When transitioning from the end of the Old Testament to the beginning of the New Testament, it feels like entering another world. From Genesis to Revelation, we see both the amazing love and the terrible wrath of God.
When transitioning from the end of the Old Testament to the beginning of the New Testament, it feels like entering another world. And in some ways, this is true:
- Four hundred years have passed.
- The Jews are now under Roman rule instead of Persian rule.
- New groups such as the Pharisees and Sadducees have emerged. Some even add another difference:
- The God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament.
Read more : What happened during the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments?
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Old Testament vs. New Testament
One of the most common ways to express this belief is to claim that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath, while the God of the New Testament is a God of love. At first glance, this claim may seem reasonable, but a closer look at the Bible shows that this is a serious mistake.
The same God who pours out His wrath against sin in the Old Testament is the same God who will inflict eternal punishment on those who do not believe in His Son Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
At the same time, the God who loved the world enough in the New Testament to send His Son to save them (John 3:16) is the same God who revealed Himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7).
Who Is the God of the Bible? (The Entire Bible)
From Genesis to Revelation, we see both the amazing love and the terrible wrath of God against sin and wickedness.
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God Revealed Himself in and Through Jesus Christ.
Indeed, the New Testament writers claim that the God revealed in the Old Testament is the same God who now reveals Himself in Jesus Christ.
John refers to Jesus as the Word, writing, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
Later in the same chapter, John writes, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). John’s point is clear: the God of the Old Testament became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ and lived among us.
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God Fulfilled His Promises in and Through Jesus Christ.
As the first followers of Jesus began to preach the good news of His death and resurrection, they repeatedly emphasized that the God of the Old Testament had fulfilled His promises in and through Jesus Christ.
Peter stresses that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23) and that “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus” (Acts 3:13).
Paul argues that all who believe in Jesus Christ, regardless of ethnicity or gender, inherit the blessings promised to Abraham (Galatians 3:1-5:1). He even goes so far as to say that “all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
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God Is Unchanging
Therefore, instead of seeing the God of the Old Testament as full of wrath and the God of the New Testament as full of love, the truth is that God has not changed (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17).
Psalm 102:25-27 notes that unlike this world, which will perish, “You are the same, and your years have no end.” Hebrews 1:10-12 attributes the same language to Jesus Christ, who is later described in the same letter as “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
The character of God, as revealed in the Old Testament, appears in the New Testament with even clearer focus and expression, considering that He became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ.
