Friday, November 12
“The enemy of Christ, who rebelled against God’s law in heaven, has, as a skilled, trained general, worked with all his power, bringing out one device after another, full of deception, to make of none effect the law of God, the only true detector of sin, the standard of righteousness.” Review and Herald, November 18, 1890
Two trillion galaxies burnish the cosmos. One hundred billion stars comprise each galaxy. That’s 100,000,000,000. Two trillion galaxies, of 100 billion stars each, come to 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars.
Now, it’s a principle of existence: whatever conceives of and creates something must be greater than and transcend what it conceived of and created. Picasso is greater than and transcends an artwork by Picasso. The God who conceived of and created our cosmos must be greater than the cosmos and transcend it, as well.
With that in mind, think of the following text: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). That is, the God who created all that was created, the 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars and everything else — He did what? He “shrank down,” became a human baby, lived a sinless life, then died on the cross, bearing in Himself the penalty for our sins and evil so that we can have the promise of eternal life.
Before us is this great truth: the grace given us in Jesus Christ on the cross. And what does God ask from us in return? “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Discussion Questions:
1. In class, go over the question at the end of Monday’s study, about how people who believe in keeping God’s law, the Ten Commandments (including the fourth) can avoid the subtle traps of legalism. How does obedience, even strict and unwavering obedience, differ from legalism, and how can we know the difference between the two?
2. What are some stories you have heard (or known first-hand) about how those who have violated the Ten Commandments suffered terrible consequences from that violation? What should this teach us about how the law reflects the reality of God’s love for us?
3. Why should the cross show us the futility of trying to earn our way to heaven?
