Except for Christ, no human being has ever directly heard the actual voice of the Father or seen His form and shape (John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46; 1 John 4:12). So the YHWH, the I AM, the Word, who later became Jesus Christ, was the One who dealt directly with human beings in Old Testament times. Christ later died for our sins and became the ultimate mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), a role He had already partially fulfilled as the preexistent Word before His human birth.
So the Word was indeed the God of the Old Testament—and yet the Father fulfilled this role in a very real sense as well. For Christ dealt with mankind on the Father’s behalf as His Spokesman (compare John 8:28; 12:49-50). Moreover, in many passages in the Old Testament it can be difficult to separate these two great personages, whereas the New Testament is usually clear in this respect.
Of course, since Jesus came to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27), the logical conclusion is that the Father was not generally known by those in Old Testament times except for a few of the Hebrew patriarchs and prophets. King David, for example, is one who understood (Acts 2:30).
Partially quoted earlier, Hebrews 1:1-2 states: “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His [or 'a'] Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”
In this opening passage of the book of Hebrews the clear implication is that the Father is the moving force behind the whole Old Testament. In context, verse 2 interprets verse 1. Though God the Father is the prime mover behind the Hebrew Bible, it is through Jesus Christ that He created the entire universe.
Also, the vital principle of the Bible interpreting the Bible helps us to understand the intent of Hebrews 1:1 in the light of other scriptures. Since God made the worlds through Christ and created all things by Him (Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; John 1:3), He dealt with man through the agency of the preexistent Word, Christ.
Tags: Bible, Christ, Christianity, God, Religion
