Author: Rev. Lek Aik Wee

God provided His Laws by which Israel is to live. The people of Israel are not to imbibe the ways of Egypt nor the ways of the inhabitants of Canaan. Israel has a God-ordained mission to be a witness of God to the nations of the world. Her work was to bring forth her foremost Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. All the Laws given by God to Israel pointed them to faith in the salvific work of Jesus Christ. Israel stumbled when she rejected her Messiah, Jesus. Both His death and resurrection is prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. Worship and the sacrificial system in both the Tabernacle when they came out of Egypt and in the Temple in Jerusalem pointed to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins.

Can a man with a sinful nature be reconciled to a holy God? The answer is, no! What then is the way out? God provided the solution through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. This is the development of biblical history and thought. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, by a miraculous virgin conception, the sinless Son of God, to live a perfect life, keeping all the law on our behalf in His lifetime to win righteousness on our behalf. He is crucified on the cross to bear our sins, shed His blood to wash away our sins and died as our Substitute for the penalty of sin. Three days later, He rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death.

True holiness and true love begin with a transformed heart. A person is transformed from within to something new. A new nature where inner holiness and love are present in the heart. From the beginning, the Bible tells us that man is made in God’s image. What does that image of God look like? It comes in the regeneration when one is born again, the image of God is restored. When one’s sin is washed clean and forgiven by the merits of Christ’s death on the cross. And His resurrection from the dead breathes new life, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to the soul.

The Jews rejected salvation or righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ. They were confounded, like Cain, found in error. God did not leave them without hope and help but sent His Son to save them. They had a visible picture of godliness in Jesus Christ. They saw the miracles. They heard His teaching. They experienced His power when He walked the highway of Israel. Yet, they missed the point. An impossibility, come to think of it, yet they were truly in error. They would not repent of their misunderstanding of the truth.

Do you have loved ones and friends outside God’s kingdom? Do you pray for them? Have you been praying for years now and there is still no change? May we continue to pray, trusting God. Pray and not faint and wait upon Him. God grant us patience. Pray also to be a sanctifying influence to the presence of God in their lives. To witness that God is real. He is a good God that helps His people.

Thank God for simple faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is the greatest gift anyone can ever hope to possess. There is a chorus for your encouragement:

Only Jesus, Only Jesus

Only He can satisfy,

All my burdens are turn to blessings

When I know my Lord is nigh.

Amen.

The essence of God’s law is nothing less than the expression of God’s character – His holiness and His love. True holiness and true love begins with a transformed heart. There is an inner holiness and love present in the heart. It is not a mechanical outward obedience of the Pharisees. That’s not true righteousness, Jesus pointed out.