83. The Law Giver, the Fulfillment of The Law

Exodus 20:1-20, Matthew 5:17-20

Key Verse: "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished."

Matthew 5:18

More than fifteen hundred years before, on Mount Sinai, the creator of all things gave ten simple laws to one man He could relate to. He trusted this man to teach the others of the nation of Israel what he would learn. These laws were basic. They taught the people of Israel how to relate to God the creator, and to each other.

For much of the history of Israel, the people did not take these laws seriously. They disobeyed and ran away from the life that God had intended them to live. As a result, God had to punish the people by destroying their homeland and sending them into exile, in Babylon, to learn their lesson.

After seventy years, the people of Israel returned home from Babylon. They had learned their lesson well. Some might say, perhaps too well. The priests and Levites became students of the law, creating more laws, creating a "hedge around the original law," to insure that the people would keep the ten basic laws, assuring that the people would not be punished so severely again. The original law became obscured by the many extra laws that man put in place for protection. Some became proud of how well they could keep the law. Others became burdened and discouraged, accepting the fact that they were hopeless sinners, doomed to fail, with no hope of relief in sight.

Now, the creator of all things is once again facing men that He believes that He can relate to. Now, for them, He will trim the hedge to reveal the original law, and help them understand the heart behind the Giver. In some ways, God's law is harder to fulfill, but Jesus, who is the law giver and the creator of all things, shows His law's original intent. Just as the law of gravity cannot pass away as long as there is an earth and heaven, these rules of relationship cannot change. They are the basics of how we are to relate to God and man. In following them, there is true joy and there are consequences when they are not obeyed. This law is His basic instructions on how to live.  Or, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  BIBLE  Now, He sets the example of how they are to be fulfilled. Why would He break His own law when He knows these are the best guidelines he could give us for how to become Holy.

We sinners devalue the law. We don't take it seriously or think it doesn't really mean what it says. When we ignore or break the law we make excuses, or possibly don't even realize we have done so, just like the people of Israel before they went into exile. Jesus, however, takes the law seriously. If we are a follower of Him, shouldn't we do likewise?

Hymn: "The Law of the Lord is Perfect"