John 1:16-17 (NKJV) And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:13-14 (NKJV) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
As Christians, we need to understand the difference between before and after the cross. Jesus’s work of redemption has satisfied God’s wrath towards sin on our behalf. Therefore, we should always view the Old Testament through the lens of redemption. Otherwise, we risk practising Judaism instead of Christianity, and we may lapse into identifying ourselves by what we do rather than by our relationship with Christ. The law can neither perfect nor enable us to stand justified before God. Therefore, the Old Covenant has flaws and weaknesses, but the New Covenant is flawless.
Sin is disobedience to God and His Word. The law acted as a schoolmaster to reveal to us how weak and rebellious we are towards God and how hopeless we are without Him. However, God is gracious and loves us unconditionally. Consequently, Jesus came to declare God to us. He is the Word made flesh, who took our place when He hung on the cross to deal with the sin issue that separated us from God. Jesus bore all the curses of the law upon Himself when He hung on the cross to be made sin for us. All curses of sickness and the penalty of sin were placed on Jesus.
The New Covenant was established when Jesus’ blood was shed for us. The Cross was a pivotal event that signalled the beginning of a new era. A believer’s life is forever changed! We are born again, and the New Covenant empowers us, through the work of the Holy Spirit within our hearts, to yield to God’s Word and live in godliness. It enables us to overcome temptation because we have the nature of God within us.
We need to meditate on the Word, read the whole counsel of the Bible, and discipline ourselves by reading and listening to it and renewing our minds through it because this will help us to walk in God’s way. The Word teaches us how to walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh. We can yield to God’s Word and ways through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, who will lead us by giving us the inner witness in our hearts as we walk with the Lord. Our ways will be prosperous and successful in God’s way rather than the way of the world!
We will experience peace (shalom) when we walk in love, forgive, and extend grace to one another. Therefore, let’s practise and live out the Word in our lives by loving God and people, for love fulfils the law. In this way, God will receive the glory.
Sermon Series: Wise Saying
让上帝得荣耀
约翰福音1:16-17 从祂丰满的恩典里，我们都领受了，而且恩上加恩。律法本是藉着摩西传的，恩典和真理都是由耶稣基督来的。
加拉太书3:13-14 基督既为我们受了咒诅，就赎出我们脱离律法的咒诅；因为经上记着：“凡挂在木头上的都是被咒诅的。”，这便叫亚伯拉罕的福，因基督耶稣可以临到外邦人，使我们因信得着所应许的圣灵。
作为基督徒，我们需要理解十字架之前和之后的区别。耶稣的救赎工作替我们平息了神对罪的愤怒。 因此，我们应当始终以救赎的视角来看待旧约。否则，我们可能变成信奉犹太教而非基督教，并且我们可能会陷入以自己的行为而不是与基督的关系来定位自己。律法既不能使我们得以完全，也不能使我们在神面前称义。 因此，旧约有其缺陷和弱点，但新约却是完美无暇的。
罪就是不顺服神和祂的话语。律法就像一位教师，向我们显明我们在神面前是多么的软弱悖和叛逆，没有祂我们是多么的没有盼望。 然而，神满有恩典且无条件地爱我们。因此，耶稣来到世上，向我们宣告神的存在。祂道成肉身，当祂被钉在十字架上代替我们的死，就解决了罪使我们与神隔离的问题。当耶稣被钉死在十字架上时，祂替我们成为了罪，担当了律法上所有的咒诅。所有疾病的咒诅和罪的刑罚都担在耶稣身上。
新约是在耶稣为我们流血牺牲时建立的。十字架是标志新时代开始的一个关键事件。信徒的生命因此永远改变了！我们重生了，新约通过圣灵在我们心中的工作赋予我们力量，使我们顺服神的话语，过敬虔的生活。它使我们能够胜过试探，因为我们里面有神的本性。
我们需要默想神的话语，研读整本圣经的教诲，并通过阅读和聆听来纪律自己及更新我们的心思意念，因为这将帮助我们行在神的道路中。神的话语教导我们如何在圣灵里行事，而不是满足肉体的欲望。我们可以通过圣灵的能力顺服神的话语和道路，当我们与主同行，圣灵会在我们心中给我们内在的应证。我们的道路将以神的方式亨通顺利，而不是以世界的方式！
当我们行在爱中、彼此饶恕和彼此以恩典相待时，我们将经历平安（shalom）。因此，让我们在生活中通过爱神和爱人来操练并活出神的话语，，因为爱完全了律法。这样，神就得了荣耀。
讲章系列：智慧之路
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