God,
the Lawgiver
By
Stephen Terry
Sabbath
School Lesson Commentary for February 4 – 10, 2012
“The
LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to
hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.” Psalm
102, 19-20, NIV
When we speak of the law as it relates to God, we usually
mean what was given on Mount Sinai to Moses. While the mountain was shrouded
with clouds and crowned with thunder and lightning, Moses went up and remained
there for several weeks and then returned with stone tablets containing the Ten
Commandments. (See Exodus 20) The narrative surrounding this event leads us to believe
that if the Israelites would observe these ten commands then all would be well
with them.
Many refer to this arrangement as the old covenant
relationship between God and His people. Those who do so usually contrast it
against a new covenant relationship established by Jesus. They also tend to see
this covenant relationship as contractual. In other words, we do something and
God then must fulfill His part of the contract. This presupposes of course that
God can be bound to a contract. While that is an interesting thought, it would
certainly diminish the idea of deity if man could bind Him in such a way.
It seems strange that Christians would relate to God
like that. This is more what would be expected by those who summon demons. They
believe that if they use a ritual exactly as prescribed, they can summon the
presence of demonic beings; they also believe that the correctly performed
ritual will bind that demon to be under their control and perform what they
ask. Is this what is meant by obedience to the law? Are we seeking to bind God
to save us from sin? We cannot bind God to what He has already promised.
While the Ten Commandments and the Mount Sinai
experience is often referred to as the giving of God’s law and is seen as the
beginning of God’s covenant with His people, it is not, not even for the Israelites
leaving Egypt. That covenant was established not at Sinai but with the
Passover. While they were still in Egypt, the people were presented with a
choice. If they trusted in the blood of the slain paschal lamb, they would find
salvation and life, if not, death would come.
This was the same choice presented to Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden. Find sanctuary in God’s Word and live, or reject it and
begin to die. We know the choice made between the Word which warned them from
the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and their desire for its fruit. Why is
there a common link between this and Passover? Jesus is referred to as the Word
in John, chapter 1, and as the Lamb of God in Revelation 5, which represents
that Lamb as having been slain. The slain Passover lamb provided the blood life
for the Israelites who trusted in it, just as one day, the blood of Jesus, the
Word and the Lamb, slain on the cross would provide life for those who trust in
it.
The law cannot save us. Instead, it tells us that the
blood of the Lamb of the true Passover can. Sinai tells us of death in the same
way God warned of the Angel of Death about to pass over Egypt. Because of that
promise of death, we see in stark contrast the promise of life in the sacrifice
of the Lamb. As it was then, so it is
now. The choice to be made is between life and death. These are the only two
options. No middle ground, no grey area exists as a third option. Since there
is no other option, then the law if it cannot save can only produce death.
So why was the law given if it could only slay us? For
the same reason the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was placed in the Garden
of Eden. Without a choice there could be no free will. Free will is important
because it is impossible to truly love without it. You could program a computer
to say “I love you,” over and over again, but the words would be without
meaning because the computer has no ability to choose to love you. It only does
what it is programmed to do.
But do we have a free choice if death is the only other
option? We ask this because we fear death. We see it as a terror to be avoided
at all costs. Death is often seen as the bogeyman when we are young. We are
enjoying life and the last thing we want to see appear at our door is Death.
The farther we can push him from our minds, the happier we are. Yet, those who
are older and have begun to experience the ravages of the consequences of sin,
the diseases, the disabilities, the weakening of our strength, the loss of
mental acuity do not see death with the same foreboding as the young. Instead,
they see a rest from the weariness of life in a sin cursed world. To these,
death can be a blessing more than a curse. Perhaps it is for this reason that
as sin became more pervasive on the earth, the life spans of men shortened.
God does not want us to end this way. He offers life,
not death. Even in this life He offers more abundance. Jesus said, “…I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly,” John
10:10, KJV He wants us to enjoy all the
blessings of life. He withholds nothing that is for our good. “And God said,
Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all
the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;
to you it shall be for meat.” Genesis 1:29, KJV Out of the vast store of nature
only the fruit of one tree was withheld because it would bring death. Because of
that one tree, the Devil would have us believe that loving God involves great
sacrifice and is not worth what we would lose, but it is a lie.
To choose that one tree was man’s downfall and its
results are echoing in our poor choices today. No matter how big our field is
and how small it is over there, we continue to yearn for the green grass just
over the fence. We have a nice house but we are not happy because we think a
different one would be better. We see what we think is a better car on TV that
would make us happier than the one we have.
This yearning doesn’t end there. We carry it into our
personal relationships as well. Some bounce from one relationship to another,
never happy with the one they have, believing that the next one could produce
that elusive perfect happiness we crave. This is why we are condemned by law
and not saved by it. We crave what we can never obtain, and we hurt others to do
it. We hurt our relationship of trust with God. We hurt other people who have
placed their trust in us. We also hurt ourselves as we forsake the very things
meant by God to give us happiness.
Jesus told us what the law requires. “…Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength
and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27,
NIV If we feel that we have a better
option for our lives than God, that is little different than feeling we have a
better option for our spouse. Neither is a loving thing to think. Neither will
produce the fruit we expect. Unlike those things that God has blessed us with
for abundant life, these things carry a taint of death. The Bible is a
continual warning about this. Even in the book of Proverbs it is repeated
twice: “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to
death.” Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25, NIV
So if we start being more loving, we will be saved? It
is not that simple. We have chosen not to do the loving thing for so long that
we cannot even understand how to love. That is why the law of love cannot save
us but only condemn us. It shows us how far from loving we really are. But that
does not mean it is hopeless. Just as God provided us everything for our good in
the beginning, He will do so now. When we come to Him and ask to be cleansed of
all our unloveliness by the blood of the Paschal Lamb, to be covered by Jesus,
God will begin to work in our lives to restore us and renew us in the image of
love. He does this through the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. When we come
to Him, we receive that Holy Spirit. Peter shared this when he was asked how to
be saved. He said “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38, NIV
In the Garden of Eden man was able to choose between
life and death. That same choice is being offered to us. We can pursue
something that we think we must have but God has told us is not good for us, or
we can choose to sacrifice our cherished self-interest for the interest of
others. That is the way of love. It is also the way of life.
This Commentary is a Service of Still
Waters Ministry
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