My Father in Heaven is Perfect

Four year old Kari adored her mother. 
She liked to help whenever her mom was baking. 
Of course, her favorite part was watching her mom
take the goodies out of the oven.

One day, Kari decided that she was a big girl--
big enough to take things out of the oven by herself.
Her mother had no idea what Kari was thinking.
She came around the corner just in time
to see her little girl reaching
for the hot cookie sheet with her bare fingers. 

Her mom screamed immediately, 
yelling for Kari to shut the oven door. 
In shock, Kari let go of the door and started to cry.
Her fingers were fine, but her ears were singed.
For a few minutes she was unsure what to think
about her usually soft spoken mother.

Kari didn't fear burned fingers.
She had no idea what a burn feels like.
But she wanted to avoid her mother's screams
so she was careful not to touch the oven after that.  

As Kari grew older,
she eventually understood why her mother screamed.
The oven is no safer today,
but Kari no longer needs screams to protect her.
She might still burn her fingers
if she forgets to use a hot pad.
The difference is that Kari has matured enough
to understand the intrinsic consequences
of bare fingers and hot pans.

The Old Testament is full of examples
where a normally soft spoken God
was forced to speak louder than He would like.
Sometimes, He even had to use His screaming voice
to get people's attention and respect.
He roared to save their lives and protect them from sin, 
but that was not His normal voice.

If we want to know what God's normal voice sounds like,
we can listen to Jesus.
Whenever we are confused
about God's ways in the Old Testament.
We can look to Jesus' example.
Jesus is the gold standard for who God is.
 
Think about the way Jesus treated people 
while He was on this earth--
the crippled, the outcasts and sinners.
What about when Jesus cleared the temple?
Thieves ran away, but not the little children.
Were the little children afraid of Jesus?
The Bible says they sat in His lap.
That tells us something we shoud keep in mind,
that if we choose to live like innocent children
we never, ever, have to be afraid of God.

In the love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13,
Paul gives us a picture of God:

God is love.
God is patient and kind and envies no one.
God does not boast, God is not proud.
God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, 
God is not easily angered, 
God keeps no record of wrongs.
God does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. 
God always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
God never fails. 

When we read something
about God's character in the Old Testament 
that seems inconsistent with Jesus' life,
we can remember that Jesus and the Father are one!
God didn't change somewhere between Adam and John,
but our human perspective of God has changed 
as the result of Jesus coming to live among us.
That is why the Father sent His Son.

The God of the Old Testament,
is the God of the New Testament!
They are one and the same.
Like Jesus, our Father in heaven is love
and all that He does, is done with love!

Jesus Existed Long Before He Was Born on Earth

Jesus was the Creator of the world.
John 1:1-3

Jesus said,"I tell you the truth,
before Abraham was born, I am."
John 8:58

Jesus told Moses, "I am who I am," when
He appeared to Moses in the burning bush.
Exodus 3:14

Jesus was the spiritual rock
that accompanied Israel.
1 Corinthians 10:4

Jesus met with Gideon.
Judges 6:11-24

Jesus was who Jacob wrestled with--
Israel means "one who wrestles with God."
Genesis 32:22-30

Jesus met with Abraham.
Genesis 18

Jesus Represented the Entire Godhead
 
Jesus not only represented Himself
 but the Father and the Holy Spirit
(called the counselor in John 14:26)

Unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will
be upon his shoulders
and He will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

Jesus' Bible Was the Old Testament

You search the scriptures
 for in them you think you have eternal life;
and these are they which testify of Me.
John 5:39 

Jesus Came to Reveal the Father's Love

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father
and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered:"Don't you know me, Philip, 
even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Don't you believe that I am in the Father,
 and that the Father is in me?
The words I say to you are not just my own.
Rather, it is the Father, living in me,who is doing his work."
John 14:8-10

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers  were all under the cloud
and that they all passed through the sea...
They all ate the same spiritual food
and drank the same spiritual drink;
for they drank from the spiritual rock
that accompanied them,
and that rock was Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4

God Reveals Himself Through Jesus

In the past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets... 
but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son,
Whom He appointed heir of all things,
and through whom He made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory
and the exact representation of His being,
sustaining all things by His powerful word.
Hebrews 1:1-3

Inspirational Thoughts:

"It was not the will of God that Israel
should wander forty years in the wilderness;
He desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan
and establish them there, a holy, happy people.
But "they could not enter in because of unbelief."
Hebrews 3:19.
Because of their backsliding and apostasy
they perished in the desert,
and others were raised up to enter the Promised Land.
In like manner, it was not the will of God
that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed
and His people should remain so many years
in this world of sin and sorrow."


-The Great Controversy p.458