Category The God of the Old Testament Compared to Jesus in the New Testament

Implications of the Possession of the Image of God in Humans For Adam’s Choice to Disobey God in the Garden

God gave Adam and Eve everything they required for a happy, healthy, and upright life.

God gave Adam the necessary knowledge and abilities to pursue that happy, healthy, and upright life.

God maintained a close relationship with Adam, so that Adam would always know God, have no reason to forget either Who God was or what God had done and provided for him.

God provided a world and life completely free of corruption, and insulated from corrupting influences, as well as a warning against considering the engagement with a corrupting desire, should it arise. “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you shall eat of it, dying you shall die.”

Th...

The Image of God in Humanity

God has no physical aspect, therefore Adam and Eve were not created to “look like” God in the flesh. (As Hebrews explains, when Christ came, God entered into a body “prepared for Me” that was created after the image of man. (Phil 2:6-8; Jn 1:14; Heb 2:17-18) Prior to Christ’s incarnation, God had no physical aspect whatsoever.)

Moreover, the writer stated: “So God created humankind in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Genesis 1:27. God created humanity as an whole, in the image of God. Male and female humanity is created in the image of God; the entirety of the species, in the maleness and femaleness as an whole, is created “in the image of God”, making a physical context of that image impossible...

What characteristics do you see in God as the creation account unfolds?

Attributes of God revealed in the Creation Account in Genesis

God pre-exists all material things: “In the beginning, God created…”

The universe did not exist; it had a beginning. “The heaven” refers to sky, outer space and beyond. “The earth” refers to the world.

The universe consists of all time, space, matter, and natural energy. All of these elements had a beginning; they did not and are unable to, exist eternally. They necessarily “came into being” at some point in past history.

God is necessarily personal. God necessarily thinks, feels, desires, knows, has abilities, values, plans, purposes, foresight, understanding, etc.

God is necessarily external to (outside of) the universe.

Therefore, God do...

Why is the God of the Old Testament so Different From the Message of Jesus in the New Testament?

Study texts:

Genesis 1 – 6

References to Jesus’ speaking about hell and about judgment, in their respective contexts

The letter to the Hebrews

Revelation 1 – 3; 11; 15-16; 19-20; 22 (read the whole book, but pay attention to the relevant content of these chapters vis a vis the proposition.)

References to Jesus speaking about hell:

Mt 5:22    But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mt 5:29    And if thy right eye off...

Study Question:      Why is the God of the OT so different from the “message of Jesus” in the New?

“Why is the God of the OT so different than Jesus’ message in the NT? Is Jesus’ father the God of the OT? With all the revenge and blood sacrifice stuff?”

What is the main premise?

The God of the Old Testament is different from Jesus’ message in the New Testament.

What is the conflict driving the premise?

That the God of the Old Testament is guilty of revenge and requiring of blood sacrifice, which are implied to be unrighteous in some manner.

What questions must be answered in order to answer the question above?

1. Is God in the Old Testament different from Jesus’ message in the New?
2. Who is God and what is God’s nature...