God’s Curse verses God’s Grace
Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
Revelation 22:20-21 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Confession Time
I have to admit that I like the God of the New Testament better than the God of the Old. Now I know they are the same God. We know that the Jehovah of the Old is the Jesus of the New. (See Isaiah 6:1-10 and John 12:37-41). While Jehovah is Jesus and reveals God to us throughout the Old and New Testaments, yet the Old Testament deals with an earthly people with earthly promises who look for blessing in an earthly land. The New Testament deals with a spiritual (heavenly) people with spiritual promises and who look for a spiritual land. The failures of the earthly people in the Old Testament are legion and so we know about war and bloodshed, and floods and whales, captivity and so on. All of this is the result of sin and unbelief. However, when we come to the New Testament, we are introduced to the Lord Jesus who was full of grace and truth.
Is there a Difference?
The Old Testament ends with the warning of a coming curse. Then New Testament ends with the promise of the coming of the Lord and reminds us of His grace or undeserved favor. Is there a difference in the God who is revealed to us? NO! Is there a difference in the way that He manifests Himself? YES! Did the God of the Old Testament show grace and mercy? YES! Does the God of the New Testament warn of coming judgment? YES! The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is really a scary conclusion to “the rest of the story.” The story started at creation, the story led to the cross, and the story ends with the victory of the Lord over his enemies and His coming to establish a righteous kingdom.
Because the God who seems austere and judgmental in the Old Testament is full of grace and truth in the New Testament, I thank the Lord that I was born in New Testament times. God does not bring the hammer down immediately when we fail Him in this dispensation. He is patient and long-suffering. But He will ultimately bring the hammer down on those who reject His love in this dispensation just like He did in the old. He will bring nations to their knees who proudly try to get along without Him and He will judge unbelieving sinners who reject His salvation as well.
I like knowing that my God is the God of all truth. I like One whose words were gracious, Who healed the sick and the lepers, Who fed the multitudes, Who quieted the storms, Who raised the dead, Who did not carry a sword, and Who gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20). I like the One who is now in heaven as my great High Priest interceding on my behalf when I foul up. I like one who understands and sympathizes with the “feelings” of my infirmities. I just plain like the Lord that I trust. I am not sure that I could have said that if I had been raised in Old Testament times although men like Joseph and Daniel who were by far better men than I am seemed to have the same relationship with Jehovah that I have with the Lord Jesus.
Conclusion
Yes, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). But I have been blessed to know Him in New Testament times when we aren’t asked to fight wars for Him (even though many have fought wars unjustly in His name). We have been called to follow Him and many have followed Him to a martyrs death. Those who have died for Him have done so because He died for them and they love Him and they love those that are unsaved. They haven’t died for Him in order to get His salvation but because they HAVE it, and they have found out that this life is not nearly as important as the next one.
I confess that I do not know if I could have trusted God as He revealed Himself in the Old Testament. But I can sure trust the Lord who comes as the Good Samaritan in the New Testament, and who forgives the woman caught in adultery in John 8 and who accepts the Samaritan outcasts in John 4. Yes, I can trust the Lord Jesus and I hope you can too.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of September 18, 2016