Our current series, “Arguing with Jesus,” is all about pursuing the truth in God’s Word. Throughout Jesus’ life and ministry, He was challenged with difficult questions from
opponents and friends. As followers of Jesus, Christians carry the important task of representing Jesus to the world. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, “We are
therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us…” (2 Corinthians 5:20a NIV).
In our world today, as it has been for centuries, the Bible is fiercely opposed by nonbelievers, and even believers sometimes question its legitimacy or value. A common
phrase or belief that is brought up in these skeptical conversations is that God is inconsistent in character across the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. I have heard
nonbelievers justify their skepticism of the Bible with this statement, and I have heard believers fall prey to the doubt of this thought as well.
God is the same in the Old Testament and New Testament
Who is the best version of Batman? Michael Keaton, Adam West, Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, Kevin Conroy, maybe even George Clooney or Val Kilmer? We probably all
have a different opinion. I know people who refused to watch certain movies because they were unhappy with the recasting of the caped crusader from Gotham. Even
though the character has the same name in all these versions, the character is completely different. Different writers, directors, and actors all have their own vision for who
Batman is, and you can clearly see the contradiction across the movies.
This is how some people think about God across different books of the Bible and especially across the Old and New Testaments. But this isn’t accurate. It is the same God,
the True and Living God in all of the Bible. Jesus reveals this truth to us in multiple ways:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:13 (NIV)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14 (NIV)
God is unchanging. He is before all things and behind all things. He is the first and He is the last. There is no change in Him like “shifting shadows” (James 1:17 NIV). I’ve
witnessed many times people who believe that God in the Old Testament is wrathful and sits as the Judge, and that in the New Testament He is graceful and forgiving. He is
all these things and more in both the Old and New Testament, and I want to highlight His consistency in two areas: His wrath and judgment of sin, and His grace to mankind.
God is consistent in His holiness and wrath for sin
First, let's look at an encounter between a human being, a sinner, and the holiness of God outlined in the Old Testament in 2 Samuel.
“When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.” 2 Samuel 6:6-7 (NIV)
When I first read this, I thought to myself, “Man, I’m glad God isn’t like that anymore.” I fell into the trap of misguided belief that God’s holiness or intolerance of sin has
somehow diminished. Look at this from the New Testament in 1 Corinthians.
“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (ESV)
This is the New Testament! And it isn’t the only example. In both these scenarios, an abuse against God’s commands occurred, and the consequence was death. Old
Testament and New Testament. See, when transporting the Ark of the Covenant, which carried the law and the very Presence of God for His people, there were very specific
instructions to carry out. God’s Presence cannot be handled lightly. It was to be carried by Levites, specifically descendants of Kohath, using the proper poles. David had the
Ark on a “new cart” pulled by oxen and driven by Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab. It was disobedient from the beginning, but the consequence was truly revealed when
sinful flesh contacted the Presence of God. God is perfectly holy, and sin can have no place with Him. For the abuse of the Lord’s Supper, the same principle and
characteristic is revealed. For one who is unredeemed and guilty, encountering the flesh and blood of Christ, the Presence of the Holy God, yields death just as it always
has. Praise God that He made a way for us to be with Him! This is the second consistency that I want to highlight across the Old and New Testament - the grace of God
towards mankind.
God is consistent in His grace
From the very beginning and to the very end, the result of sin is death. God told Adam in the garden that he would surely die were he to eat of the tree in the middle of
the Garden of Eden. And yet, when Adam and Eve did eat that fruit and in so doing sinned against God, they were not immediately stricken down. God showed mercy and
grace to Adam and Eve. He covered them in their sin and shame, just as He still does for us today.
“And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21 (ESV)
God made a sacrifice of animals to cover the payment of death for sin, and then He clothed Adam and Eve with the skins to show how His grace covers our shame. This is
God’s consistent, unchanging character on display in the Old Testament, and there are so many examples I could choose from. But as Jesus Himself is Alpha and Omega, first
and last, I wanted to share how God made the first sacrifice for sin in the Old Testament and the final sacrifice for sin in the New Testament.
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (ESV)
God does not change. The whole Bible reveals His character, and the whole Bible is good and useful. It draws us to Him, it teaches us, corrects us, encourages us, and
equips us for carrying out God’s good will (2 Timothy 3:16-17). I pray that you would seek the True and Living God through His Word this week and see His unchanging
