I’ve been walking with God for many years. During that time I’ve experienced His love, His affection. I’ve seen Him heal and deliver. I’ve seen His power first hand. Despite all that, I always struggled with the nature of God as revealed in the Old Testament versus that of the New Testament. Years ago I saw a cartoon with two angels standing and talking. One looked at the other and said, “Be careful going in there. He’s in an Old Testament mood today.” How could the God “who changes not” (Mal 3:6), seem to act so differently throughout the Scriptures. I’ve asked many people over the years, including scholars, but I never received a satisfactory answer.

One of the common explanations I heard was to ascribe the differences to the Trinity. God the Father was the stern one, Jesus was the nice one and the Holy Spirit was the weird one. That creates all sorts of issues. We now have a God that’s at odds with Himself. Can you envision them overseeing the universe? The Father wants to zap them, Jesus wants to love them while the Holy Spirit simply wants to party. Is that really the way the Almighty runs the universe? How could you sleep at night wondering which one had the night watch? Somehow I knew that couldn’t be accurate. Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9). He said, “The Father dwelling in me does His works” (Jn 14:10). So there is no difference in nature between the two. Yes, they are two separate persons with different personalities but their natures are the same.

What about the Holy Spirit? Jesus said that He was sending “another comforter” (John 14:15). The word for “another” is the Greek word allo which means another of the same kind. While the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons with differences in personality, they all have the same nature. They are never at odds with each other.

There are two ways to explain this apparent contradiction. The first would be based on the differences between the covenants. God works according to covenants. Therefore His dealings with a nation of people under the law would of necessity be different than the way He interacts with His sons and daughters under the New Covenant. I believe this is accurate. But there is an even simpler way to understand this.

My wife Joanie is a teacher, a wife and a mother. If you followed her around during the day you would experience all three aspects of who Joanie is. If you watch teacher Joanie, you would describe her as organized. Depending on what was going on in the classroom you might categorize her as funny or strict if the students required that. Joanie the Mom would appear loving, encouraging. Then there’s Joanie the wife. As her husband I’m the only one who ever sees the romantic side of Joanie. Which Joanie is the real Joanie? The obvious answer is that they all are. But only those closest get to see her heart. And I am the only one who gets to see romantic Joanie.

In the Bible, there were always individuals who pressed through to a relationship with God. Both Abraham and Moses were called friends of God. David knew God intimately. The children of Israel however, saw Him as a strict rule keeper, despite His declarations to the contrary. They rejected a personal relationship for rule keeping. I find this telling. Those who interact with God on a rule-keeping, legalistic basis, see Him as a taskmaster while those who interact with Him intimately see His heart. There is not an Old Testament or New Testament God but there are rule keepers and lovers.

Jesus came so that we could know God intimately as the perfect Father, perfect lover. His blood qualified us to become temples of the living God, vessels in which the Holy Spirit dwelled. We have the privilege of interacting with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as beloved sons and daughters. It isn’t that God has changed. Intimacy was always His heart’s desire. However, through the New Covenant, we have been cleansed, transformed so that we can now enjoy the relationship with Him that He always craved. Through the cross, we can all be lovers of God and experience Him in all of His fulness.