In my previous posts I wrote about how God created the earth as a habitation for man and lovingly rules over it as our Almighty King. In this post we will see how God, as the Almighty King, is the Law-giver.

I hope in the future to write about Ezekiel Hopkins’ Exposition of the 10 Commandments. In the introduction, Hopkins says, “Two things in general are required to perfect a Christian; the one a clear and distinct knowledge of his duty, the other, a conscientious practice of it, correspondent to his knowledge; and both are equally necessary.” He says, “Although knowledge may be without practice, yet the practice of godliness cannot be without knowledge. For, if we know not the limits of sin and duty, what is required and what is forbidden, it cannot be supposed but that, in this corrupted state of our natures, we shall unavoidably run into many heinous miscarriages.

     Therefore, that we might be informed what we ought to do and what to avoid, it hath pleased God, the great Governor and righteous Judge of all, to prescribe laws for the regulating of our actions; and, that we might not be ignorant what they are, he hath openly promulgated them in his word.  For when we had miserably defaced the law of nature originally written in our hearts, so that many of its commands were no longer legible, it seemed good to his infinite wisdom and mercy to transcribe and copy out that law in the sacred tables of the Scriptures;

and to superadd many positive precepts and injunctions not before imposed.  Hence the Bible is the statute-book of God’s kingdom, wherein is comprised the whole body of the heavenly law, the perfect rules of a holy life, and the sure promises of a glorious one.

     And the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, is a summary, or brief epitome of the law, written by the immediate finger of God, and contracted into an abridgment not only to ease our memories but to gain our veneration; for sententious commands best befit majesty.”

The 10 Commandments are divided into 2 tables. The 1^st table includes our duties to God, and the 2^nd table has our duties towards other people.

In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked which is the greatest commandment. Matthew 22:34-37 says,

34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ^c 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^d 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Keep Jesus’ response in mind as you read through this list of the 10 Commandments. The first 4 commands include our duties to God, the last 6 commands include our duties towards other people. If you click on this link, it has a picture of the commandments listed on 2 stone tablets: The 10 Commandments: List and Bible Meaning Explained | Bible Study Tools

The 10 Commandments:

1. Thou shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. (Exodus 20:4-6)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
5. Honor your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12)
6. Thou shalt not murder. (Exodus 20:13)
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
8. Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
9. Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
10. Thou shall not covet. (Exodus 20:17)

As you read through the commandments, you can see how they reflect the character of the King who wrote them. They require us to love and honor God, and to treat other people with kindness and compassion.

Take time to envision God on His throne as the Almighty King. You could read through Exodus 20 and meditate on the imagery of Him giving the Law to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Then take time to think about what types of laws this great King gave – holy, righteous, good laws that reflect His attributes. 

As we are approaching Christmas, we will be celebrating the birth of our Redeemer. Over time I will be writing more about these topics, but I wanted to write a little bit now about what we are celebrating at Christmas.

How did Jesus save us from our sins? In order to answer that question, we must first understand the requirements of the Law. God requires perfect obedience to His law, and the punishment for one sin is death. But we are born in a sinful condition and continue to sin throughout our lives. So we are not able to obey the law perfectly. We are also not able to cleanse ourselves from our sins. So unless God provided a way of salvation, we would have been forever separated off from God.

You have probably heard Jesus called our Savior, Redeemer, Mediator, Surety, and other names. Each name means something specific, and I will be posting about that on here in the future. A mediator is someone who stands in between 2 people as a go-between in order to try to settle a dispute between them. And that’s what Jesus does for us as our Mediator. There has been an offense – we have broken God’s law. We are separated off from Him by sin. Jesus stands in between God and us as our Mediator. But remember, Jesus is not having to try to convince an angry God to love and forgive us. God provided Jesus to be our Redeemer out of His great love to us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Everything Jesus did during His time on earth, He did in our place. He perfectly obeyed the law in our place, which we were totally unable to do on our own. And He took the punishment for our sins in our place.

In Zechariah 3, the cleansing of sin is represented by the removing of a filthy, or sin-stained, garment. Zech. 3:3-4 says,

3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”

By cleansing us of our sins through His death on the cross, Jesus took away that sin-stained garment. And by working out a righteousness for us through His perfect obedience to God’s law, Jesus provides us with a righteousness that is pleasing to God. So Jesus takes away what is the matter of offense (our sin) and provides us with what will make us pleasing in God’s eyes (an imputed righteousness). When we stand before God, we are accepted in the Beloved, in Jesus. That is how Jesus saves us from our sins. I will write more about this in the future.

When you are contemplating the Law of God, it is important to remember the timing of when it was given in order to understand God’s purpose. The Law was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai many years after Adam and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden. So people were already being born in a fallen state and unable to meet the requirements of the Law when it was given. In the New Testament, Paul explains that the Law was given to make us aware of our sin and our need of a Savior (Rom. 3:20; Rom. 7:7). And all of the sacrifices in the Old Testament sacrificial system pointed to the ultimate once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. The New Testament begins with the birth of Jesus and explains throughout the Gospels and the Epistles how Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah that everything in the Old Testament sacrificial system was pointing to. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our newborn King – who was born to fulfill the Law and save us from our sins.

So as you are meditating, take time to envision God as the Almighty King on His throne in Heaven giving His law to mankind. Meditate on the goodness of His laws. And also take time to meditate on His grace and mercy to us in sending Jesus to save us from our sins so that we can be reconciled to God through Christ. Here is a link to the hymn “He Wore a Crown of Thorns” by William M. Runyan – Learning to Live by Faith. It is actually an Easter hymn. But I play it at Christmas time because it helps me remember why Jesus came to earth and it helps me meditate on Jesus as King. The first verse says,

1 ‘Twas God’s own Son who came to earth,
Who chose to know a lowly birth;
But, tho’ a King of matchless worth,
He wore a crown of thorns.

Think of that King of matchless worth coming to earth to save you. Envision that light shining into the darkness and rejoice in the gift of eternal life with God in heaven.

Links: Ezekiel Hopkins’ Exposition of the 10 Commandments – Ten Commandments: Hopkins