John the Baptist bore witness of Jesus Christ and said, This was He of whom I spake, He that comes after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:15-17). What does John 1:17 mean, The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ?
God sent Moses to deliver His people from the power of Pharaoh
And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My Name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant (Exodus 6:2-5)
God had made a covenant with Abraham and his Seed. As a sign of that covenant, God instituted the circumcision.
The circumcision in the flesh took place on the eighth day. It was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and his Seed. (Read also: The Circumcision in the New Covenant)
God was with Abraham, and with the son of the promise Isaac, and his son Jacob Israël) of whose seed twelve sons were born.
The twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) became the twelve tribes of Israel. Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Aser, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin.
From the twelve tribes of Israel, God chose the tribe of Levi, whereof the deliverer and the mediator of Israel would come.
This deliverer would redeem the house of Israel that lived in bondage and slavery under the rule of Pharaoh. The deliverer, whom God chose and appointed was Moses.
Moses represented God. He appointed Moses as the mediator between God and His people. God delivered His people through Moses and did great signs and wonders through the hands of Moses.
God showed His greatness through signs and wonders
The children of Israel were witnesses of God’s signs; the plagues that the Lord Jehovah brought upon Egypt. They were witnesses of God’s deliverance, protection, and all the miracles God performed through the hands of Moses.
God divided the waters of the Red Sea. He made the sea dry land to make a way for the children of Israel. He drowned their enemy; the host of Pharaoh in the middle of the Red Sea. God led His people through a pillar of fire and a pillar of the cloud. He made the bitter water sweet. God rained manna from heaven (bread from heaven) and gave water out of the rock. God also defeated the Amalekites.
Through all these signs and wonders, God showed Himself as their Lord (Jehovah); the Almighty God and Creator of heaven and earth. God showed Himself as their Redeemer, Healer, Shepherd, Provider, Judge, Warrior, and Protector.
All the signs that God performed in Egypt before the eyes of Pharaoh, the people of Egypt, and the children of Israel, and all the miracles God performed before the eyes of the children of Israel during their exodus and stay in the wilderness, testified who God was (and still is).
But God gave more out of love for His people. He gave more to reveal Himself and separate His people from all the other nations and walk as His children on earth.
The Law was given by Moses from God
After God showed His greatness through the signs (plagues), the deliverance of the children of Israel from the power of Pharaoh, and the miracles in the wilderness, God revealed Himself through His Word.
God made His heart, will, and nature known to His people. He did this, through His words and by giving the Law to Moses.
Although the Law was not able to restore (heal) the fallen state of the children of Israel, forgive their sins, and justify and reconcile them with God, through the obedience of the Law, their sins would be (temporarily) atoned through the sacrifices and the blood of animals, and they would be holy (set apart from other nations unto God).
By keeping God’s commandments, they walked righteously before the Lord, while they were still the carnal old creation; fallen man (a.o. Exodus 13:9-10, Deuteronomy 4; 28:9-14, Acts 13:39, Romans 7:12 ).
Through obedience to the voice of the Lord and by keeping His commandments and remembering the covenant, the children of Israel would be a special treasure unto God above all people. They’d be unto God a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:4-6). (Read also: Do Christians live as a chosen generation, royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people?).
And so God gave Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant, the Law with His commandments, precepts, institutions, feasts, and (sacrificial, food, purification) laws, and He established the Levitical priesthood that was meant for the carnal old man (fallen man), who belonged to the house of Israel.
God revealed Himself through the law of Moses
God wrote with His finger, the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone. The Ten Commandments made the will of God known to His people. Whereby no one could ever say, that they didn’t know the will of God. (Read also: Why did God write the Law on tables of stone?).
God revealed Himself through the Law of Moses. This Law, which derived from God, gave Moses to the children of Israel. It gave knowledge of good and evil. The Law of Moses revealed sin through the righteousness of God and dealt with sin.
The Law; the written word of God was a teacher and kept God’s chosen people through obedience to His words.
The written word of God was in effect until the coming of the Messiah; the living Word of God.
The coming of the Messiah
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God.
Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin Thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said He, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:5-10)
The Messiah, Whom God promised to send to the earth, after the fall, was (and still is) His Son; Jesus Christ.
In the Old Covenant, God chose and appointed Moses to deliver the children of Israel from the power of Pharaoh. God not only sent Moses out of love for His children, to deliver them. But God also gave out of love for His children the Law; His written word. The Law kept His children, protected His children from evil, and saved them. (Read also: God has a plan for your life).
In the New Covenant, God gave out of love for humanity His Son Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus to the earth to deliver (fallen) man from the power of the devil and sin and death. He sent Jesus to heal and reconcile man to God, and give (eternal) life, by faith and obedience to Him.
The Word was made flesh
Jesus came from the presence of His Father, Who is in heaven, to the earth. And He was born in a human body. Jesus is the Word made flesh.
He was the reflection of God and came to the earth to do the will of God. (Read also: What does obedience to God mean?).
Jesus showed grace and He preached the truth of God. He made His will and Kingdom known to the people and made them whole.
Jesus was one with the Father. Therefore Jesus only spoke the words of His Father (a.o. John 5:30; 14:10).
As Moses revealed the will of the Father through the Law (the written word of God) to the house of Israel and through the hands of Moses did great signs and wonders, Jesus (the living Word of God) made (the will of) the Father known through His words and works, and God did great signs and wonders through the hands of Jesus.
When Phillip asked Jesus to show him the Father, Jesus said, Whosoever has seen Me, has seen the Father (a.o. John 5:30; 14:6-11, Acts 1-:38).
Jesus walked in obedience to the will of God
Jesus was spiritual and walked after the Spirit in submission and obedience to the will of the Father. By doing the will of God, Jesus fulfilled the Law of God.
Jesus was the Firstborn of the new creation (born of water and Spirit). He was the first Son of God, who walked in the truth and authority of His Father, preaching His truth and Kingdom. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus made the spiritual reality and God’s Kingdom known. He revealed and brought the Kingdom to the people. (Read also: Is the spiritual realm fiction or reality?).
Jesus exposed the darkness by walking after the Spirit in obedience to His Father in goodness, righteousness, and truth. By preaching the truth and doing the will of God, He brought the works of darkness into the light.
Jesus spent much time with the Father and lived in union with the Father. He was a Witness of His Father and His Kingdom. Through His obedience to the Father, Jesus went the way of suffering that led to the cross and death.
Out of love for His Father and people, Jesus went the way, that is meant for sinners (fallen man).
Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit
Jesus, Who was full of the Holy Spirit, was able to go that way. Through His obedience to God, Jesus made a turning point in the history of the fallen man. The fallen man, who is carnal and trapped in sinful flesh and through sin lives separated from God.
Because through the disobedience of the first Adam, son of God, everyone is born as a sinner. Everyone lives separated from God through sin. But, through the obedience of the last Adam, Jesus Christ the Son of God, everyone received the ability, by the grace and truth of God, to become justified by the blood of Jesus Christ. To be restored (healed), and enter God’s rest, and be reconciled with God, and live in union with Him through the Holy Spirit.
No one can earn this and no one can bring this about. This is not by own works. This is solemnly by the grace of God. Through the redemptive work of the Human Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Entering God’s rest
In the Old Covenant, the Law of Moses kept God’s people. The works of the Law led to a righteous walk and kept the people, who were born under the Law. But the Law couldn’t deliver people from the power of darkness, sin, and death. No one could be healed from his fallen state and be justified by the works of the Law. No one could enter the Kingdom of God and be reconciled with God and live in union with Him, by the works of the Law. By keeping the Law and all its laws, commandments, precepts, rituals, and sacrifices.
This has not changed. Although the Law revealed the will of God, the Law didn’t lead to God. Jesus Christ, and faith and regeneration in Him, lead to God.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the resurrection and the life. Only by Jesus Christ and His blood can a person be justified and reconciled with God and enter God’s rest. (a.o. John 14:6, Romans 3; 8, Hebrews 3,4).
The grace and truth of God through Jesus Christ saves man and leads to eternal life
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:11-14)
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7)
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth (Colossians 1:5—6)
Jesus Christ is the Truth. Jesus preached the truth of God and revealed and showed God’s grace and love for all people
Through Jesus Christ, the grace of God appeared to all people.
Only through the grace and truth of God by Jesus Christ, and by faith and regeneration in Him, people can be delivered from his sinful flesh and the power of darkness and be saved from hell, and be justified, enter God’s rest, and receive eternal life.
Through the death of the flesh in Christ, a person leaves the darkness and the law of sin and death has no more power over the person. Since the law of sin and death reigns in the (sinful) flesh. (Read also: What is the secret of the Law?).
The spirit of the person is quickened by the Spirit and rises from the dead. Hereby the person becomes a new creation and enters the Kingdom of God. From that moment, the law of the Spirit of life reigns in the new man.
By the Holy Spirit, the laws of God are written upon the heart of the new creation
Through the change of nature and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the laws of God are written upon the heart of the new man (new creation). Because of that, the new man will fulfill the law of God through faith and by walking after the Spirit in obedience to God and His Word (a.o. Romans 2:14-16, Hebrews 8:10-13; 10:15-18).
Although the new man still does works, because faith without works is death, these works don’t derive from the flesh (human knowledge and wisdom, ability, natural methods, techniques, and natural means). But they derive from the Spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ and His authority and the power of the Holy Spirit.
The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ
John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of Whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (John 1:15-18)
And so the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Jesus showed grace and revealed the truth of God. He became the Way to salvation until eternal life for everyone, who believes.
The grace and truth came by Jesus Christ and save people. But what happens if people despise the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ?
What happens when you despise the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ?
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:28-31)
In the Old Covenant, the law of Moses made a distinction between the people, who loved God and submitted to the law of Moses and obeyed the words and commandments of God and lived righteous according to the will of God, and the people, who rebelled against God and His law and through unbelief rejected the words of the Law. The law dealt with those, who were born under the Law and knew the Law, but rejected the law.
In the New Covenant, Jesus and the Holy Spirit make the distinction between the people, who believe and love God and obey the words of Jesus and walk in His commandments, and the rebels, who oppose the Word and refuse to submit to God, but reject His words and go their own way and persevere in sin.
However, the punishment for the person, who sins wilfully in the New Covenant is much sorer than the person, who sinned wilfully in the Old Covenant.
“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins”
When someone was born of the seed of Israel in the Old Covenant and lived under the law and sinned willfully, the person died without mercy, under two or three witnesses.
But if someone sins willfully, after having received the full knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice. But a fearful indignation which is about to be devouring the adversaries.
By sinning wilfully, the person has trodden under foot the Son of God. The person counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith the person was sanctified an unholy thing and insulted the Spirit of grace. (Read also: How can you insult the Spirit of grace?).
The person, who rejected the Law of Moses died under two or three witnesses. But whosoever rejects Jesus and despises the grace and truth of God that came by Jesus Christ, shall die until eternity.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
