The Law and the Promise

Galatians 3:15-29 The Law and the Promise Introduction: As I said last week The contrast Paul continually makes in this letter is of two ways to approach God. Either we try to approach God through our own doing, whether it is our own righteous standard that we follow or the divine Law - the focus is on us, and what we do. Paul contrast this with faith or trust in what God has done to approach us in Christ. The problem is that these people thought they knew the story, but the problem was they started in the wrong place. So Paul retells them the story from its origins, Starting with Abraham - the father of the Jewish nation, the one to whom the promise was made. This is often what happens with us, we start at the wrong place therefore we make the wrong conclusions. If you start with the Law of Moses you end up with a God that relaxes his commandments at best or you have a bipolar, schizophrenic God at worst. A God who contradicts himself, and truly cannot be trusted but should only be feared...When you start with Abraham and end with Christ Jesus what you have is a God of covenant faithfulness and infinite mercy, who you would be foolish not to fully entrust with everything...who are you? 1. The Law and the Promise 1. "To give a human example, brothers, even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ.17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise." 2. Paul continues his argument for salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and not according to the works of the Law. He appeals to an everyday example: the making of a last will or testament. Once this has been set in place it cannot be altered. 3. God made a promise to Abraham and then the law was introduced 430 years later.. God's promise works in that same way. It cannot be changed, by anyone or anything. Not even the mighty Law can change that promise. Also if you add the Law (or requirements of the Law to the promise) then God's promise is not a promise at all, but a conditional contract. But that is not what we find in Genesis 12. There God clearly makes a promise. 1. "Now the Lord said[a] to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 2. God made this promise to Abraham when Abraham was still a pagan, before circumcision, before even a friendship and acquaintance was had with God. Remember, as we read later in Genesis 15, God doesn't make a covenant with Abraham as much as he makes a covenant to Abraham. 3. See the Law says, Thou shalt, Thou shalt, Thou Shalt. But God said to Abraham I will, I will, I will. So it cannot be both. If its thou shalt, then it is no longer the promise of "I will". God made a covenant promise to Abraham not a conditional contract. 1. But then this brings us back to the question that we started to answer last week. If salvation comes by God's promise and not the Law, THEN WHY THE LAW?? 2. Why the Law? 1. "Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith." 1. Paul makes it clear that the Law is not a distraction or a mistake in the plan of God or in salvation history, but was precisely what we needed to keep "us" under watch until the right time. 2. The problem is not with the Law but that there is something so evil and twisted about human nature (i.e. sin) that the Law of Moses cannot remedy. As Paul says, if there had been a commandment that could bring life then it would have been done. the Problem is sinful human nature. 3. First of all the Law is needed because of human sinfulness. Paul makes this clear in the book of Romans that through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Apart from the Law we do not see our exceeding sinfulness before an all holy and just God, our inability to cleanse or redeem ourselves to be pardoned from his judgment, and our desperate need to be rescued solely by his grace. (see how the Law already points to the Gospel?) 4. The Law requires personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience; that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love our neighbor as ourselves. What God forbids should never be done and what God commands should always be done. 5. Since the fall, no mere human has been able to keep the law of God perfectly, but consistently breaks it in thought, word, and deed. Now because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve , all of creation is fallen; we are all born in sin and guilt, corrupt in our nature and unable to keep God's law. 6. So what is the purpose of the law then? That we may know the holy nature and will of God, and the sinful nature and disobedience of our hearts; and thus our need of a Savior. So the whole purpose of the Law in this sense was to increase our desire for God's promised rescue! 1. I have to say that I myself have been guilty of emphasizing to often the physical personal ramifications of sin in our lives - sin will make you miserable, sin is not what you really want, sin will only hurt and prolong your pain, or addiction, etc... But the scripture is very clear that even more than all of that -sin means God's wrath and judgment on you, because God is Holy, pure and cannot leave sin unpunished, or unresolved! And yet there is absolutely nothing you can do to cleanse yourself, or redeem yourself, you are damned and hopeless. Our best efforts to redeem ourselves, to justify ourselves before God only add to our offense - we don't get how sick and detestable our sins have made us, and just how holy and beautiful God really is. 1. "No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13 1. If we don't think we are all that bad, the idea of grace will never change us. 2. So that's the first bit of what the Law does... it should drive us to plead for God's Grace and Mercy, it should make us long for that great promise of rescue! 1. Augustine said - Felix Culpa - "O happy fault that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer." It is only against the blackness and darkness of our sin that we see how glorious Jesus our Savior. 2. "The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do;My Savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view." -Augustus Toplady 2. Not only that but Paul makes it clear that the function of the Law is not eternal but temporary. The Law was never an end in it's self, but pointed toward a time when it would be fulfilled. Like a tutor or a care taker the law was only meant to be in place keeping God's people until an appointed time - "until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made." - the Messiah. 1. So what Paul is saying is, If now we have what the Law pointed to but could never deliver.. righteousness in Christ, forgiveness of Sin, Fellowship with God, identity with the people of God, life in the Spirit, why would we return to the Shadow? Why would we go back to the road sign once we've arrived at disneyland??? 2. Just like someone who is married does not return to courtship with their spouse - having a guardian, accountability for purity, curfews set in place.. awkward and unhelpful to the marriage. 3. Just like an individual with a masters degree in mathematics does not go back to learn things from his high school math tutor.. 4. Hebrews 10:1 speaks of the Law being a shadow of the good things to come in stead of the true form.. why would you back to a shadow or form of something when you have the reality?? They served their purpose for the time but now we have what they all were working for and pointing to the reality the essence of God's promise 1. "The Old Testament was God given, and remains part of Christian scripture; let there be no doubt about that, no attempt to make Paul say anything else. But, precisely because of the Christian story of God's dealings with his people from Abraham onwards, the regulations designed to keep Israel as it were in quarantine are now set aside. Not because they were bad, ill-judged, unnecessary or not intended by God; but because they were good, vital, effective and have now completed their task." - N.T. Wright 3. But now Faith has come 1. "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." 2. What Paul says here is astounding - Christ has come!!! The one to who the promise was appointed, the one who can fill up all the righteous requirements of the Law, the one who bears the curse our sin deserves. And NOW in Christ Jesus we have the rights of first born Sons. In that culture the family blessing and inheritance would go to the first born Son. That means that in Christ there is no caste system, there is no hierarchy - no Jew, Gentile classification - but total and complete equality between Jews and Gentiles, Slave and Freemen, Male and Female. What status! What a family heritage and story! What an inheritance we have waiting for us in glory! Conclusion: The significance of what we have in Christ. "In Christ we belong to Abraham. We take our place in the noble historical succession of faith, whose outstanding representatives are listed in Hebrews 11. No longer do we feel ourselves to be waifs and strays, without any significance in history, or bits of useless driftwood floating on the tide of time. Instead, we find our place in the unfolding purpose of God. We are the spiritual seed of our father Abraham, who lived and died 4,000 years ago, for in Christ we have become heirs of the promise which God made to him." - John Stott This speaks with such powerful relevance for today - So many have a philosophy of meaninglessness - if we've come from nowhere then we are progressing to nowhere. We are random pieces of matter who have no purpose or true place in the world. whatever meaningfulness we place on life and relationships are really just chemicals firing in our brains - they have no greater purpose, no true meaning or depth. Its no wonder that there are young men and women flocking to ISIS - at least they give them something to believe in, something to live for, something to die for. (not that I think this is right or true, but I get it, I understand the appeal) Secular humanism has taken all the power and purpose out of western society - What hope can you have for life if it's all meaningless chemical reactions? Why even face life's hardships? there's no purpose and it's going no where. This has no power, no meaning, no hope. But in Christ Jesus YOU ARE ALL SONS! Think of the power of this word to us and to such people - in Christ we find our place in the great story, the great narrative of the universe. All of a sudden the insignificant find great significance for themselves and everything they do. The unattached, become attached, the lost find a home, the hopeless find hope, the sick, healing, the fatherless find the Father. How astounding is it that in Christ God is taking people that work at McDonalds or even sweat shops in china, or who work in fields making next to nothing for their labor, they have no significance in the world to speak of, God is taking these (those that are in Christ) and they are being formed even now to be rulers of the Cosmos with Christ! If what Paul says is true about those that are in Jesus -" then nothing in our lives is a waste of time. Every aspect of our life, our relationships, our jobs, our families, our suffering, is part of an internship for the eschaton (the final event in the divine plan), preparing me in some way to rule with Christ" - Russell Moore. That is a life with a lot of purpose and a lot of hope.