Why Did God Establish the Law?
Our history includes four ages: the Age of Noah, the Age of Abraham, the Age of Moses and the Age of Paul. We now live in the Age of Paul, which began after the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, on the Cross as prophesied by Malachi in the last book of the Old Testament.
This New Testament age is a time that the prophets of old could only have dreamed of. It is an Age of Grace when the Messiah would become the Sacrificial Lamb, fulfilling the Law by grace, so we could live by faith once more (Daniel 7.12-14). Jesus is the final sacrifice for the atonement of all humanity’s sins.
Before the Law was given in the time of Moses, Abraham and the people lived without the Law in the first and second ages of Noah and Abraham. They walked with God daily in an intimate, growing relationship. Noah and Abraham were not perfect; however, they sought God’s opinion and trusted God’s promises. Noah trusted God and built an Ark in preparation for a flood and was considered righteous (2 Peter 2.5). And Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith and belief in God and His words (Genesis 15.6 & Romans 4.3).
The third age, the Age of Moses, is when the Law landed on earth. God’s people readied themselves for three days to meet God on the mountain with Moses, but at the last minute, fear gripped their hearts, and they opted for God to send His commandment through Moses rather than have an intimate relationship with Him (Exodus 20.18-19).
Instead of meeting their creator, they stayed behind and Moses wrote down the 10 Commandments and over 600 Levitical laws. Though the Law is perfect, it only highlights people’s need for a Messiah. It is impossible to obey all the Laws, so a process of animal sacrifice was set in place to compensate (Leviticus 17.11).
The Law and sacrifices of atonement would continue for approximately 1500 years until Jesus, the Final Sacrifice, came to fulfill the Law once and for all (Matthew 5.17). Humankind would finally be freed from the burden of condemnation and finger-pointing (Romans 3.19-21).
Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, died for our sins and gave us His righteousness. Now, in the Age of Paul, we live under a single Law given to us by our Savior: Love God. Love others. Love yourself. If we can obey these three laws of love as we walk in intimacy with the Holy Spirit, we will become a fragrant offering to God (Ephesians 5.2).
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12.30-31NIV).
You can listen to podcast HERE.
Leave a Reply