Christ the sure and steady anchor in the fury of the storm.
” I stand as your Rock, a fixed position which cannot be moved. Not only can you stand on that Rock – I will lead you there and steady you on it. All you have to do is to decide to follow Me and allow Me to lead you. To set aside your pride-filled plans which drag you away, and even in those I am pursuing you and drawing you back to the Rock again. Rest assured today – you and all who read this, that My goodness and mercy will follow you, not in a sense of being behind you, but in a sense that pursues you through every aspect of your lives.”
We continue to look at how our transformed lives are to play out in our everyday lives. Read Romans 13:8-10. I want to stand still on these verses because they are so central to the New Covenant and our lives as Jesus followers.
A key word in this section is “fulfilled”. In the sermon on the mount Jesus said “I have not come to abolish them (the law) but to fulfill them”. If we look at 13:10 today “love is the fulfillment of the law”. What does that say about Jesus? What does that say about the whole law as laid out in the Old Covenant?
God has used a protracted process from the beginning through the Old Covenant period, leading the people through legal imperatives to a “Person”. Many people live their lives trying to stay right or be right with God by keeping the law, as they interpret it. For example because of the emphasis in the OT on the Sabbath, there are many who feel they have satisfied God by regarding a Sunday as special. In the process they miss the intention of the Sabbath. The Sabbath, in many ways, is the personification of our relationship with God through Jesus. It is a reminder of the gospel.
I have often said that the gospel is not a message in words, but is a message focussed on a Person – Jesus. Jesus is our Gospel. Part of that is that Jesus is our Sabbath. It is in Him that we find true rest (Mat 11:28). In the same subtle way since Jesus came, every law flows from our hearts and transformed minds to reflect Jesus and His relationship with us. The concept of love (agape) is what moulds this in our minds to guide us in our interaction with others. In the same way we cannot do this unless Jesus is moulding us through His love first.
So, in a way the various written laws become promises. Hence “do not commit adultery” becomes “you shall not commit adultery” And as Jesus says, this all starts in the mind. So, are we each carrying this out perfectly? No of course not. There’s still the battle between our old selves and the new spiritual self going on. But the focus now is on growing in our understanding of the huge difference this makes in the way we relate to the law of the OT. Central to that is our growing intimate relationship with Jesus, which should constantly be being replenished.
So does that mean we should not regard Sunday as special? Of course not. Our focus though, should be different. Not on all the things we should not do, but rather on the opportunity of building our relationship with Jesus and carrying out the message about Him to as many people as possible. To rest and recreate and build friendships for the kingdom. Recognizing that Sunday is the Lord’s day and that every day is our Sabbath in Jesus.
And so the whole law can be summed up in the command to love God and love one another. That covers all the aspects of our lives as we interact with our Lord Jesus and as it flows to those around us.
This is an important issue, so why don’t you reflect on it in our comments section?
God bless you all till next week.