Thoughts on God - Rob McNair

I think it is pretty apparent that God has interacted with humans differently over the ages. I would contend that God has changed but I know not everyone is comfortable with that idea. At any rate, a lot of people feel God is too distant today. At some point most of us have thought, "I just wish God would talk directly to us. Show us you exist God and then we can all believe and follow." The old testament shows us that God has been there, done that. And...it didn't work. The OT provides example after example of God talking directly to his people and through prophets. Telling them exactly how they are to behave. And time and time again his people disappointed him. So obviously telling us what to do didn't work so another approach had to be developed. Thus Jesus had to come and not only show us, but do it for us. To me the OT is important because it shows us (is proof) that we could not do it on our own. It shows us that Jesus was necessary and essentially the only way to salvation. Remember Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." And remember too that Jesus himself in the sermon on the mount "rewrites" the laws of the OT. He continually says, "You have heard it said....but I say....". For example Matthew 5:38-39 reads, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." The "eye for an eye" reference comes from Leviticus 24:19 which states that "If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured." So Jesus himself tells us we should not follow the laws God laid down in the OT. Jesus himself tells us that things have changed and new laws are in effect. To me this is evidence that God changed his approach.

As a side note I am always reminded that we were created in the likeness of God and that the parent-child relationship is an apt parallel to the God-human relationship. Sometimes as a parent I am calm and patient and sometimes I am not calm and not patient to say the least. Sometimes I smile and sometimes I shout. Sometimes I intervene and sometimes I sit back and watch my kids learn on their own the hard way. When I see God go through all these same experiences in the Bible he seems exceptionally real to me. To me it lends credibility to the Bible that it is truthful and reliable. God doesn't hide behind some veil of perfection. We see him angry, joyful, sad, graceful, vengeful, etc. We see him in multiple forms not just in some fixed, monotone expression. But in the end he is loving, merciful, and takes on our burdens as his own. In the end he died for us so we could remain together for eternity. This is my kind of God.

I was just thinking that the God of the OT seems more like a young, first-time parent where as the God of the NT seems like a seasoned grandparent. Maybe that is why God is always portrayed with all that crazy, grey hair. We humans have run him ragged.

God's love to all,

Rob