God of the Old Testament is the God of the New 

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19 NASB95)

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So many people have two views of God--one as an angry, unloving, harsh, Old Testament God that just judges without mercy, commands without love and is intolerant of most things we might deem acceptable or even pleasurable. 

 

They see Jesus as the gentle, loving, kind one who eats with sinners, forgives without question and tolerates all manner of things that the strict and restrictive Old Testament God would never allow. But, is the God of the Old Testament the same as the God of the New Testament?  

 

God is unchanging and He does not have two natures that are completely opposed to each other. In fact, the Old Testament shows us that God is holy and His standard is perfection. It shows us just how much we fail to honor and obey Him, and just how patient He is with us. It is a mirror to show us how much we need a Savior.

 

The New Testament shows us how much God loves us in that He would send His own Son to meet His perfect standards on our behalf and be that Savior who would rescue us from sin, death, and the power of the devil.

 

Jesus did not come to earth to tell everyone that all of the previous commands and standards had been done away with and that we are free to just “be ourselves”, to live however we want and that He accepts us no matter what. In fact, quite the opposite--Jesus came to fulfill all that the Father had written. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says, “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” 

 

Jesus Christ came to earth as both God and Man to live a perfect life and to uphold every aspect of God’s will and Word that we continually fail to do. He completely kept the Law that God established for us. Everything that He did was in submission to the Father’s good plan which was set up from before time began. 

 

This is incredible news for us, because the God of the Old Testament is our Father too. He loves us more than we can fathom. That's why His plan always included Jesus taking our sins upon Himself where they were crucified on the cross, so that we can be raised to new life by repenting and trusting in that perfect life and sacrifice. 

 

That is why Jesus ate with sinners and forgave adulterers. Not because He was saying that they were fine the way they were--but because He was perfect FOR them, and He came to save and rescue them OUT of their sin. He does the same for us when we repent and put our full trust in Him and in the perfect work that He did in following the Father’s plan.

 

“Dear Father in Heaven, I know that I have sinned and daily fall short of Your standards. Forgive my sins as I repent and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ Who did Your will perfectly on my behalf.  I  love You and thank You for sending Jesus and saving me through His sacrifice. In His Name, I pray. Amen.”