2004-11-26
Good Morning Dear Readers,
Each of us is precious to God; after all, we were created in His image. That’s why God wants us to be brought back to Him, and He accomplishes this through our willingness to repent and come to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. But, that’s not all He does. He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit [JN 14: 15-17], so that we have a Source for His direction throughout our earthly lives and a transformed heart which is open to it. He deemed us acceptable to Him [RO 4: 23-25], justified, us at the time we came to faith. At present and throughout our earthly lives, He is sanctifying us [chipping away at our sinfulness and perfecting us in preparation for the time when He will call us home to Him]. Because of the promise of RO 8: 29, we have the hope that we will be resurrected, at that time given a “resurrection body” [1 COR 15: 42-50], and that Christ’s main purpose, as stated in JN 6: 39-40, will be fulfilled. We will be glorified, i.e. brought to the Father’s side in heaven for a life of eternal bliss and fellowship with Him [ 1 THESS 4: 13-17]. All of this is possible because of the unselfish and courageously obedient sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross!
Having said all of that, and it’s worth your time to ponder over, I can continue writing about Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law [RO 4: 10]. JN 1: 1-4 clarifies any confusion that there might be about Christ being the Word and about His pre-earth existence, His relationship to God, His involvement in the creation of the earth and all that is on it, and His ability to bring God’s light to mankind. While I don’t always capitalize “word,” when it’s used in the context of God’s word, it’s all about Jesus-as I understand it. With this in mind, we can go back to PS 119: 105, “The word is a lamp unto my feet, a light for my path,” you will know in my mind, I’m reading about Jesus-even though His name isn’t used in the OT. I know that the Psalmist was thinking about the Torah [first five books of Moses] when he wrote PS 119: 1, “Blessed are those whose lives are faultless, who live according to the law of the Lord.” I know this was really all about Jesus and His teaching. We must ask if PS 119: 93 doesn’t have more meaning to us when thought of in this context. “I will never forget Thy precepts: for with them Thou has quickened me.” God’s law, His Son, His light, being alive in the Spirit’s teaching on God’s laws, and all these things center on Jesus Christ. And that’s another way He fulfills the law.
As a Messianic Jew who grew up observing Passover with special ritual meals called seders to make us remember the story of the exodus of our people from slavery in Egypt, one passage in the NT is particularly precious to me. It’s 1 COR 5: 6-8, “It’s not right for you to be proud! You know the saying, ‘A little bit of yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.’ You must remove the old yeast of sin so that you will be entirely pure. Then you will be like a new batch of dough without any yeast, as indeed I know you actually are. For our Passover Festival is ready, now that Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us celebrate our Passover, then, not with the bread having the old yeast of sin and wickedness, but with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of purity and truth.” When we put this in the context of Christ being the fulfillment of the law, we can see another reason why belief and faithful obedience to Him is so vital to us.
The birth of Christ at the beginning of His earthly incarnation is no accident. It had been prophesied long before in the OT. Look at IS 7: 14 and 9: 6, “Well then, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name Him ‘Immanuel’ [which means ‘God is With Us’]…Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called ‘Wonderful,’ ‘Counselor,’ the ‘Mighty God,’ the ‘Everlasting Father,’ the ‘Prince of Peace.’” Can there be any question about Whom Isaiah is speaking? How can we miss the events of Christ’s life in the story of the Suffering Servant in IS 53: 1-12? And yes, Isaiah wrote 700 years before Christ’s birth! How can we miss about Whom Micah was speaking in MICAH 5: 2? “The Lord says, ‘Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a Ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.’” MT 1: 23 gives us the birth of the One Who fulfills the law.
My experience is that the more I mine God’s truth from the Scriptures, the stronger is my belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah for Whom my traditionally Jewish family and friends are still searching. Since the Gospel is “for the Jew first and also for the Gentile” [RO 1: 16], then the reasons for having strong, abiding faith in Him is for all of us. God isn’t only working to transform Jewish hearts; He’s at work on all hearts. My reason for spending time on why Christ is the fulfillment of the law is to cause each of us to examine God at work in our lives. We need to see how He is making changes in us both personally and corporately in our congregations. If we can’t see these changes, it might mean we aren’t really looking for them or we may even be allowing the sin in us to block or retard them. Self examination without guilt is God’s will. He wants what is best for each of us, and we need to do our part in cooperating with Him to bring that about.
PRAYER: O Lord, on the day that Christ died on the cross, the Passover lamb for the nation of Israel was also sacrificed. This was no random coincidence. The eyes of mankind for the most part were closed to the significance of Christ’s death or even to His true identity. This must have brought You great disappointment, but You always knew that You would eventually chip away at the deceitful, disobedient heart of some of Your human creation and bring them to salvation. Your word, Your laws, Your light, and eternal life with You are forever tied to Your Son and our faith in Him. You reveal Yourself to us in so many ways, if only we will give You the opportunity to do that by opening our hearts to Him. Today, we stand before Your throne to confess that we don’t always do that. Often we are lax about spending daily time with the Scriptures. Repeatedly, we forget to seek You first. Over and over again, we forget to acknowledge Your marvelous attributes and compassionate deeds. How many times, Dear Lord, have we avoided the lessons You have for us through the circumstances of our lives? So, the question arises: Despite our imperfections, can we honestly profess our desire to change all of this? You are a God of patience and want our cooperation in Your God-sized task of transforming our hearts. With heads bowed in reverence to you, we humbly dedicate ourselves to being better covenant partners with You. We beseech You for Your direction and Your help. As we mature in our faith, You open our eyes and ears to the fact of Your constant love and presence in our lives. Once again in humility, we proclaim our faith in Your Son and offer You praise and thanks for all that You are and all that You do in our lives. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
The issue of Christ being the fulfillment of the law is so important that the Holy Spirit is prompting me to write more about it next week. This issue is personal to every believer. It is an answer to prophecy, a truth which people of faith must appreciate, and a source of real comfort for us. Christ said in JN 8: 31-32, “If you obey My teaching, you are really My disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Freedom from guilt, from being slaves to sin, from being miserable, from feeling hopeless, from being separated from the only real Source of goodness and love, and from certain spiritual death are only a few of the ways that faith in Christ sets us free. Knowing that we have been deemed acceptable to our Creator, that we have His loving arms around us even when we are suffering, and being able to look forward to an eternal future so wonderful that we can’t comprehend it are only a few of the blessings believers have from making the decision to say, “yes,” to Christ. The list is endless. Remember the metaphor in Pastor Bruce Wilkinson’s book, The Prayer of Jabez, where the heavenly guide opens the door to a warehouse with shelves filled with white packages wrapped in red ribbon? He goes on to explain that each package is a blessing which God is eager to give to His people that His people have not yet requested. Our Lord loves us so much that he eagerly awaits the day when we will spend daily time in the Scriptures and have an active prayer life with Him. He knows what we need. Now the question is: Do we? Our God loves us more than any of us can ever imagine.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn