December 4 - The Law

Exodus 32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

Galatians 3:21-25
21Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

In Exodus 11, when God sent the final plague against Egypt, the Israelites were instructed to apply the blood of a spotless, perfect lamb to their doorposts. The Angel of Death would see the blood and not kill the first born of that household.Later when God gave His Law to the Israelites, He showed them how He defined sin by giving them the Ten Commandments. He also gave them the ceremonial law to provide a method of coming before God for the forgiveness of their sins. Through the sacrifice of animals, the people would acknowledge the penalty of their sins (death - shown symbolically by the sacrifice) and ask for God's mercy to forgive those sins. Unfortunately, the Israelites soon started thinking that their adherence to the Law made them holy and acceptable to God, not His mercy.
Hebrews 10:4 tells us "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." and Galatians 3:21-25 explains that the Law was given to show us our sin, our need for a Savior and lead us to Christ. While Adam and Eve sinned and brought death into the world, the Law should have proved to us the impossibility of pleasing God in our own effort and make us cry out for a Savior. Adam and Eve killed us and the Law sealed our fate because no one born of Adam could follow the Law perfectly as God demanded. So God sent us Jesus who was born of a virgin and not a descendant of Adam - Adam's original sin is passed to the children through the father and thus Jesus was not tainted by Adam's sin. In our place, Jesus perfectly obeyed the Law and thus was the spotless, perfect lamb that the Law demanded to take our place and atone for our sins. Even as God was giving His Law to the Israelites, He was providing a way to truly atone for our sins by sending Jesus that first Christmas.

1 Corinthians 15:22 - For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Romans 5:12-15 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.