Jesus

In my last post, I talked about the idea that from the Old Testament to the New, God has not changed. I want to expand on that for a minute by asking the question, what does God want?

What I mean is, what does God want from me, from you, from every living person? Because if God has not changed, then it should be true that His expectations for men have remained the same.

I get the feeling when talking with my brothers and sisters in the faith that there's a general assumption—what God wanted from man in the Old Testament is not the same as what He wants now. There's a belief that Christ set us free of any expectations that God may have had; that anything found in the Old Testament is to be done away with, because it's Law and as every Christian knows, the Law is not for us.

I'll be the first to reject a return to the law. You'll never see me sacrifice an ox to atone for my sins. Nor will I start to obey dietary laws. I'm not about to start tithing anytime soon, since all I have is God's anyway. I've got no problem letting an unbeliever use my silverware, and since God has hidden His word in my heart, I'm not going to start wearing tefillin.

99% of the Body of Christ agrees with that we're not bound to the law. But, the Old Testament is more than the law, no? The law makes up a very small percentage of the Old Testament. What about the prophets? What about all the poetry in Psalms and Song of Solomon; the wisdom found in Proverbs? What about the narratives found in Genesis and Exodus or all the history found in Kings and Chronicles?

In all those books there are themes that run throughout. Holiness, purity of heart, humility, faith in God, separation from sin, righteousness, faithfulness, patience, love—the Old Testament, as well as the New, is full of these themes. Reading it reveals to us that God wants a people set apart to Him, holy and pure, that obeys Him. And, if He can find this holy nation, well then, He will dwell with them and they will be His people and He will be their God. It's simple and you can easily find this theme all throughout the Old Testament. All the law, wisdom, stories, history; all of it points to God's desire for a holy people that He can call his own and dwell with.

So, the question remains, what does God want? I can’t help but answer that what He wants has not changed from the fist moment he breathed life into that lump of clay. He wants a people, holy unto Himself. In fact, the work of Christ proves that this is so, for through the work of Christ we now have the power to be that people. We are now not only forgiven, but we can walk free of sin. We can now be holy, set apart, unsullied by the sin surrounding us. We can have pure hearts and minds. We can take on the nature of Jesus—the very nature of God! We can have power and life eternal. We can commune with God, the creator of the universe.

When I meditate on this amazing revelation of God’s heart—that He wants a holy people and that He was willing to die to make it possible, I have to ask, has God received what He has desired? He freely gave Himself for us so that we can become His people. Have we responded in like fashion? Have we given ourselves to Him??

If there’s anyone who’s word is sure, it’s God’s. He will have His holy people. The question becomes, will we be a part?