Who Is God? (Different Views)

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites,Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites,seven nations larger and stronger than you—and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.” (Deuteronomy 7:1-2)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

How do you reconcile the two passages above? On the one hand it seems that God is giving approval to the Israelites to totally annihilate His enemies.  On the other hand Jesus is telling us that God loves His enemies.  Furthermore, in a parallel passage, we are told that God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (Luke 6:35). But the first passage, and many others similar to it, certainly don’t portray God that way. So how are we to explain these apparent contradictions? We can’t simply sweep them under a rug. An answer is demanded.

Welcome back to our series, “Who Is God?” After taking a brief hiatus to reflect on our family vacation in Myrtle Beach, I am looking forward to resuming our exploration of God’s nature. It should be a fun ride.

As we continue this examination, we will, of course, look more closely at the Bible and how God is revealed to us in its pages. But in doing so, we cannot ignore some very obvious questions that will arise, such as the ones above. How do we square the image of the loving Father as portrayed by Jesus with the angry, violent God that we often encounter in the Old Testament. Or how do we explain the apparent contradictions of a law that requires sacrifices with later writers claiming that God said He never wanted sacrifices?

Keep in mind that these questions are not new. They have been discussed and debated since the earliest days of the church. So finding answers is not going to come quickly or easily. And we may have to accept that not everyone will agree. In fact, you may not agree with the conclusions I have come to. That’s okay. Just don’t toss me aside as a heretic or something like that. Let’s try to keep an open mind and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us all into greater understanding and truth.

To start, we will take a look at some of the most common ways that people have addressed these questions over the centuries. Then we will examine how I understand it. My thoughts are not unique to me and have been formed by research and prayer. Not only that but my thoughts have also changed over time as I believe the Holy Spirit has led me. Could I be wrong? Sure I could be, but that’s part of the process of growing. So let’s dive in.

In trying to explain the different images of God from the Old and New Testaments, there is a view that is called Penal Substitution. It goes something like this: God was angry with mankind because of sin. Sin was so bad and so ugly, God could have nothing to do with being near sin or being near sinners or His holiness would be tainted. Because of His holiness and His justice, God demands punishment for sin. Therefore, God took out his anger on different groups of people at different times throughout the Old Testament period. For example, there was the worldwide flood event in which God nearly destroyed all of humanity because of sin and violence. There was also the time that God commanded King Saul to wipe out all the Amalekites, men, women, children, infants, and all their animals, because of their sin against the Israelites, God’s favorite people (1 Samuel 15:1-3). And there was the time when God allowed His people to be plundered, kicked out of their homeland, and taken into captivity in Babylon because of their sins against Him. Yes, His favorite people. It just goes to show that God’s anger knows no bounds. He will even punish His people if they offend Him. Just look at what He did to Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).

The Penal Substitution view goes on to say that the reason Jesus came into this world was to appease the anger and wrath of His Father. Jesus took our sins upon himself and then took the punishment that God’s justice and wrath demanded for those sins. So rather than us being punished for our sins, Jesus bore the brunt of it. He became our substitute. And now that God’s wrath was satisfied at the cross, God is in a position to love us, despite the fact that we still commit sins. The blood of Jesus has washed away the sins of believers, as long as we repent when we sin.

There is another view that takes the different images of God found in the Bible and accepts that all of them are true; they simply reveal different aspects of God’s character at different times. In this view, God is seen as both a Father who loves His children and a perfect judge whose wrath is poured out on sin. So we find a loving Father who punishes His children when they’ve done wrong but restores them with love when they repent. And we also find a God who pours out His wrath on those who persist in a life of sin and rebellion. Since examples of both are found throughout the Bible, this view maintains that God is the same in both the Old and New Testaments. In this way, we see the immutable (unchanging) nature of God.

Both views have been around for centuries and are held by many people. Do either one offer a reasonable explanation about the nature of God? Do either adequately explain why there seems to be some stark differences in the God of both testaments? I will just say that I don’t accept either view but will leave my reasons for the next article. I will, however, leave you with a one word hint as to why I don’t accept either one and why I believe there is a better explanation. That one word is Jesus. So come back for the next article to find out how Jesus reveals to us who God truly is.