The Commandments Equal God With Us
A reading for Thursday, November 12, 2015: Deuteronomy 6:1-5.
The commandments were a gift to God's people as they crossed from the wilderness into the Promised Land. Sometimes New Testament people like us think the law is outdated, a legalistic way of being God's people that has no relevance to their lives. That was then but this is now. But this is to miss the point... more it is to miss the blessing of the commandments and the law.
The commandments or the law was the presence of God in the midst of the people. It was almost incarnational in that when the law was kept and observed, God dwelt in the midst of the people. So that children would know of God and follow. So that other nations would know of God. The commandments were the way to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" with actions and not merely with words. We are surely not the first people to believe God is with us.
So what about the commandments for us today? Jesus said he was the fulfillment of the law. Matthew 5:18 says, "Not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." Jesus was an observer of the commandments and law, in perfect fulfillment. Jesus was the incarnation of the law. He kept the law so that children would know of God and follow. So that other nations would know. God with us is still what Jesus Christ of Nazareth came to do.
So as disciples of Jesus, we follow the commandments and the law too. We trust in them for a way of life. We want to know them in order that children might know and follow. In order that others might know. The commandments are still a gift to God's people as we cross from the wilderness of our lives into the Promised Land.
Thanks be to God for the blessing of the commandments and the law. God is with us!
The commandments were a gift to God's people as they crossed from the wilderness into the Promised Land. Sometimes New Testament people like us think the law is outdated, a legalistic way of being God's people that has no relevance to their lives. That was then but this is now. But this is to miss the point... more it is to miss the blessing of the commandments and the law.
The commandments or the law was the presence of God in the midst of the people. It was almost incarnational in that when the law was kept and observed, God dwelt in the midst of the people. So that children would know of God and follow. So that other nations would know of God. The commandments were the way to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" with actions and not merely with words. We are surely not the first people to believe God is with us.
So what about the commandments for us today? Jesus said he was the fulfillment of the law. Matthew 5:18 says, "Not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." Jesus was an observer of the commandments and law, in perfect fulfillment. Jesus was the incarnation of the law. He kept the law so that children would know of God and follow. So that other nations would know. God with us is still what Jesus Christ of Nazareth came to do.
So as disciples of Jesus, we follow the commandments and the law too. We trust in them for a way of life. We want to know them in order that children might know and follow. In order that others might know. The commandments are still a gift to God's people as we cross from the wilderness of our lives into the Promised Land.
Thanks be to God for the blessing of the commandments and the law. God is with us!
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