Pure JesusÖrnek

Jesus - Your Fullness and Fulfiller

Perspective, Perspective, Perspective 

For millennia, humanity, gazed at the stars, saw the planets revolving, the sun rising and setting, the moon changing its phases, all the while “knowing” that our home planet was the center of the universe. It wasn’t until Copernicus and Galileo that we realized, we were WRONG! This means that for thousands of years, everyone’s understanding of the universe was completely off. We didn’t even have a clue. How can entire generations look up at the evidence and not once wonder if maybe, just maybe, there was more than met the eye? In the same way, I believe that the last 2000 years, there has been a misconception regarding the Law found in the Old Testament.

For the longest time in my Christian life, I thought that the Ten Commandments was just a set of rules. The reality is that these commandments are more than just rules. In Exodus 19:3-6 we see that God’s plan for the Law was to set His people apart from the rest (that’s what “holy” means). His people would be in fact a kingdom of priests. (By the way, a priest is someone who has a direct connection with God.)

Looking at the why behind the law God gave through Moses, we can see that God’s plan wasn’t to make it a living nightmare to live on earth, but to live a life of fullness and blessing. All of a sudden, the perspective of a set of rules changes, and we are more sensitive to what God wants to do in our lives. Let’s face it - whether we mean to or not, we’re gonna break a commandment or two in our lifetime. God knows this, which is why He sent Jesus at all. In fact, Jesus said that His goal in coming to earth was not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Through Jesus we can see the plan God had for us—to restore the fullness humanity was missing. The fullness of the striving human being is made possible by being filled with a full, forgiven relationship with God in Christ.

We need to be reminded of the fullness we experience through Jesus, and the wholeness we encounter when we obediently keep God’s Law through the righteousness of Jesus. Looking back at the Old Testament words God gave Moses in Exodus, it’s interesting to see what Peter says in the New Testament, to those who follow Jesus: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

REFLECTION:

What perspectives about the life you are living need to change in order for you to see the fullness that God wants to bring you to?

Do you see yourself as holy (set-apart by God)? In other words, do you see yourself how God sees you in Christ?