Many people view the past in the wrong way: some reject it because they feel condemned by it, while others romanticize it with nostalgia. The same is true of the Old Testament. Some consider it irrelevant because of how distant it may seem from the New Testament; others wish they had lived in those times to witness God’s manifestations. However, Scripture teaches us that the past was recorded for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11). Therefore, the Old Testament remains important because it reveals to us who God is, who we are, and what our mission is.
Genesis 1 offers us a clear example of this. When Moses wrote the book of Genesis, Israel was in the wilderness, confused and longing to return to Egypt, their immediate past (Exodus 16; Numbers 11). That is why Moses took them even further back, to the beginning of all things, to show them truths from the past that would shape their present, their future, and ours as well. (Pause here and read all of Genesis 1.)
The Old Testament is important because it shows us that we follow a God of purpose
Genesis 1 teaches us that in the first three days, God shaped the earth, and in the next three, He filled what He had formed. Nothing was improvised; everything obeyed the effective power of His word. Just as He transformed chaos into a habitable world, He also took Israel from “a barren and howling waste” and formed them into His people (Deuteronomy 32:10–12). He does the same with us: where there was darkness, He causes light to shine (2 Corinthians 4:6). Our present and future are not adrift; they are in the hands of a sovereign God who acted in the past according to His purposes.
The Old Testament is important because it teaches us who we are
Genesis 1 teaches us that human beings were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27). This means reflecting His character and representing Him on earth. The Israelites needed to understand that their identity did not come from Egypt, but from their relationship with their Creator. Sin distorted that image, but it did not eliminate it. In Christ, who is the true image of God, we are renewed and conformed to His likeness (2 Corinthians 4:4; Romans 8:29). Therefore, our identity is not defined by our past lives or our failures, but by what God accomplished in the past when He created Adam and Eve in His image, and by His redemptive work in Christ.
The Old Testament is important because it reminds us of our mission
Genesis 1 reminds us that God commanded human beings to be fruitful, to multiply, and to have dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28). This command reveals that all of life is service to God. We were not created merely to exist, but to extend His glory in every sphere; that is our mission. Moses used the past to teach Israel; however, the people forgot their mission and lived for themselves. We too can fall into the same trap. For this reason, we need the gospel to renew our motivations so that we remain attentive to the lessons of the past and do everything for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:23–24).
Conclusions
The stories of the Old Testament, then, are not meant to condemn us, nor are they meant for us to idealize or forget them, but rather to instruct us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We have already seen that Genesis 1 proclaims that there is a God with eternal purposes, who grants us identity and makes us participants in His mission.
The entire Old Testament finds its fulfillment in Christ. From Genesis 1 onward, we can reflect on the fact that He is the light that overcame our darkness, the perfect image who restores ours, and the King under whose lordship we labor. In Him, chaos becomes order, guilt becomes grace, and empty life becomes glorious service. Looking to Christ, we learn from the past and walk with hope toward the future, knowing that the God who created all things is at work in us in the present.