Who speaks for God?
Jul 26, 2011
The Race for Grace - part nine in a study from the book of Galatians
By Mike Gaudet
Who speaks for God?
“The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.” Galatians 3:19-20
The person to whom God gives “His Name” is given the authority to represent Him.
Prior to the cross of Christ, angels bore God’s name and were vested with authority to be God’s messengers. “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.” Exodus 23:20
Angels are credited with communicating Old Covenant Law to the children of Israel through Moses. “The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.” Angels were also responsible to protect the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings. “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”
Though God chose angels to represent Him, He never intended for their representation to be permanent. “It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come.” Hebrews 2:5 Angels were given an interim role. God’s intent was always that the responsibility to represent Him would be transferred from angels to His Son.
The cross of Christ represents the dividing point in divine administrations. On this side of the cross, Jesus Christ bears God’s name and is vested with authority to be God’s messenger. “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:8-11
Have you ever wondered why God seems to be angry and unforgiving in the Old Testament of the Bible but so loving and forgiving in the New Testament?
The reason that God seems to change in the Bible is that we are looking at Him through different eyes. In the Old Testament angels bear God’s name . . . we see God reflected through the eyes of angels. They know God as master. This is why their depiction of Him is distant and severe.
In the New Testament Jesus Christ bears God’s name . . . we see God reflected through the eyes of God’s Son. He knows God as Father. This is why His depiction of Him is intimate and familiar.
Who speaks for God? Jesus Christ accurately and authoritatively reveals God. Angels cannot clearly reveal a God they can only know from a distance.
Jesus is often characterized as a mediator who stands between a holy God and sinful man. When two parties are at odds with each other a mediator brokers a settlement acceptable to both parties. Naturally this mediator “does not represent just one party.” He or she must represent the wishes of both parties.
Moses serves as a mediator in the Old Testament. He repeatedly stands between angels who put the law into effect and the children of Israel who repeatedly violated it.
Jesus cannot be the same kind of mediator that Moses was though. Jesus cannot be a neutral third party because Jesus is God and “God is one.”
Many believe that God the Father punished Jesus on the cross for the sin of mankind. The problem with this view is that it dismisses the unity of God. God the Father and Jesus the Son are one. God cannot punish Himself.
What happened on the cross then? God the Father sent His Son into the world to repeal the Old Covenant and replace it with the New Covenant. “This is the New Covenant in my blood.” Luke 22:20 The blood Jesus shed establishes a New Covenant in which God decrees, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12
What does this mean for us?
In the Old Testament God’s angels speak for Him.
In the New Testament God’s Son speaks for Him.
God does not change in the Bible, but . . .
. . . His spokespersons do.