MOST HOLY TRINITY, FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT
INTRODUCTION
Are there two Gods, one of the Old and one of the New Testament? No, there is one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Justice God punishes sin. Sin is a rejection of God, therefore separation from God and His blessings. My free will can choose curses or blessings. It is up to me!
In the very beginning of Genesis when man disobeyed God, chose his will over God’s will, man committed Original sin that we all inherit in our human nature.
GENESIS 3:8-16
“…the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you? He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.” Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it. “The LORD God then asked the woman: What is this you have done? The woman answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate it…. Then the LORD God said to the snake…I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; they will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.*
God of the Old Testament, in His Mercy, promises a Savior that will reunite us with God’s Divine Life.
Today we have received that promise. We have been reconciled by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At our Baptism, Original Sin is removed and (if adult) any other personal sins we have committed. We are infused with Divine life of God, become heirs of heaven, brothers and sisters of Christ.
COMMENTARY
THE PROMISE OF A SAVIOR IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Old Testament is full of Christ, the Anointed One, though oftentimes in a veiled form. Throughout biblical history God continues to reveal His plan for salvation through the prophets, covenants, and the psalms of David.
The Old Testament is filled with blessings and curses, curses, when man disregards God, and blessings, when man remains faithful. When Man separates himself from God. God lifts man back up in His mercy. Man falls again and again, yet God remains faithful, calling man to repentance and reunion with Him.
Throughout biblical history is recorded how God works to bring people into a personal relationship with him. It all begins in the Garden when God addresses Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel” Genesis 3:15
THE LAW OF MOSES
The Law of Moses beyond the Ten Commandments given by God has 613 commandments all told. These laws
fall into three categories: moral, ritual, and judicial. Moral law has do with universal principles of right and wrong. Ritual or ceremonial law has to do with symbolic, religious cleanness and uncleanness in Old Testament religion. Judicial or civil law involves the structures for the administration of the law in the Old Testament.
The Law of Moses foresees not just a religion, but a state religion, a theocracy. Part of it we as Catholics embrace, but part of it we don’t. For example, we still forbid murder Exodus 20:13, but we don’t forbid wearing a garment of mixed materials Deuteronomy 22:11.
God reveals Himself gradually to the human race, knowing our shortcomings. A lot of these laws were intended to discipline and bend the Jewish people away from pagan practices to proper worship of the one true God.
These laws of Moses were not meant to be God’s final revelation. God sent His only begotten Son who gave us the new Law of Moses in the Beatitudes Matthew 5:3-10 and Last Judgment discourse. Matthew 25:31-46
WHAT ABOUT A GOD THAT KILLS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Death is the result of Original Sin. It wasn’t Plan A that Adam and Eve and their descendants die. Death was a result of man separating himself from God. We inherit death in our human nature from our first parents.. Death is not the worst thing to happen if you are a believer in the Resurrection.
When the LORD saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil the LORD regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the LORD said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them. But Noah found favor with the LORD. Genesis 6:5-7
Even in the midst of such a terrifying judgment, God’s rescue mission moves forward in the hands of his faithful shipmate, Noah. God demonstrates his justice toward humanity through punishment, and he demonstrates his saving love and mercy for humanity through Noah.
A number of times, God uses death as a punishment. Several big examples stand out, where God wipes out or “smites” large groups of people: Noah’s flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Egyptian plagues. In each one of these cases people reject God and thus incurs his punishment.
Perhaps this may soften some of you turned off by a God that kills. Death is inevitable. In the ancient world death was everywhere, life expectancy very low. If God sometimes punishes people in the Bible with death, he is only hastening the inevitable. We die.
God, in his righteousness, uses death as a punishment to restore the order of justice. When people reject him, they violate his number one command: “You shall have no other gods before me.” When we reject the Author of Life, death results. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Matthew 10:28
CONCLUSION
We cry out for justice here and now on earth. We see who we perceive as bad people get ahead and rewarded for their bad behavior. Crimes are committed but often justice is denied or in some cases what was lost can never be restored by earthly justice. A judge cannot bring a murder victim back to life or take away the horrible experiences of an abuse victim.
Unlike earthly justice, God does not suffer from incomplete justice, God will bring all things together in his perfect justice, but in the meantime many injustices persist. There may be a good outcome to this awaiting final judgment. God is good. God provides time for the wicked to repent and obtain salvation. When I think about that, I place myself among the “wicked” and give thanks every day for God’s unlimited patience and mercy.
God is a Just God. We will be held accountable. God is also our Savior. Saving comes at a cost and that cost includes judgment and punishment. The time between now and the final judgment gives us an opportunity to turn to God and become a recipient of his Mercy through repentance rather than a target for his judgment by refusing to repent and be saved.
We can’t ignore the Old Testament for that is when the story of our salvation begins. It is where we first learn who God is and what man’s relationship to God is and should be. We see that God is not only transcendent, but a God who intervenes in our history. We see Divine Providence work in creating a nation, Israel, to be a call and light to all nations to worship the one true God.
Divine Providence is active today. Listen carefully. Observe carefully. Discover God’s activity in our lives.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good, His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 107
JUSTICE AND MERCY IN ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS
It is helpful to read your reminder that God’s justice is consistent with what He promised. Death came after the Fall. Free will remained. I don’t know, God knows, that He was just when all the multitude died in the Great flood and at Sodom. I pray the Holy Spirit help heal our hearts.