to be honest; but it’s far exceeded my expectations. Most of the writers have made a really good attempt at making their writing accessible and practical for preachers. I’ve just noticed that it also won the 2011 Preaching Today Magazine book award.

I’m going to post some summaries and comments on the best chapters over the next few weeks, which hopefully will motivate you to buy, read, and use.

The first chapter is by Lawrence Turner and covers the popular topic of preaching Old Testament narrative, with a specific focus on plot.

Avoid these two errors
1. Retelling the biblical account blow by blow and then appending a general moral obligation
2. Picking one point from the narrative and impaling it on the frame of Aristotelian logic

Don’t be averse to literary “criticism” (fancy word for scholarly studies)
1. Just because liberals have focused on narrative studies, doesn’t mean evangelicals should avoid them
2. Understanding the dynamics of narrative leads to theological and spiritual gains

A classic plot has a fivefold structure
1. Initial situation
2. Complication
3. Transforming action
4. Dénouement (or resolution)
5. Final situation

Look for how narratives vary
1. Consider what the narrator omits or includes
2. There can be any number of transforming actions before resolution and final situation
3. Resolutions can be full, partial, or open-ended
4. The difference between narrative time (how long a period the events take) and narration time (how much Scripture is devoted to the events) tells us what to focus on

Always connect the micro-narratives with the macro-narrative
1. How does this narrative relate to the rest of the book?
2. How does this narrative relate to redemptive history?

Use different ways to present narratives in sermons
1. Try to avoid imposing three-point sermons on narratives (I’ll come back to this)
2. Follow the five-part narrative structure (see above)
3. If following the five-part structure, connect each element of the plot with the world of the congregation (e.g move from the initial situation of the plot to the situation of the congregation, etc), resulting in two stories presented in parallel
4. Preach in the first person adopting the persona of one of the characters (please don’t do this!)
5. Identify the “big idea” in the resolution and relate it to the other parts of the plot
6. Individual micro-narratives should be preached as part of a macro-narrative series, resulting sometimes in unresolved plots in some sermons (which are also closer to reality)

Connect the plot to the overarching plot of the Bible
1. The whole message of the Bible matches the five-part narrative plot structure
2. OT narratives lead to the NT, are often resolved by the NT, and shed light on the NT
3. OT narratives should not ignore NT reflections on the OT story
4. To make a narrative sermon live, you need an understanding of other narrative elements (e.g. character – in the next chapter) and biblical theology

Comments
This chapter provides lots of practical help for preachers wanting to become better at communicating OT narratives. If I pick up one good tip from a book on preaching, I’m usually quite content. However, this one chapter alone has given me three or four things to try out in my preaching.

I agree with Lawrence, that we have much to gain from literary studies. Richard Pratt, Leland Ryken, and David Dorsey’s work in this area have greatly enhanced my appreciation for the literary characteristics of OT narrative. However, it can all get a bit over-complicated at times and the insights are often difficult to convey in a sermon, unless the congregation have some handout to follow along with.

While I understand Lawrence’s criticism of “story+moral” and “three points” approaches, he is over harsh on these older methods of preaching narratives. Although they have often been done badly, there are many excellent examples of such preaching styles in the past and the present. While we welcome new insights to freshen up our preaching, surely we don’t want to throw out all the old methods. One of the problems with the newer narrative-style approach to preaching narratives is that while it’s quite compelling at the time, it’s often difficult to remember a day or two after. Structure is so important to understanding and retention.

The fivefold structure insight is extremely helpful in working our way through the exegesis of a plot, but it shouldn’t become the regular structure of our sermons. We just become so predictable again.

I liked Lawrence’s idea of connecting the micro-narrative with the bigger OT and NT story line. But I also liked his idea that if the particular plot we are working on that week does not result in a total resolution, sometimes we should just leave it that way, because that’s what life is so often like. It’s more like people’s experience.

I would strongly advise to avoid the first-person persona idea. I know it’s novel and trendy, but as far as I can see it’s not a pattern we find in Scripture. It results in too much focus on the preacher, and virtually turns him from a herald into an actor.

I’d give the chapter 8 or 9 out of 10. A good start!

God’s Face

Oct 24, 2011 • By David Murray • 5 Comments

A couple of weeks ago a friend asked me to do some Puritan Pods on how to preach Christ from Old Testament passages that were not obviously Christ-centered. So, bravely rising to the challenge, here are a few minutes of my thoughts on how to preach Christ from 2 Chronicles 7v14 :

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I don’t usually write out a full manuscript, but here’s what you might call a 75% manuscript (the main substance of my sermon) and here is my summary note, that I re-read a few times just before preaching.

Email and RSS readers may have to click through here to view the video.