NOTE: This post is written by Heather Erdmann, author and Bible teacher. For more info about her ministry, visit www.GoodPortionPromises.com.
Is the Old Testament God the same as the New Testament Jesus?
Have you ever heard people say that the God of the Old Testament is “the angry God” and Jesus in the New Testament is “the nice God”?
As I interact with unbelievers through my writing and online ministry, I have heard this sentiment in some form or other many times. On occasion, even believers seem to feel this way and may shy away from spending time in the Old Testament. But that got me thinking, that if those people actually understood the Bible in context and in its entirety, their opinion would change.
You may already know this, but the Bible is actually made up of 66 smaller books (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament), compiling the one complete book we know today. Amazingly, all of these come together to tell one cohesive story, namely God’s plan of salvation for us through Jesus Christ! Every smaller book of the Bible points to Him in some way. Knowing this can make your time in God’s Word even more productive and precious.
SO, does the Bible portray two different sides of God? The “angry” and “wrathful” OT version, and the forgiving and gentle NT Jesus? Let’s see what His Word says:
Malachi 3:6 (Old Testament)
“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
Hebrews 13:8 (New Testament)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
God is one God, in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We mainly see the Father revealing Himself throughout the OT, yet the entire Old Testament is filled with types, shadows, and actual pre-incarnate appearances of our Lord Jesus. In fact the entire Bible tells the story of God’s plan to rescue us through the promised Messiah, and the OT points to that promise. God the Father is the same God we see in Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, and who appeared on earth in human form-fully God and fully man-to accomplish the plan the Father set forth before time even began! That loving Father made a way for us to be saved and sent His own willing Son to do just that!
See, God never changes, so the God of the OT is still the God of the NT! Jesus even stated, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father,” and “I and the Father are One.”
This is KEY:
The parts of the OT people consider “angry” parts or show “the angry God” are basically a result of showing us the bad news first of all, that leads us to the good news of the New Testament and Gospel of Christ. The Bible is not primarily a rule book of do’s and don’ts (as many people believe), but it’s more like a mirror that shows us ourselves and how far we fall short of God’s laws every day. That’s because time and time again throughout the OT we see how we can’t keep all of God’s laws, no matter how hard we try. It is a cycle of man’s rebellion and God’s redirection (and occasional punishment), but always pointing forward to our rescue by the only One who DID perfectly keep the law on our behalf, and who died and rose again to take away our sins and give us eternal life with Him, free from sin, death, and the power of the devil forever!! It’s not meant to condemn us, but to convict us to admit our sin, confess it, and cry out for God’s mercy which He gives us freely in Christ!
So the OT “anger” you see (along with a ton of God’s patience, grace, and efforts to call His people back to Him through the Prophets) is just the bad news (that we are hopelessly lost without Him) which points us to the NT Good News that our Rescuer has come, and we are saved by faith through His finished work on the cross on our behalf. All of those OT sacrifices were just a shadow to point to the one, final, perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!! THAT’S the main message of the Bible, and that is truly Good News!!
Editor’s note:
To access Heather’s free “5-Day Bible Study Tools VIDEO Challenge,” visit:
https://subscribepage.io/biblestudytoolsvideochallenge
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