Sermon Text:
Galatians 3:15-22
What should Christians do with the Old Testament? Do we keep every part of it or are we supposed to ignore it? Paul argues that the Mosaic law was always meant to point the people of Israel to the promise of salvation by faith. The promises of grace are not opposed to the law but work together to show us our need of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript:
(transcribed with AI)
Well, good morning everyone, it is good to be here. For those of you who might not know me, my name is Jonathan, privilege of being the pastor here, and if you have a Bible with you, let me invite you to open to the book of Galatians. We are going to be continuing on our series here in the book of Galatians, walking through this book of the Bible.
In fact, you know, every Sunday when we gather here together, we open our Bibles, we open our Bibles every single Sunday. Why? The answer isn't because it's church, and that's just what we do. That is an answer, it's just not a good one. Why exactly do we open our Bibles every single time?
In fact, more and more I often hear the criticism of Christians in general. I mean, you say you believe the Bible, but you don't do everything in it. And maybe you've come across this kind of criticism before, there's plenty of things in the Bible you don't really do, commands you don't keep.
For instance, how about Leviticus 19?
You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seeds. You shall not wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.
How many of you are wearing polyester blend? I don't even know what I am wearing, to be honest. And yet it seems to be a command of the Bible. Do we just not care about that one?
How about Deuteronomy?
Cause in the pig, because it parts the hoof and doesn't chew the cud is unclean for you. Their flesh, you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.
I love bacon. What do we do with this? Do we just ignore these commands? I mean, they're in our Bible, the very book we say we open every single Sunday that we believe, but there's things in here that we're just not doing. Are we just picking and choosing? I mean, if that's the case, we should probably pick and choose a little more carefully. There's a whole bunch of stuff in there. Why are we doing that? How exactly do we deal with this?
I know some of you might say, well, hold on a minute, see, that's in the Old Testament. That's in the Old Testament, we are in the New Testament. It's true, our Bible has two sections to it. Old Testament, everything that comes before Jesus, New Testament, everything to do with Jesus and afterwards. So many people will answer, well, look, that's the Old Testament, it's old, it's outdated, we don't really follow that part. Is that what we say?
I think there's 2 huge problems we're going to find if that's our answer. Number one, is that if we actually do just ignore the whole Old Testament, we're getting rid of about 80% of our Bible. I've been doing a reading plan through the whole Bible in a year, so January 1st started Genesis one, continued on. You want to know when I hit the New Testament? Friday, like this last Friday is when I finally hit the New Testament for the first time. 9.5 months to get through the Old Testament, only 2.5 to get through the new.
In fact, that's not even to mention how many times in the New Testament, it refers back to the Old Testament. I mean, if we get rid of that, we are getting rid of so very much. In fact, if you know your church history, you know someone actually tried to do this, guy named Marcian, he was a heretic, he tried to literally cut everything out of the Bible that had to do with the Old Testament. He had next to nothing left. It doesn't work that way, so we can't just get rid of it.
In fact, there's another problem if we say, well, just don't worry about the Old Testament. What we seem to be saying then is, you know, God tried one way, Old Testament, here's a bunch of rules and laws you need to keep, and then God went, alright, that didn't really work, so let's try again, let's try something new, let's try Jesus now. I mean, if that's what God is doing, what's to stop him from doing that again? What's to say, wow, Jesus isn't really working, we gotta try again. See we have some problems, we can't just simply get rid of the Old Testament, say, hey, it's all outdated, don't worry about that, and yet we have some challenges here.
So here's our question this morning. And actually as we open our Bibles, it's the question that Paul as he's writing to the Galatians is going to be asking, what do we do with the Old Testament? How exactly do we understand this book that is our Bible?
See, if you've been with us for the past number of weeks, you'll know Paul has been arguing hard in this book to try and show that salvation is not by works of the law. That's his whole point, not by works of the law, but by faith. Faith in Jesus is how we are saved, and in fact, last week we looked, he started going into the Old Testament because he wanted to show us, actually that was always God's plan. It was always God's plan that we would be saved by faith.
Old Testament is not plan A and the New Testament is plan B. Rather it's step one, step two. As Christians, we do not throw away the Old Testament any more than a builder throws away the foundation once the roof is finished. It doesn't work that way. Yes, they both have different purposes. But they're both required to make the house stand. The Old and New Testament have different purposes in our life, and yet both help us understand our salvation.
So with all that in mind, let's read our passage here this morning. If you have your Bible open, you can follow along with me. It's our tradition here, we stand as we read God's word. If you're able to, would you stand with me? Galatians chapter 3, starting in verse 15. Paul writes,
To give a human example, brothers, even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say unto offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one and to your offspring, which, who is Christ. This is what I mean. The law which came 430 years afterwards, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise, but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now, an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not. For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
As for the reading of God's word, you may be seated.
Well, we have quite the passage in front of us. And really what Paul is doing in this section is he's trying to teach the Galatians, here's how to read your Bible. Here's how to understand what God has been doing, not simply in the New Testament, I mean he's literally writing it at the moment, but actually in the Old Testament.
And actually what we need to first and foremost get our minds around is that these two things are not opposed to each other. These are not one against the other. Rather, we are intended to see that both of these are working together to show us the story of God's salvation.
If we're going to understand our Bibles properly, we need to recognize that the Bible is one continuous story, start to finish. All of it is showing us what God has been doing. And so while we call it sort of old and new, let's be honest, those aren't great names. Those aren't even biblical names, just to be very clear. The Bible just calls itself scripture, God's word. Better would be, you know, beginning and ending, foreshadowing and fulfillment, step one and step two.
So we need to understand that first of all, the Bible is unified. It is one giant story, but that doesn't mean it all has the same purpose. And so as Paul's writing to these Galatians, that salvation comes by faith. We are saved by faith in Jesus alone, that's what saves us. Beginning of chapter 3, he started arguing, bringing into the discussion, hey, this was always God's plan.
So the question in everyone's mind is, well, OK, if that was always the plan. Why did he give a bunch of rules? Did God give a bunch of rules? Why did he give the law? Huge, spans multiple books in our Bible. Why did God give that? And so really that's what we're going to look at here this morning.
Paul begins, he contrasts these two covenants, a covenant of promise and a covenant of law. And what we need to see is both of these help us recognize our sin and our salvation. They're not opposed, they complement one another to help us see the greatness of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
So let's just start here looking at this first, the covenant of promise. All the way back in chapter 3, verse 6, Paul begins with Abraham. He says, hey, do you remember Abraham? God gave Abraham promises, and he gave them to him. Why? Because Abraham was a perfect man? No, hardly. Messed up all the time. Because he did a bunch of things? No. Actually, the only thing that is given is he trusted God. He believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. You can look back at verse 6.
And so verse 15, he begins to add to his argument. He says,
To give a human example, brothers. Even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it's been ratified.
So here's the point Paul's trying to make. He says, look, if you sign a contract with someone, you can't just change it later on. So if you go and you need a new cell phone, so you go get a new cell phone plan, and they say, all right, here's your, you know, 1 year, 2 year contract, whatever it is, this is what you're going to pay, and this is what we are going to provide, you sign that with them, and they say, great, we have a deal. If 2 months later they doubled the amount that they're charging you, you'd say, hold on, you can't just go back. We had a contract. Actually, I expect you to keep your word. Of course you do. In fact, you'll get very upset if they suddenly double your charges for good reason.
So if we sign contracts, and we expect that everyone is going to keep them, how much more so when it comes to God. When God gives Abraham a promise, when he actually makes a covenant with Abraham, he doesn't just add a bunch of stuff later on. So here's Paul's argument. God made a covenant with Abraham, and it was an agreement that was based on faith. That actually Abraham would trust him. So he's not just going to add a bunch of things in.
Now, here is where, as Paul begins to talk, he just assumes that everyone who's listening to him is very familiar with the covenant God made with Abraham. And in case you aren't as familiar, let's just do a little bit of a refresher. You might remember back in Genesis, God makes a bunch of promises to this guy named Abraham. And really, there's 3 promises that he makes. The first is that he will give him a land, a place to live. Here's a land. Will be yours. The second, he promises offspring. For a man who has no children, that's quite the promise. And the third is that he will promise him a blessing. In fact, it's a blessing for the whole world.
Genesis chapter 12, we read. God says to him,
Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
And
The Lord appeared to Abraham and said, and to your offspring, I will give this land.
Here's the promise. You're going to have children, you're going to have a land, and in fact in you shall be a blessing for all the families of the earth. And God shows him actually Abraham, Abraham at this point. This is a blessing, but it's more, it's for more than just you. It doesn't stop with you. This isn't just, you know, me and you to the exclusion. No, actually it's for your offspring. In fact, it's for all the families of the earth. In fact, this is what God has called Abraham to recognize. What Abraham is receiving by faith.
Few chapters later, God is going to formalize this. Here's the verbal agreement, now God's going to have a written agreement. He's going to have to actually make a covenant with Abraham. And says Abraham just believed him and God counted it to him as righteousness, and then Genesis 15.
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abraham. Hold, a great and dreadful darkness fell upon him.
Abraham, what was he doing as this contract gets signed? Nothing. That's the whole point. What's Abraham contributing to this covenant? Nothing. In fact, you know, legally speaking, his name isn't even on it. He didn't sign it. Verse 18 says,
On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying to your offspring, I give this land.
So please notice, God makes an agreement, a covenant, a promise with Abraham, and actually it doesn't depend on anything that Abraham can do. In fact, even when it was signed, he was asleep. By God's plan.
But notice also who he's making this covenant with. Twice now, God has pointed out that it will not just be Abraham, it will be his offspring who will receive this promise. And so here's where Paul is going. I need you to pay attention. Who's the promise to? To Abraham, yes, but to his offspring, verse 16, he says,
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say unto offsprings, referring to many. But referring to one, and to your offspring, who is Christ.
Now notice for just a minute, do you notice how closely Paul is paying attention to his bible? He's paying attention to the grammar of whether something is singular or plural, and he's paying attention to each and every single thing. Paul is studying his Bible very, very carefully.
You might say, well, but what does it matter? Paul, why are you making such a big deal over a little S? Well, here's the thing, by the end of his life, Abraham did have a lot of kids. He did have quite a number of them. So who gets the promise? All of them? Actually, no, it was only one. It was only through Isaac. And we begin to realize as God repeats the covenant again, it's actually not just about Isaac, in fact it's about a future offspring. Again, there's someone else yet in mind.
And in fact, if we zoom out just a little bit from the story of Abraham, we recognize actually this isn't even the first time God has made this promise. God's been talking to his people about an offspring, a child who would come in the future. In fact, the very first time we get that is in Genesis 3. As sin comes into the world, as it decimates the perfect world that God has created, God gives them a promise. Talking to Satan, he says,
I'll put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. And he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
See, the first promise God gives of an offspring, a child who is coming, who will crush the head of the serpent, who will bring an end to the destruction of sin. And so when God shows up and he starts talking to Abraham about an offspring who is coming, who will bring a blessing for the entire world, lights are meant to go off in our minds of going, wait, I know that. There is an offspring that's coming. One who will put an end to sin, one who will now bring blessing for the entire world. In fact, we will deal with the judgment of God against sin, and we see in Abraham, we come to that promise, how? By faith. I trust.
In fact, if we keep going in the Bible, God makes another promise about another offspring who would come. Hundreds of years later with King David, he says,
When your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
As we're reading through our Bible, as the story is beginning to unfold, we're recognizing God has been making these promises about this child who would come, who will crush sin, who will bring a blessing for the entire world, who will sit on the throne forever as a king. Paul says all of that was always meant to show us what Jesus would do. It was always about Christ. The promised offspring is Jesus.
When God made the promise to Abraham, he had Jesus in mind. When we read the Old Testament and see the promises of God, we need to hear what Jesus has come to do. He is the offspring who brings an end to sin, who brings a blessing for the world, who will sit eternally on the throne. The promise to Abraham was always about Jesus. How are we included? The same way Abraham was, by faith. This is Paul's point.
So, back in verse 17, he says,
This is what I mean. The law, which came 430 years afterwards, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.
God says, look, I made a deal with you. Here's the promised child who is coming. Here's how you are part of that blessing. It is by faith. Then 400 years later, God says, here is the law. And you say, OK, does the law now cancel out what you've already done? Paul's answer is no. No, it doesn't. God didn't change his contract. He didn't redefine the terms. No, in fact, God is keeping his promises. Verse 18, he says,
For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by a promise. But God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
God just simply promises by faith that he would do this, and he's not changing his mind.
So now, OK. What do we do with all this? How should we respond? Two simple takeaways. Let me start here. Number 1, the whole Bible is about Jesus. The whole Bible is about Jesus. It's either looking forward to what he's going to do, or looking back on what he has done, and even looking forward to what he will do again in the future. The whole Bible is meant to show us what God is like, to show his character, his holiness, his purity, his grace, his wisdom, his mercy, and his patience towards us. Every page of the Bible leads us back to see Jesus and what he has done. Jesus stands at the center of everything that God has called us to do and see. Everything in the Old Testament is pointing us forward. Look to the coming of Jesus. OK, that's the 1st.
The 2nd. What this means is we can really trust what God says. See, if the history of the Bible was, well, God changed his mind again and again and again and again and again, I mean my goodness, could you trust him? I don't think we could. But the history of the Bible is from start to finish, all of it has been pointing to what Jesus has been doing, and God has been faithful to every single one of his promises. Now that we can actually place our trust in. We can look back and see God's faithfulness over and over and over again, even in something like how are we to be saved? How are we going to be, how are we going to be made right with God? It's by faith. In fact, it's always been that way. Habakkuk, the prophet He reminds us, he says,
Behold, his soul is puffed up, it's not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
Salvation was always to be by faith. It was always looking to the coming of Jesus. And so for us, the call is, place your trust in what Jesus has done. Place your faith in the promises of God. He has upheld every single one of them. Praise God.
But then we still have this question lingering. It's the same question Paul has as he is writing this. Well then, why did God give the law? What do we do with the covenant of law? Paul, verse 19,
Why then the law?
If it was always to be a matter of faith, if it was always planned that God would save us by faith in Jesus, why did he give the law in the first place?
And see, here's Paul's answer is something I don't think we often expect. Verse 19,
Why then the law? It was added because of transgression.
And we kind of scratch our head and we say, what does that mean? It was added because of sin. Are you saying like we were so sinful God needed to put a law in place to kind of protect us and hold us back? Did the law restrain our sinful impulses? And to some degree, I suppose you could argue that it does. If you say please don't do that, at least somebody is not going to do that. But I mean, man, if you've read the Old Testament. And you read what Israel has done with the law. He didn't restrain very much. They broke every single one of them. Over and over and over again, they broke it. And I might actually argue that is the point.
In fact, the point I think what Paul has in mind is two things. Number 1, the law reveals our sin, and number 2, it increases our sin. When God gave the law, it showed them just how very sinful they are. Now suddenly they could define very clearly what was something that was sinful and what was not. Before, there was a lot of guessing, you could sort of say. That seems bad. Now, with clear defined borders, I can say that was sinful.
You're right, if you wear glasses, you're probably familiar with this. You know that your glasses can get very, very dirty over time, and you don't even notice it. In fact, it's just, you're just blind to it, you go along, dirty glasses, smudges, all sorts of things, and it's not until where you go outside, suddenly the sun hits it, lights up every single little dust and smudge on your glasses, and you go, ah, how did I even wear this? In one sense, that's what the law does. It suddenly puts a light onto us, and we go, oh, that's what's all been sitting there? I didn't even recognize how much there was. After you're now cleaning your glasses, it's good.
The law reveals our sin, it highlights it for us, but not only that, it actually increases it. I don't mean the law makes us sin. That's not his point. No, it makes us want to sin more. Think about maybe the bully in school. He's having trouble reading, and so what does he do? Well, he picks on the kid who's really good at reading. Why? Because he sees that he can't do it, and so he's angry and will take it out. In the same way, that's what our sin does in our own hearts. God says, do not commit adultery, and we say, ah. What if I do this? Don't lie. Well, this isn't a lie. I, in fact, you know what, I'm going to do it even more now. Our sin reacts to hearing of the perfect standard of God and says, well then I want to run away from that even more.
In fact, this is Paul's point in Romans 7, talking about the law. He says,
Did that which is good, right, God's commandments, then bring death to me? By no means. It was sin producing death in me through what is good. In order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
God gave the law so that we would see our sinfulness, and that our sin would even increase. And you say, wait, what? Why would God want to increase our sin? Why would that be part of the purpose that God had for his law, that we would actually sin more? I think here's the answer. God wanted us to see just how completely helpless we are without him.
It's just like the guy who's sitting on the couch watching football. Many of you will do this later on today, and you will sit on the couch, and in the comfort of your living room, you will look at a player who is running 100 yards and trying to catch a ball and saying, I could have done that. I could have done that. How did he miss that one? I mean, come on, the shot was wide open, whatever it is. God gave us the law to basically pick us up off the couch, put us in the game, and go, all right, you're in. Give it a shot, give it a try, you think you can do it, you think sitting on your couch you can do it, when you're actually in the game, suddenly it's very different, isn't it? God says, OK, put it to the test.
And you read through the Old Testament and again and again and again the people try and do it on their own, they try and actually make this work, they try and live a perfect life, and no one can do it over and over and over again, we see that point being made. Because we are powerless against sin, and that's the whole point. God was trying to help us recognize that. How powerless we are to stop it until Verse 19.
Until the offspring should come to whom the promises had been made.
The whole plan was to show us our inability to save ourselves until Jesus came to save us. That is the point.
In fact, Paul goes on to say verse 19, it. The law was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Paul is showing them again and again. I want you to see and recognize the law was never going to save you. Even in how it was given. From God, through angels, to Moses, to the people. Contrast that with Abraham, where God just spoke directly to him. All of this Paul is saying, is showing us that the law was never meant to save. It was always to show us our need of it.
And so the final question then in verse 21.
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?
Again, we're asking Old and New Testament, do they clash? Are they opposed to one another? What's Paul's answer?
Certainly not. For if the law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
Are they opposed to one another? No. They were never, the law was never meant to make us right with God. It wasn't equipped for that. That was never even the purpose of it.
In fact, Moses himself tells us this. Moses in Deuteronomy, which already is the 2nd time he has to give the law, cause they broke it so badly, the first time he has to do a do-over with the people of Israel. Deuteronomy 29, after he's already gone through all of the laws. He says,
These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant he made with them at Horeb,
Round 2.
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, You have seen all the Lord has done before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants and to all his lands, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and those great wonders. But to this day, The Lord has not given you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.
God gave them the law without new hearts. The law came without the ability to even follow it through. Why Because righteousness would always depend on faith. It was the promises of God that he was calling them to trust in again and again, till ultimately we see Jesus come.
Are they opposed to one another? No. The law is there to drive us to Jesus, that we would cling onto him for our salvation.
So God gave us the law and the promises so that we would recognize our sin and our salvation. Here's the conclusion Paul comes to verse 22. He says,
But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin. So that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Here's his conclusion. Why did God give us the Old Testament? And notice here, he doesn't say law, he says scripture. He's broadening it out. He wants us to recognize that scripture has been trying to show us just how trapped we are in our sin. We can't do this alone. Even with all of the law in front of us, here's all the things we need to do. We could never actually accomplish it. We can't deal with God's justice, we can't live up to God's holiness. We keep going back to it again and again, stuck in a cycle of continual sin.
And that was the point. To show us how helpless we are, so that when Jesus came. We would actually see how great he really is. That was the whole point, so that when we actually saw the grace of Jesus, what he could do, that simply through trust in Him, that we could be saved from our sins. We are meant to see that and rejoice because Jesus has done what we could not. We are called to trust in him because Jesus has accomplished all that God required, that he has dealt with the punishment of our sins. He has kept every one of the laws of God.
Paul writes in Romans 5, he says,
Now the law came in to increase the trespass. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
God used the law to show us the seriousness of our sin, so that we would see the greatness of the grace of Jesus Christ. So that we would recognize that God's grace is always greater.
To use a biblical example, if you remember the story of Elijah. Elijah on Mount Carmel. He's in this contest with these people who are worshiping Baal, and they say, all right, we need to figure out who the true God is, so we're going to set up 22 sets of wood, whichever god lights it on fire, that's the real one. And so the prophets of Baal, I mean they go and they're screaming, they're praying, they're dancing, they're doing all kinds of things to try and get Baal to listen to them. What does Elijah do? He starts soaking the wood in water. In fact, he has to dig a pit around it just to keep it. I mean the water is probably almost floating at that time. There is so much drenched on there, I mean there's no way, even if you brought fire to it, could you actually get that wood to light. It would be impossible, and that was the point, so that when God sent fire down from heaven and consumed the entire thing, evaporated the water on the spot, they're meant to see how much greater God is.
As we see our inability. I can't do that. As we see our sinful, stuck and helpless self, we're meant to recognize how much greater the grace of God is. When Jesus came, he said,
I didn't come to get rid of the law, I came to fulfill it.
In fact Jesus says,
In fact you've heard that it was said, don't murder. I'm going to tell you, don't even be angry in your heart. The law says do not commit adultery, don't even lust.
You think you're a good person, the standard is that you are to be as perfect as God is perfect. Jesus didn't come to get rid of it. He came to show us our desperate need of a savior. He came to be our savior. The whole Bible is written so that you might trust in Jesus for your salvation.
Paul writes,
All scripture is breathed out by God, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.
Paul here is talking about the Old Testament. He's saying that's what it's for, that you would recognize all that God has done to teach us, correct us and train us in righteousness.
So what do we do with the Old Testament? We need to recognize every page is pointing to Jesus, our need of him and his promise to us. Even when we get to some of the more obscure things, like what do we do with clothing?
Why did God give a command like that? They were supposed to be visible signs. That his people were devoted single-mindedly to God.
Are we the same? Are we single-mindedly devoted to God? Can people look at our lives and even just at a glance, recognize that we are following him.
The answer is no, we can't. We're not perfect. We get distracted all the time. The law shows us our inability. But it also points us to Jesus, the one who was, the one who never sinned, the one who is never distracted from doing the will of the Father, who went to the cross to pay for my distracted self, so that by faith in what Jesus has done, I can be saved. That's what the law is meant to do. It's meant to show us our inability, and ultimately what Jesus has done.
Well, I'm not called to wear specific clothing. My devotion to Christ should be seen. Because it's seen in our lives. Every page of the Bible calls us to see what Jesus has done, to trust in him, our helplessness in our sin, and our need of a savior, so Christians don't get rid of the Old Testament. Don't ignore it. Don't pick and choose. Recognize every part is showing you more of what Jesus has done. As God has given us promises, we see the grace of God at work in Jesus from the very beginning. God did not change his mind, he did not change his plans. Jesus was always there. As God gives us the law, he does to show us the distance, our own helplessness before him.
But ultimately, so that we would recognize our savior Jesus, the one who fulfills all that God has promised, all that God has required, so through nothing but faith in Jesus, we might be saved. Let us trust the unchanging promises of God for our salvation. Let's pray together.
Our heavenly Father, we thank you so much for Jesus. Father, we thank you that you did not simply even send him without us being aware. But Lord, you prepared us, you prepare our hearts to recognize, to understand who you are and what Jesus has done. As we see more of your holiness, as we see more of your perfection, your kindness, your mercy, your patience, your forgiveness, Father, may it draw us more to who you are, to what you've done. As we see your justice, as we see your holiness, Father, would it make us run further away from our sin? Father, thank you for Jesus, who has done all that we cannot do, who has stood in our place. Father, I pray, would we run after the example of Jesus to display your greatness, your goodness, and your mercy towards us. Father, I pray, go with us. Thank you that you have written every page of our Bibles, so that we would know Jesus more.
We ask all this in your name. Amen.