The Purpose of the Law is the Cross

3/15/2020

This was our first ever, fully online service thanks to the covid-19 situation in the world. Along with this unprecedented outbreak, many people have been experiencing crushing anxiety and panic. At the very least, there has been some low level frustration at having so many good things cancelled!

But our message this week is one of hope in the midst of difficult questions and how God's law is evidence that he really cares about what we are truly focused on.

Pastor Brennan began with this question, "Why did God use Moses and not send Jesus to deliver his people out of Egypt?" Have you ever thought about this? Wouldn't Jesus have done a better job? Come to think of it, wouldn't he have done a better job than anyone who did anything throughout scripture? Why did he wait so long to come?

Has there been a time when you've felt God could have done a better job to step in to deal with your situation and suffering? How did this affect your faith? How have you worked through this with him?

If the point of God's activity is human focused then he seems to have done a pretty bad job most of the time. Yet he is all knowing, all powerful, all present, and all loving. So perhaps our perspective is just in need of an adjustment?

The law was intended to point the people to something beyond their present reality. It gave them something to look forward to, something to hope for. Read Deuteronomy 5:32-33 together. What is it drawing their attention to? Did they actually ever experience this? Why or why not?

Paul wrote in Romans 3:9-20 about the true nature of humanity and the effect of the law. How would you put these 2 things into your own words?

Read Romans 3:21-26 together. What did the law and the prophet bear witness to? What does this passage say about the timing of the coming of Christ? What does Paul note as the effect of the coming of Christ?

How do your answers to these questions spawn hope?

Finish your time together by reading through Hebrews 11:1-12:2. This is a long passage, but there is no better source of hope for us in difficult circumstances. God never promises us an easy life or one free of suffering. What he does promise is that our hope is secure in Christ!

How do you plan to let others see the hope you have in Jesus? How do you plan to serve, love, and fight against fear with truth? How can you support each other, as well as those in your immediate neighbourhood over the coming week?