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Coffee With God: 9/27/2024 | The Unity of Scripture Explained Simply
Have you ever heard someone claim that God changed from the Old to the New Testament? Or how about this: “The Old Testament and the New Testament represent two completely different Gods”? They’ll say something like, “In the Old Testament, God was wrathful and executed judgment on people for their sin, but in the New Testament, Jesus loves and accepts everyone.”
Is this an accurate statement? No. It’s a mischaracterization of God. Let’s dig into the Bible for a veracious representation of his nature.
Perhaps you have heard the famous song lyric that says, “Judgement and wrath he poured out on Sodom; mercy and grace he gave us at the cross.”[1] While both of these statements are true, they are not mutually exclusive. Because God is love, he must judge sin, but since he is also merciful, at times, he delays judgment to give individuals an opportunity to repent (see 2 Peter 3:9).[2] This has been his nature from the beginning.
As the omniscient creator and sustainer of everything, God knows when to exact judgment and when to extend mercy. The Old and New Testaments are filled with examples of both. Let’s begin with God’s mercy in the Old Testament.
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God could have easily repaid their sin with its due penalty and started over by creating a new couple. Instead, he made them clothes, promised that one of Eve’s descendants would defeat the serpent (the one responsible for tempting them with sin), and removed them from the Garden of Eden to protect them from living eternally in a fallen state.[3] Remember Cain? Rather than taking his life for murdering his brother, God placed a mark of protection on him. [4] What an act of mercy and love!
Joshua tells of a prostitute named Rahab, who was spared along with her entire household because she hid Israelite spies.[5] God promised Abraham he would spare Sodom if he found just ten righteous people there,[6] and he spared the entire wicked city of Nineveh because they repented upon hearing Jonah’s message of impending doom.[7] None of these individuals or groups represented God’s chosen people, yet in his great love, he offered them mercy as members of his image-bearing creation. There are a plethora of examples of God’s love and mercy from the Old Testament we could discuss, but I hope by now you get the picture!
"God is, always has been, and always will be a God of love, mercy and judgment. He infinitely loves all of humanity, yet he abhors the sin that corrupts his perfect image in us. That’s why he gave his own son as the savior who can and will deliver each of us from sin..."
Moving on to the New Testament, Jesus was certainly loving towards everyone he came in contact with, but is it true that he never displayed judgment or wrath? That he was only a gentle and merciful soul who never challenged corrupt people or practices? We must not mistake his love for an absence of judgment. Since Jesus came to earth to pay for the sins of the world and give us a taste of what life in his kingdom would be like, he went around healing the sick, feeding hungry crowds, opening blind eyes, and finally, laying down his life for us. Although he did not serve immediate justice to those around him, his teachings are replete with warnings of his coming judgment.
Jesus often spoke in parables, and his most famous ones seem to focus a great deal on judgment. These include those about weeds that were gathered to be burned,[8] a wicked servant who was destroyed for disobedience, [9] and bridesmaids who were excluded from a wedding because they failed to bring extra oil for their lamps.[10] He even declared that Judgment Day would be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for a city that rejected him and his message.[11]
When looking at these scriptures cumulatively, we see that God has not changed! We can be sure he never will (see Hebrews 13:8).[12] God is, always has been, and always will be a God of love, mercy and judgment. He infinitely loves all of humanity, yet he abhors the sin that corrupts his perfect image in us. That’s why he gave his own son as the savior who can and will deliver each of us from sin, as long as we accept his offer of forgiveness and come under his loving Lordship. When choosing between eternal forgiveness and joy or eternal damnation due to corruption, is the choice really all that difficult?
[1] Awesome God by Rich Mullins
[2] “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
[3] Genesis 3:15, 21-23
[4] Genesis 4:15
[5] Joshua 6:25
[6] Genesis 18:23
[7] Jonah 3:10
[8] Matthew 13:24-30 – The Parable of the Weeds
[9] Matthew 24:44-51 – The Parable of the Wicked Servant
[10] Matthew 25:1-10 – The Parable of the Ten Virgins
[11] Matthew 10:15
[12]“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Is the Bible's Depiction of God Inconsistent?
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