Did God Change?

Did God change?

I get some version of this question fairly frequently when I teach about God’s character of grace & love. It’s because people struggle to reconcile their view of the Old Testament, mean, scary, wrathful God, with Jesus, full of unfailing love and faithfulness, grace realized.

So, did God change all of the sudden from one half of the Bible to the next?

I could probably write a whole book about our misunderstanding of the character of OT God (who knows, maybe I will one day), but, unfortunately, a short Facebook post isn’t the space for that. So, here’s the short answer…

God didn’t change, we did.

Not just the covenant. Not just the contract terms. We LITERALLY changed.

Or do we not actually know what it means to be born again?

• It means we are new creations and the old is gone. (2 Cor 5:17)

• It means we used to have a hard heart, but now we have a new obedient one. (Ezk 36:26-27; Rom 6:17)

• It means we used to be trapped in darkness, but now we’re children of light. (Eph 5:8; Col 1:13-14; 2 Cor 4:6-7)

• It means that we used to be far off and distant, but now we are close & connected. (Eph 2:13; 2 Cor 6:17)

• It means we were once enemies, but now we are unified. (Col 1:21-22)

Post cross & Pentecost a new species of human was born.

Sure, there were believers before. There were followers of Yahweh before. God’s spirit came to rest on people before. But actually live in them and become one with them? No, that’s something only rebirth can make happen. Only resurrection life in us can make that a reality.

For all those who believe, John writes, God has given the right to become children, born of Him, born again with new spiritual genetics. As such, our relationship with God is now as His biological children and we get all the benefits of being God’s kids (John 1:12-13).

Yeah, I know, it’s wild, miraculous even. And yet it’s the truth of the gospel.