Same God, Different People

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Today's Post:

"Every Scripture passage is inspired by God. All of them are useful" - 2nd Timothy 3:16a

There is a noticeable difference in Bible passages - some show God angry, others full of love and compassion. Why the difference?

Some believe the Old Testament God is not the same as the New.¹ Others teach it's man's understanding of God that evolved and continues to do so - essentially rewriting scriptures for our day.

The Church has always taught God is the same, has not changed, and all scripture is equally inspired.

The Old Testament is the only Bible the early church had. They didn't say, "Hey, we can do better than that!"

The difference is relationship.

Example:Vandals think I'm a bad grouchy man when I call the police on them, but my family thinks I am wonderful when I give them Christmas gifts. It's the same me, the difference is relationship and their actions. I am more complex than either view. Sometimes I have been known to let my children suffer the results of their actions when I think it is in their best interest. I then seem to have become a mean grouchy man, but I haven't really changed.

God has different relationships with different people groups but he is the same God. He has always been compassionate but our sin evokes justice. In Christ the justice is satisfied and we can walk with God in peace.

"[W]e have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" - Romans 5:1b

- fritz

^{1 - Marcion of Sinope, 144AD}

Proof reality is more than physical

Some reject the notion of anything real which can't be experienced in some way by one of our five(5) senses. God is, therefore, discounted as either non-exist or unknowable.

Beginning with this thought as a "given" there is little due diligence on their part to investigate if it's factual and they are unaware their acceptance of the very idea, itself, proves it wrong.

Dallas Willard put it this way:

"Your thought or your wish for for a candy bar or for success in your profession is a trivial example of something you are sharply aware of and can describe in some detail. But you do not touch or smell it, nor would stronger light or glasses enable you to "see" it better. It simply does not have the characteristics revealed to the physical senses. And that is no objection to it, for if it had such properties it would not be a thought or a wish. This observation is associated with the fact that a thought or wish is not localizable in space" The Divine Conspiracy, page 91

If there are some things knowable, describable, and acceptable without the five senses, why not others?

One could say ideas, wishes, and intentions can have no life of their own, if that is so who keeps and promotes the ideas of freedom in the midst of bondage, democracy in the midst of dictatorships, or love in the midst of indifference? If these can persist outside our current experience, why can't something or someone else?

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." - Jesus (Revelation 3:20)

Something to ponder for today.

-fritz