On this last Sunday in the Easter Season we get a Catechetical Lesson in the True Nature of God. Theology is the study of the nature of God and God's relationship with Man and the rest of his creation. So let us look at that relationship.
In the Old Testament Paradigm God was a God of Law who expected obedience. Obedience was rewarded and disobedience, sin, was punished. The Law of Moses summarized in the Ten Commandments was interpreted and expounded upon by Talmudic Scholars until the codex totaled nearly 1000 closely packed pages. God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob whose relationship with his people Israel was epitomized by his mighty acts in bringing them out of bondage in Egypt. This formula is repeated over and over in prophetic writings. In this modality it was important to be seen to do the right thing.
The paradigm shift in the Good News or Gospel is the fact that God cared so much that he became man to demonstrate that it is not sufficient that we be seen to obey the law but more important that we mean to obey it. We do this by responding in love to a God who loves us and in our loving relationships with our fellow man and the universe we inhabit. Our motivations become as important as our acts themselves. In effect God doesn't punish sin; by our sinful acts we drive a wedge between ourselves and our God and each other and that separation from the love of God is in effect its own punishment. This concept was so threatening to the Jewish authorities and Roman rulers of the day that this God-man Jesus was crucified on the cross. Allowing himself to be so-treated was interpreted as a supreme demonstration of God's love for his people hence the cross has become a symbol of God's love.
To summarize the Old Testament paradigm treated God's people as immature children who were punished whenever they didn't obey. The Gospel says that as mature adults we are capable of internalizing God's Law so that we act out of love rather than fear of being punished for disobedience. Too often church hierarchies have lost sight of God's love and reverted to fearing a God of vengeance and punishment.
Today's lessons talk about Jesus' relationship to the Law and the Prophets, the validity of his life and ministry and our part in keeping the message going.
If a man love me he will keep my word, he will keep my word. And my father will love him, and my father will love him and make his home in him and make his home in him. Joh_14:23.
In the Old Testament Paradigm God was a God of Law who expected obedience. Obedience was rewarded and disobedience, sin, was punished. The Law of Moses summarized in the Ten Commandments was interpreted and expounded upon by Talmudic Scholars until the codex totaled nearly 1000 closely packed pages. God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob whose relationship with his people Israel was epitomized by his mighty acts in bringing them out of bondage in Egypt. This formula is repeated over and over in prophetic writings. In this modality it was important to be seen to do the right thing.
The paradigm shift in the Good News or Gospel is the fact that God cared so much that he became man to demonstrate that it is not sufficient that we be seen to obey the law but more important that we mean to obey it. We do this by responding in love to a God who loves us and in our loving relationships with our fellow man and the universe we inhabit. Our motivations become as important as our acts themselves. In effect God doesn't punish sin; by our sinful acts we drive a wedge between ourselves and our God and each other and that separation from the love of God is in effect its own punishment. This concept was so threatening to the Jewish authorities and Roman rulers of the day that this God-man Jesus was crucified on the cross. Allowing himself to be so-treated was interpreted as a supreme demonstration of God's love for his people hence the cross has become a symbol of God's love.
To summarize the Old Testament paradigm treated God's people as immature children who were punished whenever they didn't obey. The Gospel says that as mature adults we are capable of internalizing God's Law so that we act out of love rather than fear of being punished for disobedience. Too often church hierarchies have lost sight of God's love and reverted to fearing a God of vengeance and punishment.
Today's lessons talk about Jesus' relationship to the Law and the Prophets, the validity of his life and ministry and our part in keeping the message going.
If a man love me he will keep my word, he will keep my word. And my father will love him, and my father will love him and make his home in him and make his home in him. Joh_14:23.
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