I love reading through the Law sprinkled in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The commands and prohibitions may be tedious to some, but I find them fascinating and illuminating. There are commands which impact all parts of the lives of God's people, from the clothes they wore to the food they ate. There were boundaries placed on their sex lives and how they should treat foreigners. The more I read the more it emphasises how God wanted to impact every aspect of life, for He dwelt among them. I am convinced God did not load His people with commands because He is a nitpicky, grousing, or sensitive Being who is easily offended. He gave them commands because without His guidance His people would bear no resemblance to God's holy and righteous character or practice whatsoever.
This is the place where the children of Israel lost the plot, thinking they could be made righteous through keeping a Law which could not save. The Law could only condemn. Through the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we understand that nothing is evil in itself, like wearing clothes of mixed fabrics or sowing different seeds together. Both circumcised and uncircumcised in flesh can be accepted by God through faith in Jesus Christ. God gave His people commands so that every part of their lives would be lived in acknowledgement of His Word and love for them as LORD and Saviour. Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. God's Law was an opportunity God provided His people to demonstrated their love for Him, for they were to love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and might. The Law of God was a revelation of God's righteousness to be responded to, not a means of obtaining eternal life. As it is written in John 1:17, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
When I read through the Law I realise there are areas of my life I do not naturally consider God. I do not necessarily think about God when I dress myself in the morning, during a meal, or when I meet a stranger. But as a child of the Living God who has filled me with the Holy Spirit, I can and should. I am no longer under the yoke of Law but under grace which requires far greater sacrifice and supernaturally assisted obedience. The scribes (sofer) who copied the Torah were required to know and observe about 4,000 laws concerning their conduct to properly handle God's Word, and the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus has baptised His followers with the Holy Spirit, and He helps, comforts, teaches, and guides us into all truth. As His purchased possession through the shed blood of Christ, God has the right to be included into every aspect of our lives even as in the day of Moses: what we eat, drink, what we say, do, and how and why we do so. The Law dealt with externals, and because Jesus has transformed our hearts His presence affects infinitely more.
As children of God's Kingdom, we should live our lives unto the LORD by the power of the Gospel, even as God made a distinction between the Jews and the surrounding nations in Leviticus 20:22-26, "You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. 24 But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine." Instead of having lives which resemble those who live in darkness, may the Light of the World shine bright through us as we walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit.
This is the place where the children of Israel lost the plot, thinking they could be made righteous through keeping a Law which could not save. The Law could only condemn. Through the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we understand that nothing is evil in itself, like wearing clothes of mixed fabrics or sowing different seeds together. Both circumcised and uncircumcised in flesh can be accepted by God through faith in Jesus Christ. God gave His people commands so that every part of their lives would be lived in acknowledgement of His Word and love for them as LORD and Saviour. Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. God's Law was an opportunity God provided His people to demonstrated their love for Him, for they were to love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and might. The Law of God was a revelation of God's righteousness to be responded to, not a means of obtaining eternal life. As it is written in John 1:17, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
When I read through the Law I realise there are areas of my life I do not naturally consider God. I do not necessarily think about God when I dress myself in the morning, during a meal, or when I meet a stranger. But as a child of the Living God who has filled me with the Holy Spirit, I can and should. I am no longer under the yoke of Law but under grace which requires far greater sacrifice and supernaturally assisted obedience. The scribes (sofer) who copied the Torah were required to know and observe about 4,000 laws concerning their conduct to properly handle God's Word, and the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus has baptised His followers with the Holy Spirit, and He helps, comforts, teaches, and guides us into all truth. As His purchased possession through the shed blood of Christ, God has the right to be included into every aspect of our lives even as in the day of Moses: what we eat, drink, what we say, do, and how and why we do so. The Law dealt with externals, and because Jesus has transformed our hearts His presence affects infinitely more.
As children of God's Kingdom, we should live our lives unto the LORD by the power of the Gospel, even as God made a distinction between the Jews and the surrounding nations in Leviticus 20:22-26, "You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. 24 But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine." Instead of having lives which resemble those who live in darkness, may the Light of the World shine bright through us as we walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment
To uphold the integrity of this site, no comments with links for advertising will be posted. No ads here! :)