In one of a few posts which pondered the question, “Does God Have a Dark Side?”, I made the mistake of leaving the most important observation until last. So right up front today, I will make it plain: God sent His son into the world to save us from Himself.
First, I must state for those of you who are Bible readers, I know that John’s gospel says this:
“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (John 1:5).
My consideration of whether or not God has a dark side comes not from any belief that He dresses like a Sith lord and laughs maniacally. Instead, I’m saying that to some who do not know God, He is dark, threatening and judgmental, as evidenced especially in the Old Testament. The balancing of these thoughts is what I’m considering in this continued series.
Some people who are wobbly on the Bible, or wishy-washy, or wanting, or waning, or weak, and many more who reject it altogether, make the complaint that there are two “different” Gods in the Bible. The God of the Old Testament, they say, is dark, judgmental, angry, demanding, aloof, and distant. In contrast, they claim, the God of the New Testament is presented as being loving, forgiving, kind and tolerant. Here’s the truth: God the Father-or if you like, the God of the Old Testament, loves us so much that He sent His only son into the world to save us from Himself.
Were it not for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, we would all be… how can I say this delicately… fried. Our Creator hates sin (yes, we are all guilty) so much that we are as good as over-done toast without Him. But here’s the most relevant fact for us today: it is the God who we read about in the Old Testament and who appears dark and judgmental, who loves us enough to send His only son, so that we can be restored to Him. God – the God of the entire Bible – is love. He loves us so much that He provided a way to restore us to Himself. However, His perfection remains. Only when we are “in Christ”- associated with Christ – can God accept us, as he longingly wants to do.
PERFECTION
The God of the Old Testament, in fact the God of both testaments and of all time, is perfect in all HIs ways. Were He not, the universe would not operate smoothly as it does. It would behave more like a Western government, with confusion, trouble, ineptitude, and turmoil. God would be flawed and open to corruption.
God is so perfect that He cannot tolerate imperfection. He therefore intentionally upholds His integrity by opposing rebellion, sin and foolishness in humanity. His perfection demands that our failures and our sins be dealt with-very severely, either in this world or in the time of judgment to come. This explains many of the things that happened to the Israelites and their enemies in the Old Testament.
However, it’s a huge mistake to think that this God retired or bowed out in order to bring in the New Testament. New Testament writers are not reluctant to make clear that the very same God is very much in total control now, and always will be:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 2:9).
Jesus Christ himself stated many times that those who will not repent and accept His sacrifice as a covering for their sin will remain under the heavy hand of Gods’ judgment:
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).
If you reject Christ you’re rejecting the only hope there is of escaping the wrath of God. The difference between the Old Testament and the New is that God’s justice is now withheld from everyone who will repent of their ways and reverence His only son. The penalty for our imperfection has been taken out on Jesus, on the cross. There is still time to avoid the coming Day of justice. The matter of those who have never heard the gospel is for a different article (I’ve done it).
Our God is a God of both love and justice. The two are in perfect balance in our creator. Our escape was provided by God’s own mercy, through Jesus Christ. God’s love is equal in scale to His justice, but it is conditional.
It is therefore a matter of utmost importance for us to turn in faith and repentance to the Deliverer, the Saviour, in order to escape the wrath of God to come. Without that mercy, you and I have no hope whatsoever of escaping the justice of the creator and sustainer of all things. God truly is love, but also,
Fuel for Faith 