New Presupposes Old

 

 

If there is a new

There must have been an old

And when the new comes, out goes the old,

At least, so I have been told.

 

Throughout the Bible

We read of the old and the new,

Perhaps beginning with the Testaments

One Bible divided into two.

 

Premised on this

We have the old covenant and the new,

From the call of Abraham

There is the redemption view.

 

The implication of an old Israel

And the combining of nations in the new,

Hence, the emergence of new Israel

Made up of both Gentile and Jew.

 

 

Ushering in a new creation

Though only spiritual at this time,

Adam, the centre piece of the old

But Jesus, the first fruit of its kind.

 

Thus the old Adam and the new

Of the earth and from heaven,

None are justified by the law

But through grace all are forgiven.

 

And new here means better

As clearly shown in Hebrews

Where there are several references

Differentiating the old from the new.

 

 

The promise of a new Jerusalem

Presupposes there is an old

And in the book of Revelation

We can see this promise unfold.

 

Old Jerusalem is shown as a harlot

The New Jerusalem as a chaste bride,

Christianity acknowledges the Saviour

In the old Jerusalem he is denied.

 

The persecution of the early Church

Came firstly from the Jews,

They rode on the backs of the Romans

And the Christians they abused.

 

 

Starting with the crucifixion of Jesus,

“We have no king but Caesar,

His blood be on us and our children.”

And this fulfillment was not far.

 

God put away the old bride

When He gave her a bill of divorcement

And in the penultimate chapter of Revelation

A new bride is now present.

 

This bride is the Church of Christ

Without wrinkle and without spot,

Having been washed in the blood of Jesus

The new heavens and earth is her lot,

 

Thus a new heavens and a new earth

The first having passed away,

Behold, God makes all things new!

O what a wonderful, wonderful day!

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019