What Type of God Do We Serve

What Type of God Do We Serve? When studying so called Bible scholars, one will no doubt come across those who claim that the Bible is not the inspired word of God. One proof they offer is that the God of the Old Testament is not the same God of the New Testament. They claim the God of the New Testament is characterized by love and mercy, while the God of the Old Testament is characterized by vengeance and punishment. A true Bible student should see that God has always been the same. He does not change. The words used to describe Him in the New Testament are the same words used to describe Old Testament.

Our God is a Jealous God

It is not hard to see that our God is a jealous God in the Old Testament. God had said that by his own mouth, “I the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God (Ex. 20:5).” He told Israel this after he told them that they shall have no other Gods, nor shall they make any graven images (idols), not shall they bow down to those graven images. God does not permit us to worship other gods because that honor belongs to Him. Failure to give Him what He rightfully deserves and to give it to another should and does create jealousy. For instance a wife who has a husband that fornicates with other women ought to be jealous. Why? Because that is her husband. It is her man (I Cor. 7). And so it is with God. Did God change in the New Testament? Does he now permit us to worship other gods? Is He no longer a jealous God? Christ said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:32).” Paul told the Athenians that God winked at their past transgressions, that is idol worship, but now call all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Why? Because it is still sin! In Acts 17:31 Paul says judgment is coming. God still is a jealous God. God will punish those who do not give Him what he rightfully deserves.

Our God is a Vengeful God

The Old Testament also attests to God’s vengeful nature. In as early as Genesis 3 we find God’s wrath being poured out on mankind. This theme runs all the way through to Malachi were God warned the priests to change their ways because of their irreverence behavior towards God. God’s vengeance was and is always pointed or directed toward one group of people; the wicked. When man sins, God promises to punish man, plain and simple. However, it is this personality trait of God that many in the world have a difficult time understanding. How could a God that is described as a loving God also be a vengeful God. For it often appears that God was waiting to punish man. For instance, look at Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10) and Uzziah (II Sam. 6). We have to remember, that both of these occasions God told them in advance that he would not tolerate a violation of his commands. These men failed to heed God’s warning. Today, God is no different. According to Rom. 12:19 he is still a vengeful God. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” Also note, Acts 5. Here we find Ananias and Sapphira put to death for lying, amongst other things. Does that not point to God’s vengeance as a truth? But, once again, these passages refer to wicked people. Our God has not changed.

Our God is a Loving God

No better word describes our God than the word Love. John tells us that “God is love (I John 4:16).” The New Testament is full of passages and examples that allude to God’s love. John 3:16 begins with “God so loved the world,” Christ died while we were yet sinners, and John 15:13 teaches us that “Greater love has no man than to lay his life down for his friends.” The New Testament teaches us that God loves us so much that He looks upon us who are deserving of death (Rom. 3:23, 6:23) and is willing to overlook our sins. He then sent His Son to once and for all taste death for every man (Heb. 2:9). And finally, he bestows upon us the greatest blessing of all. Even though we were bought with the price of His Son’s blood He calls us His children. Many “scholars” think that the God of the New Testament cannot be the same as the God of the Old because of the Love that God now bestows upon mankind. They claim that this love is no where to be found in the Old Testament. To that line of thinking one ought to turn to one of three passages. First, let us turn to Deut. 7:7. In reality, this is the first place that it actually says God loves someone. Here, Moses is explaining to the Israelites that God’s love for them has nothing to do with what they can do. His love for them existed because of a promise given to another sinner; Abraham. This quality is exactly the same that we see in the New Testament. God loves us not because of what we can do for him, but because that is just his nature. Secondly, let us turn our minds to the first time man witnessed God’s vengeance being poured forth on all mankind; Gen. 3. Here we find man sinning for the first time, yet before God punished them, before God condemned man to die, he promised a way to right what man had done wrong. He promised mankind the Messiah. Redemption, which is what this is, is just another way in which God’s love is made manifest. This story is so important is that before man witnessed God’ wrath, the witnessed His love! Thirdly, let us turn our minds to the second time man witnessed the wrath of God being poured forth on all mankind; Gen. 6. In Gen. 6:8 it says Noah found favor in the sight of God. Favor is the same word usually translated grace. What that means is that Noah received something he did not deserve. Yes, Noah was a righteous man, he walked with God. He was also blameless. But, blameless does not mean sinless. It means complete, mature. He was doing his best to please God. But since he was a man, he too made mistakes and was deserving of death (Rom. 3:23, 6:23). Remember that grace is just another product of Love. So, even here, before we witness God’s wrath, we see his love. Certainly God will always love us. -WTK