Day #2 Reality Check

in Romans 7:12, Paul said, "So the law is holy, and the command is holy and right and good." This means every single commandment in the Word of God is holy, right and good. But the problem is, is anyone actually able to keep all of this? If there was a strong yes to that, by the time of Jesus, why were there still priests? Why did they still keep their jobs to kill animals brought by sinners young and old who needed to cleanse themselves of sin?

if you're going to be under the law, you have to do all the law, all the time. if you can't do that, its all to no avail, because even by breaking one teeny tiny law, you've violated and broken the  law forever. It's either all or nothing.

"if i can't fulfill the Law, then how does the Law save me?"

the answer lies in Romans 8: 3,

"The law was without power, because the law was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that others use for sin. By sending his Son to be an offering for sin, God used a human life to destroy sin."

the Law could never change my nature, it only serves to tell me what to do, but it has never given me the power to do it. the Law serves as a mirror to all of us, telling us what we can't measure up to, telling us the things we need to do to be righteous.

the world has trained us so well, hasn't it?

you work well = you get promoted

you come late for work = warning memos from your boss

you study hard = you get good result

you flunk your exams = your parents scream and shout at you

you love someone = you get loved in return

you betray someone = you get hated

we live in such a result-oriented world that we function on the basis that everything we do, there is a reaction. it's a you-do-something-good/bad and you will get-something-good/bad in return. it's the Law of the world, isn't it?

When we get into trouble, say, we smack our little brother and he cries, we expect our parents to scold us, so we make up excuses, and in the end... the excuses can't save us, we get punished. So in the back of our minds, we know if we screwup, we deserve something bad in return.

But God refuses to be boxed in by our definitions

 As you close your eyes tight and wait for a tight slap from God, you realise after moments of bated breath... no judgement comes. You open your eyes and you look at God, you see Him looking back at you. Wondering why you were so afraid of Him in the first place.

"hold up a second.. you mean God doesn't want to punish me? do you mean God's not a righteous judge anymore?"

let's see if you can imagine this scenario in modern day Malaysia?

one girl... she's walking in the shopping mall with her friends and they all realise that they've walked beyond the "prescribed" amount of footsteps for that day. everyone freaks out because they've just broken Law #3999 in the Torah and their day out is spoilt as they rush around the city looking for a fresh baby goat to sacrifice for their "sins".

and God... watches from heaven and goes like, "you see...so busy with their shopping at 1 Utama until they walked beyond their limit of footsteps... tsk tsk tsk..."

is that REALLY the picture of God? You mean He actually takes delight in catching us at every single mistake we make? You mean as a Father, He delights more in watching us be filled with guilt and scramble around trying to make things better so that He won't be mad? 

is that how you picture God to be today? Fault-finding, nit-picking, sadistic and hard-to-please?

if that is you... explain to me why Jesus had to come and die? why did God send His one and only Son to die for people like us? people like us who could never in this whole lifetime measure up to his standard of holiness? even if we could keep 99% of it, we'd still fail by a 1%! and that is enough for us to fall short of His perfection. 

God does demand righteousness...and He knows that we'd never succeed in keeping it all the time. Then what should He do? Should God just cause the whole earth to be swallowed in acid and fire right now? He loves us too much to do it!

Instead of making us suffer, He asked His only Son in heaven - - Jesus. To come and die. Grace is something that is too amazing to understand. Why should someone innocent die for me? I don't deserve it.

But God says, "you are worth it. because I choose to love you at all costs."

the righteousness of God demands a sin offering so that wrath would not come upon us. And instead of asking us for something that we could never give perfectly to satisfy Him... God took from His own.. He gave away his own Son to make us righteous not just for a day...but for a lifetime. So many times, we want to feel loved... love isn't just a feeling, it's a choice. In God's case, it was a choice on His side to part with someone He loved. 

Can you just begin to understand this? that the days of trying "to be good" are over. Trying to do things on your own are over. trying to ease your guilt by punishing yourself are over. because there is forgiveness from God. you can't forgive yourself...because when you try to do that, you begin to hate yourself even more. it's a joke to ask your imperfect self to forgive yourself, isn't it?

if you've been away from church because you felt you were no good, join the club. the church is full of people who have understood that its not about how good you are, that God loves you. It's about John 3:16, "for God SO loved the world..." 

as i mentioned earlier, we live in a world that trains us to look through the Law... we somehow have it subsconsciously that we need to be punished. and that is something that has been in us since the dawn of mankind. but that feeling, isn't for us to act on it...to punish ourselves and be guilt-ridden.

its for us to look at the Cross and realise and receive the revelation that Grace has overtaken the Law. That God's love was already poured out on Calvary through the blood of Jesus for our sins, our past wrongs and even future sins that have not been committed. Our hearts were not made to be filled with guilt. They were made for love. and the key to receive the love of God, is to recognise the grace of God in our lives.

G = God's 

R = Riches

A = At

C = Christ's

E = Expense

G.R.A.C.E. is God's Riches At Christ's Expense

God's invitiation stays open. Come and receive His grace for you today. The Law shows us what we fail to do...

but Grace shows us hope and love despite our failures. 

aren't you tired of punishing yourself everyday because of you sins? God has already punished them in Christ. Why live as a slave to the Law when Grace has set you free?

embrace Him, let Him hold you In His arms. 

the veil has been torn away, torn from the top to the bottom.

Jesus said, "it is finished"

The reign of the Law has finished in your life, 

walk boldly to the throne of Grace and receive help and mercy in your time of need.

it's not a theory, it's reality.