Through the looking glass of Christ

A friend told me recently, "I don't relate to the God of the Old Testament.  I can relate to Jesus but I can't relate to that God.  They are different."  Her reason, to put it simply, was that God in the Old Testament seemed extremely harsh compared to Christ, who "did not come to judge the world, but to save it" (John 12:47).  This understanding caused her to buzzsaw not only the Old Testament but Revelations as well with all its imagery of destruction.  Christ was appealing but all the other stuff was not.

I rejoice that Christ was appealing to her.  If we stop there, all is well, because Christ is, after all, the overarching subject of the entire Bible.  Even if you can't see him in the whole Bible--he's there.  But I can't help but believe she is missing out on a depth of worship that can only come through understanding how vividly Christ reveals the heart of God to us, and how his loving plan is woven throughout the Old Testament and consummated in Revelations!  If you leave those books out you can still believe in Christ, but so much more joy and freedom is possible when we know the beginning and end of the story!

When I hear someone say, "I can't relate to the God of the Old Testament, but I can relate to Jesus" it throws up a red flag in my mind because they are the same God.  It pleased the Father to put all of His fullness into Christ.  Jesus himself said to the Pharisees, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (John 8:19)  When Christ said "I and the Father are one" in John 10:30 he meant every part of the Father overlaps every part of the Son.  As Hebrews 1:3 says, "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature."  What this means is Christ doesn't contradict God's justice, mercy, and faithfulness towards the Israelites in the Old Testament.  He clarifies it.  And when I read about Christ's compassion for the adulterous woman, his anger with the moneychangers in the temple, and his sacrifice on the cross I learn about the Father.

The danger lies when we fail to use Christ as the lens through which we discover God in the Old Testament and instead throw out the Old Testament altogether as being inconsistent.  As Hebrews says,

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. Hebrews 1:1-2

God has revealed Himself through the entirety of his Scriptures and that is seen most clearly when we read the entirety of Scripture through the lens of Christ.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  Colossians 1:15-19