What we know about God is from the Bible
The Bible is the source of all knowledge about God, and one of the things we learn from the Bible is that God and His Word cannot change. Our confidence in God is based upon this simple truth! Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.“
Now what’s important to understand is that in the Old Testament (or Covenant) and the New Testament (or Covenant), God gives his word that he will not lie, nor will he change. This means all the promises that God makes He will keep. The basis for faith in both the Old and New Covenant is that we believe that God always keeps His word. Show More
Angry or Gracious God?
When reading the Bible, I’ve heard some say that it seems like God is angry in the Old Testament and then compassionate and merciful in the New Testament, and this must mean that God has changed! It may seem the Lord is harsh and unrelenting in the Old Testament and gentle and compassionate in the New Testament. However, the Lord does not change. How do we account for the difference in how we see the Lord God?
The Difference in Perspective Is Because There Are Two Different Covenants
Let me assure you; God does not have a split personality! It would be easy to make that mistake if you don’t realize that the Old and New Testaments represent two different Covenants. The Old Covenant is a covenant that the Lord made with the Israelites, and Moses was the mediator and intercessor between God and the people of Israel. The New Covenant is a covenant between the Lord and Jesus Christ; Jesus is the mediator and intercessor for us.
Remember, a covenant is an agreement that God makes with His people. The Old Covenant is a conditional covenant; that is, God sets all the terms. Blessings come with obedience, and hardship comes with disobedience or sin (Read Deuteronomy 28). The Old Covenant is called by several names: the . The important point is that this covenant was between God and the Jewish people.
On the other hand, the New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34, fulfilled by Jesus Christ, is a “better covenant, based upon better promises.” The book of Hebrews uses the term better about 12 times to describe how much better the New Covenant is than the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is an unconditional covenant established by God the Father and ratified by Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus is the mediator and intercessor for anyone (Jew or non-Jew) who would believe in Him and follow Him.
Grace and Law
The New Covenant is a covenant of Grace, not Law. The word “grace” comes from the Greek Charis, defined as; acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, gracious, joy, liberality, pleasure, thanks worthy. In short, Grace can be thought of as an undeserved, unmerited gift from God. This Grace means that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is transferred to us. This transfer or imputation is not by our “goodness” or effort but is a gift of God; this is Grace! That is why the New Covenant is unconditional; it doesn’t depend on what we do because Jesus did it all, once and forever!
Getting back to the issue of whether God changes, we said earlier God makes covenants with humankind, and in those covenants are promises. The promises the Lord makes in the Old Covenant are different from the promises of the New Covenant, for example:
- In the Old Testament or Covenant, the Lord came for a nation, Israel; in the New Testament or Covenant, the Lord came for the individual, and therefore it is described as a better covenant.
- In the Old Covenant, it was about God calling a nation Israel to himself. In the New Covenant, it’s about God calling every individual to himself.
- In the Old Covenant, God was found in the Tabernacle or the Temple. In the New Covenant, the Believer is the Temple of God, 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
- In the Old Covenant, righteousness came by works or following and adhering to the Law of God. Under the New Covenant, righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ.
- In the Old Covenant, the promise was that Israel would become a great nation. In the New Covenant, the promise is that whoever believes in Jesus Christ would have eternal life and the Holy Spirit living in that person in this life.
- The Old Covenant is about physical blessings (prosperity, a mighty nation, being an example to the rest of the world). In the New Covenant, it’s about spiritual blessings (eternal life and living in the Kingdom of God while on earth).
A deeper discussion of the two covenants is beyond the scope of this message, but if you would like more teaching on covenants, go to my website and download the free book, “Seeing the Forest for the Trees’ or my article for World MAP called “Covenants: God’s Purpose Revealed.” Both are available at www.PastorVic.com.
God always keeps His promises
The unchanging nature of our Father in Heaven is so essential an anchor to our faith. What He says in His Word He will accomplish. His Word never comes back without fulfilling what it was sent for. Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
God does not Change
In the Old Testament, the Word says that God does not change.
- Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
- Psalms 33:11, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.”
In the New Testament, the Word says that God does not change.
- James 1:16, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
- Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Signs, Wonders, and Miracles available to you because God does not change!
Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” What was true then is true today. Power and authority, in Jesus’ name, are still available to those who believe.
Listen to what Jesus said in John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
- Do you need healing? Jesus has given you healing! Both in the Old and New Covenant, the scriptures say about Jesus the Messiah:
- Isa 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
- 1 Peter 2:24, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”
Our God has power to heal… do you believe Him?
- Do you need deliverance? Jesus has given you deliverance. Jesus has delivered you from sin, guilt, and shame. In the Lord’s eyes, you are righteous and clean. Don’t let anyone try to place condemnation on you… you are God’s child… you are loved!
- Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
- Do you need to be set free from your past or the circumstances of the present that hold you in bondage? Remember these two things:
- You are a new creation in Christ Jesus, the old has passed away, and all things are now new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Step out in your new Christ-centered life! Don’t focus on the past but focus on your new life in Christ.
- John 8:31&36, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
Don’t let the Devil or anyone else imprison you in the box of your past; you are free- walk in it!
Be a testimony to the Lord
Every time you allow Jesus to heal, deliver and set you free, it becomes a testimony that Jesus is God, and there is nothing He won’t do for you because you glorify your Father in Heaven.
All of Jesus’ signs, wonders, and miracles were to point to the fact that He was God in the flesh!
Whatever you need, if it lines up with the Word of God, it is yours if you will only believe! If you believe from your heart, speak it out, and you will have it (Mark 11), and when you testify of the Lord’s goodness and Grace, you will be fulfilling His purpose in your life.
Jesus has the power to heal all kinds of sickness and disease, but most importantly, Jesus has the power to forgive sin!
Let me close with a beautiful story about Jesus and a paralytic man, which clearly shows that Jesus is God because he demonstrates His power and authority to forgive sin.
This story is found in Mark 2:1-12 (Matt. 9:2–8; Luke 5:17–26). In the Mark account, Jesus was ministering to the people the word of truth. He entered a city called Capernaum, and of course, the people in the region had already heard of the great miracles and signs and wonders that he had performed, so the multitudes gathered to where he was. Jesus found himself in a house ministering to the crowds, and there were so many people that the house was filled and overflowing the house.
Here’s the important part: a paralytic man had heard about the great things that Jesus has done. This man’s faith was so strong he must have persuaded four of his friends to carry him on his bed to where Jesus was, but of course, it was so crowded they could not bring the paralytic man to Jesus. So, they climbed up on the roof, pulled the roof apart, and lowered him into the midst of the house where Jesus was. In verse 5, it says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven you.” You might ask why Jesus didn’t say, “you are healed, rise up and walk,” but instead, Jesus says, we see next why Jesus did what He did.
Apparently, some of the scribes of the religious leaders heard him say, “Your sins are forgiven you.” and they said, why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus immediately perceived in his spirit that they were condemning Him for what he said. Jesus then says in verse 9, “which is easier to say to the paralytic your sins are forgiven you, or to say arise, take up your bed and walk?” Obviously, it is easier to say you are forgiven than arise and be healed! Now, here is the key to this illustration, Jesus says, “but that you may know that the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house,” and then immediately the paralytic man stood up picked up his bed and walked out of the house. All the people were amazed, and they glorified God, saying we never saw anything like this.
Jesus alone has the authority to forgive sin. Sins of the past, present, and future! In a single sacrifice upon the Cross of Calvary, He put to death the sinful nature and placed His Holy Spirit in every believer. On the Cross, Jesus said, “it is finished!” Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of sin and death.”