DEDICATION TO CHRIST
Jesus said that the Old Testament Scriptures testify of Him (John 5:39). Every story and event—person, place and thing—in the Old Testament pointed to Christ in some way.
The only way to honor the words of the Old Testament is to honor Christ. Those among us who think that they are honoring God by “following” the Old Testament as their law are not only deceiving themselves into thinking they can follow a law that is no longer in operation, but they are refusing to listen to that law, which told people to focus on Christ.
When the Law of Moses was given, Moses said that God would raise up another prophet after Him, and when that prophet came, the people were to listen to Him instead of Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15–18). He was talking about Jesus (Acts 3:21-23). Do you want to honor Moses? Then listen to Christ and focus on Him. That’s what Moses told people to do.
That is also what Jesus was telling the religious leaders on that occasion in John 5. If they really believed what Moses wrote, as they claimed, they would have believed in Him. Because Moses wrote about Him. Moses would be horrified that people ignore God’s main prophet—the Christ, the Son of the living God—thinking that they are honoring Moses by doing so.
You disgrace Moses and everything about the Old Testament by pointing people to Moses today, rather than to Christ. Moses’ law is in the Old Testament. Christ’s law is in the New Testament. Listen to Christ. And one of the reasons you should listen to Christ is Moses.
Listen to Moses, who tells you to listen to Christ. Moses was a servant of God who did a work of preparation. Preparing for Jesus. Every page of the Old Testament is about Jesus. If you truly believe it, and want to honor the work of Moses, there is only one way to do it. By accepting and loving and living for Jesus Christ.
Every page of the entire Bible is about Jesus. That is Bible 101. That is the most basic thing you have to understand to get anything out of it. You will never understand the Bible without realizing that. The book is about Christ. And that is the reason to read it. When you open your Bible, open it with prayer. And ask God to help you stay focused on Jesus and to see what it has to say about Him. Always read it to learn about Jesus.
That is the only reason to read it, from a spiritual standpoint. An eternal standpoint. That is the only standpoint that matters. Eternity is what matters. Read the Bible to know Christ. To be closer to Him. To know Him better. To love Him more.
Whether we are talking about Jews or Gentiles, the focus is not on us. It never has been, and it never will be. It never should be. We should never want it to be. We should want it to be on Christ. The focus is on the Christ who saved us, and who has united us in one body by the cross (Ephesians 2:16). He did the work of salvation, and He gets all the glory. Make sure that He gets all the glory in your heart.
God deals with eternity. You and I see what is only in front of us unless we make a conscious choice to think about the things that matter. The eternal things.
Jesus and eternity—that is what the Bible is always about. Jesus and salvation from sin is the point of the Bible. That is always the point with God. Jesus is always the point with God.
Dewayne Dunaway
