What is the Old Testament all about? And what can we learn from it?
Is it an accurate account of who God is and what he is like? Or is the account a product of the drastic change that takes place after the man and woman decide to do what they think best and from then on we see the beginnings of humanity attempting to bring order to the chaos their choices have set in motion? They begin to look to political arrangements and nation state maneuverings...economic systems...religious systems..enforcement of law... etc. etc. for security. Are the stories in the Old Testament really any different than what we see going on in the world today? People scrambling in fear and doing crazy insane things out of that fear. People oppressing and dominating others. Nations going to war with other nations and using the "God told us to do it " line as a justification. And so forth.
When Jesus comes on the scene he begins talking about God in terms of a father and a family and tells them that no one has seen the father but him. Seems to me that might mean that all those that had gone before didn't know who God was and what he is like and maybe were wrong in many of their action that were being shaped by their fear and shame and guilt and their attempts to discern what was "good" and what was "evil". And all the while just using God's name for their own gain. It just all sounds really similar to what I see and hear going on around me today in the world. But we do have something they didn't have.
We have Jesus, the exact representation of the Father. He just doesn't look anything like the stories in the Old Testament that paint a picture of a God who pretty much acts like most humans act.
Or maybe it's just my thinking leading me to concoct another adventure like those that we humans are skilled at concocting? The cool thing even if it turns out to be one of those adventures in missing the point is this....Jesus has got to me and I believe him when he says I no longer need to be afraid and live in fear of Father because I am an adopted son and I am welcome in his presence and he loves to see his children explore and especially question the things they have been told by people who are prone to "lording over" other people.
1 comment:
I appreciate your perspective here, Kent. I've been pondering the same things but hadn't considered that fear need not limit my exploration. That's a freeing thought.
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