The Law Leads us to Christ

The Law of God, expressed so well in the Ten Commandments, is a remarkable piece of "legislation". Consider the following:
1. The Law reflects the lawgiver's character. When the law speaks of not giving false testimony it speaks of the lawgiver's truthfulness. When it speaks of not committing murder it points to the lawgiver's life giving, life promoting character.
2. To obey the Law would result in reflecting the character of the lawgiver. It would be to bring glory to the lawgiver, or put His character on display.
3. The first four commandments have to do with the love of God. The last six have to do with loving others. Thus, as Jesus Himself summed up, the Law is all about loving God and loving others.
4. The transitional commandment (the 5th) is about family. When humans break the first four commandments (regarding loving God) it most always affects the family leading to its deterioration. Then when the family deteriorates, society deteriorates and is marked by the consequences of the breaking of commandments 6-10. There seems to be a logical sequence in these commandments.
5. According to Galatians the Law was put in charge to show us our sinfulness (all of us are law breakers) and to lead us to Christ.
Fast forward now from Exodus 20 to Luke 23. Over and over in this chapter we hear men proclaiming that Jesus is innocent. Pilate said several times as did the centurion that he found no fault in this man. That is an important theme, because what man could not do (keep the commandments and thus be innocent) Jesus did. Actually the cross was His final act of obedience and righteousness. He carried out His Father's will even to the degree of taking upon Himself the sins (lawbreaking) of mankind and the punishment that lawbreaking deserved. I thnk this is what Paul means in 2 Corinthians 8:9 when he says that Jesus became poor, so that by His poverty we might become rich.
And rich we have become. By Jesus' sacrifice on the cross - by His taking all of our lawbreaking upon Himself - by receiving the stroke due the rebellion to our Creator, He has paved the way for the cleansing of our hearts. And not only that, His righteous, innocent life, even to the point of obedience on the cross, has provided us with a "coat" of righteousness in which He wraps all those who would come to Him in repentance and faith.
Has the Law performed its diagnosis upon your heart? Has it exposed your sinfulness - your lawbreaking - your heart tendency to want your own will and not the Father's? And has that revelation led you to look to the only One who can make it all right - who can bring you back to the Father through the blood of His cross.
Today is the day of salvation! If you have never made your way to Christ, today is the day. You will find Him a gentle Savior, and you will find unbelievable healing as He cleanses your heart and wraps you with His righteousness.