Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus, the Fulfilment of the Law

Jesus’ whole life was about fulfilling God’s law. God set down His FIRST law, or commandments, in the Garden of Eden. When He placed Adam and Eve there He gave them explicit instructions. One of those instructions was, “You can eat from ANY tree in the garden, except that one”, and then He pointed to it so there would be NO misunderstanding. And we have been breaking God’s law ever since.

When Eve was talking to the serpent in the garden, were You watching the exchange? How I wish You would have cleared Your throat or something to distract her from that liar. Was this the first time she walked by that tree wondering what its fruit would taste like? If You would have intervened then, would she have found another opportunity and tried again? We seem to be drawn to do things that someone tells us “not” to do. “Don’t push that button”, “don’t you move from that spot”, or “don’t______ (insert any command you like, because you know you’ve done it too at some point).” Did that propensity come as a result of the fall?

God could have washed His hands of us at that point. He could have said we were on our own, but He didn’t. He wanted a relationship with us in spite of our propensities. Because He is COMPLETELY holy and would always remain so, a chasm was formed between Himself and man when man broke God’s commandment. To have any kind of relationship with us, something had to bridge the space. It wasn’t something we could fix. He had to do it. He introduced the sacrifice. This was the next step in the process of authoring His law. By following the set pattern exactly, it granted us very limited and restricted access to Him.

Once Eve took that first bite, and Adam right beside her, they KNEW right from wrong. Men knew when they had displeased God and that there were consequences for their actions. They had Adam himself around to testify to that fact, and to teach them how they were to approach God.

This didn’t keep man in line, because by the time Noah was born me were so wicked God WAS ready to wash His hands of us. Noah, the first one in Adam’s line to be born after Adam died, found favor in God’s eyes. Did Noah learn his reverence and desire for a relationship with God at Enoch’s feet? Noah was five years old when God and Enoch walked right into Heaven. Noah had a lot of years after that to work on his relationship with God.

After Noah and his family left the ark God gave them verbal instructions again. He sealed these instructions through sacrifice and placed a perpetual reminder in the sky for them, and us. He made the first rainbow.

God didn’t formally write His laws until He gave them to Moses. Paul says that before the law we knew no sin. This didn’t mean that we didn’t sin until that point, but that we didn’t formally break God’s law until that point. Man had known all along in his hearts right from wrong. God had placed within us a longing for a relationship with him from the beginning of time.

Now that the law was written, it formally identified sin, showed us where we failed, told us what to do about our current failures, and pointed out that we needed help. God made it known, through the prophets, that He was sending us the help we desperately needed. That help would come in the form of a person, a Messiah. The Messiah would be the one to reconcile us back to Him permanently. His Son Jesus would be the Messiah.

God spoke through the prophets hundreds of times over many centuries about the life of the coming Messiah and what to expect. These weren’t vague generalities either; but referenced specific events, places and historical markers predating the Messiah’s birth. Jesus would be the Messiah. Jesus proved He alone was the Messiah by fulfilling over 300 prophecies written about Him. Jesus had to do this in order to prove to us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He alone, was the help needed to fulfill God’s law.

God’s law was a binding covenant contract between God and man. Fulfillment, not replacement, of the law was the only way we could finally and fully approach God. Without it we were lost. It was written to such high exacting standards that we had no hope of fulfilling it on our own. Jesus had to fulfill every aspect of the law.

Jesus made it known from the start of His ministry that He didn’t come to replace the law. Jesus didn’t call the law irrelevant because He had come. He assumed full responsibility for seeing that man’s portion of this covenant contract was met in exacting detail. Once ALL aspects had been completed, His blood was shed to seal the deal. Then, and only then, could He give the rights contained in it to whomever He chose.

He chose to pass those right on to You and me. To anyone who believed in Him. Why He would go through all that for us is beyond me. I am SO grateful He did though. Without His work I am hopeless.

Thank You Jesus for ALL You have done. Thank You that You were willing to even consider me when going through all You did. I would be lost without You. Help me remember the high price You paid for me and conduct myself according to Your judgment of my value. Help me become more worthy every day as I strive to become more like You. Remind me of my price as I put a price on my service to others. Let me serve them as You served me.

Check out Peter Stoner’s book, “The Christ of Prophecy – Science Speaks” on the probability of any one man fulfilling the prophecies relating to the Messiah.