Old Testament Truths for a New Testament World
I love the Old Testament. It is filled with promises and awesome things God did for people. The past few times I’ve taught, we’ve looked at some characters from the Old Testament. I called it, “Old Testament Truths, for a New Testament World.” We’ve looked at Noah, Daniel and David. We’ve looked at situation in their lives and have seen what God can do in our lives through theirs. These Old Testament stories we’ve learned all throughout our lives in Sunday School and children’s books can still be applied to the lives of students and adults today. These stories are not just for kids, they’re for us too.
Daniel and the Lions’ Den: The classic tale of Daniel being tossed in the den full of lions and how God saved him from being eaten up by the lions. What I told the students about from this story is that not only did God save Daniel from the lions, but He can also save us from the junk and garbage in our lives. He can save us from the things we do on the Internet when no one is around, he can save us from a relationship that is not heading in a Godly direction, and he can even save us from our own selfishness and learn to follow Jesus’ example and put others before our self.
David versus Goliath: I called this the ultimate MMA battle. In one corner we have young David and in the other, the giant, Goliath. The students were able to see that with God, we can have the courage to take on any situation in our lives that come up. Sometimes things are good, sometimes things are bad. There are mountain tops in our lives, and there are valleys. In the valleys is where we learn to rely on God and trust Him. Our faith in God allows us to have the courage we need to serve Him and tell others about what He can do for their life.
Noah and the Ark: I think this is probably one of the most important studies we did. We all knew the story of Noah and the animals on the Ark. But what the students may not have known was how this story could relate to our lives today. No, the world is not flooding, but there is an ark that has been given by God. That ark is Jesus Christ. God sacrificed his Son to create an ark to save us from a fiery, tormenting hell that awaits anyone who doesn’t know Christ Jesus as their personal savior. But just like Noah’s ark was shut at the right time by God, He will shut the door to the ark that has been opened up to us as well. I hope the students realized that we are not guaranteed the next breath. Time is running out to make a decision for Christ. One day, it will be too late. The door will be shut.
I hope that the students at church were able to get something out of these studies. I know I certainly did while I was preparing them. I told someone one time that I teach on things I need to hear. All I can do is trust in God’s promise when He said that “His word won’t return void.”