And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. Genesis 1:14-16
When God created the world, He placed two lights, the moon and the sun, within its atmosphere and both gave light to the world. The moon however, was just a dim shadowy light, the sun on the other hand, was a much larger, more powerful and intense light.
Now remember that ‘the day’ represents Jesus, and ‘the night’ represents everything that is not Jesus. So we could figuratively say that the light of the sun (that is the Spirit) governs those who are in Christ, and the light of the moon (that is the Law) governs those who are not yet in Christ. Both groups are being led by a light; it’s just that the light of the sun is far brighter and more glorious than the dim shadowy light of the moon.
The Law, in its correct understanding, is like the moon. It does give light, but not enough to allow you to work, live and act freely. It’s just enough light to allow you to see the path in front of you. The Apostle Paul explains in Romans that the law was a given to mankind to lead us all to Christ. Once we have been led to Christ, we could then leave the Law behind and walk solely in the light of Christ. So although it was a ministry of condemnation, the Law still served its highest purpose by giving just enough light to lead us to Jesus.
John the Baptist had a similar ministry to that of the Law. He was not the light, but came to testify about the true light. His job was to point people to Jesus that they may join Jesus and receive His light. Yet even Jesus explained the life of John in terms of giving some temporary light:
John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. John 5:35
The Apostle Paul was more passionate than anyone to proclaim freedom from the Law. He spent his life declaring that Christ is the end of the Law, and he was severely persecuted for having the boldness to proclaim such a powerful truth. However, Paul never thought the Law was evil or bad, he simply understood its true purpose. He understood that we are not under the Law nor obligated to the Law, because Jesus has brought it to an end by fulfilling it on our behalf, so we could now live according to the Spirit and not by the written code. Paul even talks of the Law as being glorious in it’s time, for it did give us light (just enough to lead us to Christ that is, it never gave us any light of power to make us righteous) but he continues to declare how much more glorious is the light of God’s grace! For the light that came from the Law was only temporary, but the light that comes from Christ, and the gift of His grace, is eternal!
If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 2 Corinthians 3:9-11
We are now in Christ, we are children of the day! We do not belong to the Law, for we have been led to Jesus and have accepted him, and so the purpose of the law has been fulfilled in our lives. We have stepped over from death to life, from being led by the Law to being led by the Spirit; and glory to God, we now live in His light, and it is glorious!
You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5
So what has become of the law now that we have received Christ? What purpose does it now have in our lives when we read it? It is now transformed for us from a ministry of “do’s and don’t” to a testimony of the life of Christ! Its role as ‘the ministry of condemnation’ has ended, and now when we read through the Old Testament, the Spirit reveals the story of Jesus to us!
If the Old Testament of the Law and the Prophets was the moon, and the New Testament the sun, then the prophesy of Isaiah has truly come to pass for us all!
The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted. Isaiah 30:26
As I have been showing you throughout my blog entries, the story of Jesus is in every verse of the Old Testament! Being able to see Jesus in the Law and the Prophets transforms the Old Testament from a dim shadowy light into a glorious light, for we see the light of Christ, the power of His life and the story of His finished work in everything we read! There is no condemnation for us in the Old Testament, but only the joy of reading the tesimony of Jesus over and over again!
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. Romans 3:21
