I'm trying to read the Bible and as I was reading, this question popped into my head. Is the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament the same God? Or are they different?
Edit: And could you please state how?
SearchingForGod,
Definitely, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is the same God of the Greek Scriptures. This can easily be understood by the things in Jesus life.
All through the Hebrew Scriptures Jesus is spoken of as coming, about his birth and many things he would do, to fulfill the Law Covenant and replace it with the New Covenant, Isaiah 9:6,7, 11:1-9, Isaiah,chapter 53, Matthew 1:1-25 tells us the geneology of Jesus, his birth.
Here is where a problem shows up. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Personal name, or Proper name of God was recorded almost 7,000 times. God's Personal name or Proper name, as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures was YHWH, or JHVH, as can be seen in many Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. These letters, called The Tetragrammaton, are Pronounced Jehovah, in English.
The problem comes because the Greek translators did not use God's personal name,because, by that time, because of a superstitious belief of the Jews, that it was wrong for an imperfect person to say God's name, they started using the Titles God or Lord instead of God's Proper Name. This causes a real problem even today, because sometimes, it is hard to tell if the writers were speaking about God or Jesus. There are many places where the Greek Bible translators quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures where God's personal name was used, but they still translated the Titles God or Lord.
When Jesus was born, The God of the Hebrew Bible sent Gabriel, a special Angel messenger to let Mary, his mother know what was to happen. Then, when Jesus was baptized God, Jehovah spoke from heaven about His son, Matthew 3:16,17.
When Jesus was praying to his Heavenly Father, at John 17:3, Jesus said that it means our Everlasting life to come to Know, the Only True God,and the one He sent, Jesus Christ.
These Scriptures show that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is the same as the God in the Christian Greek Scriptures.