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0:49Let's say take a history tutor or an English tutor that kidnapped your child and said, okay, we're going to take your child. You're supposed to, you've been hired to teach child English, and instead you take the child and you throw him in a jail cell and you say you're going to teach, you're going to learn English the rest of your life. That wouldn't really be a good tutor, would it? Well, think about the law as a tutor.

1:26There comes a time, as in any career, like my time. As an engineer, there came a time when I had to move on from studying about engineering to actually practicing engineering. It's true with any profession. There comes a time when we have to move on from studying about the Christ revealed in Scripture to actually following Him. And that's what we let the law do. We want the law to tutor us. How does the law tutor us today? That's the topic of this whole spring series.

2:08But God wants the world to move on from just knowing who Christ is to actually following Him and to really becoming a practitioner of Christ. Not just a student, but a practitioner. You see, God prepared the world for the coming of Christ. He went to great pains to raise up the Jewish nation, to bring Christ into the world. And now that He has come, the world is called to follow Him. No longer are we waiting for the baby to be born in the manger.

2:51No longer are we waiting for the perfect sacrifice to be revealed. We are calling people to follow Him. To embrace him. God has also appointed a time when he will yet come again. His will will be done on earth just as it is in heaven. History is moving to its conclusion. You see, there's a time when God wants the world to move on from just hearing about Christ to actually believing in Christ and even beyond that to actually living with Christ. And that's true on an individual level as well.

3:43As you grow up spiritually, you grow up in Christ, you need to move on from the elementary things of life, like God is, sin is, and your need to be Christ, or your need to be, your need for Christ. All that, you need to move on from those elementary things and put on Christ and learn who this is and who we're called to be. But having come to Christ, there's still a need for us to study the law. Why is that? How does studying the law help us better follow Christ? That's the question tonight. We'll be answering the topic for tonight's study: is why do we study the law today? Why study the law? And so, I have ten reasons that I'll give you tonight, and there could be many more, and they could be restated in different ways. But we'll just walk through these ten reasons why we should study the law today.

4:57Number one, big shocker, it's part of the Bible. You're going to be a student of the Bible, a large portion of it is the law. Very beginning, it's part of Scripture. And in 2 Timothy 3:16, many of you have memorized this, I'm sure. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, This all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

5:42The law is part of that corpus of Scripture that is inspired and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training, and righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate for every good work. So, first reason. It's part of the Bible. Second reason we should study the law is that it is foundational to human history. Genesis 1:1 says this: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God was. God is. God created the heavens and the earth. God is the one who creates matter out of nothing, speaks it into existence, determines its final form by the breath of his mouth. He calls things into existence.

6:44That is God. And he created the heavens and the earth. And so, human history begins there in the mind of God. So, all of that which is fundamental and germane to humanity begins there. God is. God wanted to create us. He had a purpose, creating us into His image. We see the origins of sin. We see the origins of death and where all that comes from. We see the origins of the nations and why we speak different languages today. And here's the point: we cannot understand human history.

7:30God tells us. There's certain things about the universe we cannot know unless he tells us. And so the Bible, the law, is that foundational to human history. Third, the law is foundational to canonical history. When I'm talking canonical history, I'm talking about the Bible. The very first words that we have in our scripture are the words that Moses put down in the law. I know some people might have some opinions about Job. I think Moses probably wrote Job probably along the same times that he was putting all of this other stuff together, but that's neither here nor there. We do know that the foundation of canonical history begins with the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God on the tablets of stone. And they were placed into the ark, and there they were to be in the presence of God. Deuteronomy 10, 4 and 10, 5. Deuteronomy 10, 5, after God wrote the Ten Commandments with his own finger on the tablets.

8:54Moses came down and he says this, then I turned. In Deuteronomy 10, 5, then I turned and came. Down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made, and there they are, as the Lord commanded me. But it's important to note that God wasn't through speaking just on those Ten Commandments. There were more words. In Exodus 34, 27, the Lord said to Moses, Write down these words. For in accordance with these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. Exodus 34, 27. God is saying, Here are the words.

9:38These I have given to you. They are within these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. And then Moses goes and he completes. He completes writing the law. In Deuteronomy 31, 24, there were more words to be added. Deuteronomy 31, 24 says this: It came about when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you. So here's the Lord saying, Take the Lord. These words, Moses, this whole book, put it in there, right there in the ark. Put it there, right beside the ark, in that same place, that it may remain there as a witness against you.

10:48So it's foundational to canonical history: God coming in and taking this nation out of Egypt and speaking to them and giving them his words. But it's evident that the law was written down to instruct all nations, wasn't just for the Jews. In fact, Romans 15:4 says this: For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. What's he talking about? All that was written in former times, including the law, was written for our instructions. He's writing to Romans, Romans, a book of Romans, audience, largely involving Gentiles, written for our instruction.

11:57The law shows us man's basic practice. It shows us man's basic problem. 1 Corinthians 10, 6. 1 Corinthians 10, 6, Paul says this. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they craved. That's fundamentally what's wrong. Craving evil things. That's man's basic problem. Has been from the very beginning. But it is also a tutor to Christ. As Galatians 3:4, we've looked at that. Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith. Though the law shows us man's basic problem, it also shows us God's solution to Christ. And we may be justified, made right in his sight by faith.

13:07There's a bit in one of my classes, you've seen this. But it's appropriate to talk about here. What do you see there? The Mississippi River basin emptying into the Gulf of You see how dated, how quickly maps can get dated. Okay, whether you still call it the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of America, we're talking about that body of water where the Mississippi empties into it. Now, that's think about that. You've got rivers emptying into the Mississippi, and I think about so all of these other rivers are tributaries, they feed the Mississippi, they don't directly drain into the Gulf of Mexico-America, but they drain into the Mississippi that does. Now, let me change this up. And I think about the metanarrative of Scripture. Let's think about the metanarrative of Scripture being that Mississippi Valley.

14:17At the very headwaters, you have Genesis. At the end, you have the Revelation. And what I all emptying into one place, and that is the glory of Jesus Christ. Where does Scripture take us? Where does the metanarrative take us? It takes us to one individual, Jesus Christ, and his glory. God sought from the very beginning in Genesis to make man in his image. And then at the end of Revelation, you see man in the presence of God and of the Lamb, in the presence of the Lamb with His name on their forehead, bearing His image. All of Scripture. Is that great metanarrative of how God brings forth and forms his likeness in humanity. And it's Christ's likeness. He has exalted Christ, and so much so that he wants every human being bearing the image of Christ, his likeness, and in so doing, bearing the image of God. So that's the metanarrative of Scripture. Now, not all scriptures empty directly, are directly about Jesus Christ, but they support the narrative that is.

15:42In other words, you have the law at the headwaters of all of it. You have the law, this whole metanarrative that empties into the glory of Jesus Christ. You have the law at the headwaters of it all. And then you have other tributaries of Scripture that flow into this great metanarrative. You have the history, you have prophets, you have the psalms and wisdom. They empty into this great metanarrative. You have the New Testament, the Gospels, the New Testament prophets, and the epistles, all of that emptying into this great metanarrative of scripture that is all revealing and unveiling the glory of Jesus Christ. And so that is what Scripture is about. It shows us man's need. Our tutor to Christ, and it reveals him. When you talk about scripture, think about this narrative.

16:39I'm not saying that every scripture is a direct text about Jesus Christ, but it does empty into a metanarrative that does support and expand and exalt and promote the glory of Jesus Christ in humanity. So, back to the question: why should we study the law? Well, number seven, it shows us what loving the Lord with all of our hearts looks like. Deuteronomy 6:5 says this, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your might. That's what God wants. That's what God wants in us. That's what was in Jesus Christ, and showed us what that looks like. But the law shows us and gives us what that looks like. And just even in Deuteronomy 6, you don't have to go far from Deuteronomy 6:5, and there's several elements. Number one, you need to recognize God.

17:51That's what loving the Lord and your God begins with recognizing him. You should hear him. Deuteronomy 6. 6.3, O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well. Hear, O Israel. So hearing. So recognizing God, hearing God, with the intention to obey Him. That's what the law teaches us. Recognizing God, hearing God, obeying Him. But it's not only that, it's to remember Him. One of God's strong exhortations in Deuteronomy 6 is: watch yourself that you do not forget the Lord. Deuteronomy 6:12.

18:38Do not forget him. 6:13, you shall fear the Lord only and shall worship him and him alone. So that's what loving the Lord God with all our hearts looks like. It looks recognizing him. And this is what the law teaches us. Recognize God, hear God, obey God, remember God, and worship him. Very fundamental. And it shows us practically what that looks like. It also shows us what loving your neighbor as yourself looks like. Leviticus 19, 18 says this, You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Boy, if We could put that into practice. You shall not take vengeance. Don't retaliate against anyone ever. Do not bear any grudge against the sons of your people. Boy, wouldn't that be a great lesson for all of us, for husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters? And wouldn't that be a great thing for just, but it's more than that. It's a much bigger expanse than just that. But that's fundamental what God expects. It shows us what loving your neighbor yourself looks like in a lot of creative and practical ways.

20:11But it also gives us practical wisdom, number nine. Practical wisdom for governing society. Boy, if you're a student of the law, and I'm excited about some of the nights to come where we just look at laws, different laws that God has given and see the heart of the lawgiver behind it and the wisdom for governing people and wisdom for godly disciplines, godly routines. And there's just so much wisdom, practical wisdom, practical wisdom in what loving the Lord looks like, what practical wisdom like loving each other looks like, and so much.

21:00It also shows us the lawgiver himself. It shows us the law giver himself. You see, we're not disciples of the law, we're disciples of Christ. And we're students of him. And if we allow the law to continue its tutoring work, it shows us the lawgiver, the one in whom perfectly embodied the law. If we let it continue tutoring us and showing us the lawgiver, showing us Christ, then the law will certainly be profitable. It'll be a profitable study. But if we raise outward legalistic conformity to the Mosaic law as the standard, then we rely upon ourselves and we negate the tutoring ministry of the law.

21:58But the law is our tutor to show us and point us to the one we can rely on. What he looks like, what he's like, how to recognize him. Say this about the Bible. What is the Bible about? I'm going to use some technical terms here, but it's theocentric. What does that mean? Theo? God. Centric? Central. Yeah, so you think about the Bible. What is it? It's about the God of the Bible. The Bible is revealing the God of the Bible. And so it's theocentric. It's about God.

22:47But another word often used in our circles is Christocentric. Christocentric. What does that mean? Christ? Central. Okay, and so this book is about the God of Scripture, but it's also about the Christ of Scripture. And Christ, the centric portion, typically focuses on his Christ or on his crosswork. So think about it: it's the God of the Bible, theocentric, it's about God. It's about his Christ and His crosswork. There's another term, and I don't pit any of these against each other. I see them as very cooperative. Christotelic. Now, now, now, see if you get this one. What is the first? What is Christo? What is telec? The end. The end. Wow. Okay, you got it. Okay, so now we've gone to Christotelic. What does that mean? It's about Christ.

23:52The end goal. Christ. So you think about it, it's about the God of Scripture revealed in the crossword. Of Christ with the emphasis of his glory being shown, Christote, that Christ would be revealed. That is the image. And so, who is the God of the Bible? It's one and the same with the Christ, God in man. So, why should we study the law? Well, it's part of the Bible. It's foundational to human history. It's foundational to canonical history. It was written down to instruct all the nations. It shows us man's basic problem. It is a tutor to Christ.

24:45It shows us what loving the Lord with all our hearts looks like. It shows us what loving your neighbor as yourself looks like. It gives us practical wisdom for governing society, godly disciplines and routines. And it also shows us the lawgiver himself. Questions? Let me pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening and thank you for this truth that you've given us in the law and why we should study it. And Father, now God, guide our conversation for your glory in Christ's name. Amen.