The New Testament is the development and reaping of the seed sown in the Old Testament. Bible teachers are accustomed to saying that the divine revelation in the Bible is progressive. I also have spoken about the divine revelation in this way. However, this way of considering the divine revelation in the Scriptures is rather shallow. Actually, instead of merely progressing, the divine revelation in the Bible is developing.
Certain Bible teachers have said that nearly all the seeds of the truths are sown in the book of Genesis. After years of studying the Bible, I have come to agree with this saying. The seeds of nearly all the truths have been sown in Genesis and then grow throughout the Scriptures.
Growth is a matter of development. First, a seed is sown into the soil, and then the seed grows. While it grows, it develops. After a grain of wheat is sown into the ground, it grows and develops until it eventually brings forth many grains. When the wheat is ripe, that is the time for the reaping of the harvest. In like manner, the divine truths in the Bible are sown as seeds, mainly in the book of Genesis. These seeds develop through the Old Testament and especially in the New Testament, until reaching the time of “harvest” in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 14 we have a vision concerning the reaping of the ripened harvest. It is important for us to see that whatever is sown as a seed in the Old Testament is developed in the New Testament and is eventually reaped as a harvest in Revelation.
Now we need to ask a crucial question: What was sown as a seed in the Old Testament? Christ is the seed that is sown in the Old Testament and that develops throughout the Scriptures. In Genesis 3:15 God promised fallen mankind that as the seed of woman Christ would come to crush the head of the serpent. The Bible goes on to reveal that this seed is developed into the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, and the seed of Jacob. In the book of Isaiah we see the further development of this seed into the One born of a virgin and called Emmanuel, the mighty God, and even the everlasting Father (Isa. 7:14; 9:6). Eventually, in the New Testament, the seed sown in the Old Testament will produce many grains, and these grains will become a harvest reaped in the book of Revelation. From this we see that the New Testament is the development and reaping of the very Christ sown in the Old Testament, developed throughout the books of the Bible, and reaped as a harvest in the last book of the New Testament.
The New Testament is the completion of the divine revelation. In Colossians 1:25 Paul says, “I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God.” The word of God is the divine revelation. This was not completed before the New Testament. In the New Testament the apostles, especially Paul, completed the word of God in the mystery of God, which is Christ, and in the mystery of Christ, which is the church, to give us a full revelation of God’s economy. At the time of Paul the word of God included the Old Testament and the word preached by the early apostles. Although the word of God preached by the early disciples grew and multiplied (Acts 12:24), it was not yet completed according to God’s economy. For this completion, God’s revelation to Paul was needed. According to the stewardship of God, Paul became a minister of the church to complete the word of God. Consider what a lack there would be if we did not have the Epistles of Paul. Without them, there would be no completion of the word of God.
Paul received the revelation of Christ as the mystery of God. In Colossians 2:2 he speaks of the “full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.” In Ephesians 3:4 Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ. The mystery of God in Colossians 2:2 is Christ, whereas the mystery of Christ in Ephesians 3:4 is the church. Paul was also given the revelation concerning the dispensation of God (2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 3:14-19). Therefore, the completion of the word of God includes the great mystery of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32), the full revelation concerning Christ, the Head (Col. 1:26-27; 2:19; 3:11), and the full revelation concerning the church, the Body (Eph. 3:3-6).
In Colossians 1:26 and 27 Paul speaks of “the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now has been manifested to His saints; to whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This mystery is Christ Himself within us as our life today and our glory in the future. At present, this glory is our hope. From these verses we see that the completion of the divine revelation concerns Christ coming to dispense God into us as a mystery and as a hope of glory.
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