Poythress: "...the New Testament leads to a reevaluation and rereading of the Old Testament."

"Both the Old Testament and the New Testament give us the Word of God himself. But, in fact, in one respect the New Testament has a functional priority, since it interprets the earlier words from God and gives us words addressed to our phase in the history of redemption, in contrast with earlier phases that now have passed away. For example, the laws concerning animal sacrifice (Lev. 1–7) still offer instruction to Christians, but the sacrifices themselves have been made obsolete through the accomplishment of Christ’s self-sacrifice.

"In sum, through the Old Testament and New Testament together, in their historical relation, God speaks to us, meets us, and gives to us reliable instruction. We find not merely interesting ideas but authoritative knowledge of God and his ways. This knowledge furnishes, among other things, the basis for a worldview.

"In crucial ways, the worldview offered by the New Testament is not new but builds on that found in the Old Testament...Although the Old Testament predicted the coming of Christ and his redemptive work (Luke 24:25–27, 44–49), the exact manner and the total meaning of his coming remained mysterious (Eph. 3:1–6; Col. 1:26–28). First-century Jews primarily expected a political deliverer and warrior, who would enable them to throw off the oppression of the Roman government and regain political independence, international prominence, prosperity, peace, and respect. They were surprised, and sometimes offended, by the unconventional form that Jesus’ ministry took. Many said that he was a prophet (Matt. 16:14), but it took divine revelation for Peter to see that he was the Messiah, “the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16–17).

"Thus, the New Testament introduces “surprise” elements. The Old Testament leads up to the New Testament but does not allow us to see beforehand what the New Testament reveals. Consequently, the New Testament leads to a reevaluation and rereading of the Old Testament. Having seen and experienced “the end of the story,” we look back to the earlier parts of the story with deeper insights into their significance. The change at times may be as radical as what happened to Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road. He had been a persecutor of the church and of what he interpreted as false messianic claims. Christ turned his world upside down by announcing from heaven: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5). Saul had to reread the Old Testament and reevaluate what he thought he knew, on the basis of this spectacular undermining of his beliefs." -- Vern Poythress, "New Testament Worldview"