In the second century, a hundred years or so after the death of Jesus and the birth of the church, lived a man named Marcion. Marcion was a Christian. Well, not exactly. Marcion called himself a Christian, but he had his own perspective about what that meant, a perspective shared by his followers, a perspective not shared by the church.
Marcion read the Old Testament and concluded that the God described there, the creator God, was tyrannical and judging, and not at all like the loving, gracious God described by Jesus. He decided that these were two different Gods, and that with the coming of Jesus, the merciful redeemer God defeated the cruel creator God. Jesus, Marcion said, was not the Messiah proclaimed by the prophets, and the Old Testament should not be regarded as scripture.
Marcion was not the first person to find themes of judgment in the Old Testament that seemed at odds with the message of grace in the New Testament. He was just the first person to put together a systematic theology based on this impression and gain a following for his views.
The second century church concluded that Marcion was wrong and his theology was heresy. Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah proclaimed by the prophets. The God of Jesus Christ—the God described in the New Testament—is one and the same as the God described in the Old Testament. Love, mercy, redemption, and judgment are all attributes of God’s character, and they always have been.
Love, mercy, redemption, and judgment are all attributes of God’s character, and they always have been.
Marcion was not the last person, either, to find themes of judgment in the Old Testament that seemed at odds with the message of grace in the New Testament.
Over the years that I have been in ministry, and even before, I have heard lots of people—new Christians and long-time Christians—wonder out loud if God didn’t somehow undergo a personality change between the Old Testament and the New Testament. They usually don’t go so far as to suggest that these are different Gods altogether, of course. That dispute was settled in the second century. But they wonder if maybe God mellowed with age.
When they read the Old Testament, they envision God with a stern face, his eyes full of wrath, quick-tempered and short on mercy.
When they read the New Testament, the face in their mental image softens, the eyes are full of compassion, and God’s arms are outstretched in mercy. Or, for some, the mental image of God the Father remains stern, and they imagine Jesus as the loving, merciful redeemer who extends grace to save people from the Father’s wrath. (These mental images are understandable. I’ve even come across the occasional preacher who presented the message of redemption this way. We’ve all got tapes in our head about God that are hard to erase and hard to record over.)
I know some of you watch football every once in a while. Do you remember that scripture reference that always seems to be on a sign somewhere behind the end zone so that it flashes on TV whenever there is a field goal or a point after? John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
And continuing in the next verse: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Love, mercy, redemption, and judgment are all attributes of God’s character, and they always have been.
The Father and Jesus are on the same page of the play book, and they always have been.
Of course, even some who know and accept the truth of this statement still struggle with the feeling, deep in their gut, that somehow God in the Old Testament is all about judgment while God in the New Testament is all about grace.
I don’t know all the reasons for this, but it has something to do with how the way we read colors our perceptions.
The New Testament is mostly short stories, parables, brief lessons, and succinct propositional statements. Grace practically jumps out of almost every page. It’s easy for the words of judgment to fade into the background. They are there, you know—words of judgment, that is.
The Old Testament is mostly epic narratives. The character of God is revealed in long, sweeping historical sagas. These narratives have all the makings of a TV mini-series—drama, passion, intrigue, violence. Judgment is in the details, and it captures our attention. It’s easy for the message of grace to fade into the background. It’s there, though—the message of grace, that is. You’ll begin to see grace on almost every page, if you learn to look for it.
Love, mercy, redemption, and judgment are all attributes of God’s character, and they always have been.
My plan, this morning, is to share with you five short stories of grace from the Old Testament. These stories are familiar to many of you already.
The earliest Christians knew these stories well. They understood what God was doing in and through Jesus in part because they understood what God had done in and through his chosen people before Jesus.
If you’ve never thought of these as stories about grace, I hope you will in the future. If you’re one of those people with a tape in your head that says that the God of the Old Testament is a wrathful judge with little grace to offer, I hope these biblical stories will help you begin to record over that tape.
In the first chapter of John are these words: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
Jesus is a chip off the old block. He is full of grace and truth because his Father who sent him is also full of grace and truth.
I should warn you, there’s an altar call at the end of this sermon. Well, sort of. We don’t have an altar so I guess it can’t be an altar call exactly. Whatever it is, you’ll know it when you hear it.
I. The Story of Creation
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1:1-3)
Before there was creation, there was only God. Before time, outside of time, when nothing else existed, there was God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—complete and perfect in unity and relationship.
Then God spoke, and creation came into being out of nothing.
God did not need creation. God was not lonely. God did not require an audience to admire him. God created for one reason and one reason only: out of love.
He created humankind in his image, and breathed into us the breath of life…out of love.
When we rebelled, he did not abandon creation. Instead he put into place a plan for the redemption of creation…out of love.
Already, at the earliest moments of creation, God knew that the cross was coming. God knew that the Son would die on the cross, and in that moment cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God knew he would sacrifice his own complete and perfect unity and relationship in order to redeem creation, and still he created.
Now that’s grace.
II. The Story of Abram’s Call
“The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’” (Genesis 12:1-2)
The Bible doesn’t tell us why God chose Abram. At the point of his call, all we know about Abram is that his father’s name is Terah and his wife is Sarai. Long before we learn of the powerful faith of Abraham, we learn of the weak character of Abram. On more than one occasion, for example, he portrays Sarai as his sister and risks her dignity in order to save his own skin.
It is only his long walk with the Lord that transforms fearful Abram into righteous Abraham.
But God did choose Abraham, and God gave him a purpose. God made Abraham the first link in the chain that would lead to Jesus. God chose Abraham to be the first step in his plan for the redemption of creation.
Now that’s grace.
Does it sound familiar at all? Listen to these words of Jesus: “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” (John 15:16)
III. The Story of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph was the son of Jacob, who was called Israel. Joseph had 10 older brothers. He was his father’s favorite and rather arrogant about that fact. His older brothers were jealous and sold him into slavery. Years went by, and they presumed him dead.
In the meantime, Joseph rose to be Pharaoh’s right-hand man. When famine came, it was only Joseph’s high position in Egypt that made it possible for the fledgling tribe of Israel to survive.
When Joseph’s brothers finally realized who he was, and that he was saving their lives, they begged his forgiveness.
“His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. ‘We are your slaves,’ they said. But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’” (Genesis 50:18-20)
Had Joseph not been sold into slavery, the chosen people might have ended quietly in starvation. There would have been no Moses, no David, no Son of David called Jesus.
Joseph learned that, no matter the circumstances of his life, from favored son, to slave-trading block, to prison, to high position, he could trust God’s purposes to be at work, not only for his own good, but for the furtherance of God’s plan for the redemption of creation.
Now that’s grace.
Does that sound familiar? Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
IV. The Story of the Exodus
Some 400 years after Joseph and his amazing Technicolor dreamcoat, the chosen people of God languished in slavery in the land of Egypt. Evil held them in bondage to sin and death.
There was nothing they could do. Their heritage as sons of Abraham bought them no favors. They were helpless to save themselves.
“The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.” (Exodus 2:23-24)
God sent Moses to lead the people of Israel. God sent plagues to display his power to the king of Egypt. The blood of the Passover lamb marked the homes of those who would be saved. And the day came when the waters of the Red Sea stood back, and the people of Israel crossed over.
Later, Moses reminded the people: “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8)
God heard their cry. He acted. In history. To deliver them from bondage. And set them free.
Now that’s grace.
That sounds familiar to me. Jesus described his own mission in these words: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
V. The Story of Return from Exile
Over 800 years later, the chosen people of God languished again, this time not in slavery in Egypt but in exile in Babylon.
Again, there was nothing they could do. Their heritage as sons of Abraham bought them no favors. They were helpless to save themselves.
Their own rebellion got them into this mess in the first place. Their kings set up altars on the high places to worship other gods. The people worshipped idols and forgot justice.
Their own sinfulness left them alienated from God, unable to make a way back.
Still, God did not abandon his people.
Listen to God’s promise of reconciliation, restoration, and homecoming, as prophesied by Ezekiel: “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:24-28)
Now that’s grace.
I hope it sounds familiar to you. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
There. Five short stories of God’s grace.
Love, mercy, redemption, and judgment are all attributes of God’s character, and they always have been.
You may have noticed that it’s not about you. It’s about a God who desires that all be saved and is determined to reveal his holiness even through broken people. Everything God accomplished for good and forever in Jesus Christ, he provided glimpses and examples of in the history of the people of Israel.
So trust him.
Trust him with your life, because he gave it to you…out of love.
Trust him with your purpose, because you did not choose him, but he chose
you.
Trust him in all circumstances, because even what others intend for evil, God can make use of for good.
Trust him to free you from your chains, because God has acted. In history. To deliver you from bondage. And set you free.
Trust him to bring you home, because you will belong to him, and he will be your God.
Trust him, because he is indeed full of grace and truth.
My friends, if there is anyone here who hears the Spirit calling him to renew his trust (or to place his trust for the first time) in God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son, then take this time now to lift your heart to God. He is the one who gave you life. He is the one calling you to purpose. He is the one at work even in all your brokenness to make you whole and further his purposes. He is the one who has already acted in history to deliver you from bondage and set you free. He will bring you home.
Trust him.
