Is

by Ann Johnstone

Created on: May 15, 2010

What do we know of the nature of God except what is revealed to us through his actions? From the beginning of the recorded history of mankind, especially as described in the Torah, we see a picture of God emerge, initially somewhat hazy but becoming clearer as we read of His actions towards his people. For it is impossible to understand anything of the nature of God except as it is revealed to us through what he has done.

 From the book of Genesis we learn that God is our creator. Mankind was created by and for him. We were made in his image and likeness. His spirit was placed within us and his plan in making us was that we should have fellowship with him and fulfill his plans and purposes, ruling over the rest of his creation. Then within a short time span we separated ourselves from our creator. We chose our own way rather than accept the amazing plan he had for our lives. We thought we knew better. And because of our decision to live independently from our maker, the rest of the Old Testament describes the futility of mankind’s search for independence, and our maker’s unending wooing of his beloved children, drawing us back to himself despite our repeated rejection of his advances.

 In the book of Exodus, God the creator reveals Himself by another name, Yahweh: literally “I am who I am” or, alternatively, “I will be who I will be”.  This name expressed his character as the dependable and faithful God who longs for the full trust of his people. He then proceeds to instruct Moses, his (sometimes unwilling) servant concerning the part he would play in freeing the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt.

 Throughout the book of Exodus our understanding of the nature of God is expanded through his redemptive acts. His love for the people he has chosen for himself is displayed in his grieving and righteous anger over their sin, his compassion towards them, and his willingness to forgive them when they repent. We see him as a covenant-keeping God. He gives them the Law as a measuring stick of their loyalty towards him, and he provides a symbolic act of atonement via the scapegoat who bears away their sins. This of course, is merely a prelude to the complete redemption he is to offer mankind in the future.

 From then onwards Yahweh, the faithful One, tells his people they are to remind themselves and their children of his love and redemptive acts on their behalf. They are to do this by constantly speaking of his faithfulness; by handing down to future generations the stories of how their God worked miracles on their behalf, and by commemorating these acts through the celebration of festivals to keep such memories alive.

 We see in the later books of the Old Testaments how Yahweh constantly yearns for his unfaithful children to return to him. He provides prophets to speak his words to the people: messages of warning and of love. And gradually a whisper of hope creeps into the written word. It seems he has another plan ‘up his sleeve’: An incredible plan; something so outrageous that it is scarcely believable, at least from a human perspective. For the scene is being set for God to clothe himself in human flesh, in order to reveal the fullness of his redemptive plan to his people. And so the Old Testament closes, awaiting the appointed time of the Messiah’s coming.

 The New Testament opens in an astonishing way: The Lord of the universe has come down to earth in the form of a helpless baby, born in a stable and laid in a feeding trough among the hay. The Jewish nation, now under Roman rule, cannot reconcile this image with that of the God they think they know. Certainly it is a stark contrast to the picture of Yahweh in the Old Testament, driving back the waters, destroying Israel’s enemies, using a small boy to defeat a giant, a king to build a magnificent temple to his glory.

Yet this new revelation of God, his embodiment in human flesh and weakness, is to be the most complete revelation of his character ever. It would result in an unparalleled act of redemption: a means of dealing with the sin that separates mankind from his creator and reuniting the two in a covenant of love. In this way Yahweh’s character is most fully revealed. What he is, and what he has become, are revealed most clearly through this amazing act of redemption. His nature and his deeds are forever bound together in the unity of the godhead. Throughout eternity Yahweh will be known, and his character defined, by what he has done.

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