Many have regarded the Bible as God’s rule book, a guide on how to live in a manner that’s pleasing to Him. The Bible does have laws in it along with history, stories, poems, wisdom, prophecy, eyewitness accounts and letters. But all these form parts of the one story, God’s story, a story of passion, commitment, sacrifice and love.
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
GALATIANS 3:24
Throughout the course of history God has told His story through the stories of others. People would speak of Him as the Eternal One who existed before time began, the Creator, almighty, all powerful yet One who interacted with people personally. Traced back to the first man and woman, a lineage of individuals who believed in Him would tell stories of His interaction with them and those associated with them, stories of friendship, hope, faith and deliverance. Abraham was such a person to whom God made a promise, that He would bless him and through his descendant all of humanity would be blessed.
A people came from Abraham who God called His people and it would be through them that God would reveal Himself to the world and provide the means by which He would identify Himself when He would come to the earth in person. The people had become slaves in a foreign land and many of them were worshipping gods that weren’t God, gods created from wood, metal and stone or that embodied the stars, the planets, the moon and all kinds of created things so the Creator Himself brought them out from there to worship Him. Through their deliverance He would show Himself as the one true God for all would see the manifestation of His power with their own eyes.
After bringing them out however, many of them didn’t believe in Him. Having seen His power at work and proclaiming Him as their God they chose to glory in themselves rather than in Him. They didn’t have a heart for Him and wanted to live according to their own ways, ways fueled by the desire for power and control that would ultimately lead to destruction so He gave them His law to keep them. It would provide the means by which they could learn of Him and His ways of love and compassion and in doing so, highlight the depravity of their own ways and the need for redemption through a perfect sacrifice. But they didn’t keep it.
They conspired and murdered for power and control and sold themselves to deities of their own making. His law even became a means by which they considered themselves holy and righteous. Being holy and righteous however was never about law keeping but about believing in Him, about esteeming Him as God. There were some who did believe in Him and they rejoiced in who He was and in His involvement in their lives, followed His ways and when they fell short, trusted in His saving grace. They would write of their experiences of Him in stories, poems and songs, recount His story of deliverance from slavery, warn of the destructiveness of their own ways and foretell of future deliverance, not only for themselves but for all of humanity.
Then God came. He reiterated His law to His people who were glorifying themselves in it but not keeping it, reminding them of its purpose of revealing His ways of love and compassion to their ancestors who didn’t believe in Him and confirmed what was written of Him, of His coming to the earth as the perfect sacrifice through whom all of humanity would be blessed. Many would record what He said and the manifestations of His power through deliverance, restoration and healing, His death, resurrection from the dead and ascension back to heaven while others would tell of the transformation He had effected in their lives, of a heart felt desire to know Him and be with Him and write letters of encouragement to affirm Him, declaring to the world that God had made the way for all to come to Him as His story continues to be told through the lives of all who would believe.