Reconciling the “Gods” of the Old and New Testaments: Part 2

Today’s article is the second part of a discussion on reconciling the “Gods” of the Old and New Testaments that we began a couple of weeks ago. In the first part, we established that there is one unchanging God from Genesis to Revelation, and that he’s both merciful and just. Criticisms that the “Gods” of the Old and New Testaments are irreconcilable can only have been constructed on very selective readings of the Bible. 

But in truth, something did change between the Old and New Testaments – God’s accessibility. 

Before we explore the change, it’s important to note that God’s original design was for human beings to have an intimate relationship with him, absent of fear. In the Garden of Eden, the first man and woman talked with Yahweh face to face, naked and unashamed. Even after they sinned and the story began to darken, God spoke with each of them directly, asking questions and relaying the consequences of their rebellion. 

East of Eden, the descendants of Adam and Eve became more corrupt with each generation. Those who communed with God became fewer and farther between. 

By the time we reach Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai, meeting God even from afar was a terrifying ordeal involving days of preparation, storms, fire, and a violently trembling mountain (Exodus 19). It was not exactly a casual, come-as-you-are vibe.

Later, when the temple and its sacrificial system were in full swing, only designated priests were allowed in the holy place. The high priest alone entered the holy of holies, where God’s glory rested, and then only once a year. 

According to Jewish legend, his priestly garments had a convenient feature – a rope tied around the waist. If the high priest made a wrong move and dropped dead, the other priests could drag his body out of the holy of holies without encountering the Presence of Yahweh themselves.

Due to the metastasizing nature of sin set against the holiness of God, most people encountered the Almighty this way for most of the Old Testament. To put it mildly, enter at your own risk. 

In stark contrast, when we encounter the Son of God on the dusty roads of first-century Israel, people of all stripes come in and out of his presence freely—men, women, children, Jews, and Gentiles. Simeon and Anna held a member of the Trinity in their arms and lived to tell about it. Children sat on Jesus’ lap, disciples leaned against his bosom, and women clung to his feet and wiped them with their tears. 

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail incarnate Deity!

What brought about the change? In a word, the Incarnation. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), and that changed everything. Theological reams have been written upon this subject for two thousand years, but in essence, the incarnation meant the Godhead became approachable again. 

In The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey ponders its meaning: 

“Among people who walled off a separate sanctum for God in the temple and shrank from pronouncing or spelling out his name, God made a surprise appearance as a baby in a manger. What can be less scary than a newborn with his limbs wrapped tight against his body? In Jesus, God found a way of relating to human beings that did not involve fear.” 

There it is. Instead of experiencing God as C.S. Lewis’s great Danger, the embodied Christ means we are invited to know him as a great Safety. 

The baby grew up and walked among us. He ate and drank and slept. He laughed and cried. He declared that the kingdom of God was not far off but had drawn near. 

Dallas Willard put it this way: “Jesus is the human face on the kingdom of God. He makes it concretely accessible.” 

Supremely touchable 

Under the old covenant, reaching out to steady the ark of God resulted in instant death. In the new, reaching out to touch the God-Man resulted in instant healing. In the old way, the Hebrews were told to abstain from sex for a few days before encountering God. In the new, a woman caught in the very act of adultery found shelter in his Son. 

In Isaiah’s famous vision, neither the prophet nor six-winged angels could bear to look upon the holy God. But when Christ took a little dead girl’s hand in his, she opened her eyes and met his gaze, restored to life.

All this is thanks to Emmanuel, God with us! Humanity can draw near to God without fear because, in Christ, he has drawn near to us. What’s more, we have an empathetic high priest and no need for other mediators. The writer of Hebrews explains:

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death….For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:14-17, NIV).

This was always the plan. Philip Yancey notes, “Some theologians have likened Jesus’ advent to the D-Day invasion, a beachhead in the cosmic war against evil….” The Incarnation was truly the beginning of the end of the war. 

I once heard Bible teacher Jill Briscoe muse that Christ began preparing for Bethlehem in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). And I think she’s right.

Christ’s favorite title? Son of Man

It’s staggering to consider that Christ is still incarnate. Human flesh is not something he took on for thirty-three years and then laid aside. He became man in a permanent identification with his creation. His first-century Jewish body sits at the right hand of the Father as we speak, and one day he’ll return in it. In heaven, as far as we know, the only evidence of this fallen world will be the scars on his resurrected body. 

The Old Testament gives us many glimpses of God, but it’s the New Testament that gives us a 3-D portrait in his Son: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form….” (Colossians 2:9-10). If we’ve seen Jesus, we’ve seen the Father.

Thanks to the incarnate Son, the story of earth as we have known it will end much like it began – in a garden near a river, with God and mankind in perfect fellowship:

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22, NRSV).

The question now is, will you be with him? And, if the answer is yes, who else can you help bring with you?