How God Turns Places of Fear to Places of Blessing

"The Lord said to Cain, 

'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?  

If you do well, will you not be accepted? 

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. 

Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.''  

Genesis 4:6-7

    These are the words God said to Cain shortly after Cain killed his brother, Abel. This was the first murder, and it was a cold, calculated act against an innocent person. Yet, though God holds Cain responsible for his choice, He does not turn on Cain or abandon him. He speaks to him, offers wise counsel, and even puts a mark of protection on him. God has shown this characteristic before, with Cain's parents, Adam and Eve. Though they suffered the natural consequences of their sin, God did not abandon them, either. He still spoke to them and cared for them by making clothes for them to wear. (Genesis 3:21)

Sin is Crouching At the Door

    But there is something just as valuable to be learned from this passage, and it is an insight that is often overlooked. In fact, I've not heard it taught elsewhere, as it requires an understanding of the cultural significance of the phrase: "...sin is crouching at the door." 

   Moses recorded this tale from the oral traditions of the Hebrew people. At the time Moses lived, among the Mediterranean people groups, there existed a particularly interesting superstition. The pagan people of that region believed that evil spirits congregated at the doors of people's homes--at the threshold--and waited there to attack any who dared linger there. For this reason, Mediterranean peoples considered it bad luck to step on the threshold and, in fact, were very careful to step over it entirely. They moved quickly, so as not to draw the negative attention of any spirits who might be crouching in the shadows.

  The description here of God's words to Adam reflect the ingrained fears of the people who would be reading and meditating on this story. God is meeting Cain at the lowest point of Cain's life, but He is also warning Cain of the dangers in the world--not just evil spirits, but Cain's own evil desires. Moses's description would have been particularly powerful to his hearers--a sound warning to beware of the forces in the world that seek to destroy us. 

The Significance of the Mezuzah

   However, the Bible is not a simple, flat text. One verse or passage cannot encompass all that God is or His entire plan for humankind. It is an unfolding tale of hope and redemptive grace in the face of fear and despair. This passage shows one side of the story. The other side comes much later--also meted out through Hebrew tradition. 

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down and when you get up. 

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Genesis 6:4-9 (emphasis added)

    That command to write this promise on their doorframes is something practicing Jews have taken seriously for a millennia. They attach a small, narrow box, called a mezuzah, to their doorframes, within which is a tiny scroll bearing the words: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." I've heard that it's tradition to kiss one's fingertips and then touch the mezuzah upon leaving for the day and upon returning. This small act of reverence indicates that God is central to all they do, both indoors and out.

    God commanded His people to always remember that He is to be first and foremost in their hearts and minds--in their getting up and lying down, in their coming and going. So though the people around them have traditionally feared the threshold of their homes as a place of fear and curses, the Jewish people see it as a place of remembrance of the love and blessings of their Heavenly Father. This is just one more way the Jews have been "set apart" as God's people--to be a witness to those around them of God's goodness. (Deut. 14:2)

   Another biblical example of how God has made the threshold a place of peace and protection is in Exodus, at the time of the first Passover. When the angel of death was passing over the land and putting all the firstborn sons to death, God instructed His people to butcher the sacrifice lamb, dip a hyssop branch in the blood, and wipe the blood on the doorposts. When the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over that home and did not harm anyone inside. (Exodus 12:1-30)

   

The Things that Make Us Tremble

    What are the places in your life where you experience the most fear? What is hiding at your door, crouching in the darkness, waiting to leap out at you and destroy you? What are the rooms of your life you're afraid to enter and be fully present? 

Your marriage?

Your relationships with your children?

Your sexual identity or desires?

Your trauma?

Your abuse? 

Your addiction?

Your loneliness?

Your future?

Your finances?

Your grief?

Your health?

Your death?

    What makes you tremble when you think of it? What do you avoid? What places do you move quickly through, refusing to linger? 

God is Not Afraid of the Dark.

   No matter how terrifying certain areas of your life are to you, they do not scare God. He has already conquered them on your behalf, and He wants you to invite Him into those places and learn to dwell in His presence in those places. He wants to help you conquer those scary places and show you, by walking through those "valleys of the shadow of death," that He is bigger and more powerful than the worst things the world throws at us.

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.
Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

    What was once a place of fear, God can make a place of blessing. When you place the blood of His sacrifice over the threshold of your life, His protection is also yours to claim. He can give you victory and turn the dark, scary places of your life into places of light and peace.

Remember: 

"This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you:

God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all."

I John 1:5

Will God Judge Us Based on Our Deeds or on What We Believe About Jesus?

The Bible says we'll be judged "according to what we have done" (Revelations 20:13). And Jesus said the angels would separate the wicked from the righteous (Matthew 13:49) on the day of judgment. Does that mean we'll be judged based on our deeds rather than on what we believe about Jesus. Universalists want to see all people get into Heaven or, at least, all good people. And most universalists assume all people will suddenly "get it" or become good when they meet God after they die. They don't like the idea that one must know and believe in Jesus prior to death to be saved, because they consider most non-believers to be pretty good people who deserve to get into Heaven and be spared Hell.

However, though Scripture consistently puts emphasis on righteousness vs. wickedness and on good deeds vs. evil deeds (because it's important!), it is also exceedingly clear that salvation comes through no other name under heaven except that of Christ alone (John 3:18, 36, 14:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 4:12, Romans 3:21-25, 10:9-10). Scripture also makes it clear that rejecting Jesus IS a form of wickedness and, all by itself, is deserving of punishment.

"All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you" (II Thessalonians 1:5-10, emphasis added).

You can't have Jesus without JESUS! Although Christ's forgiveness and salvation is equally available to all humanity, there are vast groups of people whose hearts are so hard that they will NEVER turn to Him--regardless of anything He does to convince them of His love and grace (Genesis 6:5-6, Isaiah 42:18-20, Romans 2:5). That doesn't mean He condemned them in advance to Hell. That doesn't mean they didn't have ample opportunities during this life. That doesn't mean He ordained or designed them to be this hardhearted. Rather, God in His great love for us--even "while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8)--took the penalty of our sin on His own shoulders, suffered and died in our place, spread His Good News to all mankind, and offered us a chance to spend eternity with Him. 

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:18). 

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36).

How Could a Good God Sacrifice His Son?

 

Many who misunderstand the Gospel, complain that it's unfair and cruel of God to demand that His son suffer and die for our sins. "No good father would do that," they argue. Agreed.

But one has to recognize that the Scriptural descriptions of God as a father are metaphorical. God and Jesus aren't literally father and son in the biological sense. Their relationship is FAR closer than that. They (along with the Holy Spirit) are ONE (Isaiah 9:6, John 1:14, 10:30, Colossians 1:15-17, 2:9, etc.). Therefore, where Jesus is, God is. What Jesus chooses, God chooses. What Jesus does, God does.

When Jesus allowed Himself to be put on that cross, God allowed Himself to be put on that cross. Jesus wasn't put on the cross by His Father--a distant, uncaring God who turned His back on His son. God Himself was on that cross! Jesus's cry of, "Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?" is a great mystery, but the way I understand it is that He was NOT referring to a breach in relationship with God, as many have assumed. God and Jesus were never at odds or at cross purposes or against one another (Matthew 12:25). Rather, Jesus/God was experiencing the weight of sin and suffering and pain in the same way all humanity has experienced it when we allow sin to master us rather than Christ's love and grace.

Because Jesus "became sin for us" (II Corinthians 5:21) as a human being--suffering and dying for the sin of the world--He was not experiencing the glory of Heaven or of divinity or of grace at that moment. He was experiencing existence as a mere man--separated from His Godhood and divine nature and state of sinlessness. That, I believe, is the separation and abandonment Jesus felt--not a literal abandonment of a cruel, heartless father refusing to acknowledge the suffering of his son--but the choice God made to abandon His godliness and glory so He could live life as a human being and suffer and die as a human being in our place (Philippians 2:6-8).

In this way, God Himself, as Jesus, allowed Himself to be tortured, ridiculed, and rejected, so we don't have to be. Therefore, God didn't demand any sacrifice He didn't pay Himself. And, because He is an excellent Father, He made sure you wouldn't have to pay that price either.

Is God Willing and Able to Save All People During This Life?

Universalism's most serious motivator for redefining the Gospel and the salvation process is that they don't believe God has given all people enough of a chance to accept Jesus during this lifetime. They are rebelling against traditional understandings of Heaven and Hell, traditional teachings about salvation and the Gospel, and against Calvinism, (which claims that God created some people for Heaven and some people for Hell and there's little if anything we can do about it).

However, Scripture paints a very different picture than either of these extremes. God "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth," which is why Jesus "gave himself as a ransom for all people" (I Timothy 2:3-6). John 3:16 specifically talks about the "world" having the offer of Christ's salvation--not just a select few. Jesus said, that the "gospel must be first preached to all nations" (Mark 13:10), and Peter explains that, though Jesus seems slow to return, He's merely giving more people time to be saved while they are still alive and still have that chance (II Peter 3:9). 

Speaking of those who fail to testify to the truth, Jesus said, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40). Consider the parable Jesus told of the scattered seed, recorded three times in Matthew 13:3-9, Mark 4:3-8, and Luke 8:5-8. In each version, the seed of the knowledge of God is scattered widely and, though most choose not to believe, there is no place where the seed doesn't land.

Furthermore, we have many examples of people God called out of civilizations that seem completely devoid of God's truth: Abraham, Noah, Moses, Rahab, King Josiah, the Ethiopian eunuch, etc. If anyone seeks to know God, God promises they WILL find Him (Matthew 7:7-8).

God Hardens Hearts: Does This Mean Salvation Isn't for Everyone?

"The Bible says God Hardens People's Hearts. Isn't that Evidence that He Isn't Willing to Save All People In This Lifetime?"

The Old Testament speaks of God hardening the spirit of King Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:30) and the heart of Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21, 7:3-14, 8:15-32, 9:12, 14:8.) Isaiah wrote of the Israelites,

"And he [God] said, 'Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed" (Isaiah 6:19-20).

It almost seems to indicate that God is condemning the Israelites to spiritual blindness. However, when God "hardens" our hearts, it's only ever after we've hardened them (Daniel 5:20). In fact, He pursues us (Hosea), pleads with us to hear Him (Ezekiel 33:11), and "stands at the door and knocks" (Revelation 3:20). Both King Sihon and Pharaoh were proud, pagan men who despised God. The Israelites were sent many prophets to tell them that God loved them, to repent, and that God would save them through Jesus. What did they do? They tortured and killed the prophets. Then they tortured Jesus and crucified Him publicly.

And just to be clear, the Calvinists are wrong when they assume these are examples of how God ordained in advance that these particular people would not and could not be saved. That belief contradicts many passages of Scripture (Matthew 7:7-9, 13:3-9, I Timothy 2:3-6, John 3:16-17, Mark 13:10, Luke 19:40, II Peter 3:9, etc.) that show God's desire and willingness and offer to save all mankind. So, if God "hardens" people's hearts, it's only after they've hardened them, and it's for a specific, heavenly purpose. It's not unfair. It's not an attack on their autonomy; rather it is a reinforcement of it. God hears our thoughts, sees our hearts, and respects our decisions. (John 12:36b-43, Matthew 13:10-17, Acts 28:23-28)

"When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:13-15).

The 3 Kinds of Morality (And Why It's Wrong to Assume Atheists Are Immoral)

What Is Morality, Anyway?

Morality, as a concept, is often severely misconstrued. Sometimes people assume morality and religion are the same thing. Others assume morality is obsolete, something we left behind in the 50s alongside sock hops and coonskin caps. Still others think it's a deeply personal, individual thing--even going so far as to insist that the government has no business "legislating morality." This last one always gets me laughing. Because, truly, if the government didn't legislate morality, it wouldn't do anything at all! (Which reminds me of another joke, but I digress.) Legislating morality is precisely the government's purpose. (Try to think of a law--any law--that isn't, at base, about how people treat one another or the environment.)

Morality is about relationship. These relationships may be individual (between a person and his/her pet or between an individual and his/her friend) or they may be societal (between an individual and society or between groups of people) or they may be spiritual (between an individual or group and a deity.) Outside of relationship, the concept of morality makes no sense at all. So, on that grounds, it certainly can't be a merely "personal thing." Morality is about how one person or group interacts with someone or something else. 

Morality is, by definition, about how we respond to the other occupants of this universe/reality, with respect or without it. So, to behave morally toward someone, is to behave in a way that shows respect toward and preserves that person's value. 

The Three Kinds of Morality

So here are the three levels of morality (in order of importance, with the first being the most important):

Religious Morality: how we respond to God.
Interpersonal Morality: how we respond to one another.
Environmental Morality: how we respond to nature (the animals and the world around us.)

Of course, an argument could be made that the way we treat the environment isn't about relationship, therefore, it's not a moral issue. However, such a view could be argued against on at least three grounds. One, since we all share the world, the way we treat the world also affects other people, thus making environmental morality just a form of interpersonal morality. Two, many animals are capable of forming complex relationships with humans, demanding that we treat, at least these animals, in a moral way. Three, since morality is about relationship, and healthy relationships require humility and compassion, to treat animals and/or the natural environment with complete disregard belies a lack of the basic qualities that make our behavior moral. So, one could argue that, if we are incapable of appreciating the natural world, we're also likely incapable of fully appreciating the other sentient beings that inhabit it, making such behavior a display of immorality. 

Can Atheists Be Moral?

Of course, a lot more could be said about these different types of moralities, but I want this to be a relatively short post. I'll just go on to point out that many Christians like to argue that, without God, morality itself wouldn't make sense. They insist that, for morality to be binding, God must exist. They also make the reciprocal argument that, since we observe morality, God must exist.

Now, you already know I believe in God. However, I must point out that, to the atheist or agnostic or those who don't believe in the same type of God Christians do, the above arguments sound quite insulting. Clearly, if someone doesn't believe God exists, they can still exhibit interpersonal and environmental morality. It's NOT the case that atheists are completely immoral people. That's ludicrous. Surely, we all know atheists who are excellent parents, dependable workers, loyal friends, etc. That is MORAL behavior and they are MORAL beings. 

As a Christian, I believe God not only exists but that He made ALL PEOPLE in His image--yes, the atheists, too. Part of what it means to be made in God's image is our deeply complex ability to form relationships. Since atheists are just as capable of entering into relationship as anyone else, that makes them moral beings--making their attitudes and behaviors either moral or immoral. (And when Christians are nasty to somebody, we are behaving immorally.) 

Now, I guess the bigger question is, if we don't believe in God and so ignore religious morality, but are absolutely stellar in the areas of interpersonal and environmental morality... is that enough? Well, if you're right, and God doesn't exist, then yeah, you're good. (Pun intended.) But if God does exist and you do not have a positive relationship with Him, then, no. You've got problems. Thankfully, Jesus (aka: God) is perfectly willing to help you rectify that situation whenever you're ready. He's already paved that road. Just let me know if you want directions on where to find it.

Would a Good God Send People to Hell? (Logic Flow Chart)

The Objectification of God

"I'm struggling with my faith."

"The experience increased my faith."

"My faith gets me through the day."

Have you ever heard or said anything like the above sentences? Here's my problem with them: they mean almost nothing. Why? Because this way of speaking makes faith into an abstract concept. The word can be applied to anyone or anything. It is, at least, one step removed from the object of that faith.

I don't like talking about faith as if it is a thing in and of itself. To talk about our faith makes us sound very spiritual, but our faith is only so good as the object or person in which it is placed. If I have faith in a chair to hold me up when I sit in it, my faith means nothing if someone came along before I got there and removed all the screws. If I have faith in God, my faith is only so good as my relationship with Him as a Being.

That last sentence is very important. My faith is only so good as my relationship with God as a BEING. It is essential that we recognize God as a BEING, as opposed to a BELIEF. Many of us good, well-meaning, "spiritual" Christians find the fact that God is an actual Being very inconvenient. That means He has a personality. He has opinions (that I may not agree with). He experiences emotions. He thinks about things differently than I do. He has His own goals and methods of accomplishing them. He works on His own timetable.

It's much easier to think of Him as a belief and just try to fit that belief into our world and our plans as best we can. That way, I can go to church and try to be good and even pray once in a while, but I don't have to rearrange my life to fit with Someone else's agenda. I don't have to sacrifice my lifestyle (as long as it's "good enough" to sooth my conscience) to step out of my comfort zone into the unknown realm of relying on a Being I can't see. I don't have to study the Word in its minute details to learn how to hear His voice in my life and then wait and listen for Him to speak to me.

Adding god to my life is so much easier and less messy than aligning myself to God.

But, do I really need another belief? I have lots of them. I believe dark chocolate is better than milk chocolate. I believe it's scary to drive on icy roads. I believe Nietzsche would have made a very good Satanist. I believe my dog is prettier than my neighbor's dog.

Do I really need one more belief? Isn't it better to have a relationship?
Think of it this way. What would you prefer--to believe that you have a spouse who loves you or to actually have a spouse who loves you?

I want the spouse. I want the love. I want the messy. I want the challenge and the disagreements and the making up. I want the sounding board for my insane, crazy emotions and my deep, profound thoughts about the meaning of life. I want the discovery of the depth of who he is--weird or not. I want the teasing and the wrestling and the love making and the rolling of the eyes. I want it all. I don't want just a belief in him, I want HIM.

Without Him, I'm stuck with just...

me.

The difference I'm talking about is a difference in the kind of knowledge we have a right to claim. It's the difference between propositional knowledge ("I know that God exists.") and interpersonal knowledge ("I know God.")

Knowing a fact is propositional knowledge and it's fine, for what it is, but it's very impersonal. It's no more important than knowing the moon exists. OK. Got it, but what does that really matter for my day-to-day?

Knowing a person is interpersonal knowledge (IPK) and it is a vastly different experience than knowing a fact. It's the difference between knowing Shaquille O'Neal exists and knowing Shaquille O'Neal. Which is more dynamic? More life-changing? More involved? More intrusive into our world?

So, when we think of using the word "faith," perhaps we should instead use the Name of the Person---the BEING--we really mean: Jesus Christ.

"I'm really struggling in my relationship with Jesus Christ."

"The experience with Jesus increased my dependence on Him."

"Jesus Christ gets me through the day."

Suddenly, these statements start to make sense. I want to hear more. I want a glimpse inside a relationship that is dynamic and real. I want to know this Person, too.

Closing thought:
The word "faith" isn't the only word we use to objectify God. Consider the words/terms: "moral right," "religion," "justice," "hope," etc. There are many, many ways we push God away through the way we conceive of Him and substitute abstract words for Him. When we think of Him as a belief, our word choices betray us. When know Him as a Being, our word choices reflect that relationship. This week, listen to the way people talk about God. Is He a belief or a Being to them? How about to you?

True Hope

 

God is a God of hope. He wants to give us true hope—a hope that lasts and endures, regardless of the situations we find ourselves in.

Hope is a forward-looking idea. The Spanish word for hope is esperanza. It comes from root word esperar, or 'to wait'. In this country we usually think of waiting as a negative thing, like waiting in a line at the supermarket. But hope is the part of waiting that anticipates the blessings to come. Hope is the knowledge that something better is coming. Esperanza is the feeling the groom has as he waits at the altar for his bride to walk down the aisle in her white wedding dress.

Revelation describes the joy and anticipation Christ inspires as He waits for His bride--us, the Church:

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear."  Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' "  Revelation 19:7-9 (See also: Rev. 21:1-7)

How else does the Bible describe hope?

1. Hope is a kind of faith—the faith we have in a person we know personally and trust unconditionally.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.  Psalm 42:5-6a    

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. Psalm 71:5

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1  

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. I Peter 1:21

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. I Timothy 6:17

So, like all faith, hope is based on something else. If your hope is based only in people, then, when those people let you down, your hope will also fail. And you find yourself feeling hopeless. But when you base your hope in Jesus—in His salvation and in His promises—then you will find true hope—a hope that will never prove false—because Jesus can never be false. (Numbers 23:19)

2. Hope is eager anticipation based in certain knowledge of good things to come.

But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24-25

3. Hope in Christ has the power to lift us out of our present circumstances, no matter how dire, and set our eyes on what really matters.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. Psalm 130:1-8

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.  We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:17-22

Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.  II Corinthians 1:9-11

4. Hope in Christ provides insight into our present circumstances, wisdom to know how we should respond to them, and certainty within our relationship with Him.

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. II Corinthians 3:12

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

5. We are called to hope in Christ. It is not something we can access on our own strength. It is an invitation from God to us and a gift to all who respond to Him.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:18-19a

There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called...  Ephesians 4:4

A Good God Would/Wouldn't.... (Fill in the Blank)

(As first published at http://relationshipphilosophy.blogspot.com/)

In 1860, Charles Darwin wrote a letter to Asa Gray in which he described one of his motivations for rejecting belief in God. He wrote:

"With respect to the theological view of the question; this is always painful to me.— I am bewildered.— I had no intention to write atheistically. But I own that I cannot see, as plainly as others do, & as I sh^d wish to do, evidence of design & beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent & omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidæ with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice (emphasis added)."

Two years ago, I attended a creation talk (a series of talks, really) given by a Seventh Day Adventist pastor. The research and argumentation was exceedingly well researched and delivered, I thought, and presented a wealth of evidence for the existence and involvement of a good, loving Creator. However, on the last evening of the series, the pastor said this (which I'm paraphrasing as best I can from memory):

"I want to suggest that when people die and go to Hell, that they are not completely destroyed and neither do they stay there, suffering horribly, for an eternity. Now, bear with me as I explain why I think this is: When I read the Bible, I find a God who would do anything to rescue His children--us--even to the point of dying on the cross for us. Furthermore, the Bible says that when we get to heaven, that ever tear will be wiped away. But, could you be happy in heaven if you knew your husband or sister or child was suffering in Hell? No. So, I believe that people who die without knowing Christ go to Hell and suffer for a time, but are then destroyed--burned up, so to speak. People do not suffer for an eternity in Hell. A good God wouldn't let that happen (emphasis added)."
FYI, there was no mention of the many, many passages in the Bible that clearly describe an eternity of suffering in Hell for those that do not accept Jesus Christ's payment for their sin.

But, the maligning of the Word aside, the dangerous thinking I'm pointing to here is revealed whenever we start a sentence with: "A good God would..." or "A good God wouldn't...."

This kind of statement requires that we base our understanding of the world on a complete reversal of our moral position with God's moral position. It sets me up as a judge over God. It implicitly claims that I am of a higher moral ilk than God is, that I have the right to judge His behavior or motivations, and (in a bizarre twist) that the truth of His pronouncements and, indeed, His very existence is dependent on my verdict.

Our first mistake is to conceive of God as a moral Being. No. He's the Standard. He doesn't have to follow the rules, He is the Rule. His very character is the standard. He is completely sovereign. There is no free-floating "morality" that exists independently of Him. And, even if there were, what makes us think we would have access to it?

Our second mistake is to assume we, of our own accord, have anything good to contribute to the conversation. We are irreparably flawed, in and of ourselves. Our insight is limited, our judgment is poor, our behavior atrocious. So, where do we think this nebulous standard of "good" comes from, if not from God? Certainly, it doesn't come from us. And, yet, we presume to put God on trial and set ourselves up as His judge?

Are Miracles Possible?

Photo by Anupam Pal (Kanpur, India)
Photographed December 2007, Chakdaha, India

It's interesting to me that there are people who claim to be Christians who also will claim, sometimes in the same breath, that there are some miracles in the Bible that they think could not possibly have happened.  So, God is powerful enough to make the earth--just by speaking--but then He struggles with parting the Red Sea or sending a great fish to swallow Jonah or walking on water?

This seems inconsistent to me.  Frankly, I can't see how anyone who believes in God--especially the God of the Bible--can deny that He has control over all of nature.  (Just read Job 38-41 if you have any doubts as to the kind of power ascribed to Him.)  But, it's deeper than that.  It's much more than God having "control over" nature.  God doesn't just control nature.  Nature is a reflection of God in the same way a painting is a reflection of the artist.  God is in nature.  (But, to be clear, God is not "in the tree" or contained by His creation like a sprite or a 'force'.  See:  I Kings 19:11-13)  He works through it, but He is also glorified by it--in its beauty and in its power.

But, I digress...

One thing that kind-of bothers me is that some theologians like to split up miracles into categories. There are miracles that work with nature--like the first 9 plagues of Egypt or the calming of the storm.  And then there are miracles that work above/against nature--like the 10th plague of Egypt or Jesus turning water into wine or the axe-head floating.  They seem to suggest this shows how God is powerful in different ways, but really, I just think it shows more about us.  The only real difference between a miracle that works within nature (as we understand it) or against nature (as we understand it) is our understanding or lack there of.  We act as if one is harder for God than the other, which is absolutely ridiculous.

Think of it this way: What is a miracle to God? ...Um... nothing. Nothing is a miracle to God. It's all the same. It's all easy. Our "miracles" are just God breathing (so to speak).

Think historically for a moment.  If I was to go back only a mere couple hundred years with my iPhone, I bet I could convince some folks I was capable of performing a miracle. That's because they simply wouldn't understand how I did it. Now, I'm not saying God doesn't really perform miracles. I'm saying everything God does is a miracle. It doesn't matter if it seems simple to us--like photosynthesis or rain or seeing a sunset. But think for a moment about each of those things. They are extremely common, but also extremely complicated, when you really study them. We don't think of them as miraculous because we experience them often and because we think we know how they work. (Most of us really don't, when pressed.) So, the only real difference between what we think of as a common, everyday occurrence and a miracle is our perspective (not God's). Frankly, we could no more imagine or create the process of photosynthesis any more than we could walk on water. Only God can do either with equal ease.

So, it's a little comical when we have the audacity to claim God can create the sun, imagine a sunset into being, give us the power of sight so we can enjoy it, and then start listing all the things God "can't" do. As if we, in our infinite wisdom, knowledge, and cosmic understanding, can decide which things would be harder for God to do. (That last clause doesn't even make sense to me!)

So, here are some questions for you:

Is God really pitted against science or nature? What does that even mean? (Science, by the way, is a process, not a thing.)

For those of you who believe in God, do you also believe in miracles? What about the miracles of the Bible--all of them? Why or why not?

If some miracles are harder for God than others, what does that say about God's character? And, what source do you trust for describing God's character?

Things I've Learned About God

It's amazing to me how much we can learn about God's character, the Bible and life even after growing up in a Christian home and church. That's not to say I didn't have good teachers and role models, only that God can always surprise you. Here are a few things I've learned:

1. God's primary characteristic (contrary to what many think) is not love, but holiness. Look at how many time God is called love in the Bible vs. how many times He is called holy.

2. God does not save us because He loves us. He loves everyone, but He will not save everyone. He saves us only when we allow the death and resurrection of Christ to take the place of the death that is demanded of us as payment for being the property of Satan--making us the property of God. Why does it have to be this way? Again, because He is holy. We are not.

3. Good and evil don't exist in the normal, conceptual way we think of them. That is why atheists (rightly) have trouble accounting for them as 'real'. The only way we can know "good" is to know God--(again, He's holy--He is the standard of goodness). Evil is the antithesis of God--anything that is contrary to God. God--a Being, not a belief or a concept--IS the standard. There is no such thing as a standard for goodness or a measure of evil without accepting that God is who He says He is. It just doesn't make any sense. This is also why asking questions like, "Why does God do evil things?" is nonsensical. Whatever God does is "good"--because He's the standard. He cannot be judged by any other standard aside from Himself. (Certainly not by us.) Good and evil are exclusively relational terms and always find their essence within a relationship or lack of relationship with God.

4. There is no such thing as blind faith. All faith is based on a reason or a set of reasons. (Although, they may not be good reasons.) Just ask someone--even the crazy guy in the asylum who talks to his magic marker--why they believe or act the way they do. They'll have some kind of reason.

5. Satan is evil, but he's not the "embodiment of evil." Evil entered the world through man, not through Satan. Creation was given to us and we promptly handed it over to Satan--practically gift-wrapped it for him. That's why he's called the prince of this world.

6. Angels don't have wings. Seraphim and Cherubim (never called "angels" in the Bible) do have wings. Regular angels don't. These are distinctly different beings created by God.

7. There is no foundation in Scripture for the belief that the fallen angels became the demons.

8. The Bible doesn't ever, not in a single translation I could find, says that in heaven the lion will lie down with the lamb. There is a brief mention of a lamb lying down with a wolf, but not a lion.


Well, that's it for now.

Does God Afflict Us?

It is disturbing to think God might be out there causing us difficulties. In part, for this reason many have accepted deism--the religious idea that God is an impersonal being--a being who spun the world and humanity into existence, but then stepped back and left us to our own devices, without interference of any kind. Many find this concept easier to palate because we have no one to answer to except ourselves. According to this view, we are our own guides and we have no one to blame for our troubles except ourselves (or each other), but neither do we have any source of help or rescue except that which we can ourselves provide--or exact from others. The atheist viewpoint also embraces these consequences.  

Personally, I find this idea not only lacking in merit from an emotional standpoint, but from an evidential one as well.  There simply is no evidence to support such a view; it is empty philosophy and nothing more.  Furthermore, the Bible contradicts this idea in nearly every passage of its 66 books.  God is described as a very personal Being.  He is highly relational.  Not only did he design our world and our bodies, but He left His fingerprint on our hearts--leaving a place there only He can fill.  He is intimately interested in our every moment.  And, while it is true that He has limited His visible interactions with us since the fall (when we basically asked Him to stay out of our lives) His love compels Him to remain accessible to us and involved to the extent which we will allow (and, sometimes, beyond).  In fact, though we may try to hide from Him, there is no place we might flee to escape God's presence.

Psalm 139:1-16

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.  You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

It makes sense, then, that so many, when facing some trial or need, lift their faces to the heavens with lips ready with either supplications or accusations.  Even those who question God's existence often succumb to these kinds of interactions when dire times come.

So, does God afflict us?  Is God to blame for the troubles that come into our lives?  You may be surprised at the answer.  The answer is both "yes" and "no".  God does not cause evil or delight in seeing us suffer.  However, Psalm 119:75 says:  "I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me."

The reason it is so difficult for us to accept "affliction" from God is because of our lack of a trusting, loving relationship with Him. But consider who God is:

He is our Father.  (Col. 1:2)

He is Love.  (I John 4:8)

He is our strong deliverer.  (Psalm 140:7)

He is our refuge in times of trouble.  (Psalm 59:16)

He is the one who is able to keep us from falling.  (Jude 24)

He is our provider.  (Gen. 22:14)

And much, much more...  (See Names, Titles and Descriptions of God)

Now, let us look at that verse again, along with the ones following:

I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.  May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.  Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.  (Psalm 119:75-77)

The writer of these words obviously had a deep, loving and trusting relationship with God.  He was thankful that God was faithful in afflicting him!  Then he seeks God's unfailing love as his comfort and stated that God's laws were a delight to him!  This is not a cowering, frightened man begging to be spared from the hands of an angry God.  This is a son speaking to his Father!

Imagine for a moment a good father and how he would guide his child through the obstacles of youth. No doubt there will be many times he will have to provide consequences (or cause "affliction") for misbehavior or as lessons for further healthy growth.  For example, he might insist on a healthy diet, despite the child's sweet-tooth.  Or, he might demand that the child get regular exercise, even though the child would rather spend the entire day playing Minecraft.  He may have to provide punishment for disobedience or give a lecture in response to a bad attitude.  And, yet, because of the relationship that exists between them, we can clearly see that each of these actions, while they may cause pain or discomfort for the child, springs from this man's deep love for his child and his desire to see the child one day become strong, healthy, independent, and full of integrity, compassion, and wisdom.  

This is what God desires for us.  When God "afflicts" us, it is not to see us crushed, but to see us develop into a person of character--one that reflects His own amazing qualities.  However, to understand these trials, it is necessary for us to have a relationship with God.

Challenge:  When you feel as if you are dealing with some kind of affliction, refrain from whining and blaming God.  Instead, spend time in prayer and in study of God's Word, the Bible. Ask God to reveal to you the amazing thing He is trying to show you.  Ask God to give you wisdom.  And offer yourself and your life to Him to mold into the person He created you to be.

Names, Titles and Descriptions of God

A faithful God (Deut.32:4)
A forgiving God (Neh. 9:17)
A fortress of salvation (Ps. 28:8)
A glorious crown (Isa. 28:5)
A jealous and avenging God (Nah. 1:2)
A Master in heaven (Col. 4:1)
A refuge for the oppressed (Ps. 9:9)
A refuge for the poor (Isa. 25:4)
A sanctuary (Isa. 8:14)
A shade from the heat (Isa. 25:4)
A shelter from the storm (Isa. 25:4)
A source of strength (Isa. 28:6)
A stronghold in times of trouble (Ps. 9:9)
An ever-present help in trouble (Ps. 46:1)
Architect and builder (Heb. 11:10)
Builder of everythign (Heb. 3:4)
Commander of the army of the LORD (Josh. 5:14)
Creator of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19)
Defender of widows (Ps. 68:5)
Eternal King (Jer. 10:10)
Father (Isa. 9:6; 63:16; Matt. 5:16)
Father of compassion (2 Cor. 1:3)
Father of our spirits (Heb. 12:9)
Father of the heavenly lights (Jas. 1:17)
God (Gen. 1:2)
God Almighty (El Shaddai; Gen. 17:1)
God and Father of Jesus Christ (I Pet. 1:3)
God Most High (Gen. 14:18-22)
God my Maker (Job 35:10)
God my Rock (Ps. 42:9)
God my Savior (Ps. 18:46; 27:9)
God my stronghold (Ps. 144:2; 2 Sam. 22:3)
God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Ex. 3:16)
God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3)
God of all mankind (Jer. 32:27)
God of glory (Ps. 29:3)
God of gods (Deut. 10:17; Ps. 136:2)
God of grace (1 Pet. 5:10)
God of peace (1 Thess. 5:23)
God of retribution (Jer. 51:56)
God of the living (Matt. 22:32)
God of the spirits (Num. 16:22)
God of truth (Ps. 31:5)
God our Father (Col. 1:2)
God our strength (Ps. 18:2)
God over all the kingdoms (Dan. 4:17)
God the Father (Col. 3:17)
God who avenges me (Ps. 18:47; 94:1)
God who relents from sending calamity (Joel 2:13)
Great and awesome God (Deut. 7:21)
Great and powerful God (Jer. 32:18)
Great, mighty, awesome God (Deut. 10:17)
He who blots out your transgressions (Isa. 43:25)
He who comforts you (Isa. 66:13)
He who forms the hearts of all (Ps. 33:15)
He who raised Christ from the dead (Rom. 8:1)
He who reveals His thoughts to man (Amos 4:13)
Helper of the fatherless (Ps. 10:14)
Him who is able to do more than all we ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20)
Him who is able to keep you from falling (Jude 24)
Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead (2 Tim. 4:1)
Holy Father (John 17:11)
Holy One (Rev. 16:5)
Holy One among you (Hos. 11:9)
I AM WHO I AM (Ex. 3:14)
Jealous (Ex. 20:5)
Judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25)
King of glory (Ps. 24:7-10)
King of heaven (Dan. 4:37)
Living and true God (1 Thess. 1:9)
Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:18)
Lord God Almighty (Rev. 4:8; 16:7; 21:22)
LORD is Peace (Judg. 6:24)
LORD Most High (Ps. 7:17)
LORD is my Banner (Ex. 17:15)
LORD my Rock (Ps. 28:1)
LORD of all the earth (Mic. 4:13; Zech. 4:14)
Lord of kings (Dan. 2:47)
LORD our God (Deut. 1:6, 10)
LORD our Maker (Ps. 95:6)
LORD who heals you (Ex. 15:26)
LORD who is there (of Jerusalem; Ezek. 48:35)
Lord who makes you holy (Heb. 2:11)
LORD who strikes the blow (Ezek. 7:9)
LORD will provide (Gen. 22:14)
Love (I John 4:8)
Maker of all things (Eccl. 11:5; Jer. 10:16)
Most High (Gen. 14:18-22)
My advocate (Job 16:19)
My Comforter in sorrow (Jer. 8:18)
My confidence (Ps. 71:5)
My helper (Ps. 118:7; Heb. 13:6)
My hiding place (Ps. 32:7)
My hope (Ps. 25:5, 21)
My light (Ps. 27:1)
My might rock (Ps. 62:7)
My refuge in times of trouble (Ps. 59:16)
My song (Ex. 15:2)
My strong deliverer (Ps. 140: 7)
My support (2 Sam. 22:19)
One to be feared (1 Chron. 16:25)
Only wise God (Rom. 16:27)
Our dwelling place (Ps. 90:1)
Our help and our shield (Ps. 33:20)
Our judge (1 Sam. 24:15)
Our lawgiver (Isa. 33:22)
Our leader (2 Chron. 13:12)
Our Mighty One (Isa. 33:21)
Our Redeemer (Isa. 47:4; 63:16)
Our refuge and strength (Ps. 46:1)
Righteous Father (John 17:25)
Rock of our salvation (Ps. 95:1)
Shepherd (Ps. 23:1)
Sovereign Lord (Acts 4:24)
The Almighty God (Gen. 49:25; Ruth 1:20)
The compassionate and gracious God (Ex. 34:6)
The Eternal God (Gen. 21:33)
The consuming fire (Isa. 33:!4)
The everlasting God (Isa. 40:28)
The exalted God (Mic. 6:6)
The faithful God (Deut. 7:9)
The gardener (husbandman; John 15:1)
The glorious Father (Eph. 1:17)
The glory of Israel (Mic. 1:15)
The God who saves me (Ps. 88:1)
The God who sees me (Gen. 16:13)
The great King above all gods (Ps. 95:3)
The just and mighty One (Job 34:17)
The living Father (John 6:57)
The Majestic Glory (2 Pet. 1:17)
The Majesty in heaven (Heb. 1:3)
The one who sustains me (Ps. 54:4)
The only God (Jude 1:25)
The potter (Jer. 18:6)
The rock in whom I take refuge (Ps. 18:2)
The spring of living water (Jer. 2:13)
The strength of my heart (Ps. 73:26)
The true God (1 Thess. 1:9)
You who judge righteously and test the heart and mind (Jer. 11:20)
Your glory (Ps. 57:11)
Your praise (Isa. 38:18; Ps. 71:8; 138:1)
Your very great reward (Gen. 15:1)

(This list was recorded in Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God workbook.)

God of Love or God of Wrath?

[This topic was written and posted in response to a request made by a reader. Thanks, Vince! To ask a question or suggest a topic of your own, click here.]

Why do we so often think of the God of the New Testament as a God of LOVE and the God of the Old Testament as a God of WRATH, and yet insist they are one and the same? Going even further, doesn't the Bible claim that God never changes? ("I the LORD do not change." Malachi 3:6, and see also James 1:17.) So, why does a changeless God appear wrathful and angry in the Old Testament, but loving and patient in the New Testament? Is this the same God?

I think the answers to these questions lie in developing a better understanding of God's nature--not an easy or simple thing, but a very worthy pursuit, all the same. I don't have time to delineate ALL of God's characteristics--indeed, no one even knows all of them!--but for the purpose of answering this question, I think we can focus on five major ones: God's Holiness, God's Love, God's Justice, God's Mercy and God's Jealousy. (This post also assumes that God is also all-knowing, all-present and all-powerful, as well as the Creator of the universe and the Triune God--God the Father, God the Son [Jesus] and God the Holy Spirit.) 

I will first briefly describe each characteristic individually and then I will compare the Old Testament with the New Testament to see if all three of these characteristics appear within them. Finally, I will address some of the major biblical examples for why God seems to have "gone soft" in the New Testament as compared to the Old and explain the real change that has taken place within how we now relate to God.

God's Holiness

Though some may disagree, I believe Holiness, not love is God's primary characteristic (if one could be chosen above the others). As defined by the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Holiness is: "Chief attribute of God and a quality to be developed in his people. 'Holiness' and the adjective 'holy' occur more than 900 times in the Bible. The primary OT word for 'holiness' means 'to cut' or 'to separate'. Fundamentally, holiness is a cutting off or separation from what is unclean, and consecration to what is pure." 

God's Love

Though God is primarily holy, it was His characteristic of love that motivated Him to create man and woman, to initiate an intimate relationship with them (and us) and then, even after they (and we) turned their backs on Him in favor of becoming enslaved to sin and forfeit to Satan, to offer a means by which they might be rescued and returned into a harmonious & pure relationship with Him--by coming as Jesus Christ to give His life as a ransom for them and bridge the gap between a holy God and a sinful people. Godly love is perhaps best described in I Corinthians 13, but there are many, many passages in both the Old and New Testaments that praise God's loving nature.

God's Justice

Webster says that "Just" means: 1. adhering to what is fair, honest and moral, 2. rational and informed, 3. in accordance with correct principles, 4. agreeable to truth or fact, 5. given or awarded rightly, and 6. proper or right. The Bible describes God's justice as the quality that causes Him to be a righteous judge--rewarding righteousness and never allowing evil to go unpunished. To understand, then, how we--who are evil--can ever be forgiven instead of simply receiving his just punishment, we need to understand God's mercy:

God's Mercy

Webster says of mercy: "1. compassion shown toward an offender or an enemy, 2. a disposition to forgive or forbear..." Though God's characteristics of holiness and justice require that all sin be punished, His love and His mercy caused Him to provide a way for us to escape destruction and be reunited with Him, while still dealing with the issue of our sinfulness. In the Old Testament this was done through the sacrifice of an animal or through a scapegoat. In the New Testament this was done once and for all by Jesus Christ--God in the flesh--who willingly allowed Himself to be crucified in our place and then rose from the grave, evidencing God's power over both sin and the death penalty sin demands.

God's Jealousy

Though we often think of jealousy as an unfavorable quality, God exhibits a righteous jealousy--and a very active one, at that. Webster says that jealous means: 1. resentful and envious, as of someone's attainments, 2. fearful of losing another's affection, 3. troubled by suspicions of rivalry, unfaithfulness, etc., and 4. vigilant in guarding something. My favorite is the last definition, though the others could apply as well. God, like a man desperately in love with his wife, becomes very jealous when our affection--due rightfully to Him--strays onto other things, people or gods. He responds by being "vigilant in guarding" us from those things that would draw our love from Him--through warnings, punishments and great displays of His love and power. Eventually, though, we must choose: God's salvation or our own lusts?

Characteristic	Old Testament Example*	New Testament Example*
Holiness	"...'Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Lev. 19:2)	"...'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'" (Rev. 4:8)
Love	"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." (Jer. 31:3)	"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (I John 4:8)
Justice	"Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free." (Prov. 11:21)	"God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well." (2 Thes. 1:6-7a)
Mercy	"Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from old." (Psalm 25:6)	"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." (Eph. 2:4-5)
Jealousy	"You shall not bow down to them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God...." (Exodus 20:5)	"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the demons too: you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are you trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy?" (I Cor. 10:21-22a)

* There are many more references in both the Old and New Testaments for these characteristics. I am providing only one example of each, though some of these verses mention more than one of these characteristics.

Has the God of the Old Testament Gone Soft?

As you can see from the above comparisons of God's primary characteristics, both the Old and the New Testaments describe God in very similar terms. Obviously, this is the same God--so why does He seem to act differently in the Old Testament than He does in the New? It kind-of reminds me of parenting--with the first kid, you're on top of everything, but by the time you have the fourth or fifth, you tend to not care so much whether they eat a cookie before dinner or not. Is this what happened with God? Has He gotten tired and resigned Himself to "picking His battles"? Has God gone soft?

Here are some prime examples of God's wrath as displayed in the Old Testament:

The Flood:        

In Genesis 6-8, God got so fed up with mankind that He decided to wipe them all out and start over, sparing only one family. Everyone died--men, women, children and all the animals of the land or air. (If that's not wrath, I don't know what is!)

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed:

In Genesis 19, God got so sick of the stench of the sinfulness in these two cities that He rained down burning sulfur on them. (FYI: Burning sulfur will easily burn through metal. Yep! That would do it!)

The 10 Plagues on Egypt:

Exodus 7-11 describes some pretty horrible plagues God sent on the Egyptians to persuade them to free the Israelites from bondage, culminating in the deaths of all the firstborn sons of any family that didn't mark their door frames with the blood of a sacrificed lamb. But, wait... is this an example of His wrath toward the Egyptians or His great love and deliverance of the Hebrew people? Hmmm....

Destruction of the Canaanites:

Much of the Old Testament describes various ways the Canaanites and the other people groups of that region were attacked by the Hebrew people. In fact, God told them to wipe these people out completely—down to the last child and to even kill all their animals, though the Hebrews didn't completely obey this command.

After reading through all of that, anyone might tremble at the thought of this God who often seems content to heartlessly order the destruction of many. But, if one is willing to read further, he comes to the New Testament and it's like a breath of fresh air. 

Here are some contrasting examples of how God appears loving in the New Testament:

Jesus' Miracles:

Jesus healed the sick, lame and the blind, fed hungry multitudes, cast out demons, and even raised the dead. (Ex.: man with leprosy: Matt. 8:1-4; sick and demon-possessed: Matt. 8:14-17 & 28-34; paralytic man: Matt. 9:1-8; a dead girl and a sick woman: Matt. 9:18-26; a two blind men and a mute/demon-possessed man: Matt. 9:27-33; fed 5,000: Matt. 14:13-21, etc.)

Jesus with the Children:

Jesus allowed the children to come to Him when the disciples were trying to shoo them away. (Matt. 19:14) 

Jesus facing his enemies in the Garden of Gethsemane:

When Peter cut off a soldier's ear with his sword, Jesus told Peter to knock it off and healed the man. (Luke 22:49-51)

Jesus on the cross:

Not only did Jesus show mercy to one of the thieves being crucified along with him (despite His own enormous agony), He also asked God to forgive those who were crucifying Him. (Luke 23:26-43)

When recalling such stories to mind, the God of the Old Testament certainly seems much harsher than how God acted in the Person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. However, I think we are forgetting two very important things. 1. There are some very fine, but often overlooked, examples of God's love in the Old Testament as well as His wrath in the New Testament (some of these are outlined below.) AND, 2. The way God interacted with those before Christ's death and resurrection was in accordance with the Old Covenant, while the way He interacted with them after Christ's resurrection was in accordance with the New Covenant--which we are currently enjoying. (Comparison to follow.)

God's Love in the Old Testament

Contrary to how we normally think of the Old Testament God, the most harmonious relationship God has ever had with man is described not in the New Testament, but in the Old. This was the relationship God had with man and woman (Adam and Eve) before they sinned. In that relationship, they actually walked in the Garden with God, spoke to Him face to face, conversed freely with Him and were naked before Him without feeling ashamed. (Genesis 2 & 3) Never again has man had such a free and open relationship with God. Not only does this picture show us something about humanity, but it shows us about God's original design--that of an intimate, open and free relationship between Himself and us--and of His inclination toward open revelation and communication, not the image of separation between God and man as shown through the rest of the Old Testament. In other words, God's natural inclination and desire is for an intimate, loving relationship with us--not a relationship of disunity, anger and wrath. Yet because of the Fall--the event in which dominion of this earth, first given to us by God, was handed over to Satan when in our free will we chose to disobey God--a chasm opened up between God and man. This chasm was not closed until Jesus came to pay the cost of our disobedience through His death and resurrection.

God's Wrath in the New Testament

Though Jesus has ushered in a new era of openness between God and man, we often make the mistake of thinking He has lightened up when it comes to the issue of sin. I can assure you that in this regard God has not changed! God is still holy! God is still just! Sin will still be punished! If you take a good look at Jesus and His teachings throughout the Gospels, you will find that never does He gloss over the issue of sin. In fact, He goes even deeper, requires even more and demands higher standards than even the religious zealots and legalists of the day. No, He does not require legalistic ritual, but rather purity of heart--something the Law cannot govern--something that is between God and man alone. For example, the Law said "Do not commit adultery", but Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matt. 5:28) The Law requires action, but God requires a loving heart, for God knows that if you love Him, you will obey Him. (John 14:23-24) Another good example of God's wrath in the New Testament is in the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11 who were struck dead by God when they lied to God. So, no! God has certainly NOT gone soft!

NOTE: God's wrath, when shown in either New or Old Testaments, is always in response to at least one of the following: a form of idolatry (putting self or something else above God), willful sin or hypocrisy. His wrath is triggered when His desire for a love relationship with a pure people is thwarted by sin, thus igniting His righteous jealousy.      

Below is a very basic outline of the differences between the Old and New Covenants. (Hebrews 8-11 describes it better.)

	Old Covenant	New Covenant
Given Through	Abraham	Jesus Christ
When	Abraham to the Messiah	For all time.
What	The Law given to the Jews by God that told them how to set themselves apart in obedience to Him.	Grace given to men through the death and resurrection of Jesus through which they might be reconciled to God.
Ramifications	Was only for the Jews.	Was for all men.
	Had to make animal sacrifices.	Jesus was the ultimate, once and for all sacrifice for yesterday, today and forever.
	Life under the Law. (Cleanliness rituals, circumcision, etc.)	Live under grace. (Jesus didn't revoke the law; He fulfilled the Law.)
	Were separated from God while awaiting the Messiah to bridge the gap between them and God's presence.	Jesus, the Messiah, had come! He bridged the gap; the curtain was torn in two (symbolizing that man and God no longer had to remain separated. Mark 15:38)
	External influence only of the Holy Spirit.	The Holy Spirit actually indwells the believer, allowing Christ to live through him or her and granting them access to Christ's righteousness and power.

 

 

As you can see, the relationship between man and God seems much more strained in the Old Testament because they were still covered in their sin. God and man were still separated by the sinfulness--the uncovered impurity of their hearts. They were under the Old Covenant--under the Law, not under grace. Remember, God is holy--"separated" or "cut off" from anything impure. It is His nature--His primary characteristic and thus He cannot go against His own holiness or He wouldn't be God! But, because of His great love--described first and best in the Old Testament--He decided to make a way for us to again be reconciled to Him--through Jesus Christ.

The God of the Old Testament--complete with vengeful wrath and fists full of destruction--is the SAME God as the God of the New Testament, who laid His life down as a ransom for many. His holiness, love, justice, mercy and jealousy are fully intact today.

Perhaps the best picture of both God's holy wrath and His love is this one, which appears in the Old Testament:

"For this is what the high and lofty One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy: 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me--the breath of man that I have created. I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him..." (Isaiah 57:15-18)