We had a great group discussion the other day about the Law.  We talked about how God had given all these commandants to Israel knowing that they would fail. God even gave Moses a song to teach to the Israelites as a future witness of their predicted failure, yet God’s faithfulness to them.

Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.
Deuteronomy 31:19-20

The Law was this impossible standard that reflected their failure. It displayed their hearts as incapable of following God.  I have heard pastors liken it to a mirror that reveals to us our imperfection.  But I also see God’s reflection in the law.  It reveals His perfection.

So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Romans 7:12

Not only does it reveal His perfection, but also His heart.  God is love.  He rescued His people, He wanted to dwell with them! But His holiness required that they too be set apart. He wanted His people to love Him and to love one another.  Jesus displays this truth by His life and by His teaching.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:36-40

Love and love.  No wonder the Israelites and fallen humanity failed to perform the Law.  It requires a supernatural love.  The Law reflects God’s perfect love, and at the same time reflects our lack of love for Him and others.

If I may, God is like the bright burning sun, an all-consuming fire that brings warmth, light, and life. His commandments are like the moon, a mere reflection of the Sun’s greatness. For someone who is and has always been in utter darkness, the Sun would scorch and destroy, yet they can look to the moon and see an indiction, an expression of the Sun.

The moon is a lifeless hunk of rock, yet it shows the glory of the Sun.  It attests to the Sun’s light.  The Law is an expression of the glory of God, it has no life in and of itself.  Yet it reveals to the person of darkness a need of a heart change that only Jesus can provide. It attests to the love and light of Jesus.

Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.
John 12:36a

There seems to be confusion among the children of light about how to now relate to the Law.  Do we try to reflect the Law?  The reflection of the moon is immensely pale in comparison to the Sun.  If you then reflect that pale depiction all you get is an even paler depiction without much likeness to the original.  (Ever met a legalist?)

Once I completely astonished a friend when I stated that I don’t follow the Law.   “But I’ve seen your life!  You live like you follow the Law!”  Ah-ha!  And therein lies the secret.  How do I look like a reflection of God without following the reflection of God?  Chew on that and I will see you next week!