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Just between you and me in my heart of hearts, I have always carried a different view of God and Jesus. Jesus as he is described in the New Testament; God as he is described in chunks of the Old Testament.
If I am confessing, I saw Jesus as the buffer between me and my really annoyed and potentially angry father in Heaven. I wasn’t even aware that I felt this way until a portion of scripture was illuminated to me the other day in a book of the Bible that although familiar to me doesn’t catch my attention as often as it should, Exodus.
Here is where it gets interesting while talking to God, Moses says…
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
Exodus 33:18 NIV
And if I had to answer what I thought the glory of God might be, it would be His strength, His faultless integrity, His abounding patience (with me) His wiliness to send his son to death on the cross for me. But here is what the Bible tells us the glory of God.
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.
Exodus 34:06-7 NIV
Wait, that sounds like Jesus. Yes, this is who God is! His mercy overflows, his love doesn’t have an expiration date, his anger is not a default setting, and he is for us not against us. Perhaps it’s just my fallen condition that makes me want to put distance from the truth, but the scripture is real, it is honest, and it made me confess that on some level I had been putting unnecessary distance between myself and my Creator. Forgive me Father!
I must let my wrong assumptions fall away and let scripture reveal the truth about who God is. I’m grateful for the Holy Spirit illuminating this message and refining my heart. I am thankful for the Word of God, which shares these truths and straightens our paths when we wander as we often do.
Thank you, God, for your compassion, your grace, your mercy, your patience, and abounding love for a sinner like me. -Amen