Let God Receive the Glory
ICS Daily Devotions
John 1:16-17 (NKJV) And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:13-14 (NKJV) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
As Christians, we need to understand the difference between before and after the cross. Jesus’s work of redemption has satisfied God’s wrath towards sin on our behalf. Therefore, we should always view the Old Testament through the lens of redemption. Otherwise, we risk practising Judaism instead of Christianity, and we may lapse into identifying ourselves by what we do rather than by our relationship with Christ. The law can neither perfect nor enable us to stand justified before God. Therefore, the Old Covenant has flaws and weaknesses, but the New Covenant is flawless.
Sin is disobedience to God and His Word. The law acted as a schoolmaster to reveal to us how weak and rebellious we are towards God and how hopeless we are without Him. However, God is gracious and loves us unconditionally. Consequently, Jesus came to declare God to us. He is the Word made flesh, who took our place when He hung on the cross to deal with the sin issue that separated us from God. Jesus bore all the curses of the law upon Himself when He hung on the cross to be made sin for us. All curses of sickness and the penalty of sin were placed on Jesus.
The New Covenant was established when Jesus’ blood was shed for us. The Cross was a pivotal event that signalled the beginning of a new era. A believer’s life is forever changed! We are born again, and the New Covenant empowers us, through the work of the Holy Spirit within our hearts, to yield to God’s Word and live in godliness. It enables us to overcome temptation because we have the nature of God within us.
We need to meditate on the Word, read the whole counsel of the Bible, and discipline ourselves by reading and listening to it and renewing our minds through it because this will help us to walk in God’s way. The Word teaches us how to walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh. We can yield to God’s Word and ways through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, who will lead us by giving us the inner witness in our hearts as we walk with the Lord. Our ways will be prosperous and successful in God’s way rather than the way of the world!
We will experience peace (shalom) when we walk in love, forgive, and extend grace to one another. Therefore, let’s practise and live out the Word in our lives by loving God and people, for love fulfils the law. In this way, God will receive the glory.
Sermon Series: Wise Saying
