Can't we just study the New Testament? If we believe that Jesus is the son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified for the payment of sins and was raised from the dead on the 3rd day then why is the Old Testament important? It's a fair question. Let's give it a look and see if there is a reasonable answer.
What does the bible say about scripture?
2 Timothy 3:16 says:
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
If all scripture is given and profitable, then the Old Testament isn't just some ancient, dusty collection of stories. It is useful - even today. It's still as relevant today as it has always been, no matter what the common belief may be. When Paul wrote this, the New Testament scripture was obviously not complete. Paul was talking about the Old Testament.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word of God is alive; it's powerful; and by the piercing and division it discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. This is an incredible statement and not one to be taken lightly. We see in the Psalms that the word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It illuminates the way of life. We are all living through some shaky times. Who wouldn't want the stability of knowing what path in life to take? Who of us doesn't need discernment and intents of our heart analyzed?
So, maybe from these couple of verses we can determine that we should study the whole bible. Where do we start? Why not start right at the beginning? (Is the order of the books of the bible inspired?) The book of Genesis details where everything begins. It's where we came from. It's the story of our God, who he is and why we need him.
This story of creation is a story that divides even Christians. Is that possible? Can a person be 'born again' and not believe in a six day creation? This creation story creates a great gulf between faith and most of the world of Science. Not because science and scripture aren't compatible or can't be compatible. This is a huge topic but keep this in mind. Science has been changing and refining and backing up and adjusting theories or making up new ones to account for the flaws in the old ones for several hundred years. The bible has never been wrong. It's never had to change. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
'In the beginning' marks the start of time. Before this, God was. He inhabits Eternity past and Eternity future. Is it possible for us to understand eternity?
When we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise as when we first begun.
Does that help? The song still uses time to describe eternity. Eternity is beyond time. That's hard for our mind to grasp. We saw too many time lines in grade school and that's the way we think about time; history to the left; future to the right; eternity really far to the right and/or left.
But when we've there 10,000 years we are not one second closer to an end. God is outside time. He is the creator of time. God always was and always will be. In Genesis 1:1 God created time. The clock was 0 sec of 0 min of 0 hour on day 0 of 0 year. From then on time has raced forward toward a time when it will cease. Then there will only be eternity again. Wow. My brain hurts thinking about it.
'In the beginning God' is the beginning of God creating and then revealing himself to his creation. For us, it is the beginning of the answers to our deepest questions.
Who are we?
Where did we come from?
Where are we going?
'In the beginning God created' is explicitly speaking of creating out of nothing. God created ex nilo - out of nothing. What He created was all inclusive in the creation period of 6 days. These days were "evening and morning" and were 6 literal 24 hour periods.
We can read John 1:1 and know Jesus was there in the beginning. All things were created by Him, for Him. And again here:
Colossians 1:15 says:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
So, by the first line of the bible, we are told there is an eternal God. He was there in 3 persons; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. With this information a decision must be made. Do you believe in this eternal God, the creator of all things? Many don't.
One day, students in one of Albert Einstein's classes were saying they had decided there was no God. Einstein asked them how much of all the knowledge in the world they had among themselves collectively, as a class. The students discussed it for a while and decided they had 5% of all human knowledge among themselves. Einstein thought their estimate was a little generous, but he replied: "Is it possible God exists in the 95% you don't know?"
To make the claim to be an atheist is a claim to know all 100% is void of God. To know all that, is to claim you are a god (all-knowing). There is no such thing as an atheist. Either you believe in God, or believe you are a god.
For those that consider themselves Christian but disregard the Old Testament and mock a 6 day creation, you need to realize you have a problem. The conundrum is that the New Testament that told you about Jesus also says that he was there before time began. It says Jesus is the image of the invisible God. By Him, all things were created. The entire Old Testament is filled with pictures, types and shadows of Jesus Christ.
It seems like you have to start at verse 1 of Genesis before you even consider the New Testament. If you get past that, you'll be fine with all the rest of the bible. But if you throw that out then you have failed to accept the whole counsel of God. Many do this. Can there be a whole Christian without the whole bible?
I'm amazed at the attacks I see on scripture. It is coming from all directions. Unfortunately, the most damage is done when the church itself fails to stand on the word of God. If you can't stand on every word then you have no standing before God. If every word isn't reliable and true, how can we be sure the ones that promise our redemption and salvation are solid?
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