|
Contributed by Phil Spadaro
|
|
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 |
|
 Malachi 3:6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.”
One of the interesting arguments
(excuses) I hear from those who do not study the Old Testament is,
“The God of the Old Testament is mean, wrathful and harsh. But
Jesus is full of love.” A closer examination of God reveals He is
the same; He is unchanged from era to era.
Job 42:7
After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the
Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you
have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” The
Lord does not tolerate misrepresentation of His name. Incorrect
theology is dangerous and salvation threatening. By splitting the
“Harsh God of the Old Testament” and the “Loving Jesus of the
New Testament” we are saying God's character and righteous standard
moves over time. We are in jeopardy of not speaking of God what is
right.
In Exodus 34, YHWH (God) describes
Himself to Moses and the Hebrews. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
Note that the Lord is full of love and compassion. He also maintains justice and metes out punishment and consequences. One does not get the picture of a harsh, capricious deity. Nor does one infer an image of a doddering old man in the sky. God proves Himself merciful by the many centuries of mercy and opportunity for repentance He provides the Hebrews.
The artificial separation of the character of God and Jesus is found in the Christ's mission. Jesus did not come to judge. There will be a judgment, but His time on earth was not intended to be a time for separating the faithful and unfaithful.
John 12:47-48 47 “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.”
The mission of the Christ was to help people come to God. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) As Jesus describes the coming kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) He does allude to judgment, separation of the righteous and unrighteous and the need for judgment. However, the judgment is deferred to after His time on earth.
Let us not misrepresent God. He is the God of the Bible, whether YHWH to the Hebrews or the incarnate Christ found in the Gospels or the Holy Spirit given in the book of Acts. God does not change. “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) God is one and is the same from era to era.
Powered by Components Lab Tag Mambot
Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 February 2010 )
|
