Tag: “Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)” by Hillsong United

The GOAT Part 3 “Law & Prophets”

Reading and understanding the Bible can be challenging at times. Am I right? It’s tempting to skip over parts we don’t understand or that seem irrelevant to us. But grappling with the harder parts of Scripture strengthens our knowledge of God and deepens our faith in Him. And in a world full of confusing messages and shifting moral codes, knowing the Bible keeps us grounded in eternal truth. 

As we continue our series based on the Sermon on the Mount, we come to one of those challenging teachings of Jesus that you might gloss over:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 5:17-20, NIV)

There’s lots to unpack there. Let’s start with the Law and the Prophets. What Jesus is talking about is the Hebrew Scriptures, which Christians call the Old Testament. He’s saying that He completed what was foreshadowed in those writings.

The Prophets

Jesus’ mention of the Prophets was a reference to the many books of prophecy in the Old Testament that include warnings, instructions, rebukes, and descriptions of future events for the Jewish people. If you look at the table of contents in your Bible, the books of Isaiah through Malachi encompass the Old Testament books of prophecy.

In His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says He came to fulfill both the Law and the Prophets. First, let’s touch on an amazing truth: Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies concerning Himself that had been written by the prophets in the Old Testament. For example, in Matthew’s Gospel “Jesus was the promised Messiah whose birth, ministry, death, and resurrection were prophesied in the Old Testament. Matthew makes his case by quoting more than sixty prophecies from the Old Testament, revealing how Jesus fulfilled each one.”1  There are far too many fulfilled prophecies to list here, but you can click on the link at the bottom of this post for an overview of some of the most significant ones.2

The Law

Next let’s look at the Law. If you glance at the table of contents in your Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy encompass the books of the Law. This includes the Ten Commandments found in Exodus chapter 20 plus additional laws written to further clarify them. These books explain the early history of the Jews and incorporate: 1) civil laws explaining cultural responsibilities and moral obligations 2) moral laws dictating how people should live and behave in light of their fallen state 3) ceremonial laws for worshiping and making sacrifices to the Lord. 

Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the civil and moral laws in Scripture by living a perfect life; He fulfilled the ceremonial laws through His sacrificial death on the cross. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV)

To understand why Jesus’ fulfillment of these laws is so significant, we need to consider why God gave laws and sent prophets in the first place. When He created the first two humans and they chose to disobey Him in the Garden of Eden, they brought sin into the world. So, the laws the Lord created in the Old Testament didn’t save people from their sins but provided guardrails to keep their sins in check. Laws instructed them how to interact with the Lord and other people and set parameters to right wrongs and get people back on track when they disobeyed.  

The legacy of sin that began at creation has plagued every person since then, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, NIV). We all face the same consequence for our sins: “For the wages of sin is death”(Romans 6:23a). We must remember above all else that God is holy, perfect, and sinless. Because He is also just, sin cannot go unpunished. All who sin await divine judgement and God’s wrath. However, because of the Father’s great love for us, all the sins of the world were placed upon Jesus. He endured the wrath of God and the punishment of hell because of the Lord’s divine hatred of sin. (See Proverbs 6:16-19 for any idea of what repulses the Lord.)

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? Our righteousness must surpass the Pharisees and teachers of the law. He was setting an impossibly high bar that no one could reach. However, when those of us who have accepted Jesus stand before God at the end of time, He won’t judge us based on what we’ve done. We can present ourselves before the Lord robed in righteousness because we’ve been cleansed of sin by Jesus’ blood. 

Talking about judgement sounds strange and isn’t popular in today’s culture, but Scripture tells us that Jesus will return to earth at the end of time when “heaven and earth disappear” and all people will stand before Him to be judged. (Matthew 16:27 & 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). It also tells us that people will scoff at this idea and mock us for believing it. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9, NIV)

God gave us life when we deserved death–this is what makes His grace so amazing.  He will judge us as righteous even though we deserve condemnation for our sins—this is what makes His love and mercy so profound. The best news is He doesn’t want to condemn anyone. He waits patiently to ensure all people have the opportunity to hear about His grace and to decide for themselves if they want to receive it.

So, how should we respond to these profound truths?

  • Take Jesus and the Bible seriously! Make it a priority to read and study it on your own and with others.
  • Apply what you’re learning! Let the Bible guide your values, decisions, words, thoughts, and actions.
  • When Scripture shows you where you fall short, confess your sin, receive the grace of Jesus, and continue to pursue righteousness.
  • Don’t neglect the whole gospel! Read and grapple with the hard parts. Gather with others to ask questions and find answers.
  • Share what you’re learning and lead others to repentance so that they can be saved from judgement and receive eternal life too.
  • Stay motivated and be encouraged by Jesus’ words: “whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Meditate on the incredible truth of Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law and Prophets as you listen to “Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)” by Hillsong:

1. Dr. David Jeremiah, Matthew: The Arrival of the King, Thomas Nelson, 2019, vi

2. “55 Old Testament Prophecies About Jesus.” https://www.jesusfilm.org/blog-and-stories/old-testament-prophecies.html

Portions of this post were inspired by:

Tyler Scott’s sermon at CPC Danville on 6/20/21. http://www.cpcdanville.org/ministries/worship-arts/media/the-goat–the-sermon-on-the-mount–part-3–message-on-demand/

https://www.gotquestions.org/abolish-fulfill-law.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/ceremonial-law.html

Jackie Hill Perry’s teaching on Jude 14-15 in the Session 4 video of Jude: Contending for the Faith in Today’s Culture, Lifeway Press, 2019.

Godly Sorrow

It was a brisk fall evening when the sport utility vehicle sped down our street, careened around an unexpected curve, lost control, and mowed down our neighbors’ mailbox. After flattening the sturdy wooden post, it was still going fast enough to plow through our front hedge and hit our parked SUV, spinning it backwards before slamming it into the corner of our house. The speeding car finally came to a stop on our front lawn. Despite the sturdiness of the vehicle, its front end was a crumpled mass of metal. The sixteen-year-old driver emerged from the mangled car without a scratch. He had been racing his buddies down our street and misjudged the turn in the dark.

As the teenage boys sat on the curb waiting for the driver’s parents and the police, they discussed the incident with great enthusiasm, seeming to revel in the excitement of having totaled not one, but two, eight-passenger vehicles. Although this incident happened many years ago, I’ll never forget the behavior of the driver and his friends. At the time of the accident, my own boys were only six and four. I can remember making them study the smashed cars carefully so that they’d remember it when they were old enough to drive.

A few minutes after the accident, the driver’s father arrived on the scene. We exchanged insurance information and he muttered, “I’m sorry this happened.” He never had his son look us in the eye and apologize. The boy didn’t return the next day to help clean up the mess in our yard or to replace our neighbor’s mailbox. I’m not sure if he learned any valuable lessons from that incident, but I know my boys did.

I was reminded of that accident as I studied the concept of repentance and godly sorrow. These aren’t very popular topics in today’s culture. It seems we’ve become a society averse to accepting responsibility for our wrongdoing, let alone labeling it as sin and seeking forgiveness. We shift blame whenever possible. Or even worse, we try to rationalize why the wrong things we’re doing are actually justified. Many in our culture want to excuse or even condone sinful behavior altogether.

No one likes to admit they’re wrong, but for those who call themselves followers of Jesus, this needs to be something we do regularly. When we humble ourselves, admit our sins and seek God’s forgiveness, He offers it freely. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Here’s the catch: we can’t be forgiven if we don’t acknowledge our sin.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses the value of godly sorrow and true repentance. Following up on a previous letter he sent that rebuked them for some sinful behaviors, he says: “Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—  yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10, NIV)

Godly sorrow involves repenting–literally and figuratively turning away from our sins and going in a different direction. It is sorrow over the wickedness of our sins. It expresses grief, understanding the hurt we cause our heavenly Father when we engage in sin. Coming to God with a contrite heart enables us to experience the tremendous grace and forgiveness He offers us through the blood of Jesus.

Conversely, worldly sorrow is self-centered. It is focused on the painful consequences of sin, not on the offense it is to God. It is sorry the situation happened, but it accepts no blame and has no intention of changing. (Sounds like my opening story, doesn’t it?) Worldly sorrow is an apology with words, but with no heart behind it.

It’s easy to get swept up in the attitude of our culture—to want to avoid responsibility for wrongdoing or to explain it away. We receive this message subtly, but constantly. If we follow Jesus, we must be on our guards lest we get lured into this way of thinking.

When was the last time you came before God with a contrite heart, deeply troubled by the hurt you’d caused Him through your sin? It’s never too late to get down on your knees and humbly ask for forgiveness. God has so much more to offer us than the world does. The first step to discovering that is our humble repentance.

The song “Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)” by Hillsong United captures several themes from 2 Corinthians beautifully. Using Paul’s metaphor of Christ-followers being jars of clay, it describes the gratitude we feel when we recognize God’s love and grace and turn from our sin. With simple but profound lyrics, it communicates the value of godly sorrow and repentance that leads to the fullness of life in Christ.

Kelly Minter, All Things New: A Study of 2 Corinthians, Lifeway Press 2016.

*This story was adapted from an essay that appears in my Bible study Women of the Word: The Family Tree of Jesus. Click here for more information.