Day 9 The Law
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5
“And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: ‘Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.’”
Matthew 22:35-40
Love God and Love People. There are 613 commands in the Mosaic Covenant, and they all boil down to this.
Love God and Love People. Sounds simple, so simple my 3 year old daughter can understand it. Doing it on the other hand? That’s the real problem, one that both Shiloh and I share.
Love God, love people so simple but I can’t do it. Because I love me more, in fact, I love me most. God’s law is righteous, good, pure, and holy. Problem is I am not. None of us are.
Since the rebellion of our first parents, we have all been born dead in sin. We were created to live in perfect fellowship with God and with one another, but sin has ruined us. Sin has transformed our hearts into blackholes. Instead of beings who are focused upwards and outwards. We are consumed with self. Bent inward, obsessed with our own elevation. Is the law the problem?
“Did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, in order to be recognised as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.”
Romans 7:13
Sin has left me both unwilling and unable to obey God’s law. All I will ever find in the law, is death and judgement. It exposes me as the ruined mess of a sinner that I am. The law screams at me that I need a saviour.
Thankfully that’s what Christmas is all about.
“When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
Galatians 4:4-5
God sent His Son. Jesus, came to do for us, what we are unable to do for ourselves. He loved the Lord with His heart, soul, mind and strength. For every second of every day. He loved His Neighbour perfectly. He lived the life we have not lived the perfect life that God requires providing us with the righteousness we do not have.
Then He went to the cross and there He took upon Himself the sin of His people and the just wrath of God that we deserve for our rebellion. He died in our place paying the price we could not pay. He redeemed us. Finally He was raised for our justification. He conquered the grave and because of His life death and resurrection we can be declared righteous through faith in Jesus.
I’ll give Martin Luther the last word:
“The Law is a mirror to show a person what he is like, a sinner who is guilty of death, and worthy of everlasting punishment. What is this bruising and beating by the hand of the Law to accomplish? This, that we may find the way to grace. The Law is an usher to lead the way to grace. God is the God of the humble, the miserable, the afflicted. . . . When the Law drives you to the point of despair, let it drive you a little farther, let it drive you straight into the arms of Jesus who says: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’”
Written by Andrew Mathieson.
A Thought to Remember: Let the law drive you into the arms of Jesus. A Bit More to Read: Deuteronomy 6, Exodus 20, Galatians 3:10-14 A Question to Ask: Am I trusting in Jesus or myself for righteousness? A Song to Sing: Jesus Paid it All A Picture for the kids: 2 Tablets