DOES GOD HAVE AN IDENTITY CRISIS?

Just this week I read an interview of a famous performer’s reflections about God and Jesus Christ. As I read the article as beautiful as it sounded full of compassion, love and mercy the words on the page reflected a  dichotomy more than a representation of the biblical ONE TRUE GOD. 

Here is an excerpt of the performers opinion on God and Jesus:

“I accept the Old Testament as more of an action movie: blood, car chases, evacuations, a lot of special effects, seas dividing, mass murder, adultery. The children of God are running amok, wayward. Maybe that’s why they’re so relatable. But the way we would see it, those of us who are trying to figure out our Christian conundrum, is that the God of the Old Testament is like the journey from stern father to friend. When you’re a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in a one-to-one relationship, for, as in the Old Testament, it was more one of worship and awe, a vertical relationship. The New Testament, on the other hand, we look across at a Jesus who looks familiar, horizontal. The combination is what makes the Cross. – “

“The God of the Old Testament”, that statement always seems to bother me. The first time I heard it I was sitting in the front row at church when the Pastor suddenly declared, “ Aren’t you glad don’t serve that mean God  of the old testament”.  To my surprise this type of thinking is extremely prominent in western Christianity.

Does God truly have an identity crisis?

The reality is the Bible does not support this type of distinction. Throughout scripture we can see the different characteristics of God at different times and circumstances but scripture clearly tells us HE IS THE SAME, YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVR! (Hebrews 13:8)

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossians says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form”.   This scripture has to be one of the most important points in all of Christianity declaring all the full measure of God has made residence in Jesus.  It’s not that Jesus is simply a human being that looks familiar to us. He was and is the bodily form taken by God Himself, HE IS GOD IN ALL HIS FULLNESS. 

When we use language that makes a distinction between the old testament God and the new testament Jesus, we minimize Jesus and disregard the Father.  I encourage you to go back and search the scriptures entirely, from Genesis to Revelation. You may be surprised to find some of the greatest examples of grace and mercy. (Joseph, the Exodus, Ruth, Jonah, David and many more)

He is the immutable God, meaning He is forever constant. He is and has always been good, loving, holy, righteous, perfect, merciful,slow to anger, abounding in love, faithful and forgiving…