The enduring, endearing Law of God
Unchangeable, written in stone, unarguable—don’t even bother to try. The Law declares, “You did wrong! Don’t fight! Back down!” Backing down does a human nature good. It’s just what we need. It saves us the energy of a losing battle. For our sakes, the Law was made to come on strong, impenetrable, indomitable.
The whole world stands guilty—every mouth is stopped. It speaks of your evil deeds and words and mine, because God sees everything we do and say. The Law is also spiritual, and speaks of our thoughts and intentions because God know our thoughts “afar off” (Ps. 139:1-4)
So, in the Law that God wrote with His own finger, all this firmness we see was only for our blessing. The fallen nature of man is firmly set to do evil. Man’s nature defies righteousness. Self will protect itself against all intruders, including the Creator of righteousness. The sinful heart will fight tooth and nail, even conniving and secretly navigating its way to perpetual preservation.
Thus, the sinful heart needs something bigger and more powerful than it is in order to overcome it. We find that “something bigger” in the Law, our Father’s Law. No Israelite could fail to see the strength God imputed to His Law. They all knew it was encased in perpetual stone, the words etched in that which there is nothing harder and more enduring.
Was the Law a new thing at Sinai? No, Paul writes that it existed since Adam, as it could be manifested in the results of transgressing it—manifested in the death of the transgressors. Rom. 5:13,14.
Alone, the Law of God builds in our rebel hearts only wrath and stubborn resistance. Thus, the need for the animal sacrifice to reconcile man to God by faith through the work of the Holy Spirit revealing God’s gracious mercy. Standing alongside of God’s grace, the Law had a power to convert and save.
The contrite heart needed the unbendable nature of the Law of the Lord to stop the sinner in his tracks, for him to perceive his guilt, and say, “Akk! You are watching me!” That is the first light brought in to the darkened soul; then the atonement was provided to reveal a Father’s willingness to receive again.
An unbreakable Law was then enshrined in a broken and humbled heart. It was a heavenly Father’s Law who had spoken from Sinai in thunder and lightning, causing fear and trembling, force-feeding humility; who had condescended to do for man what he could never have done for himself. It was a personal, precious Law of ten commands, though hidden away in its holy ark, yet still His own making and writing, a precious Fatherly gift from Him to them, from Him to us.
The whole world stands guilty—every mouth is stopped. It speaks of your evil deeds and words and mine, because God sees everything we do and say. The Law is also spiritual, and speaks of our thoughts and intentions because God know our thoughts “afar off” (Ps. 139:1-4)
So, in the Law that God wrote with His own finger, all this firmness we see was only for our blessing. The fallen nature of man is firmly set to do evil. Man’s nature defies righteousness. Self will protect itself against all intruders, including the Creator of righteousness. The sinful heart will fight tooth and nail, even conniving and secretly navigating its way to perpetual preservation.
Thus, the sinful heart needs something bigger and more powerful than it is in order to overcome it. We find that “something bigger” in the Law, our Father’s Law. No Israelite could fail to see the strength God imputed to His Law. They all knew it was encased in perpetual stone, the words etched in that which there is nothing harder and more enduring.
Was the Law a new thing at Sinai? No, Paul writes that it existed since Adam, as it could be manifested in the results of transgressing it—manifested in the death of the transgressors. Rom. 5:13,14.
Alone, the Law of God builds in our rebel hearts only wrath and stubborn resistance. Thus, the need for the animal sacrifice to reconcile man to God by faith through the work of the Holy Spirit revealing God’s gracious mercy. Standing alongside of God’s grace, the Law had a power to convert and save.
The contrite heart needed the unbendable nature of the Law of the Lord to stop the sinner in his tracks, for him to perceive his guilt, and say, “Akk! You are watching me!” That is the first light brought in to the darkened soul; then the atonement was provided to reveal a Father’s willingness to receive again.
An unbreakable Law was then enshrined in a broken and humbled heart. It was a heavenly Father’s Law who had spoken from Sinai in thunder and lightning, causing fear and trembling, force-feeding humility; who had condescended to do for man what he could never have done for himself. It was a personal, precious Law of ten commands, though hidden away in its holy ark, yet still His own making and writing, a precious Fatherly gift from Him to them, from Him to us.
posted by David | 6:17 PM
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