Grace

One thing learning about the Old Testament Law will do is open your eyes to the power of Christ's sacrifice. Lat night we were discussing the beginning of the sacrificial system with the errror and death of Aaron's sons- Nadab and Abihu. The incredible amount of blood shed that was required to keep God from annihilating the people due to their sinfulness. Looking backward at this through history Hebrews 10:1 makes perfect sense: "The Law is but a shadow of the good things to come."

Over the last few weeks on Wednesday nights we've talked about the sin of the israelites and the golden calf and how God said he would not go with the people because he might break out against them. Now we're talking about the Law, and all the sacrifices required to appease the justice of our God. The priests had to do everything just as God commanded, and the sacrifices would have had to go on continually. Amazing. Yet with all of this death and blood shed, their injustice and guilt was never permanently purged. Our injustice and guilt could not be purged because we share in their guilt of ignorance and blatant rebellion. I think it's because of Jesus Christ the human race is still here!

God destroyed the world once for sin, He wiped out cities because of sin, He struck populations of people because of sin, and He allowed the captivity of His own people because of sin - how great must the sacrifice of Jesus Christ be and how great His patience because of it! Otherwise, the world could not go on.

My own actions have been and are at times awful. Sometimes, my attitude stinks. I have been an abuser of grace and excusing my sinful attitudes, actions, and desires. I wonder if our problem with spiritual growth is that we don't understand the penalty deserved for our actions, and we don't want to hurt self-esteem by condemning activities that are harmful. Perhaps we're in love with a cheap grace. Perhaps we don't understand who God is, and who we are. I know I struggle with this. Good News isn't good news unless there's been bad news. And...if we admit it, there's plenty of bad news about us. I don't work like I wish I did! My thoughts are usually not what I want them to be. My past is not something I'm proud of. And my heart is often self-seeking. All of us have issues. We may never get totally well in this world - but if we have a living faith in Jesus Christ, God credits us with Perfection. And we will eventually be perfect when we get there. There can be no boasting or thinking ourselves better than some other sinner. As people have so often stated..."the ground is level at the foot of the cross."