Author: Dr. John C. Kwasny
It is tempting to believe that the Bible only teaches us about Jesus in the New Testament, starting with the virgin birth in the Gospels. With this understanding, it becomes imperative to teach the Gospels over and again so that we show our students Jesus. But the truth is that the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, point us to Jesus. This reality changes everything about how we teach the Bible: it must always be taught in a Christ-centered way. To put it another way, we want all our students to see all the stories of Scripture as connected to the one story of redemption in Jesus Christ.
So, how does one go about the vital task of teaching all of God’s Word in a Christ-centered way? First, we teach the big picture: The entire Old Testament points forward to Jesus, while the New Testament presents Jesus first, then points backward to Jesus. Just as the entirety of human history is centered on the cross of Christ, so is the Bible. Therefore, every look at every story must be through the lens of Jesus, making sure we understand what it reveals about Him.
Then, as we teach each of the Old Testament narratives, we start with recognizing that God is the main character in each story, not the human beings. When we see God first, we can quickly move to see the Son of God, as the Father reveals the Son to His people. For example, in God’s work of Creation, we see Jesus, the Word of God at work. When Adam sins, we look forward to the coming of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Even when God hands out the curses for Adam’s sin, we hear the first gospel in Genesis 3:15, as Jesus’ defeat of Satan is predicted.
When we begin to study the stories of God’s people, we see their need for Christ over and over again. The entrance of sin and death should always remind our students of the coming of the Savior to defeat sin and death. From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph to Moses, we have pictures or foreshadows of Jesus: Jesus leaves His home to bring us to heaven, Jesus is the better son, sacrificed by a perfect Father, and Jesus is the true, sinless, deliverer of His people.
As our students learn about the kings of Israel and Judah, they can’t help but long for the coming of King Jesus. As they encounter the priests of God’s people—both good and bad—they don’t need to miss the opportunity to learn that Jesus is the perfect priest and perfect sacrifice. As the prophets appear in Israel and students read the Major and Minor Prophets, they must again hear about Jesus the perfect prophet sent to call on His people to repent and turn to Him. Jesus fulfills the offices of prophet, priest, and king!
Teaching the Bible in a Christ-centered way leans into the principle of using the New Testament to understand the Old Testament and the Old Testament to understand the New Testament. The four Gospels may be the easiest places to teach Jesus, but even then, we must take care to not get caught up in the human characters of the story. Then, when we get to the Book of Acts, through the Epistles, and end in Revelation, we continue the story of the work of Jesus in this world and in our hearts. What a joy it is to learn that the entire Word of God is entirely about the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ!