How Do We Know about God?

Kids under ten tend to be blunt. While listening to the book of Leviticus, the blue-eyed, freckled-faced girl with a knack for honesty commented, “I feel like the God of the Old Testament is so different from the New Testament. He’s sitting on a couch saying, ‘Bring me more grapes! Do this! Don’t do that, or you will be punished!’ †While her comments were shocking to hear, this nine-year-old made sense.

When reading the Old Testament, we find many stories of God punishing sin and disobedience—by death, fire, plagues, and the like. Where is the God of mercy who died to save us? Did God eventually soften up over the years? What was the point of the law anyway?

From the beginning of creation until now, God remains the same (Hebrews 13:8). Like a diamond, there are many facets to God. Not only is He completely loving and merciful, but He is also fully holy and just (Leviticus 22:31-33; Deuteronomy 32:4; Daniel 9:9; 1 John 4:16). God in His goodness and holiness cannot be a part of sin, which breaks and destroys. And we have all sinned (Romans 3:23).

Thankfully, God’s plan all along was to send His Son as “the sacrifice that atones for our sins†(1 Peter 1:19-21; 1 John 2:2). The law is useful because it shows our inability to carry it out—all good deeds will always be “nothing but filthy rags†(Isaiah 64:6). We need a Savior—the Son of God Himself who did no wrong. Only His sacrifice for us could make us truly right with God the Father. The law kills, but in Christ, we are given grace and life (2 Corinthians 3). • Savannah Coleman

• Consider the mercy of God in the Old Testament: saving Noah and his family from the flood (Genesis 6-9), rescuing Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-29), or turning from the destruction of Nineveh because of their repentance, even though the city had been wicked to the core (Jonah 3:1-10).

• Contemplate the justice of God in the New Testament: Ananias and Sapphira’s consequence for lying to God (Acts 5:1-11); the parable Jesus told of the widow and her adversary and how that relates to God’s justice on behalf of His children (Luke 18:1-8); and the defeat of Satan at the end of time (Revelation 19:11-21; 20:10).

But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes. Romans 7:13 (NLT)

Read Verses:

Psalm 19