Angry, jealous, vengeful, wrathful. These are words used to
describe the God of the Old Testament. Kind, loving, merciful, forgiving. These
are words that describe the God of the New Testament. On the surface these
appear to be polar opposites of each other and have led people through the
centuries to believe that these are different Gods. Marcionism is a heresy that
believed this very notion and the early second century Church had to deal with
it. It has caused many Christians to ignore, dismiss, or outright reject the
Old Testament altogether. It has led others to believe that God can change over
time. God has evolved from a wrathful God to a loving God. This has been used
to justify everything from women’s ordination to same sex marriage.
But the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New
Testament. God has not changed. God has not evolved. God is the same today as
he was yesterday and will be tomorrow. God is eternal. He exists outside of
time. More correctly stated time exists inside of God. Every moment in time is
the same moment for God. Everything happens now and every place is here.
So how do you explain the seemingly different Gods in the
bible? It is a matter of perspective. Where we see wrath God sees love. Where
we see vengeance God sees justice. Where we see things skewed God sees them as
they truly are.
A mother was boiling spaghetti for dinner one night. As she
was cutting up vegetables to go in the sauce she saw her almost three-year old
daughter reaching for the pot of boiling water. She screamed at the top of her
lungs, “No!” as she ran over and slapped her daughter’s hand. “Hot!” she
scolded. Every parent knows that this was done out of love. The mother did not
want to see her daughter get hurt. She wanted to protect her daughter and teach
her what she needed to know. From the daughter’s perspective all she saw was her
mother’s anger. She did not understand that it was done for her own good. She
could not see her mother’s love. All she saw was wrath.
This was the way it was for the young Israel. They were God’s
chosen people but they were infants. God had to be the loving parent and do
what was necessary to teach and protect his children. Where God saw only love
Israel could only see anger and wrath.
God made a covenant with his people and was faithful to it.
Israel broke the covenant at every given opportunity. God always forgave them
and called them back to fidelity. They always strayed. Children have never been
good at listening to their parents but they have never failed to imitate them.
The Father sent the Son to show us the way. With the teacher living among us
God had no reason to show anger or wrath and could be what he was – love. This
God of the New Testament is the same as the God of the Old Testament. The only
thing that changed is the way that we perceive him. When we view God through
the prism of a parent we can clearly see that everything God did was done
through and with love.
My heart is full because the tomb is empty.
