“God’s Gift of the Law, pt.1” (Exodus 20:22 - 22:15) | 5/28/23
Exodus 20:22 - 22:15 | 5/28/23 | Will DuVal
Let’s begin with a short QUIZ:
“Who knows why it’s illegal in POLAND to wear Winnie the Pooh apparel in public?”
A: Because Pooh is pantless.
I like this one: “In the town of Sarpourenx, France, you must purchase a burial plot in the local cemetery before doing WHAT?”
A: before DYING; it’s ILLEGAL to die, without a plot. The mayor warned, “"Offenders will be severely punished."”
Last one: “In which state is it illegal to make your kids take out the trash IF it contains even one EMPTY bottle of alcohol?”
A: MISSOURI! So Kids: if your parents drink, now you’ve got an excuse - it’s ILLEGAL to do your chores!
(Poirot & Sulc, “60 Weird Laws”, https://www.farandwide.com/s/weird-laws-world-4961c1ede8d749bf )
There are some BIZARRE laws out there. And this morning - as we continue our study through the book of EXODUS in chs20-22, we’re gonna find some laws that are not only WEIRD; they’re TROUBLING. I actually preached a sermon on this very passage 3 years ago as part of our “Tough Texts” series, cuz as we’ll see, there are some tough LAWS in this passage.
But what I want to help us see this morning is that while some of these laws may at first seem “tough” or “troubling” to US today, when rightly understood, these laws are GOOD and LIFE-GIVING, because they are GOD’S laws, and He is a good God, who gives perfectgifts to His children. God’s laws don’t prohibit life to the fullest; they PROMOTE it.
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This section of Exodus - stretching from the end of ch20 thru ch23 - is referred to in ch24 as “the Book of the Covenant”. Remember: there are 613 commandments in the OT. The last two Sundays, we unpacked the TOP TEN - the 10 Commandments; the NEXT two weeks, we’re gonna add an ADDITIONAL 95 laws to them! And while the “Book of the Covenant” isn’t on quite the same level - the Bible says God wrote the 10 Commandments with his own finger (Ex 31:18), whereas Moses recorded this section, not on stone, but on parchment (Ex 24:4), cuz they’re not eternally binding, in the same way - yet while these laws serve a more TEMPORARY function in redemptive history, they are still nevertheless GOD’s laws. And as Philip Ryken points out (698): “The Book of the Covenant showed the Israelites how the law applied to DAILY life. Regulations about livestock grazing in a field may seem mundane. However, this is where most of us live most of the time - at the level of ordinary existence. Thankfully, God is as interested in this part of our lives as he is in anything else that happens in his world.”
So these laws prove that God CARES about every part of our lives! And that He is good, and wants life to the FULLEST for us. And I want to show you why each of the four sections we’re gonna read this morning is a GIFT, in its own right. But lastly, in closing, I want to show you how EVERY part of God’s law here points us AHEAD, to God’s BETTER gift: his son Jesus.
Let’s dive in:
The first gift God gives us here is the Gift of RELATIONSHIP. (20:22-26; 4 laws) Relationship… with HIM; with GOD!
We begin in ch20, v22, where we read:
20:22 And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’”
The first gift God reminds us of here is the gift of his self-REVELATION; v22: “You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven” - to reveal my 10 commandments. This CONTINUES the biblical pattern we’ve seen time and time again, that GOD must act FIRST, before WE are then called to RESPOND.
*God had to split the sea, THEN Israel could pass through in faith.
*Remember how the 10 Commandments began? Because of who GOD is (“I am YHWH, your God”) and what HE did (“I brought you out of slavery”), therefore, we respond by obeying Him.
So too here, God says: “Because I am a PERSONAL God who graciously condescended, and made the infinite FINITE, made the incomprehensible KNOWABLE to you, revealing myself and my perfect WILL to you, in terms you can actually understand, THEREFORE, we respond… by LISTENING UP!
First law, v23: “You shall not make gods of silver to be with me” → It’s a restatement of Commandments #1 AND 2 from the top ten. As we’ll see, virtually ALL of these 95 laws over the next 2 weeks, are really just expositing and applying those top ten principles, to real life scenarios. When God said, “Don’t murder”, what did he mean? Are there exceptions? What are the consequences? We’ll find out in ch21. Same with STEALING, in ch22. Lying and Sabbath, in ch23.
But the REASON God starts by reminding them of commandments #1 and 2 here is so they don’t forget - so WE don’t forget! - that the greatest gift of ALL, is GOD HIMSELF! The reason the law IS such a good gift, is that it shows us how to be in good RELATIONSHIP with the Law-GIVER, our good, heavenly FATHER.
And how do we DO that? Well, it’s telling that the very NEXT law provides instructions for building an altar and making SACRIFICES; v24. Because even as God was GIVING us His Law, He already knew we were gonna break it. And thus, that we were gonna need MORE than the Law, in order to STAY in good relationship with Him. We were gonna need a Law-fulfilling SAVIOR, to make permanent propitiation for our sins.
But for NOW, He commands two KINDS of sacrifices: the “olah”, or burnt offering “was a sacrifice of atonement; it paid for sin.” Ryken explains: “The altar was the place where God met with his people. Anyone who approached the altar was coming into his holy presence. But we are all sinners… so before anyone could meet with God, something had to be done about their sin” (Ryken 693). Hence, sacrifice.
Second is the “shelamim”, or peace offering; “It showed what kind of relationship God had with his people once atonement had been made for their sin… [It] was a tangible reminder that the people were no longer separated from God, but had fellowship with him” (Ryken 694).
Because of our sin, friends, we can ONLY have relationship with a holy God, on the basis of SACRIFICE.
And only the RIGHT sacrifice, on the right ALTAR, in the right WAY, made by the right PEOPLE. There’s a whole BOOK of the OT, the NEXT book, Leviticus, that deals almost exclusively with outlining the specifics of this sacrificial SYSTEM that God instituted, so that Israel could atone for their sins, and be restored to right relationship with Him. Here, we get just a snippet: don’t use “hewn stones”, or “wield your [own] tool”, or “expose your nakedness” at the altar. These were all common practices of the surrounding pagan religions, so God was calling His people to be SEPARATE, HOLY. Moreover, he’s reminding them that it’s not on the basis of THEIR works that they’re gonna have relationship with Him - how well THEY can “hew” the stones, “wield” their “tools”; NO - worship that is pleasing to God isn’t about US at all; it’s about HIM!
#2 - Second GIFT, the Law offers us, is the Gift of PROTECTION (21:1-11; 9 laws ).
ch21 now:
“Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
7 “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.”
Let’s address the elephant in the room: this is one of those “tough texts” that makes us VERY uncomfortable in the 21st c, doesn’t it? The fact that the OT at the very least CONDONES slavery, if not outright ENDORSING it. But let me make 3 observations here that might help you:
First, there was a BIG difference between the “slavery” of the Bible, and the chattel slavery of, say, the 19th c. American South. Ryken helps contrast the two (699-700): “In Israel, servitude was voluntary. People hired themselves into the service of others. Usually this was because they were poor, and… the best way to meet their needs while at the same time paying off their debts was to become someone’s servant. Servant is the proper word for it. They were not slaves, as we think of the term… but hired hands, or indentured laborers. They lived in their master’s home, where they worked hard in exchange for room, board, and an honest wage. Involuntary slavery was forbidden. Only a few verses later, the law demands the death penalty for slave TRADERS (see Ex 21:16)... Another difference… is that in Israel servanthood was TEMPORARY. (see v2)... Just as God’s people had the freedom to rest one whole day in seven, Hebrew slaves were set free in their sabbatical year… [which] prevented them from remaining in perpetual servitude [that was v2, we just read]. [And] WHEN they were set free… they were not sent away empty-handed. Instead, their masters were required to give them everything they needed to make a new start in life (see Deut. 15:12-15).”
All that to say: “The Biblical form of slavery had a CONSTRUCTIVE… [even] REDEMPTIVE purpose. It was for the benefit of the SERVANT as well as of the master… Its goal was not perpetual bondage, but [ultimately,] responsible independence. The Hebrew servant was bound FOR freedom”.
Servitude was actually a GIFT God gave His people, as a means of provision and protection, when they were down and out, until which time they could resume protecting and providing for THEMSELVES, “responsible independence”, lest they be taken advantage of. And if we zoom in on the actual laws given here in vv1-11, you’ll notice they’re actually AIMED less at the “slave” than at the “MASTER” - curtailing HIS “freedom” to treat his slaves however He pleased; “NO”, God says, “you will treat them with dignity, as fellow image-bearers. God gives the slave RIGHTS here:
*the right to go FREE in year 7, “for NOTHING”; he could BUY his freedom sooner, but if he worked for 6 years, he went free, SCOTT free.
*the right to take his WIFE WITH him, v3.
*the right to continue to have his wife and kids provided for while he built a nest egg for them, v4…
*OR, the right to voluntarily continue his OWN servitude, v6, if it was a “win-win” situation for everyone involved.
*the right, for FEMALE servants, v7, to receive provision and protection in perpetuity; they couldn’t just be discarded like property, if the master decided he didn’t want them anymore…
*v8: he had to let her family “REDEEM” her.
*if she was married off to her master’s SON, v9, she had the right to be treated just like any OTHER wife; NOT like a slave…
*in fact, v11, if he DIDN’T provide for her adequately, she got to go free for NOTHING.
These were all historically UNPRECEDENTED RIGHTS - protections - that God, in his mercy, afforded Hebrew servants.
The SECOND thing to remember here is our historical BIAS. It’s easy for US to look back, from our 21st c. post-slavery pedestal, and judge these laws as being archaic; guess what: they ARE! They’re 3,500 years old, governing a VERY different society than our own; slavery was a foregone conclusion; the question wasn’t “IF” slavery, it was “HOW” slavery. They may sound “oppressive” to us today, but to EVERYONE 3,500 years ago, Israel included, these laws were radically PRO-gressive.
Lastly, is it possible - and this may sound OBTUSE to even suggest, especially on MEMORIAL DAY weekend, of all times - but is it possible that we OVER-value the idea of “freedom”. The reason we’re so OFFENDED by slavery is because we’re so unthinkingly pro-“freedom”, but just consider with me for a moment: “How’s that working for us?” I mean, no one wants to serve a BAD master - we don’t want to live in Iran, and be told to worship Allah, or else; wear a hijab, or else. But is serving NO master the answer? Read the book of JUDGES, when “there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his OWN eyes”. Or better yet: just look AROUND us; where has all our “freedom” left us?
It’s left us with the “freedom” to expect abortion on demand (in most states, still)... the “freedom” to choose our own gender, and then expect everyone else to play along with it… the “freedom” to marry whoever you WANT - I just read an article last week about how trendy it’s becoming now to “marry YOURSELF”; I don’t even know what that MEANS?!
Friends: is it possible that FREEDOM is overrated?
You say, “Well Pastor, isn’t the book of EXODUS all ABOUT freedom?!”
No, it’s not, actually. Exodus is all about serving the RIGHT Master. We may have spent 14 chapters getting Israel out of bondage in Egypt, but the NEXT 26 chapters are all about them learning to be “BOUND” to THE LORD instead! Remember God’s charge to Pharaoh? It wasn’t just “Let my people GO”; Charlton Heston forgot the second half of God’s command: “Let them go… that they may serve ME!” (Ex 8:1).
The Bible is clear: we are ALL slaves to something. Romans 6 says “you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or [slaves] of obedience, which leads to righteousness… thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin… having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (vv16-18) → We were ALL born slaves to sin; slaves to OURSELVES, really; our own selfish desires. The question is: have you been set free from THAT slavery, to serve a BETTER Master?
Consider the WILLING servitude of the slave here in v5: “I will not go out free” in the 7th year, he says. What could convince a slave to forego his freedom? What could be BETTER than freedom? I’ll tell you what: serving a GOOD master. A master so good he EARNS the slave’s trust, his loyalty, his LOVE - v5: “the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master”.
The story is told of Abraham Lincoln visiting a slave auction, and being APPALLED at what he saw. But “his heart was especially drawn to a young woman on the block whose story seemed to be told in her eyes. She looked with hatred on everyone around her. She had been used and abused all her life… [So when] the bidding began, Lincoln offered a bid… and [eventually] he WON. When he paid the auctioneer the money and took title to the young woman, she stared at him with vicious contempt and asked him what he was going to do with her NEXT.
Lincoln replied “I’m going to set you FREE.
“Free?”, she asked. “Free,” he answered.
“Free to do what I want?” she asked. “Yes”, he said…
“Free to GO wherever I want?” she asked. “Yes, Lincoln answered.
“Then I’m going with YOU!” she said.” (Anderson, quoted in Ryken 707):
Friends… fellow SLAVES: have you encountered a master like THAT, yet? One so good and so loving he is worth FREELY following?
#3 - God’s law offers us the The Gift of JUSTICE. (21:12-32; 18 laws )
Ch21, v12:
“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
16 “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
17 “Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
18 “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.
22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
18 laws in this THIRD section and they’re pretty straightforward; they all fall under one theme: God’s love for JUSTICE. Ryken outlines three kinds of crimes here: “capital crimes (vv12-17), personal injuries (vv18-27), and criminal negligence (vv28-36)... [with] a general progression from greater crimes to lesser” crimes and an accompanying principle of proportionality: “the punishment [must] FIT the crime.” (Ryken 710)
The first category is the most severe: capital offenses, which merit the death penalty. The OT lists 28 sins deserving of death, but we find THREE of them here: LIFE-TAKING (i.e., murder; vv12-14), PARENT-DISHONORING (v15, 17), and HUMAN-TRAFFICKING (v16). Note also: v23 clearly categorizes abortion, even accidental abortion, as MURDER. v20: even a SLAVE’S death “shall be avenged”, “life for life”. Once again, God is affirming the sanctity of life… ALL life. God is SO pro-life, He cannot stand idly by while life is taken unjustly; God’s justice demands that murder be PUNISHED.
The SECOND category concerns “personal injury” laws: the first ever “workers comp” law in vv18-19; then more protections for slaves - injured slaves - God’s law was the only legal code in antiquity that forbid physical abuse even of slaves (vv20-21, 26-27; Ryken, 714); and then in vv22-25, laws concerning “unintentional injury to bystanders”, where an important, recurring principle becomes clear: if one is found at fault, he STILL bears responsibility for damages, even in the case of an accident.
And that principle is just elaborated in vv28-36, in the third sub-category of justice laws: cases of “criminal negligence”. By the way, there is LOTS more we could say about ALL of these laws, but I don’t even have time for one law per MINUTE, so if you have further questions about any of this, just submit it to our “Ask the Pastors” podcast.
But the one verse I DID want to quickly comment on - the most well-known from this section - is v24’s famous “eye for eye, and tooth for tooth”. At first glance, you might think, “Wait a minute - what about the NEW Testament, where JESUS says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:38-39); isn’t this a CLEAR example of the Bible CONTRADICTING itself.
Well, we need to understand that the primary purpose of this law wasn’t to ensure that offenders got PUNISHED; both God’s law and human nature assumed that much. No, this law was intended to protect the offender from being EXCESSIVELY punished. In other words: “Don’t take TWO eyes, for one eye; TWO teeth when you only lost one.” Ryken explains (718): “God’s law didn’t allow the violence to escalate. The punishment had to fit the crime…. At the time of Jesus… some Jewish leaders were saying that the law required strict justice, without any room for mercy. “An eye for an eye”... As far as they were concerned, this was the MINIMUM penalty, not the maximum.” But Jesus corrected them. He said, in effect: “YES, God is pro-justice. And you are within your legal RIGHT, as a victim, to demand proportionate punishment. You CAN do that. But…” Jesus says, “you don’t HAVE to. You can ALSO simply choose to FORGIVE. To show MERCY.” Because justice is GOOD; but MERCY is BETTER. James 2:13 - “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Lastly, (for this morning, anyway) #4 - Through His Law, God offers us: The Gift of RESTITUTION. (21:33-22:15; 17 laws)
“Restitution” is defined as “restoration or reparation made by giving an equivalent or compensation for loss, damage, or injury caused”. It’s really just a SUB-category of the “justice” laws from point #3. But we read on:
In ch21, v33:
33 “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
35 “When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
22:1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. 2 If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, 3 but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.
5 “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.
6 “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.
7 “If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. 8 If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. 9 For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.
10 “If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, 11 an oath by the LORD shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. 12 But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. 13 If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.
14 “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. 15 If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.”
These laws are ALL just and good, so I really don’t need to say too much about them. We would do WELL to implement most of them today in OUR country; if a thief steals MY donkey - my CAR - he may go to jail for it, but there’s no guarantee he’s EVER gonna pay me back, much less, pay me back DOUBLE (Or apparently, if he “KILLED” my car - it’s no longer drivable - he owes me FIVE cars, according to v1!). And if he couldn’t PAY it, then he ought to become my SLAVE! I bet that was a pretty good theft DETERRENT; ancient Israel had much less of a theft problem, than we do today.
But notice once again, in v3, God’s mercy here even towards the THIEF! God establishes a “stand your ground” law in v2, but in v3 he makes it clear that you can only use proportionate force in self-defense. If the sun has come up and you can SEE that this thief ISN’T wielding a deadly weapon, then you can’t just kill him anyway. Even thieves have rights; the right to LIFE. ALL life is sacred, even a criminal’s. Once again, totally unprecedented in the ancient world; most civilizations just put thieves to DEATH - certainly if you stole from someone IMPORTANT. That’s another distinction Ryken points out (727): “In ancient cultures, the penalty for theft was based on the SOCIAL STATUS of the victim. The justice system discriminated… determining a thief’s punishment not by what he took, but by the person from whom he took it… [But] God offers EQUAL protection under his law.”
But the common theme running through all SEVENTEEN of these “restitution” laws is basically the same: TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS! It’s not enough to say “Whoops! Sorry…”. No, you gotta make it RIGHT; make Restitution.
CONCLUSION: But as we conclude, we need to recognize that as GOOD as the Law may have been - and it was GOOD; King David declared, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” - but as good a GIFT as it was, the Bible makes it clear that the Law could NEVER offer us the best gift of ALL: SALVATION. ‘Cuz our biggest PROBLEM of all is our SIN; our failure to KEEP the Law. But all the LAW could do was exacerbate THAT problem - pile on more and more laws to try and REIGN sin in, but it only ends up piling on more and more GUILT, condemnation; just more laws we have failed to KEEP! That’s why even the law itself here is ultimately intended to point us to one GREATER than the Law, God’s greatest gift of ALL: JESUS!
Jesus IS our Restitution; He repaid God the Father the obedience that we OWED Him, but failed to offer, and then he made restitution for us, through his death on the cross. Where…
Jesus became our JUSTICE; God’s justice demands that he punish sin. But on the cross, Jesus BORE that punishment FOR us, in our PLACE.
Thus, Jesus is ALSO our Protection; he protects us from God’s OWN righteous, holy wrath against sin. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who laid down his own life for US, his sheep. He is the truly loving “Master”; what’s better than FREEDOM, to do whatever you WANT? Serving JESUS. Only by serving him are we truly free, from sin.
And only through Him, can we be restored to RELATIONSHIP with our heavenly Father; Jesus IS our means of RELATIONSHIP with God. Because He is himself our once-and-for-all-time atoning sacrifice; he is our better high priest; Hebrews 13:10 even calls Jesus our “ALTAR”.
In short, friends, Jesus is our EVERYTHING. Come to him today and be saved.