I think many people see God as a God of judgment, that inflicts pain on people, and He is just a God of suffering and misery.  My guess would be that it is because many people have grown up in, and are currently very heavily exposed to an environment that may preach mostly from the Old Covenant, or from the Old Testament,  and how God related to people under the Mosaic Law, and the covenant He had with Israel. 

Under that covenant, God related to mankind through their performance, and if they obeyed all of God’s commands, then He would bless them, but if they broke the tiniest of laws, such as gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, then they were cursed.  Judgment was brought on them, and they had to pay with their lives.  They were not disciplined, they were punished and destroyed.  Meaning God didn’t give them a chance to learn to do better, He killed them.  They had to pay for their sins with their own lives. 

Now, God did make a way for blood to be shed for the remission of sins by allowing them to bring animal sacrifices to the High Priest. But first they had to have a repentant heart, and those sacrifices had to be done repeatedly.

Why did God relate to the people this way?  I don’t believe that was ever God’s plan.  But the Israelite people were arrogant, and told God they could do anything that He asked of them.  Or in other words they believed they were inherently good and they could keep any law that God gave to them.  God needed to humble them and show them, that without His mercy and grace, they didn’t deserve anything good.  If we try to earn God’s blessings through our works, then we won’t get too many blessings, because God’s standards for holiness are far too high for us to reach.  That is precisely why we needed a Savior.  We can never be good enough or holy enough to be in God’s presence without our sins being cleansed and washed away.

The Mosaic Law was given in order for us to see how sinful we are, because if we think we are good in and of ourselves, we will never understand our need for grace, mercy, or a Savior.  God was demonstating to the human race what life would be like without His mercy, or His grace.  

God knew we could never keep all of his laws. That’s why Jesus was went to fulfill the Mosaic Law for us, on our behalf.  Jesus said that no jot or tittle of the law would ever pass away, until the fulfilment of it was complete.  But Jesus was able to fulfill it for us.  He fulfilled it completely not only in His actions, but also in His thought life.  Humans may have been able to keep parts of it outwardly, by not committing wrong actions, but Jesus was able to keep it on the inside as well.  He didn’t have dirty thoughts or lusts, or hate people in his heart like we do.  So Jesus was able to fulfill every jot and every tittle of the Mosaic Law.  That law that was against us, was nailed to the cross. 

Just before Jesus died, “He said, ‘it is finished!’” He was referring to the fulfilling the Mosaic Law.  It had been complete, and when Jesus died, there was a great earthquake, and the veil in the temple was torn.  The veil separated the Holy of Holies in the temple from the Holy place.  The veil was there because it was a sacred place, that only the High priest could enter. Only the High Priest had access to God, and no one else.  But once the veil was torn, it signified that all of mankind can now go boldly to God’s throne of grace.  So not only do we now have access to God, but we can go to Him with boldness, and enter into His grace.  We don't need to be afriad of Him.

We no longer have to go through a human high priest, because Jesus is now our High Priest that sits on the throne and prays for us continually.

Jesus and His ministry on the earth were the express image of who God is, and how much He loves us.  Jesus is the express image of how God wanted to relate to mankind.  Jesus healed all that came to Him and asked for healing.  Jesus fed the multitudes.  People thronged Jesus everywhere He went, because abundance and blessing flowed from Him. 

God is not evil, He is good.  He did express and pour out his wrath and anger in the Old  Testament, because God is a holy God, and sin had to be destroyed.  But when Jesus came to the earth, God poured out His wrath on Jesus on our behalf, and now he has peace with the human race.  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good will towards men. 

Under the New Covenant God deals with mankind differently.  Our sins were paid for, and Jesus took all the curses of sin for us.  He is no longer pouring out His wrath on sin, because he poured it all out on Jesus. 

God is a God of abundance and blessing.  You paint Him as a God of cursing and pain.  If that is who God is to you, then why do you want to worship Him.  I can understand being afraid of Him, and wanting to please Him solely so He doesn’t inflict you with curses and pain, but why would you ever be in love with a God that causes every hurt and pain you experience in your life?  That makes no sense to me.  At any rate, I really hope that I can let this go now and stop having these conversations in my head, and feeling angry about it all the time. 

Jesus took all the curses of sickness, pain, and tragedy, and everything that was unleashed through sin.  He took our sin, and gave us His righteousness.  He took our sickness, and gave us His health.  He took our poverty and gave us His wealth. 

We have been reconciled to God through Jesus sacrifice.  God wants us all blessed, healthy, and prosperous.  It is Satan that came to steel, ,kill, and destroy.  God is not the thief.  Satan is.  But Jesus gave us power and authority over Satan so we can live a victorious life.  Not a life of pain, suffering, and defeat.  But a life of health, happiness, and abundance. 

Thanks for listening.