JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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THE WITNESS OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
The Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, testifies to the Person and
Work of Jesus of Nazareth. The Old Testament is important to the Christian church because it is
a Christological document in that its purpose is to lead people to salvation in the name of Jesus
Christ. When the New Testament writers refer to Scripture they are talking about the Hebrew
Scriptures. Thus we see how the Old Testament Scriptures testify to Jesus Christ by the
following statements.
"But as for you [Timothy], continue in what you have learned and have become
convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from
infancy you have known the holy Scriptures [OT], which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Ti 3:14-15).
Paul completes this thought by pointing out the nature and full-orbed ministry of the
Word of God:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work" (vv. 16-17).
Peter tells us that the supreme witness of the prophets was about the sufferings and glory
of Christ:
"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to
come to you, searched diligently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the
time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when
he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was
revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke
of the things that have now been told to you by those who have preached the
gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even Angels long to look
into these things" (1 Pe 1:10-12).
Similarly Luke points to Christ as the one who would fulfill what the prophets
proclaimed:
"But this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets,
saying that His Christ would suffer. . . . As his custom was, Paul went into
the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned them from the
Scriptures [OT], explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and
rise from the dead" (Ac 3:18; 17:2-3).