There’s a common misunderstanding that is really nothing short of heresy: the idea that Jesus is somehow nicer than “the God of the Old Testament.” I’m not sure where the idea comes from—perhaps a misunderstanding of passages like John 1:17. But I’ve heard it from church members, and I recently read hints of it from no less a scholar than Philip Yancey. In his book The Jesus I Never Knew (which I’m enjoying, by the way), he suggests that Jesus is somehow kinder and gentler than the God of the OT:
“In short, Jesus moved the emphasis from God’s holiness (exclusive) to God’s mercy (inclusive)” (p. 155). [In a footnote just before this sentence, Yancey quotes Dorothy Sayers as she contrasts the attitude of Jesus toward women with that of “His prophets before Him” (p. 154). What a strange notion!]
“As Shusaku Endo sees it, Jesus brought the message of mother-love to balance the father-love of the Old Testament” (p. 158).
Jesus certainly didn’t minimize the exclusive holiness of God. He lived a perfect life to fulfill it, then died a penal death to satisfy it! He is merciful, to be sure, but His is a sanctifying mercy…as always.
There are scores of problems with the idea that Jesus is the “good cop” and the Father/OT God the “bad cop.” Here are a few that come to mind:
1. First, Jesus IS the God of the Old Testament. Evidence of this abounds. For example, John 12:41 says that when Isaiah saw the thrice-holy Jehovah lifted up, he was seeing the Son of God. To contrast Jesus with “the God of the OT” reveals a ghastly Christology.
2. Jesus reveals the Father. One of my favorite themes of the New Testament (and one of the most oft neglected, I believe) is the teaching that Jesus came to earth to reveal to us the unseen God (John 1:18; Hebrews 1:1-3). (I’ve written on that grand theme in the 2nd verse of this hymn.) As Christ tells Thomas in John 14:7, to see Him is to see the Father. If you want to know what “the God of the OT” is like, look at Jesus.
3. God has always been nice. Infinitely nice. Omninice. Thus, when asked to uniquely reveal Himself to Moses, here’s what He said:
“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Ex 34:6-7).
He’s always been merciful, as the first half of that statement makes clear. And He’s always been holy, as the second half makes clear. And that won’t change. He won’t change (Malachi 3:6).
4. Jesus isn’t as passive as people think. Those who think of “the OT God” as a God of judgment and Jesus as a God of undiluted mercy need to spend some time in the book of Revelation, which has far more blood than any OT book!
5. The three members of the Trinity are indivisible in their attributes. None is more anything than the others. Each—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is perfect.
There are more reasons (share them!), and the ones I’ve listed could probably be expressed and illustrated more clearly. But the bottom line is this: The idea that Jesus is in any way different from “the God of the OT” is bogus. Dangerously so. Don’t believe it.
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Note: While I obviously take exception with the statements I quoted from Philip Yancey, I’m not suggesting that he’s guilty of all I’m addressing here. Not at all. We just need to be careful how we speak of Christ.
Filed under: Bible Exposition, Book Reviews & Discussions, Christology | Tagged: Christology, Immutability, Jesus Christ, Philip Yancey, The Trinity |
My Two Cents 
Great post and great theology!
Thanks for the reminder.
Good theology leads to good worship.
Amen!
“Omninice.” I like that. A lot.
I sometimes refer to human knowledge as “kinda-niscient.”
John MacArthur addresses the postmodern view of Jesus in his latest book, The Jesus You Never Knew. Kind of goes along with what you are saying and how Jesus dealth with the religious phonies.
“Omninice”…I like it too. That exercise bike must be good for getting the creative juices flowing. =) This is a good post, friend.
Surprising.
That you’d read Yancey, I mean.
Thanks for chiming in, all.
How so, Dan? You expect me to read only Hyles? ;)
No; I don’t expect anyone to read Yancey.
Well, not anyone to the right of Tony Campolo…..
I see. I was just reflecting on the way he writes, actually. He’s not as touchy-feely as a Lucado (who wastes his talent on fluff, IMO), not as artistic as a Gire, not as text-driven as a Mac or even Swindoll. He doesn’t teach; he muses. He’s thought-provoking.
At any rate, I’d love to write a devotional book on our Lord, so I’m reading very widely from others who write on Him. Thus, “thought-provoking” is good. I’d not have thought of the phrase “sanctifying mercy,” for example, if he hadn’t split the ideas. “Y-y-y-y-you see?” (to quote Carson)
I’ve not read much else from Yancey. I’ll let you know what I think as I get more exposure to him. You’re obviously no fan.
BTW, I even read Phillips. :)
J B Phillips?
Liberal.
“At any rate, I’d love to write a devotional book on our Lord, so I’m reading very widely from others who write on Him.”
You have read J. Oswald Sanders’ “The Incomparable Christ” (I’ve not read the one by Stott with the same title)? If not, you need a copy. Great stuff, and also full of wonderful poetry and hymn texts about the Savior that you would certainly appreciate.
When confronted with this issue, I normally turn people towards Psalm 2. And then yell sarcastically:
“He’s going to beat you with an iron rod!!”
Seriously though, thanks for bringing this issue up. I am increasingly saddened by the lack of sound theology on the part of those who should know better.
Amen to that post.
My churchmate had an experience with a professor saying that God turned soft and fluffy in the New Testament as compared to how he was in the Old Testament. Bla. Writing that sentence makes me shiver.
[…] whereas “the God of the OT” is merciful. The very idea gives me a rash. I dealt with it last year, but it’s a common enough and dangerous enough error that I’m reposting my two cents on […]
A great explanation, thank you.