WEBVTT 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:05.360 Well, Christmas Day at my house is very fun. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:07.599 As you can imagine, we had a lot of fun with Santa. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:11.279 I've got four kids, and they had a great time that morning. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:12.400 We woke up early. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:13.919 We said there's a limit. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.000 We won't go downstairs until 7.30. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:21.440 But at 6.30 they were in my bed, wheezy, ready to go down and see what Santa brought them. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:22.160 We had so much fun. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:23.519 We had the family all to our house. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:24.640 We had a lot of food. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:26.559 It was a great day for us. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:33.359 And as the afternoon began to wear down, I thought, hey, Megan, let's go for a walk today. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.679 And part of the reason for that is it's been raining every day, it feels like. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:46.399 But another part is I had this, I had shoulder surgery about a month ago, so the week of Thanksgiving, and I cannot run, and I love to run. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.439 And so I feel guilty because I'm like, I gotta go do something. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:54.079 We ate all this food, we had Waffle House on Christmas Eve, and then all this food today. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:55.520 I got to go do something. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:05.040 And then part of that is I'm looking out at next week, and New Year's is coming, and it's time to set some resolutions and lose some weight and all that stuff. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:10.319 I've had some post-surgery weight gain as I have not been able to do much. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.879 And so I was thinking about New Year's resolutions and what that means for me and what that means for us. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:23.840 And I went back and I looked for a survey that Nielsen did last year or early 2015 on the top 10 resolutions for New Year's. 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:26.079 And they were number 10, read more. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:28.400 Number nine, travel more. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.560 Number eight, learn something new. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:33.200 Number seven, I like this one the most. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:34.959 No resolutions at all. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:36.719 I think that was 16%. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:38.879 Number six, get organized. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:40.959 Number five, spend more time with family. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:44.480 Number four, spend less, save more. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.519 Number three, enjoy life to the fullest. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:49.840 Number two, lose weight. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.040 Number one, stay fit and healthy. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:56.560 So those last two kind of fit in with my wrestling. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:04.719 We're on Exodus 19, and if you're like me when you were young and you went to church, you knew Exodus 20 was the Ten Commandments. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:06.239 Like you could turn there easily. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:08.000 You knew that your parents taught it. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:16.000 And so we're getting up on not only Exodus 20, but the rest of this Old Testament is the next few books. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:18.639 There's a lot of laws and commands that are coming. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:22.719 They're like the ultimate to-do list, the ultimate set of resolutions. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:28.719 If you could follow these things, if I could do these things in the new year, man, I'd be doing pretty well. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:32.639 Well, we're about to go in there, and I go back because Russ has been talking through Exodus. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.120 He's been teaching through Exodus for the last few weeks. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.000 But Exodus kind of begins in Genesis. 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:44.879 And in Genesis, God made promises or covenants with Abram or Abraham. 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:47.439 And it starts in Genesis chapter 12. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:48.719 God made a covenant. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:56.719 He said, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:18.960 And he goes on in Genesis 15, and God says to Abraham, To your offspring I will give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kennesites, the Cabmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Gergeshites, and the Jebushites. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:35.919 And later in Genesis 17, God continues and he says, I'll give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.240 And here's a little twist on it. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:39.680 He adds something. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:47.439 As for you, you shall keep my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:50.400 Every male among you shall be circumcised. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:57.039 So in Genesis 17, God's saying, I've promised that you will be a father of many nations, and I'll give you this land. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:02.879 And now in Genesis 17, he's saying, and I want you to be part of this covenant, and there's something I want you to do. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:08.080 And in Genesis 17, it was circumcise every male among you. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:17.839 Well, Abraham then has a child, Isaac, and Isaac has Jacob, and Jacob has 12 sons, who are the twelve tribes of Israel. 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:20.079 And one of those, the youngest one, is Joseph. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:25.199 You remember Joseph and his coat of many colors, his brothers sold him into slavery. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:41.680 And Joseph ends up in Egypt, and there's a famine in the land, and Joseph, God provides through Joseph so that Egypt would have enough food for Egypt to survive, but also for Abraham's offspring to survive. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:56.720 So this offspring is part of God's, I mean, this provision is part of God's promise and his covenant that I will make you a father of many nations, and he fulfills that through Joseph in Egypt. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:02.480 And this is kind of what Russ has been talking about when he says this word anticipatory providence. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:10.639 That's God's provision that we'll receive the reward of redemption, that God will fulfill his covenant with us. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:13.439 So now here we are in Exodus 19. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:27.040 The nation of Israel is in Egypt, and God provides a way through Moses, all the plagues, and Pharaoh says, get out of here, and they leave, and then God provides a way for them to go to the Red Sea. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:30.959 It's kind of weird that he would direct them that way instead of straight to Israel, but he does. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:34.959 And he parts the Red Sea and takes out Pharaoh's army. 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:38.240 And then when they're thirsty, God provides water. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.160 When they're hungry, God provides bread. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.160 Then he provides quail at night. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.000 And here they are at Exodus 19. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.720 They're still moving towards the promised land. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:59.759 And God's preparing them to provide this law or this framework, these set of commands for them to structure their nation and to structure their personal lives around. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.160 These are the Ten Commandments of the law. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:15.439 And when you read back in Exodus 19, he says, to start that, he says, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:19.439 To me, this reminds me some of the Christian life and of my Christian life. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:23.199 Here I am, somewhat in darkness, like they were in Egypt, kind of lost. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:31.360 And God provides some hope, some life, some light, and that being this Christian faith, this Christian journey, calls me on a journey. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:34.879 And through that journey, God provides and provides and provides. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:39.439 And then it's, He gives me this life that's healthy and good for me. 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:40.879 The Christian life is good. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:47.120 And then I start reading Scripture and I see all these commands and all this law, and I wonder, what's the value of this? 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.600 And so I begin to question and ask, what does that mean for me as a Christian? 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.360 And I want to talk about that some today. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:58.480 What's the value of the Old Testament commands and the law for us today? 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:04.240 And even what are sort of the value of some of the New Testament imperatives that God gives to us? 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:09.279 So when I read Exodus 19, I picked out six things I learned real quick. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:13.920 And so I'll just tell you them because maybe you'll write them down, but probably not because these are going to be real fast. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.720 The first thing I learned is God is God. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:22.720 He's big, he's supreme, he's to be feared, he's holy. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:25.360 He says, the earth is mine. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:29.040 And so this is a God who's got a lot of power, a lot of possession. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.639 He's not some fairy tale. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.959 He's not like, hey, let's be saved by some faraway something. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:42.240 This is a real, living, large, powerful someone who's mighty and massive. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:43.040 God is God. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.600 The second thing is God loves his people. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:47.519 He looks out for his people. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:56.639 Then I learned, number three, that they, and God wants them to wait on him when they are in difficulty so that he can rescue them. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:58.639 And then God provides these rules. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:00.800 I learned this, God's law is good. 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:06.240 There are three things, A, B, and C, that I thought that God's law is good when I think about what they're for. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:13.199 First thing, A, is God gave his law for society to function well. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:17.360 So he set up rules for the nation of Israel for how they should survive. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:25.199 And if you think about it, if you go back and you read through the Old Testament, you'll see there's something where they would, if you had debt, the debt would be forgiven every so many years. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:32.320 Like it was little details like how debt was handled, how financing would go, how to plant your fields, how to handle transactions. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:35.600 God provided a law for society to function well. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:41.759 That's A, B, the law was given to teach people what's best for them. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.240 The law is given for us to have wisdom. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.360 This is God's best for us, his wisdom for us. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:56.320 And lastly, I think that God gave his law so that we could know and so his people could know what is required of them to be holy. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:00.480 The covenant was conditional. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:02.799 If you'll do this, then I'll give you this. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:03.600 Is that me? 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:06.559 Oh, falling down there. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:08.080 Oh, is this? 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:10.320 Oh my, it's my handicap. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:11.919 Sorry. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:17.679 But this is the covenant was, so if I do that, just yell at me, I'll quit. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.879 The covenant was conditional. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:27.440 If you'll do this, if you'll obey my voice and follow my commands, then you'll be my treasure possession. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:37.120 And so the law was a way for God to say, here's what's required, here's what is that you have to do to do that, to be my treasure possession. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:39.919 If you do this, then you'll get this. 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:46.720 And we we watch in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel, they would do well and God would bless them. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.480 And then they'd walk away from God. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:50.480 They do poorly, and he would exile them. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.480 He would let them be taken into captivity and they would be exiled. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.399 Holiness is required to be in God's world. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:00.639 It's a qualification that's required for us. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:02.799 So here we are as Christians. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:07.279 Me, you, we're thinking, man, what does the law mean for us? 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:08.799 What does that mean for us? 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:11.120 What do these old commands mean? 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:20.399 On one side, we almost want to say, I'm a Christian now, let me do what's best, let me do what's right, let me make sure I'm honoring God by my actions. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:26.080 Or even more, this is a requirement for me to be a believer. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:30.799 On the other side, we might say, hey, that's Old Testament. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:32.240 That's old covenant. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:33.519 That's not good anymore. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.080 That applied 3,000 years ago. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:38.080 This doesn't apply to us anymore. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:39.360 Nothing of that applies. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:41.200 We should just dismiss it. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:44.320 So then what is the purpose of a law? 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:45.919 We're about to get in these Ten Commandments. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:47.279 What is it all about? 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:53.360 Well, Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is very clear. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.679 He didn't come to abolish it, he came to fulfill it. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:05.360 And I'll quote from that do not think, this is verses 17 and 18, do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.960 I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:22.000 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until it is until all is accomplished. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:27.679 Jesus did not abolish the law. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:34.799 The law is still there as a requirement for us to be perfect, to get into God's world. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:46.159 Jesus goes on to say, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:54.960 In other words, if you teach people that it's not that important for you to follow God's commands, then you'll be considered least in the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:00.000 But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:09.039 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:19.600 So the law that God gave in Exodus was crucial for that covenant to be fulfilled. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:26.159 If you do this, if you hear my voice and obey my commands, then you will be my treasure possession. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.519 And Jesus goes on to say, that's still in place today. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:34.960 That standard of perfection, it's still for you and for me, it's still for us. 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:42.639 But what's fascinating to me about the law is what that does, is that those commands that law reveals to us. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:50.799 It shows it, it's like a spotlight that says when we look at it and we compare our lives to it, we cannot get there. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:13:00.399 And so I read through the Ten Commandments and I see, I mean, shoot, this morning, if uh there's a command, don't, don't, thou shalt not murder. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:05.440 And Jesus says, if you look in your heart, you have anger in your heart towards your brother, you've murdered. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:07.840 That hasn't happened for me since this morning. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:21.600 And so I don't know about you, but these commands are hard when we look deep into our hearts and we compare ourselves with what perfection is and where we are, we see very quickly there's a big gap between us and perfection. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:35.519 And we see quickly how flawed we are and how we don't qualify to be a recipient of the reward of God's covenant based on what we do. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:44.720 And it goes on, and I've thought about this so often because it applies to my work life where I spend so much time or to me as a parent. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.720 We talk a lot in this room about law. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:52.000 And law, a lot of times for us, is beyond just God's law. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:58.000 It could be a law, it's something that makes that's a standard for us to qualify for something. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:03.360 And so it might be, you know, to qualify as a good parent, my kids need to behave properly. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:07.600 They need to be quiet on the front row and they need to pay attention, right, Wheezy? 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:29.279 But it means, you know, if I'm gonna be somebody to qualify as somebody in society, I need to have a certain car, or I need to have a live in a certain school district, or I need to have a certain set of clothes, or I need to have the right picture on Instagram, or my Christmas card needs to have, or I need to receive enough Christmas cards. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:45.440 And for me as a little child, I'd tell you what made me feel qualified was I'll go in my closet and I would count, this is revealing, I would count the polo shirts I had hanging in my closet, which is crazy. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:47.360 I don't own a polo shirt anymore. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:15:03.919 But I would count them because I thought if I have enough, the two-button polo shirts, now we had a polo outlet in Valdasta, so it wasn't like we spent a bunch of money, but that was what made me feel good that I was somebody was when I had 10 or 11 or 12 polo, I was collecting them trying to be somebody. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:10.480 And that becomes lawless, something that that we have to achieve to get qualified to be someone. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:25.279 And that is what breaks us because we're shamed when we realize that I had the 13th and the 14th polo shirt, and I still wasn't cool enough, or I still didn't have enough, I still didn't feel comfortable enough. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:31.120 I have I can have so much money and it still doesn't make me safe and secure. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:39.679 I can send out the perfect Christmas cards this year and next year they come right back on me, and the the guilt and the shame keeps coming. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:48.320 And like that, the law reveals that I cannot be God's treasure possession on my own. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:57.279 So in the New Covenant, we ask, how then does God still require this? 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.679 And I say this because he's still holy. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:01.919 He's still a big, big God. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.879 He still requires perfection of us. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:11.840 But what I love about the new covenant is that Jesus came and he fulfilled the law. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.279 He said, I didn't come to abolish it, I came to fulfill the law. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:22.320 And what that means is, is yeah, we all we became Christians because we died on the cross, because he died on the cross. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:30.320 But really what happened was he lived life perfectly and he executed the law to perfection. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.840 That means every requirement in the law, he did it perfectly. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:39.679 It's not that he just didn't do sinful things, he fulfilled proactively the law. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:49.759 And then when he died on the cross, he took our sin and he exchanged it for his perfection and it's perfectly executed law and gave it to us. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:56.159 So now, as Christians, when God looks upon us, he sees that we have fulfilled it perfectly. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:01.919 And now we can have the reward of redemption as God's treasured possession. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:28.000 First Peter chapter 2, verse 4 and following says, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:52.960 But you are a chosen race, you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:57.359 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:02.000 Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:08.400 And I'm not a grammar person, but all those you are means as a believer, you are that already. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:15.599 You have that perfect, you have you have done because of Christ, you have held out your side of the covenant. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:16.880 Jesus has done that for us. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:21.039 We are a chosen race, and now we are a treasure possession. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.279 Nothing we can do will change that. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:32.720 Peter, when he's writing a chapter before, he's beginning to tell the Christians and that in the new church, here's what your life should look like. 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:37.119 He says, so he's about to give a bunch of rules about how to live. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.279 Not even rules, but just guidelines. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:52.400 He says, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:57.119 Again, Peter says, set your hope fully on the grace. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:04.160 He doesn't say, hey, it's time for New Year's resolutions, it's time for you to be a great church, go out and work hard and be this great Christian. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:05.839 It's required of you now. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:11.279 No, he's saying, he's saying, this is how I'll show you how a Christian's life looks. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.960 But what I want you to do is focus your eyes on Jesus. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:23.359 Focus your eyes on Jesus and let his Holy Spirit come and live in you and live out these lifestyle. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:25.599 It's not going to be something that you can do. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:29.599 It's not something, these are requirements that have already been fulfilled. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:37.359 You don't have to do them to be qualified to be God's treasure possession anymore. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:39.440 It's already been done. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:46.480 Now the Holy Spirit can come and live in you and live out this great Christian journey. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:50.000 The law now becomes simply wisdom for us. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:20:07.039 As Timothy writes, as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:18.880 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:20.799 So the law is good. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:21.440 It's good. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:26.640 It's not been abolished, it's not dismissed, but it's been fulfilled. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.839 It's been fulfilled, and our hope is then on grace. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:36.000 So, how do we deal with this year's New Year's resolutions and the weight of doing to be qualified? 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:42.880 Jesus gave his life so that we could put our hope fully in him. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:48.240 Because his righteousness or his qualification was perfect. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:56.319 And because it was given to us when we place our hope in him, we are God's treasured possession. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:59.279 You are God's treasured possession. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.920 The things which can become death are no more than wisdom for us. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:08.480 They neither qualify us nor disqualify us. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:20.240 So set your resolutions or don't set your resolutions, but set your eyes on Jesus because in him is the only place that we can be fully qualified. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:21.759 Let's pray. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:32.319 God, I thank you so much for a life that you gave in your son Jesus that would be lived perfectly. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:46.400 As we learn the laws and the commands in Exodus, we walk through the Ten Commandments and think about what they might mean for us, we remember that only one man ever lived them perfectly. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:22:00.640 Thank you that that was your son Jesus and that he gave himself for us so that we could exchange our sinful, flawed, and broken life, our hurts and our pains, our sadness, our sorrow, our weakness and our shame. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:13.440 And we could take on his perfection so that we could find the reward of redemption, that being us called your treasure possession. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:15.680 Amen.