Hi Everyone
Notes for “Who I am in Jesus Christ - I am Loved and Completely Accepted in Christ”. This is Part 2 of “Set Free by His Love”
And please do share this as you are blessed!
Chris
Set free from the Law of Sin and Death
This whole world outside of Christ is decaying. There is nothing outside of Christ that is getting better! Here’s what Paul says:
Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (NKJV)
The Ruler of This World
The moment Adam fell, it is as if a person went from man to cockroach, only worse. It was a big fall, much bigger than we can ever imagine.
The result put the World into the hands of the devil as we see from the next few verses
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” (NKJV)
John 14:30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. (NKJV)
John 16:11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (NKJV)
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJV)
We are in enemy territory today. We are in the world, not of the world. (John 15:19, Rom 12:2) Those who are in the flesh are subject to his rules.
The Law of Sin and Death
Sin that Adam introduced comes at a terrible price.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)
This is a law like any natural law e.g. gravity. Adam “discovered” this law: That without the Spirit of God, Jesus in us because of His finished work, death rules in this world. Everything goes downhill, everything is corrupted. Nothing will get better, everything just decays, falls apart. This is death.
We see how this separation from God caused Man to devolve very quickly (Noah, Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorra, ). Again and again, without the Spirit of God, Man just heads in a downhill spiral. Going by flesh is always death; moving mountains is always by Spirit (Zech 4:6).
Romans 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. (NKJV)
While sin was not imputed until there was the Law of Moses, the Law of Sin and Death was in full operation from the day Adam fell. This is a law like any natural law (gravity, electricity etc.) – if we defy this law, its effect will be on us. Like jumping off a tall building and meeting the reality of gravity or sticking a fork into a power socket and getting shocked by electricity, sin always bring death.
The Law of Moses and It’s Purpose
The Bible likens the Law of Moses to a punishment system for children. This was to prevent the Jews from receiving the full effect of the Law of Sin and Death. If Man did not know the Law of Moses, sin would kill Man as a whole, like a child not having a rules at home and doing dangerous things and hurting/killing himself.
Galatians 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (NKJV)
The word tutor is the Greek word pedagogue, which refers to a strict teacher. This strict teacher kept one race in line – the Jews, that the Saviour might come from this line. Thus the Law of Moses was given to protect us, that there would be a race of people who were set aside for God, not at risk of destroying themselves completely in sin.
The Law of Moses cannot make us right with God, anymore than a speed limit sign can make you free from speeding tickets!
Romans 3:20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. (NLT)
The Law of Moses simply showed us how we are offside.
The Law Was Fulfilled By Jesus
Only in Christ are we above the Law of Sin and Death, so until this time, the Law of Moses was needed:
Romans 8:1 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. (NKJV)
New Living Translation is a little more explicit in the laws part here:
Romans 8:2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. (NLT)
The Law of Moses could not save us from the Law of Sin and Death, but Jesus has. The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus negates the Law of Sin and Death, like the Law of Lift in an aircraft seemingly defying the Law of Gravity.
Jesus took the curse of the Law for us, and became sin.
Jesus Took the Punishment of the Law
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), (NKJV)
By fulfilling the Law, the sting of death has been removed. Sin has been conquered and we now only have the blessings. This phrase in verse 10 actually came from:
Deuteronomy 27:26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ” (NKJV)
So the curses that Jesus bore on our behalf was really the curses mentioned in this part of Deuteronomy.
The Result of the Law Fulfilled
Deuteronomy 27 speaks of the laws that the children of Israel had to keep. If they kept all these, they would be blessed. If they failed in so much as one of these, they would be cursed. Indeed the Law is a tough schoolmaster! Thanks be to God, in Jesus it is as if we kept all of the law already, fulfilled by Christ. (Matt 5:17)
So because of the finished work of Jesus on the Cross, we get to enjoy the blessings:
Deuteronomy 28:1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: 3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. 4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 9 “The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (NKJV)
Quite an impressive list, isn’t it?
In the same stroke, when Jesus fulfilled the Law, in Him we avoid the curses that the Jews got when they boke so much as one of the laws:
This is what we avoided in the finished work of Christ, what the Jews got for breaking the Law
Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. 25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. 27 The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. 30 “You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. 33 A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. 34 So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. 35 The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. 36 “The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you. 38 “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land. 43 “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. 47 “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. 51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. 52 “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you. 53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. 54 The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, 55 so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, 57 her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. 58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed. 62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. 63 And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. 64 “Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. 65 And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. 66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see. 68 “And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” (NKJV)
Indeed a long list. So you see, in Christ, we have been set free from
- The curses for breaking the Law of Moses and
- The Law of Sin and Death itself
And are now the recipients of the blessings of keeping the Law. We defy these laws by operating in the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, when we walk in the Spirit, when we choose to hearken to His Word and put our faith in what it proclaims Jesus has already accomplished on the Cross for us.
Don’t allow anyone/any creature from convincing you otherwise. These are all parts of the new creation, who you are in Jesus Christ.
The Take Away
- The Law of Moses has been fulfilled on our behalf
- The curses for breaking the Law of Moses are gone!
- Only the blessings are left, as if we kept the whole Law!
- The Law of Sin and Death has no hold on us
This is in the New Creation, our spirit man, what Christ accomplished on the Cross. As we walk in the Spirit, and gaze at who we are in Him (2 Cor 3:18), go from glory to glory and enjoy the blessings. We are equipped to invade the world with the Kingdom of Heaven in us!
No comments:
Post a Comment