Today’s Reading: James 4:12
The image of the lawgiver is one that is subject to each individual. It is based on your background and heritage and your current situations. When you think of the lawgiver in the United States of America many people would think of the police officer, the lawyers, politicians, or judges. If you were in ancient Rome, you would consider the lawgiver to be Caesar, or the centurions, or the soldiers. It deepens on the circumstances that you are dealing with and your status. These are worldly lawgivers, which have been given authority to help guide and assist us and protect us from harm. To do the passage of today justice, we must understand the full context of the message of Christ as the Lawgiver.
James 4: 1-12
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[a] are at war within you?[b] 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people![c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[d] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
God did not create the laws to restrict us, but to give us freedom. God has loved us continually from before the beginning of time. He has shown His love in countless ways and only wants us to return this unconditional love. But we as a people have not been able to fully reciprocate His vast and unending love for us. We have and continue to turn away from this amazing love for other things: fame, fortune, power, prestige, and lust. These things that we seek out takes us away from really loving God with our whole heart, mind, and spirit. It is because of this inability that God has created a template for us to follow and realign ourselves to him. It is this reason that he has created these guidelines to allow us to fully embrace the richness that he has in store for us. He is a gentle father and only wants to the best for all of his children. He gives us these laws to allow us to have a safe and brighter future and life.
This is similar to the guidelines that we as parents give our children. If we didn’t give them the guidelines of staying out of the busy intersection or not to eat a deadly plant, we are allowing them to be vulnerable to chaotic freedom with the uncertainty of life. But when directed properly we are able to give them compassionate freedom that allows them to explore within a certain set of parameters to ensure their growth and success.
God loves us and wants the relationship with us. Because of the nature of man, we are not able to completely engage with God without the law. But the original plan did not require the sacrifice to enjoy God’s love. The current plan doesn’t require that we sacrifice, only if we commit and submit to Him completely. Here are some passages that illustrate this truth.
Psalm 40:6
In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
Psalm 51:16-17
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Hosea 6: 6
For I desire steadfast love[a] and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Going against popular belief, God is not a tyrannical being that wants to place harsh judgment and punishment on all mankind. God is a just and loving God that has our best interest in mind. He has created these laws and commandments so that there is a framework for us to work within. This is to protect our spirit and us and allow us to share His love with others. When we fall outside of the law, He gently redirects us and bestows compassion on us as well. God’s love will not be overcomed by anything that is created. God’s love even extends to those who don’t love, know, or recognize him, even until the moment before death. This is lawgiver that I am thankful that we have and are able to communicate with daily. Be blessed.