New Commands and a New Covenant

And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:1-17 NIV)

In The Story we at Grace Church are looking at the grand, overarching story of God redeeming us from sin and death that permeates the Bible from cover to cover. It is the story of a down here God - a God who comes down to walk in a garden with the crown of His creation, the man and the woman, Adam and Eve. But in rebellion against His one command, they eat the forbidden fruit. They are driven from the garden, and God goes back up there to heaven, apart from them. Many live with that picture of God - up there in heaven (if He exists at all) - detached, apart from this world and largely irrelevant to their lives. But that is not the picture of the Bible.

God came down here and walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. He has always wanted to be with us. He came down here to Moses in a burning bush, and lived down here among the Israelites as a pillar of cloud/pillar of fire in the midst of their camp, with His presence centered in the sanctuary God instructed Moses to make, the Tabernacle. He came down here to take on flesh and blood as Jesus of Nazareth, the man who was God-in-the-flesh. He came down here as wind and fire on the day of Pentecost to take up residence in His body, the Church. And He will come down here again at the return of Christ to establish His forever Kingdom, right every wrong, and create a new heaven and new earth!

For the Presence of God to come down here, He requires a place to dwell. For the Israelites, that was the Tabernacle, built to the exact specifications God revealed to Moses, and patterned after the real, living Tabernacle in heaven (see Hebrews 8:5). The place of the Presence in the Tabernacle was the mercy seat - that place on the cover of the ark of the covenant where the tablets of the ten commandments were kept. (Even there, God's mercy seat covered His commandments.) The ark of the covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies, behind a huge curtain that kept anyone but the High Priest from entering God's holy Presence. Why? Because our sin prevents us from accessing the Presence of the Holy One.

For the Presence of God to come down here, the people's sins must be atoned for. And so God gave Moses, in the book of Leviticus, an entire system of laws and sacrifices to atone for the people's sin. The blood of the sacrifices covers the sins of the people. There is a huge truth connected with this. Even with the animal sacrifices, the people could not enter the Holy of Holies to access God's Presence. That's because the blood of animal sacrifices cannot actually, fully atone for human sin. (See Hebrews 10:1-4) A more perfect sacrifice had to be made. When it was made by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jesus) on the cross, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from sinful people was torn in two from top to bottom. Access to God's Presence is opened up when sin is actually atoned for!

Finally, for the Presence of God to come down here, God's people (Israel, and then the Church) must begin to live lives that honor Him by keeping His commands on how to worship Him and how to treat each other. Jesus was once asked a question about which of all the commandments of Moses was the most important. He responded that the most important commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our being, and added a second, that we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves. He said that all the commandments are contained in these two.

If we love God with our whole heart, we will not make idols or worship other Gods. We will not take His name in vain or violate His sabbath. If we love our neighbor as ourselves we will honor our parents. We will not steal or lie or murder or commit adultery. The first four of the ten commandments are about loving God. The final six are about loving each other.

If we are going to experience the Presence of God in our own lives, we need these same three things. We need a sanctuary for Him to dwell in. We need our sin to be atoned for, and we need to live to honor Him by keeping his commands.

The sanctuary for God to dwell in is the tabernacle of our hearts. Like the disciples on the day of Pentecost, we need a filling of God's Holy Spirit that means Jesus takes up residence in our hearts. The atonement for our sin is Jesus Christ. To remove the barrier of sin we need to trust and follow Him, so the blood of His sacrifice for us covers our sin and atones for it. To experience the full Presence of God in our lives, we must begin to live in the freedom we have been given by the Holy Spirit to honor Him by keeping His commands to love Him and love others, which will result in our keeping all the law. The Spirit does not give freedom from the Law, He gives freedom to keep the Law in holy love.

Our lives are God's sanctuary. With His Spirit in our hearts, we can keep His commands and experience His presence. Thanks be to God!