Jesus, the game changer

So, Old Testament laws and stuff... Romans 5:13 NLT says, 'Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.' That thinking's also echoed in verse Romans 5:20. It's saying that God gave the law to the Hebrews as a gift. Because they didn't know what they were doing wrong. God showed them how to see right from wrong, see where they were at and realise their need to meet with him. That set of rules also told them how to meet with God: with worship and sacrifice in the temple.

But God saw humans struggle with and misunderstand these laws, so he had a plan. He spoke about it as far back as the time of Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 31:31-34). That 'new covenant' (Jeremiah 31:33 NLT) came in the form of Jesus. Matthew's Gospel records Jesus saying that he ushered in that new covenant by fulfilling the old laws (check it out in Matthew 5:17).

So, now, because Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us, we don't have to live under the burden of that old law. Yes, we're still called to live right (the law is a gift too, remember). But if we let God's Holy Spirit fully run our lives, living right will come naturally as he changes us from the inside out.



So what now? 'Goodbye empty-obedience, hello heart-transformation.' Jesus is awesome, he's the ultimate game changer - tell someone that.





— SCRIPTURE —

'This is the new covenant I will make.' Jeremiah 31:33 NLT
— SOULFOOD —

1 Chr 4:24-5:26, Mark 1:35-45, Ps 78:17-31, Pro 19:27-29