Judgement and joy
Are you trembling yet? By Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
The God of the Bible is certainly a loving and gracious God, but he is no pushover. He is not some compliant errand boy. He is not a celestial hippy. He is not a slightly bewildered grandfather figure. He is not a cosmic bell boy. He is not some sickly sweet wish-granter. Nor is he a jolly Santa Claus just waiting to give us goodies…
…No, God is not all that concerned if we feel offended or upset or distressed. No, he does not want to set up little “safe spaces” for us to feel comfortable in. No, he does not sugar-coat the gospel message so that no one is offended or feels bad. No, he does not offer “trigger warnings” first before he speaks. No, he is not into letting us off the hook by making us feel good.
He wants us to repent of our sin and turn from our repugnant rebellion or face his just judgment. And he wants us to approach him on his terms, not ours. Getting back to the opening lines of this piece, the God we serve is a God that we should tremble at.
Are you rejoicing yet? By Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
While everything I said in that article is true, there needs to be more said to give us the whole picture of where things now stand because of the life and work of Jesus Christ. And this is big picture stuff: bridging the Testaments and seeing how the biblical storyline flows.
Simply put, there is continuity as well as discontinuity between the Testaments. Some things do not change, including the character of God and his eternal purposes. But how we can enter into and enjoy God’s presence does change somewhat…
…Notice that nothing has changed concerning who God is – a holy, pure and righteous God who hates sin – but the way of access or approach to God is now fully open to all who come through Christ…that is a cause of great rejoicing
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