The Gift of the Law (Romans 9:4-5)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:09.269 Romans, nine versus four and five. They are Israelites and to them belong 2 00:00:09.509 --> 00:00:14.869 the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, 3 00:00:15.509 --> 00:00:20.949 the worship and the promises. To Them Belong the Patriarchs and from their way 4 00:00:21.149 --> 00:00:25.179 race, according to the Flesh, is the Christ, who is God over 5 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:49.729 all, blessed forever. Amen. You may be seated. When I was 6 00:00:49.810 --> 00:00:54.399 in high school, my orchestra that I was playing with had an opportunity to 7 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:59.320 go to Washington DC. It was the first trip that I had beyond, 8 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.759 I think, a short trip to California. I'm out of the state, 9 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.989 and it was really exciting, not the traveling and all of that, but 10 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:11.310 I was particularly excited about seeing the things that people often go to DC to 11 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:18.390 see, the memorials, the museums, the various monuments. When you go 12 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:23.099 and you see these things, you go and you look at these things to 13 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:29.900 remember something, to learn about some thing, to have impressed in your mind 14 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:38.170 and your heart various important things to us as Americans, things that tell us 15 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:42.170 something about who we are as a people. Maybe it's the sacrifices that soldiers 16 00:01:42.209 --> 00:01:48.400 have made, maybe it's certain presidents and things that they have done, certain 17 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:53.359 buildings which tell us about our form of government, all kinds of different things. 18 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:57.719 Well, many ways, what Paul is doing here in Romans nine, 19 00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:04.230 versus four and five is taking us on a tour of various monuments. He's 20 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:10.229 showing to us these important things in Israel's history that mark them as the people 21 00:02:10.349 --> 00:02:15.099 of God. These various things are similar and that they remind us of their 22 00:02:15.379 --> 00:02:22.099 special status and they remind us of who Israel is and, ultimately, who 23 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:27.659 we are as Abraham's children through faith in Christ. In this way we, 24 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:31.849 even though we are in some ways strangers in this land we are, of 25 00:02:31.930 --> 00:02:38.810 also become citizens as those who have been joined into Israel through Jesus. We 26 00:02:38.969 --> 00:02:44.680 have these monuments, as are monuments, they belong to us, they become 27 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:49.479 part of our history, and this is what Paul has been doing, and 28 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:54.159 we're on the fourth of these now of our tour in Israel. I'm first 29 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:00.669 he pointed us to the adoption in which we were minded, that God brought 30 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:07.069 this people to that himself, not just as a lord and Creator, but 31 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:12.710 as their father, as one who is going to make them his heirs, 32 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:17.139 was going to give them promises, give them gifts. Well, this adoption 33 00:03:17.620 --> 00:03:22.860 we saw also belong to it a glory, which was the second of these 34 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:29.530 monuments. God shows to his son, Israel, his own glory. He 35 00:03:29.729 --> 00:03:36.289 manifests himself and these marvelous and spectacular ways, he shows them his majesty, 36 00:03:36.490 --> 00:03:40.050 His power, has might, all of his perfections in this very glorious way. 37 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:46.520 This was accomplished, we saw, at the third monument, through a 38 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:53.800 series of covenants, all guaranteed and granted by His grace. And we saw 39 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:58.710 that these covenants began like a little stream in genesis three, after the fall, 40 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:03.270 and it expanded and expanded and grew and grew into a mighty river until 41 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:11.500 we reached the New Covenant Abraham, Moses, David and finally Jesus, that 42 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:15.819 God's promises, his the promises that came to them in adoption, the promises 43 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:21.139 of glory in Him, would accomplished through these relationships that he made with them. 44 00:04:24.019 --> 00:04:27.970 Well, today we come to the fourth of these. First to the 45 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:32.889 Israelites belong adoption. Then glory than the covenants, and today we consider the 46 00:04:33.009 --> 00:04:36.689 giving of the law. We drive up on our tour of us, we 47 00:04:36.769 --> 00:04:41.879 all walk out and we say, will tell us about this one. How 48 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.680 are we to understand the giving of the law to Israel. What difference does 49 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:54.670 that make for us? He has in mind particularly that, particularly this particular 50 00:04:54.709 --> 00:04:59.589 aspect of the Covenant of Grace Under Moses, when the people went to Mount 51 00:04:59.629 --> 00:05:04.750 Sinai after being brought out of Egypt, and God threat God threatened and promised 52 00:05:05.029 --> 00:05:12.500 great things in the giving of his law last night. If you were here 53 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:15.420 in Tucson I, I expect most of us were, I'm you saw the 54 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:23.569 lightning storm, didn't you? It was fantastic. More than one a second. 55 00:05:23.649 --> 00:05:27.970 You had multiple lightning strikes every moment. We weren't in the middle of 56 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:30.170 it, but we were watching it and we could see the light for I 57 00:05:30.250 --> 00:05:35.600 don't know, an hour or more, constantly flashing, constantly flashing. This 58 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:40.879 is something of what happened on Mount Sinai. The descriptions that are given in 59 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:47.399 the scripture describe this cloud DEC ending down on this mountain, with lightning striking 60 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:53.629 and things flashing and wins roaring. As God gave the law to his people. 61 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:58.709 We were telling our children it's not time to go outside right now, 62 00:05:59.470 --> 00:06:06.259 it's a dangerous time here. God manifested himself on this mountain, not just 63 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:11.779 in the lightning, but in his voice, in the giving of the law, 64 00:06:11.779 --> 00:06:16.459 all of these natural things to underscore the fact that he was giving them 65 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:20.810 to something, something to them, of great importance, and it had a 66 00:06:20.930 --> 00:06:29.569 certain amount of threat to it, but also blessings that were promised for obedience. 67 00:06:30.970 --> 00:06:35.560 What was this gift? Are we right to consider it as a gift 68 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:42.920 if it's so threatening? What were its purposes and how do we how are 69 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.720 we to think about it? This is what we want to consider today, 70 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:51.430 but first I want to clear away of an objection. How can the law 71 00:06:51.790 --> 00:06:57.110 be a gift when it's not good? What do I mean by this? 72 00:06:57.589 --> 00:07:02.180 Well, some people don't like the word law or rules. They're kind of 73 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:06.180 offensive. If you say I want to tell you about some new rules, 74 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:11.139 we sort of sometimes chafe at that. Some people chafe at that a law. 75 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:15.810 They view themselves as totally autonomous, as answerable to no one, and 76 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:23.209 so any talk about laws or rules is immediately offensive. The idea that somebody 77 00:07:23.209 --> 00:07:29.850 would give a gift of law doesn't really make a lot of sense to them, 78 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.040 because they don't like rules. They think it restricts their freedom. They 79 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:40.920 they push up against it. So to have this thesis that God gave these 80 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:44.790 laws to Israel, and this was a blessing and a gift. How can 81 00:07:44.870 --> 00:07:49.470 that be? Well, to not like rules in principle, to not like 82 00:07:49.750 --> 00:07:55.310 laws in principle, is kind of like a fish saying it doesn't like water, 83 00:07:55.350 --> 00:08:00.579 or like a hawk saying it doesn't like air currents. Saying this restricts 84 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:05.420 me to being a hawk or this restricts me to being a fish. That's, 85 00:08:05.459 --> 00:08:09.660 of course, silly. The principles of gravity and air pressure and water 86 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:16.250 and oxygen and Gills and all these kinds of things are the lifeblood. They 87 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:20.610 are the environment in which a fish lives, a hawk lives, and the 88 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:24.250 same is true for us as creatures, not just in a physical sense but 89 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:31.800 in a moral sense as well. We live under a particular kind of law, 90 00:08:31.159 --> 00:08:35.919 physical laws, moral laws, and that's a good thing when it goes 91 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:39.559 well. It's a great thing when it goes well, and you might think 92 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:46.870 about this by just imagining for something for a moment. Imagine a society in 93 00:08:46.990 --> 00:08:52.750 which a perfect law is given. We often don't like laws and rules because 94 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:56.179 they're not given well. You might have rules at work that you feel are 95 00:08:56.500 --> 00:09:01.940 micromanaging you or kind of ridiculous or just hoops to jump through. They're not 96 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:07.059 thought out well, you think, perhaps, but imagine a society in which 97 00:09:07.379 --> 00:09:11.929 that's not the case, in which there's not a single law or rule that 98 00:09:11.090 --> 00:09:18.289 is unfair, not a single law that is biased in some way or that 99 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:26.679 creates a negative situation, law that is perfectly made. So you have this 100 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:31.559 perfect set of laws, nothing you could complain about. Everything would be good 101 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:37.399 and protecting and honorable. Now imagine that this perfect law in this society was 102 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:43.070 not only perfectly made, but it was fairly applied, perfectly applied in every 103 00:09:43.149 --> 00:09:46.750 instance, that it wasn't as though some people got away with breaking the rules 104 00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:50.750 and other people didn't, or that when you broke the law you received a 105 00:09:52.070 --> 00:09:56.700 harder penalty and then you deserved that would be very good. Would in it 106 00:09:56.779 --> 00:10:01.820 a perfectly perfect law, perfectly applied. But let's take it a step further. 107 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:05.740 Imagine a society, idea where there's not just a perfect law and it's 108 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:11.730 perfectly applied, but that everyone obeyed it, that there wasn't any problem with 109 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:18.490 fairness in justice because everyone obeyed it. No one steals, no one lies, 110 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:26.080 no one murders, no one commits adultery. Everyone worships perfectly according to 111 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:33.080 the will of God. Does this sound oppressive to you? We live in 112 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:37.710 our houses and we lock our doors and we have security systems and create shading 113 00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:45.429 and all kinds of things to protect ourselves against lawbreakers. We live in a 114 00:10:45.549 --> 00:10:50.779 society and we will always live in a world where we are constantly recognizing the 115 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:54.460 fact that there are people who break the laws, people who might want to 116 00:10:54.539 --> 00:11:01.019 hurt us, people who might want to offend us or take our things. 117 00:11:01.940 --> 00:11:07.850 Imagine where you didn't have to worry about that. Imagine a society where you 118 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:11.289 didn't have to lock the door and you leave your car key's in the car 119 00:11:11.490 --> 00:11:15.610 because it's a lot more convenient. Why would you take them inside every time 120 00:11:15.610 --> 00:11:20.960 when everyone's following the law? When you imagine this perfect society, you begin 121 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:24.919 to see that it's not the law that's the problem. It's not a law 122 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:30.399 against theft that's the problem. It's the thieves that are the problem. Blum, 123 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:35.429 we don't chafe against rules if they're good rules, or at least we 124 00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:41.230 shouldn't. We shouldn't be upset with rules and laws. We should be upset 125 00:11:41.309 --> 00:11:48.899 with rule breakers. We should be upset with unfair laws this is why we 126 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:52.299 have objections to laws, this is why we feel like our rights are being 127 00:11:52.379 --> 00:12:01.289 impinged upon, because they sometimes are. But here in Romans Nine, when 128 00:12:01.330 --> 00:12:07.370 God talks about giving his law to Israel, he's not talking about that kind 129 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:13.450 of law. He's not talking about a God who just arbitrarily throws this thing 130 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:16.679 and that thing out, who's not good, who's not holy, who doesn't 131 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:22.960 apply things rightly. We're talking about a good law. We're talking about a 132 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.559 glow. That was a given, I'm to a people. It was a 133 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:35.269 gift. The law was a gift and, as we see a throughout the 134 00:12:35.350 --> 00:12:39.669 Bible it's spoken of that way in many different ways. Let's think about that 135 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:43.779 now. How was the law a gift? What are the specific ways in 136 00:12:43.899 --> 00:12:48.220 which it was a good thing? Well, the first thing you might say 137 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:52.139 is that it was a part of the formation of God's people. It was 138 00:12:52.259 --> 00:12:58.929 the fulfillment of his promises to Abraham. Imagine, for example, you were 139 00:12:58.009 --> 00:13:03.649 adopted into a household. You're adopted into a household and then your new father 140 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:11.009 says to you, well, there's no rules here and simply walks out of 141 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:15.480 the back door and you never see him again. Would that really be belonging 142 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:20.399 to a family. Of course not. Each and every one of our families 143 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.200 here, represented here and throughout the world, has a set of rules. 144 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:30.110 Right. Some of them are common among our families, some of them are 145 00:13:30.429 --> 00:13:35.230 very particular. In your family, perhaps hopefully in all of our families. 146 00:13:35.309 --> 00:13:39.789 We have rules about not stealing, not lying, these kinds of things, 147 00:13:39.629 --> 00:13:43.419 but maybe you have particular rules in your family. You leave your shoes at 148 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:48.820 the door or you leave them in the closet, or maybe there's certain words 149 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:52.220 that you use or words that you don't use. are certain jokes or phrases 150 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:58.169 that are appropriate at sometimes but not others. There's all these particular rules that 151 00:13:58.370 --> 00:14:01.809 we have in our families, and that's true when God adopted his people as 152 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:07.570 well. It wouldn't make much sense, it wouldn't be all that special if 153 00:14:07.690 --> 00:14:11.440 God brought them in and there were no house rules, if there were no 154 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:16.440 nothing that was particular to them as a people. What I'm saying, in 155 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:20.039 other words, is that when God adopted them, when God brought this people 156 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.990 and said you are special to me. I will be your God and you 157 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:28.389 will be we're of my people, you will be a son and I will 158 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:31.870 be your father. His laying down of the rules, his explaining to them 159 00:14:33.029 --> 00:14:35.750 how he wanted to the limb to live was a part of that blessing. 160 00:14:37.590 --> 00:14:39.820 It was a part of belonging, it was a part of knowing him as 161 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:46.659 father. Israel was put in God's house. They were adopted and brought in, 162 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:52.850 and that's why I'm in various portions of scripture we get language like this 163 00:14:54.129 --> 00:14:58.289 and Psalm one, verse two. Blessed is the man who delights in the 164 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:05.889 law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. It's 165 00:15:05.929 --> 00:15:11.279 a good thing, isn't it? A child in a house who considers the 166 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.919 law or the rules of the house, who thinks about them and desires to 167 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:20.440 please his parents or her parents. It's a good thing, isn't it? 168 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.590 It's a good relationship and those children are typically very happy children. There's a 169 00:15:26.629 --> 00:15:31.149 good relationship there. Blessed is the man who delights in these things. Or 170 00:15:31.309 --> 00:15:37.340 consider some one hundred and twelve. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, 171 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:43.500 who greatly delights in his commandments. There are effects that happen when you 172 00:15:43.580 --> 00:15:50.809 follow God's law. Listen to the as Psalm one twelve continues. Blessed is 173 00:15:50.850 --> 00:15:54.529 the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments, his 174 00:15:54.769 --> 00:15:58.570 offspring will be mighty in the land. The Generation of the upright will be 175 00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:03.129 left blessed, wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness endures forever. 176 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:08.679 Light Dawns in the Darkness for the upright. He is Gracious, merciful 177 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.679 and Righteous. See what God is saying, he says. But one who 178 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:18.590 delights in the law of the Lord is the one who will live long in 179 00:16:18.669 --> 00:16:22.070 the land, who will have wealth and riches, who will be righteous. 180 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:26.789 This is good right. When God gives the law to Israel, he's giving 181 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:33.019 them not only a good law, but good effects that flow out from obedience 182 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:37.179 to the law. This delight in the law of the Lord. These effects 183 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:41.700 are expressed in a prayer in Psalm one hundred and nineteen, verse Thirty Five. 184 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:47.210 David says, lead me in the path of Your Commandments, for I 185 00:16:47.529 --> 00:16:52.250 delight in it. Psalm one hundred and nineteen in many ways is a confession 186 00:16:52.289 --> 00:16:57.210 about God's law, a way of understanding what it is and and how it 187 00:16:57.330 --> 00:17:03.360 is. David says. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish 188 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:07.960 gain. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in 189 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:15.279 your ways. Let me ask you this. When you consider your relationship up 190 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.230 to God, do you consider his laws? Do you think about his rules? 191 00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:25.150 Do you think about the house rules as a Christian, the obligations that 192 00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:30.660 you have? And when you think about them, what's your main heart reaction? 193 00:17:32.859 --> 00:17:37.900 Do you get annoyed and offended? Do you feel condemnation and guilt? 194 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:45.250 Do you delight? Do you say I love to delight in the Lord's Commands, 195 00:17:47.130 --> 00:17:52.289 I love to hear his laws. I asked him to incline my heart 196 00:17:52.369 --> 00:17:56.009 to his testimonies and not to selfish gain. Is Obedience to the Lord for 197 00:17:56.130 --> 00:18:03.400 you, a pleasurable thing? It was for David. It was a joy 198 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.519 for him, a great delight, and it's part of what it means to 199 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.640 know God, has savior and to follow his laws. And in all of 200 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:17.750 this we see what a gift it was. It brought about good effects. 201 00:18:17.829 --> 00:18:22.150 It was a delightful thing, a pleasurable thing, a thing that was good 202 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:29.859 in itself. Now let's think about the purpose. Having considered that it is 203 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:33.900 a gift, what was the purpose of this gift? Kids all, let 204 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:38.700 you in on a hint. That you probably already know, when your parents 205 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:45.730 are looking at your Chris mislifts or birthday lists, they're thinking something in their 206 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:51.849 mind. They're thinking what purpose can which? Which of these gifts will most 207 00:18:51.930 --> 00:18:57.799 accomplish my purposes? So they're at if they're asking, perhaps how can I 208 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.640 inspire you, as my child, to pursue studies, for example, in 209 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:08.920 this thing or that thing? Or maybe they're asking what will bring them the 210 00:19:10.230 --> 00:19:15.309 most delight of all of these gifts, what's going to make them the happiest? 211 00:19:15.430 --> 00:19:18.430 And they're thinking about we think about these things. We say, what 212 00:19:18.670 --> 00:19:22.069 can I give that's on this lets, that's going to make them the most 213 00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:27.700 happy or the most inspired to learn more science or do more math or practice 214 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:33.740 your instrument more? As parents, we think about purposes. What's going to 215 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:38.690 bring them comfort? What's going to help you the most? Well, God's 216 00:19:38.730 --> 00:19:45.089 the same way when he gives these gifts to his people. He has these 217 00:19:45.289 --> 00:19:51.450 purposes in mind. So what's God's purpose for the law? There's so many 218 00:19:51.569 --> 00:19:56.079 of them. One is to train them in holiness and righteousness. Another is 219 00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:00.359 to bring them close. God is a holy God, a good God, 220 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.440 and he wants this people to be close to him and so he gives them 221 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:07.109 as law, as he tells them, this is how you are to be 222 00:20:07.190 --> 00:20:11.470 holy. This is how you are to be righteous, and when you are 223 00:20:11.630 --> 00:20:17.630 this way, we will be close with one another. Sometimes a kid's maybe 224 00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:21.539 you've been in a situation where you kind of say with your parents, I 225 00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:25.579 don't know what to do, I'm not sure what's going to make them most 226 00:20:25.619 --> 00:20:27.619 happy. Maybe mom tells you to do one thing, dad tells you to 227 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:33.339 do another. In your cotton a moment you say, uh, what do 228 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:38.609 I do? How do I please my parents in this situation? God tells 229 00:20:38.650 --> 00:20:41.730 us his law, and he tells it in a way that's not divided, 230 00:20:41.930 --> 00:20:45.410 ever, so that we can be close to him, so that we can 231 00:20:45.529 --> 00:20:51.440 know how we can please him. He gives us his law to protect US 232 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:53.359 kids. When your parents say, when you're very little, they say, 233 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:57.880 hold my hand when we're in a parking lot, it's because we've heard stories 234 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:02.640 and we know people who have died in parking lots and we don't want you, 235 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:06.869 our children, to suffer the same kind of thing. The laws and 236 00:21:06.910 --> 00:21:10.430 the rules are there to not just train you and teach you and bring you 237 00:21:10.589 --> 00:21:15.230 close, but to protect you and guard you. The same with God the 238 00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:21.500 rules that he gives us to protect them, to guard them. But God 239 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:27.059 also gives his law for a very special reason that's very different between than between 240 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:33.730 parents and children. He gives it to anticipate something. He gives them this 241 00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:41.289 gift so that they would begin to anticipate another gift. Maybe you've had this 242 00:21:41.410 --> 00:21:45.089 at Christmas time. You Open up one present and you realize this is just 243 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:49.240 part one of two. For example, maybe you open a present and you 244 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:55.319 find a bunch of train cars and you realize these go on a track and 245 00:21:55.480 --> 00:21:59.200 you look over and there's a giant box and you go that must be the 246 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:03.269 track. That's something of what God does when he gives the law. He 247 00:22:03.390 --> 00:22:11.109 gives this part one present to anticipate the part two that's coming. He brings 248 00:22:11.230 --> 00:22:17.500 them into this kingdom in this kind of temporary way to anticipate a kingdom that 249 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:23.539 will be eternal and everlasting. God's main goal isn't ultimately have us all packed 250 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:30.529 into Israel, shoulder to shoulder, billions of people living under the law that 251 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:34.490 he gave under Moses. God's goal is to create a new heavens and a 252 00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:41.490 new earth and which we will all live forever under his perfect and Eternal Law, 253 00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:48.119 in righteousness and holiness. That's what this little kingdom here under Moses points 254 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:53.400 US tour. It's what Israel was pointed toward and it's what we is gentiles 255 00:22:53.440 --> 00:23:03.029 are also pointed toward. So we're considering this gift of God's law, what 256 00:23:03.190 --> 00:23:06.349 it means to live in his kingdom, what it means to belong to his 257 00:23:06.509 --> 00:23:11.390 house as adopted children. Now, all this sounds very good, and indeed 258 00:23:11.430 --> 00:23:18.420 it is, as I've been saying, but sin has to be taken into 259 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:22.019 the picture. And when you take it into the picture, when you consider 260 00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:29.329 what it was to live in this kingdom under this law, but with sin, 261 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:37.690 the law changes in a way, not because God changes the law and 262 00:23:37.769 --> 00:23:38.930 says, well, now I want you to do this or that. It 263 00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:42.759 changes as it relates to us. It changes how we feel about it. 264 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:53.160 The law becomes heavy, it becomes a burden what was good. Sin Comes 265 00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:57.069 into the picture and all of a sudden turns the law into a form of 266 00:23:57.349 --> 00:24:04.589 bondage and slavery. Listen to what Paul says in Roman seven. I'll remind 267 00:24:04.670 --> 00:24:11.460 you of these things that we covered a while back. Paul says in Roman 268 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:15.619 seven he asked this question. Is the law. Sin Is the law, 269 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:19.660 and evil, bad, morally bad thing that God has done. And he 270 00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:23.650 says by no means. And then he makes this point. Paul says yet 271 00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:26.329 it if had not, if it had not been for the law, I 272 00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:34.210 would not have known sin. He says that we know our sin because the 273 00:24:34.329 --> 00:24:40.519 law is there. Sin Comes in when God says I want you to do 274 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:44.480 this. That parts good, the commandment's good, but it's our sin that 275 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:49.039 that challenges that, that makes the law bad in a sense, bad to 276 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:53.430 us. In a way. It's when we get our discipline that we say, 277 00:24:53.470 --> 00:24:56.269 I don't like this law, I don't like this rule, but the 278 00:24:56.470 --> 00:25:03.309 rule is not the PROBLEMM'. The SIN is the problem. If we take 279 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:07.180 our discipline well, if Israel took her discipline well, she would have said, 280 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:12.900 and she did at times, forgive us our sin. We have sinned 281 00:25:14.099 --> 00:25:18.819 against you, we have broken your good and holy law. If you don't 282 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:23.130 take your discipline well, which is real also didn't. Did you say, 283 00:25:23.529 --> 00:25:29.089 why are you doing this to us? Why are you punishing us? We 284 00:25:29.170 --> 00:25:33.009 don't like this law, we don't want this anymore. This good thing they 285 00:25:33.049 --> 00:25:42.920 were calling bad. Now this is not an accident. That burden of the 286 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:48.759 law, the weight of the law as it exposes sins because of its goodness, 287 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:55.309 was on purpose. God gave the law on purpose to do this. 288 00:25:56.230 --> 00:26:00.109 God gave a rule and a set of rules to his people so that they 289 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:03.700 would feel that, so that they would know the weight of their sin. 290 00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:10.259 It might compare to like Tom Adam in the garden God. You remember, 291 00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:15.980 before eve was created, God took Adam and he parated the animals before him 292 00:26:15.980 --> 00:26:19.450 and he gave him this great blessing to name the animals, to rule over 293 00:26:19.609 --> 00:26:26.250 them. And you remember what happens in that. Adam comes to realize where's 294 00:26:26.329 --> 00:26:32.170 mine? Where's my partner? All of these animals are paired. All of 295 00:26:32.289 --> 00:26:37.079 these animals have partners. I have no one who belongs to me. You 296 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:41.279 see what God does there? He gives Adam a gift which is good and 297 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:47.950 of itself, but it's also good in that it exposes something. It exposes 298 00:26:48.109 --> 00:26:52.150 an that's why it's part one. Part two of this gift is when God 299 00:26:52.309 --> 00:26:57.829 gave Eve to Adam and Adam says, yes, this is good, this 300 00:26:59.109 --> 00:27:02.380 is very good. I have a helper, I have a friend, I 301 00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:07.180 am complete. Now this is what God does, in a sense, with 302 00:27:07.259 --> 00:27:12.500 the law. He gives the law so that we would say something is wrong 303 00:27:12.819 --> 00:27:17.809 here, something is not right. The thing that's not right isn't the law, 304 00:27:18.009 --> 00:27:23.289 it's our sin in us. It's that God says to Israel here, 305 00:27:23.690 --> 00:27:30.359 obey this law perfectly and you will have this great kingdom. How is Israel 306 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:36.480 to respond to that? We can't obey it perfectly. There's sin in us 307 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:41.960 and we need a savior. We need your grace, we need your forgiveness. 308 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:48.470 This is exactly what Paul says in glacians three. In glacians three he 309 00:27:48.630 --> 00:27:53.190 asks why then, the law? Why was the law given? Why did 310 00:27:53.269 --> 00:27:59.779 God give this gift? And he says it was added because of transgressions, 311 00:28:00.700 --> 00:28:04.259 he says. Continuing down, he says, for if a law had been 312 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:08.660 given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 313 00:28:10.619 --> 00:28:15.170 But the scripture imprisoned everything undersins so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ 314 00:28:15.210 --> 00:28:22.690 might be given to those who believe. He says that the law served as 315 00:28:22.730 --> 00:28:26.960 a Guardian in Verse Twenty Four. So then, the law was our guardian 316 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:33.160 until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith this term 317 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:37.720 Guardian is kind of like teacher or pedagogue. The law came in. It 318 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:42.630 came into the world on God's people so that the God's people and all the 319 00:28:42.710 --> 00:28:49.829 world looking at them would see this one thing. Humans cannot obey. The 320 00:28:49.990 --> 00:28:55.269 law is perfect, the law is good, God is good, it's all 321 00:28:55.430 --> 00:29:00.619 set up right, but humans cannot obey. They can't. They didn't. 322 00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:07.220 Instead of inheriting this great kingdom, instead of ruling and reigning forever, they 323 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:11.930 were kicked out of the land. They lost all of the promised blessings and 324 00:29:11.089 --> 00:29:21.490 gained all the promised curses. But, as I say, God didn't give 325 00:29:21.529 --> 00:29:26.720 the law to shame these people. He didn't give the law to embarrass them 326 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.400 and say, Haha, look how sinful you are, I showed you. 327 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:37.990 He gave them the law to teach US something, to be our Guardian until 328 00:29:38.029 --> 00:29:45.670 Jesus Christ would come. And you know what Jesus does? He fulfills the 329 00:29:45.750 --> 00:29:51.829 law perfectly. He takes on the curse of the law, that curse for 330 00:29:51.990 --> 00:29:56.619 disobedience, and he takes it on himself and then he distributes to us all 331 00:29:56.940 --> 00:30:03.700 the blessings that come from obedience to the law. He stands in our place 332 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:10.809 and says these people cannot do this, they cannot obey, though they must, 333 00:30:11.450 --> 00:30:17.289 and so I will obey for them and instead of them suffering all the 334 00:30:17.490 --> 00:30:23.200 punishments for disobedience, I will suffer it for them. And then I will 335 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:29.480 give to them all the blessings that David was talking about. Wealth, riches 336 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:34.480 of blessings, to offspring, life forever and eternal kingdom. I will give 337 00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:40.190 it to them. Jesus says, not only does this, not only does 338 00:30:40.230 --> 00:30:42.589 he fulfill the law, not only does he take on the curse, not 339 00:30:42.750 --> 00:30:48.549 only does he distribute the blessings, but then he changes our hearts. He 340 00:30:48.750 --> 00:30:56.779 changes our hearts so that we rise up from our deadness and slavery and bondage 341 00:30:56.940 --> 00:31:03.289 to sin and we say, make me a servant. I'm no longer running 342 00:31:03.329 --> 00:31:07.089 away from the law, I'm no longer for it, fleeing the light so 343 00:31:07.210 --> 00:31:11.890 that I can hide my sins and fight against God. No, I walk 344 00:31:12.049 --> 00:31:18.880 into his court room and I say, Lord, you've saved me, you've 345 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:23.920 forgiven me, you've changed me. Here I am. What would you like 346 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:30.599 me to do? You've given me gifts, you've changed my heart. I 347 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:34.750 am a servant. I'm thinking about your law. I'm meditating on your law, 348 00:31:34.789 --> 00:31:38.950 I'm delving on your law and I am ready put me to work. 349 00:31:41.710 --> 00:31:47.579 That's what the Christian says, just like David said, he delights in the 350 00:31:47.619 --> 00:31:53.140 law because he knows God's grace. You remember, David sinned very greatly against 351 00:31:53.140 --> 00:32:00.900 the law. He committed murder, he committed adultery, he was foolish and 352 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:07.009 did terrible things, but his heart was cleansed, he was forgiven of his 353 00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:13.210 sins, and so he stood up as that one with faith in these promises 354 00:32:13.970 --> 00:32:21.319 and desired to walk in the newness of life. So when we look at 355 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:28.359 this monument of life in Israel, of what it means to be an adopted 356 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:32.109 child of God, this giving of the law that he gave to them under 357 00:32:32.109 --> 00:32:37.430 Moses, we see this and we see what God has done. Were reminded 358 00:32:37.549 --> 00:32:43.190 of this great work of salvation, that he gave them the law so that 359 00:32:43.309 --> 00:32:49.859 they might see their need for Jesus and that they might go to Jesus for 360 00:32:50.019 --> 00:32:58.220 salvation, Die with him, ray be raised with him and then walk in 361 00:32:58.339 --> 00:33:04.849 the newness of life. Paul says that we are relised East from the law 362 00:33:05.809 --> 00:33:10.690 in Roman seven having died to that which held us captive so that we might 363 00:33:12.009 --> 00:33:16.759 serve in the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of 364 00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:22.119 the written code. So add when you look at the Old Testament, when 365 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:28.789 you look at Mount Sinai, you see that its flame is quenched. You 366 00:33:28.950 --> 00:33:34.230 see Christ on the cross, risen for you. You see this one who 367 00:33:34.230 --> 00:33:37.269 has fulfilled the law on your behalf. You see the goodness of God, 368 00:33:37.710 --> 00:33:43.619 The holiness of God, the requirements that have been met for you and the 369 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:49.259 standard by which we are called to live. We find in the law, 370 00:33:50.259 --> 00:33:59.009 surprisingly through Jesus Christ, hope and forgiveness and blessing and grace. And when 371 00:33:59.049 --> 00:34:04.329 we see this, just as when you see a grand monument, you should 372 00:34:04.329 --> 00:34:08.570 walk away changed. You should walk away as a person who sees things in 373 00:34:08.690 --> 00:34:14.960 a different light. You should walk away as a person who desires to delight 374 00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:19.679 in the law of God, to serve him with all that is in you 375 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:25.550 and to know the grace that you have in Jesus. May God grant these 376 00:34:25.630 --> 00:34:29.469 things to us. Let us pray