All of the wonder and magic of Christmas that we are preparing to enjoy is founded upon the rich back-story of the Old Testament.

Many Christians I know have not read the complete Bible through and tend to avoid the Old Testament.  They believe that it is mysterious and less relevant than the New Testament, which is much easier to understand.  The truth is that the Old Testament is mysterious, but also a beautiful puzzle that points to the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas.  The difficulty requisite to understand it will bring a treasure for those who wish to find it.

The Old Testament is a history book of the people of Israel.  Tucked into that history are several hundred prophesies of a coming Messiah, translated “Christ” in Greek.  So Jesus was called ‘the Christ’ for a reason – he was the expectation of thousands of years of prophesy, the culmination of the entire Old Testament message and promise.

In short, the Old Testament records God’s creation of a beautiful world, crowned by man and woman.  Out of his great love God gives Adam and Eve guidelines – “I made your life, and for it to work you must do it this way.”  They chose not to, to declare themselves God instead.  This invited sin and Satan into their world, and into our world.

The murders, kidnappings, wars, disease and destruction that we see in the headlines today are a result of the human race walking away from life as God intended it.

However, in the midst of this chaos he promised redemption – a way for we who had turned our back on God to be restored to him.  This involved a Messiah, a Savior, one who would come from God to pay the penalty of our evils and thus “buy us back” from the power of our own sin and the devil.

Of that Messiah we have hundreds of prophesies in the Old Testament.  Jesus is promised over and over in a miraculous way.  For a group of authors to exactly describe one man who would come in the future is nothing short of astonishing.  To predict the exact city of his birth, the specific date of his appearance, the family he would be born into….these are risky predictions.  How does one “arrange” to be born here or there into this family or that?

Furthermore, to predict the way he would live and die, even down to specific details about a kind of death that was not even invented yet…this is amazing.  Beyond that, to predict what others would do to him outside of his control – for example, to betray him or gamble for his clothes – is preposterous.

And consider this, the authors of the Old Testament lived generations apart from one another, came from different continents, spoke different languages, and never collaborated.  How is it possible that all of these writings were complied into one book and then accurately describe one human being that arrived hundreds or in some cases thousands of years later?

It is only possible because God is quite alive and well, and He wrote a Book for us to read.  The New Testament Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of a Savior.  He is a historic figure, documented in the most reliable and historically accurate book that exists.  It’s also the world’s best seller.

This Christmas season, I encourage you to open the Old Testament and search for Jesus.  It will make your understanding of the Christmas story, and your experience this holiday season, all the more wonderful.