Bringing God's Law to Life, Pt. 1
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Intro; When we consider the word “law” we think of a list of do’s and don’ts that we try to keep.
STOP sign means stop!
NO TRESPASSING means you can’t go beyond a certain point
Parents laying down the law in which kids need to remain
Law- A system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties when those laws are broken:
God’s law refers to the system of rules that reflect God’s character, are built into the created order, are revealed in Scripture, but most importantly, fulfilled in Christ.
This morning and tonight I want to preach on “Bringing God’s Law to Life”
Text; Mt. 5:17-20
Matthew 5:17–20 (NKJV)
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
So far in this sermon Jesus has preached on the character of believers and the function of believers as God’s spiritual salt and light in the corrupt and darkened world.
Now Jesus begins to preach on the foundation of which the believers character and function come from. That foundation is God’s Word, the only standard of righteousness and of truth.
1. Fulfill not Destroy the Law; 17
1. Fulfill not Destroy the Law; 17
Jesus opens this section of His message with a defense of His teachings of the Law, why? Because Jesus was often accused by the religious leaders of breaking or destroying the Law of God.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
Law: The law referred to four different writings to the Jews.
1. It referred to the Ten Commandments.
2. It referred to the first five books of the Bible, that is the Pentateuch.
3. It referred to the law and the prophets, the entire Old Testament.
4. It referred to the oral or the Scribal Law.
The first three is what Jesus was referring too. The ceremonial, civil/judicial and moral law. And in fulfilling the Law, Jesus debunked the traditions of men as the religious leaders have set up as their standard of righteousness.
I've come to honor/fulfill the Law of God and help his people love it, learn it, and live it!
Words to understand;
Destroy - to bring to an end, to get rid of [The whole OT is about Jesus from Gen. 1:1 to Malachi 4:6]
27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Luke 24:44 (NKJV)
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
John 5:39 (NKJV)
39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
Fulfill - to bring out the full meaning, complete to maturity, to its intended end or reality. [I’ve come to fulfill the Word of God]
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
2. Ceremonial Law;
2. Ceremonial Law;
The "ceremonial law" related specifically to Israel's worship
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock.
3 ‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord.
4 Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
5 He shall kill the bull before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
Ceremony- The way in which you do something, formality of how to approach God in worship
Primary purpose- to point people to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah;
Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law of God
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
The ceremonial laws of the OT are no longer necessary after Jesus' death and resurrection. We don't have to follow these ceremonial laws, but the principles behind them still apply - to worship and love a holy God, come to Him in repentance and thanksgiving!
(Please read Hebrews chap.9 to receive a full understanding)
3. Civil or Judicial Law;
3. Civil or Judicial Law;
The "civil/judicial law" applied to daily living in Israel
Civil- rights of citizens
Judicial- administration of justice in a community
17 “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge.
18 But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.
Primary purpose- Remember how it was in Egypt, never treat people that way!
Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Don't turn away those in need, give to them as I have given to you
Matthew 7:12 (NKJV)
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus brought this law to fulfillment by appeasing God’s wrath against our sin!
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
We deserved God’s wrath but we receive his pardon in Jesus Christ!
4. Moral Law;
4. Moral Law;
The "moral law" refers to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)
Morality- rightness and pureness of behavior (comes from the heart)
Primary Purpose- The moral law reveals the nature and will of God. Jesus fulfilled the moral law completely because He revealed the nature and will of God because He is One with the Father.
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Because Christ fulfilled the law, so can those who belong to Him. The moral law of God becomes our nature when one receives Christ as Lord/Savior. It’s called walking in the Spirit.
John 17:21 (NKJV)
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5. Jot and Tittle; 18
5. Jot and Tittle; 18
Jot and tittle refers to the smallest stroke of a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The importance of this is that letters make up words and Jesus is talking about the Law, the Word of God!
God’s Word is perfect and complete. It is the authority of all things. It is our authority and standard for life. Jesus fulfilled it perfectly and we are to do the same till He returns!
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Close;
People who love Jesus love His law, they learn it and they live it!
Christians should love worshiping Jesus not just at church, but in our private and public life as well.
Christians must learn how to treat people the way that Christ treats us!
Christians are commanded to live in righteousness to glorify God and give hope to a sin sick world!
That’s Bringing the Law to Life!