God in the Old & New Testaments

Is there a difference between God of the Old Testament and God of the New Testament? In many minds, there seems to be a large contrast between God’s character between these two covenants. The God of the New seems loving and kind while the God of the Old is vengeful and wrathful. We draw a line between His character on each side of the cross when, in truth, we serve the same God as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Grace and Mercy in the Old and New Testaments
God of the Old Testament is just as rich in grace, mercy, and love. Take the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:3 for example. Abel brings a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, and Cain’s soul is threatened by his jealousy and anger. In loving-kindness, God takes the time to address Cain. He reasons with Cain regarding his conduct and encourages the brother to turn his mind away from sin and toward his Lord. He expresses confidence that Cain can overcome this temporary setback. He demonstrates is grace, mercy, and love in his interaction with Cain.

Time and again, during Israel’s journey to the Promised Land, God shows kindness to His rebellious people. Even at Sinai, when God sets out to destroy the Israelites, Moses appeals to His mercy, and God relents. Even when the people falter outside the borders of Canaan, God sets out to cleanse His people rather than annihilate them. Time and again, He remains merciful. Psalm 78:37-38 illustrates all God has done for His people despite their unfaithfulness. He forgives their iniquity. He turns away His anger. Psalm 86:15, 103:7, and 145:8 all record David praising God’s grace, mercy, and patience toward His people.

Jonah is another example of God’s mercy and love. Here we have a profit rebelling against God and attempting to deny God’s grace to those he despises. When he finally arrives in Nineveh, Job’s message is reluctant at best, but the people repent in Jonah 3:5. God demonstrates mercy to the Assyrians where Jonah craves destruction, and God is merciful toward His reluctant servant in saving the prophet time and again despite his disobedience.

Luke 1:49 has Miriam praising God for His mercy and grace. Later in the chapter, her husband praises God for the birth of John in the tender mercy of God’s plan. Both of these recognize their place in God’s plan of mercy. Finally, II Peter 3:9 tells of God’s desire that all His creation come to repentance. He is patient, allowing as many as possible to come to Him. His grace and mercy is visible from cover to cover of our Bibles.

Judgment in the Old and New Testaments
What about God’s punishments? Adam and Eve are immediately punished beginning in Genesis 3:16. They are cursed and driven from the garden due to their disobedience. Leviticus 10 records the destruction of Nadab and Abihu when they worship God improperly. In II Samuel 6:6-7, Uzzah is immediately killed when he lays his hand upon the Ark despite Uzzah’s apparent intentions. These acts are how we characterize the God of the Old Testament. These judgments are swift and decisive.

In Acts 5, we have a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. Both of these fall dead in their attempts to lie to the apostles. Here in the New Testament, there is a punishment very similar to what we see in Leviticus 10. He demonstrates consistency from the Old into the New.

Serving a Loving and Vengeful God
God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Hebrews 3:7 and 3:15, the author calls on his audience to obey God’s word today. He repeats this warning in chapter 4:7. He quotes a Psalm of David who was referring to an event that had happened centuries prior to his reign. It was as applicable to God’s people in A.D. 60 as it was to His people in 1,500 B.C., and it still applies to us today. Psalms 103:7 calls God’s mercy from everlasting to everlasting, and James 5:10-11 uses the Old Testament prophets to illustrate God’s mercy and kindness.

How then does God’s punishment fit into this pattern of a merciful God. In each of these cases, the victim was judged based on outright disobedience. None of these simply made understandable mistakes. In Leviticus 10:3, Moses reminds Aaron of the need to honor God when worshipping Him, and Aaron hold his peace. Nadab and Abihu dishonor God. Uzzah may have been in his circumstance due to someone else’s plan, but he and his companions were transporting the Ark in a way that was not part of God’s plan. Finally, Ananias and Sapphira attempt to manipulate their apparent godliness for their own glory and honor.

In these events, God tells us that we should never “play church.” He demonstrates that our approach to Him is on His term rather than ours, and He teaches us to value our religion and our relationship to Him. The lesson to us is to honor and respect the mercy and kindness God has shown us. He is full of grace and mercy to those who approach Him in humility and obedience, but He rejects those who reject Him. In Isaiah 9, the prophets speaks of God’s anger at His people’s disobedience, but His hand remains outstretched. He is willing to forgive, but we have to make the determination today that we will take His love seriously and treat it as something valuable to us.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Paul's Answer to Felix

If someone was to ask you why you live how you do, why do you believe what you do, how would you answer? How would you use this single chance? We might talk about the gospel’s power to save, the good news contained in that message. We might appeal to the so-called steps of salvation. By these qualities, we might defend our hope.

Paul, in Acts 24, has this opportunity when he presents his defense before Felix, and he takes an approach quite different from one we might make. In verse 42 of this chapter, Felix and his wife inquire of Paul about the path he has chosen. In verse 25, Paul reasons from righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come.

On Righteousness
Righteousness is simply holiness in daily thought and action. Our conduct and our attitudes reflect our righteousness. Romans 12:1-2 instructs us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice in our spiritual service. Paul calls on us to be different from the world, separate and distinct in our thoughts and actions. I Peter 1:13-16 instructs to prepare our minds, setting our hope on God and reflecting His holiness in our lives. Romans 1:16-17 affirms God’s power to save through the gospel, demonstrated in those who live by faith, those whose lives are defined by their service to God.

Romans 10:1-3 records Paul praising the zeal of his national brethren, but he warns that they should not be satisfied by their own standard of righteousness. The same is true of us today. God does not compare our level of righteousness to those around us. He compares us to His standard, even if those standards call for changes in our lives that we may be hesitant to make. Our standards must raise to God’s standard.

On Self-Control
Self-control is a personal application of what we know to be right as guided by God’s will. Proverbs 25:28 calls one lacking self-control like a city whose defenses are destroyed. (Remember the importance of walls and defenses around cities during this time period.) Self-control is our defense against forces that can tear us down. Galatians 5:22-23 groups this quality with other fruits of the spirit like love and kindness. II Peter 1:5 instructs us to work on self-control as we develop the qualities of our faith. Also, Titus 1:8 applies this quality to those who would help oversee a congregation.

We don’t always want to be in control of self. We don’t like others to monitor us, and sometimes we neglect to monitor our selves. We want to do what we want to do, but God tells us to guide ourselves by His will rather than by our own will. In I Corinthians 7:5 warns against the devil’s willingness to tempt the limits of our self-control. We cannot drop our defenses, or our adversary will overtake us. We must use God’s word to equip us to control ourselves.

On Judgment
God’s judgment emphasizes personal accountability. Romans 13:12 warns that all will give an account before God, and Ecclesiastes 12:14 says all works will be brought to judgment, secret or otherwise. II Corinthians 5:10 tells us we will all be revealed for who we are before Christ’s judgment seat. However, we may convince ourselves that God will take us in even when we have rejected Him. He has demonstrated His love to us by offering up His own son in our place, but we cannot continue to resist Him. Matthew 25 depicts God dividing people on His right and His left. We should be living so, when we are judged, we know that we will have an Advocate in Christ.

Conclusion
The faith we have in Christ Jesus is not dependent on my feelings or my own standards. It is rooted in our confidence in God’s word and our submission to that word. In Acts 24, when presented with these arguments, Felix sends Paul away until a more convenient time. He leaves Paul in jail, does visit him in hopes of a bribe. It seems Felix’s convenient time never comes.
What are we waiting for to make the changes in our lives that we need? Will we, like Felix, simply put God off? He is waiting for us to come to Him, but we must come to Him on His terms, striving to reflect His righteousness, exercising self-control, and submitting to His mercy preparing for that judgment to come.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Paradox of Hell

Through our class studies of Genesis, we talked about some of God's qualities – His transcendency, His goodness, His love, His patience, and His fairness. One inescapable question, though, is this: how could a loving God send a soul to Hell? How could one so merciful and full of grace condemn a soul to eternal punishment? According to the Princeton Institute, only forty percent believe in Hell, but the Bible speaks of this place repeatedly. It is warned of fifty-five times, and Jesus speaks of this place more often than any other Bible figure.

II Peter 2:4 and Jude 13 describe it as a place of darkness. The Bible describes Hell as a fearful place. Matthew 13:42 and 25:41, Mark 9:34, and Revelation 20:10 speak of it in terms of fire and burning. These descriptors are metaphorical to help portray this place to us in physical terms. Four times in the gospels, Jesus describes Hell as a place of weeping, and Matthew 25:46 and Revelation 14:11 describe this punishment as eternal. Despite these clear teachings, millions of Christians dismiss the idea, but it comes back to our problems comprehending a compassionate God even allowing Hell to exist.

How Can Hell Exist?
God’s character demands Hell. God is all-loving and all-forgiving. I John 4:8 says God is love, but He is also all-righteous and all-holy. Evil cannot abide in the presence of God. Habbakuk 1:13 expresses God’s intolerance for wrongdoing. God’s eternal plan is to bring His creation back to His goodness. Sin separates us from Him, and His plan of salvation is a way of erasing evil. II Corinthians 5:17 describes us as new creations when we submit to His will. Verse 20 explains that Christ’s sacrifice provides that avenue of unity with God. His holy nature differentiates between good and evil.

His justice is a component of His holiness. Our God will not ignore the problem of sin, and He has never done that since the beginning of time. Psalm 5:4 explains wickedness and arrogance cannot be tolerated by God. He has offered us a solution to that problem in the form of Jesus, but if we refuse that sacrifice, that payment, then we become responsible for the debt of our sins. That debt is death and separation from God’s presence. God knows the challenges we face in resisting temptations and immorality, and His love provides us a place where we will be freed from that bombardment. His people will be free of sin and temptation, and those who dwell on that immorality will not be in Heaven to tempt His people.

Does the Penalty Fit the Crime?
In our eyes, Hell is an awfully stiff penalty for the minor error of failing to recognize God or our own sins. Our sins alienate us from God. The question is not how many sins or for how long. The question is whether or not I’ve accepted the solution to sin. God does not send us to Hell. We choose our destination. John 3:17-18 tells us that He is trying to remedy to solution to sin, and tells us that our choice to follow His Son is a choice to reject the consequences of sin. There is nothing arbitrary about our final destination. God does not makes the choice for us. he merely affirms the choice we have been making for our entire life.

Luke 16 records the parable of a rich man and Lazarus. Both die and find themselves awaiting different consequences for their lives. Abraham asks the rich man if he realizes that he chose those consequences, and he reaffirms to the rich man that his relatives have to choose their destinations for themselves – that Abraham, Lazarus, nor the rich man may interfere. Romans 1:18-22 warns us against turning away from this plain choice. When we reject God, we reject His goodness, His love, His mercy, all that He has done for us. How can we hope to stay in His presence when we have separated ourselves from Him.

Concluding Thought
Think about this. God created water, and, while we live, we can enjoy the water He provides – believer or otherwise. We can say the same about peace, joy, and love. However, our Giver will stop giving to those who have turned away when time is over. Hell deprives God’s gifts from those who have rejected Him. The good news is that we do have hope. God has given us an avenue of salvation. He has made the payment for sin. Ours is simply to accept that payment.

sermon by Ben Lanius

Jesus' Cup

We see Jesus use an expression in the New Testament that is also present in the Old Testament regarding His death. He calls His death His cup. From the beginning of His ministry, He knows what lays ahead of Him, and, in Matthew 3, we see Jesus baptized. Upon this act, God declares, “This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased,” combining a resurrection Psalm (Psalms 2:7) and a passage of the suffering servant from Isaiah 42:1. This is a death sentence. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks His apostles who people say He is, and in verse 21, He begins to show His disciples the things He will suffer. This becomes a continual theme of His later ministry, and His death is reaffirmed by the events of the transfiguration.

Jesus knows He will suffer and die. However, He does not approach this impending fate casually. Consider Matthew 26:36 when Jesus prays in the garden. In Mark 14:32, He is in great distress. In Luke 22:46 describes the nature of His prayers to God, and Hebrews 5:7 reinforces the emotional tone of Jesus’ prayers. To Jesus, there was nothing matter-of-fact about His death. He discusses His death as a cup He must bear.

The Cup of God’s Wrath
In, Mark 10:35, James and John ask to sit by Jesus in His kingdom, and Jesus asks them if they are able to drink of the same cup as He. Matthew 26:39 records Jesus praying that His cup pass from Him. John 18:11, after His prayers are concluded and Peter has tried to defend Him from the soldiers, Jesus tells His apostle that He must drink of this cup. This cup is one’s lot in life, but, in the Old Testament, it is almost exclusively associated with God’s wrath.

• Psalm 75:8 describes a foaming cup in describing God’s judgment against the proud and arrogant.
• Isaiah 51:17 speaks of Jerusalem drinking from the cup of God’s wrath in their punishment.
• Isaiah 51:22 promises the people that God will take His cup of judgment from their hands.
• Jeremiah 25:15-26 tells of nations that will drink of God’s cup of wrath.

God’s cup is associated with God pouring out His righteous anger and judgment, and this is the imagery that Jesus invokes in speaking of His fate on the cross. The New Testament authors tell us Jesus became sin on the cross. Sin brings separation. Sin brings punishment. Sin brings the cup of God’s wrath. Can we better understand Jesus’ cry on the cross in this context? Can we understand more His pleadings to escape this fate? Yet in all this, He does not seek human sympathy. In Luke 23:28, Jesus tells the women mourning His fate to cry for themselves and their children rather than themselves. Furthermore, regardless of the cost, Jesus is obedient. Despite His pleads for an alternative, He continually repeats the refrain, “Thy will be done.”

Following in His Steps
Jesus asks James and John if they are able to drink of His cup in Mark 10:35. Peter, in I Peter 2:21 calls on us to follow in His steps and suffer as He did. Jesus tells James and John that indeed they will endure what Jesus will in endure. In II TImothy 3:12, Paul says that all who live godly will face persecution. This does not mean we have to treat such trials stoically or casually. Our Lord was not stoic, but God expects us to be faithful in the face of difficulties.

Jesus was affected by His suffering, and He is affected by ours. Hebrews 4:15 and Hebrews 5:7, and Hebrews 2:18 tells us that Jesus knows and relates to what we go through. He does not treat our trials and sufferings casually. Likewise, we should not view His suffering as something common. Hebrews 6:4-6 warns us of crucifying Jesus through our actions and attitudes, making ourselves guilty of His death. We should instead humble ourselves before the cross, putting away the empty distractions that keep me from serving Him, and I should dedicate my life to His service.

sermon by Tim Smelser

The Example of Lot's Wife

Even for the apostles, Jesus’ teachings on the coming spiritual kingdom of His church and the Day of the Lord could be confusing at times. In Mark 8:31, Jesus is teaching that He must be killed and rise again, and, in verse 34, He calls the multitude and tells them they must crucify self to follow Him. He asks the people what it profits someone to gain the world yet lose his soul. Directly after these teaching, in chapter 9, Jesus tells His listeners many of them would live to see the kingdom come.

In Matthew 24:2, Jesus reveals that the temple will be destroyed soon, and His disciples ask Him for a timeline. They ask Him one question, but He gives two answers. His first answer speaks of the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, telling them to flee when these things come. Summing up in verse 34-36, Jesus turns His attention to the final judgment – a time of which only the Father knows. Likewise, in Luke 17:20, Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees the Day of the Lord is not something you can predict.

Days of the Lord
The term “Day of the Lord” is not always indicative of the Second Coming. Isaiah 13:6 describes the judgment against Babylon as a Day of the Lord. Ezekiel 29:6 begins a judgment against Egypt, and chapter 30:2 describes this judgment as the Day of the Lord. Amos 5:18-19 describes the destruction of Ephraim as the Day of the Lord. Finally, Joel 1:15 turns judgment against Judah and describes this as the Day of the Lord. None of these are the end of the world.

In Matthew 24, Jesus is addressing two different days. One is a Day of the Lord against Jerusalem, and Jesus says the people will be able to see this coming due to outside circumstances. However, a second day is spoken of in verse 36. This is the end of the world, and, like the coming of the Great Flood, no one will see it coming. He goes on to describe that some will be swept away in judgment in verses 37-44 while others are saved. He also uses the example of Noah in Luke 17:26, and He goes on to use Lot as another example. He concludes this with an admonition to remember Lot’s wife.

There will be no predicting or anticipating that final Day of the Lord. It will be as unexpected as the Flood, as unexpected as the destruction of Sodom. Jesus emphasizes that we cannot anticipate this day in Matthew 24:42 and 44. We cannot behave precipitously. We can only live prepared.

Remembering Lot’s Wife
Back in Genesis 13, Abram and Lot part ways due to the size of their flocks, and, in verse 10, Lot journeys east to the plains of Sodom. The decision Lot makes at that point determines the fate of his wife to an extent. He ignores the reputation of the nearby cities when he chooses where to settle. He pitches his tent near Sodom. Soon he is sitting at the gate, and later he has a house in the midst of the city. Genesis 18:16-23 then records God’s judgment upon Sodom, Abraham’s pleas for mercy, and God’s willingness to show mercy should He find ten righteous within Sodom’s borders.

When the time comes to flee, Lot’s wife’s heart stays behind. She looks back. Jesus uses the city of Sodom as an example of certain judgment, and He tells us that Lot’s wife should have willingly left such wickedness behind and fled. In this illustration, He is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, and He is warning His listeners to flee without burden when that time comes. To save themselves, they must not look back.

Conclusion
II Peter 3:7-10 describes the sudden coming of the Lord and the inevitable destruction of our world. He encourages us to live right in God’s sight, knowing that this world is reserved for judgment. Like Lot’s wife and like those who would be fleeing Jerusalem, we can’t look back. Mark 8:34 records Jesus calling the people to Him, telling them to let go of the things of this life to gain the next. We have to be willing to walk away from the allures of this life to serve Jesus. The decisions we make now have long-term effects and being overly attached to the things of this world will draw us back. We must trust in our Lord and press forward unencumbered by the weights that tie us to this world.

sermon by Tim Smelser