Fence, Mirror and Guide Book

Encore Post: “In the day you eat of it, you will surely die,” God warned Adam. (Genesis 2:17)  And he did die and all of us with him. (1 Corinthians 15:22) The first sin disrupted everything. It set creation against itself, bringing decay, suffering, grief and disorder. The greatest disaster, however, is separation of God from his children. Now they were under sentence of death. Yet God did not destroy the world, nor damn Adam and Eve as they deserved. In his love and mercy, God promised instead to send his Son to crush the ancient snake (Genesis 3:15). With his judgment on their sin and the curses that followed, he began to reveal his law to Adam and Eve so that they might  learn the consequences of their sin, cling to the promised Seed of Eve for salvation and learn to serve God and others once again.

To this day, the Law of God restrains our sin, drives us to the Gospel for salvation and show us how in faith we can serve God and our neighbors. The law does this in three ways.

First, it stops sin from running free in the world. Through human authorities — parents, governments, employers and others, the law praises and rewards good behavior and punishes evil deeds. It acts like a fence, to contain and restrain sin.

Second, the law tells us what God requires of us, threatens us with eternal death if we do not obey it in thought, word and deed. It reveals every one of our sins, evil motives and desires. It charges us with rebellion against God in his court. It shows us we are guilty and cannot free ourselves. It drives us to the Gospel and the sacrifice of God’s Son for our salvation. It acts like a mirror that shows us our sin.

Third, the law guides Christians, in whom the Holy Spirit has created faith in Christ.  Because we love God and want to please him, the law reveals his God’s will for our lives and how he wants us to love him and our neighbors. It acts like a guide book or a manual that clears away the confusion of life in a sinful world.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2018 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

The Law of God is Good and Wise

Encore Post: The natural world often calls to us with beautiful sunrises and sunsets, filled with colors that contrast with snow during the winter, complement in spring and summer the green of forests and fields and the green-blue of  lakes and oceans, and that complete the wide range of colors in northern mountains, clothed with fall foliage. Even in our world damaged by the fall, there is order, symmetry and rhythm. All of these things are ordered by our Creator with unseen and often unknown principles — laws — that provide for us a place to call home and allow us to plan our lives in it.

The law of God is knowledge of God’s will and the way he wants his children to live. When God formed Adam from the dust of the earth, God built into him was the law of God, written into his heart. Adam loved God, wanted to serve him and knew what pleased the Father. When God formed Eve, this knowledge of God’s law passed down to her as well. Only a few of God’s commandments were spoken to him: be fruitful and multiply, rule over the living things on the Earth and eat plants (Genesis 1:29-30),  work in and keep the Garden of Eden  and do not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and of Evil. (Genesis 2:15-17)

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and brought sin into the world, the image of God within them was destroyed. Some knowledge of his law remains written in our hearts, but it is very distorted, so that, ironically, we no longer know good from evil. When God in his love and mercy promised that the Messiah would come one day to crush the head of Satan, (Genesis 3:15) he began to reveal his law, giving it in detail to Moses. It now serves three purposes, which we will take up in another post.

To:Child and Pupil of the Catechism

See also: How do we know what God thinks about us?

©2018 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com