Where Life is Found

 “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.“

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭18‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Our tendency is to behave like those who surround us. We do so because we want to fit in. We want to be liked and accepted by those among whom we live.

This, however, is a problem. It’s a problem because those who surround us are living in sin. They live only to satisfy their passions and desires. And, therefore, they are under God’s judgment.

This is what God was telling the people of Israel in Leviticus 18. They were not to do as they did in the land of Egypt, from which they had been delivered. Nor were they to do as they did in the land of Canaan, the land to which they were going.

Although it’s not directly stated, the people of these nations were under God’s judgment. They were under his wrath. And to live like them, then, is to be under God’s wrath.

They, rather, were to be different. They were to be distinct. They were to be holy, set apart from those who surrounded them.

They were to follow the Lord’s rules. They were to keep his statutes. And they were to walk in them.

If a person does them, God says, he will live by them. If he does them, rather than suffering judgment, he will have life. If he does them, rather than experiencing God’s wrath, his life will be preserved. It will be sustained.

As we read these words, we understand what God is saying. Yet, a difficulty soon presents itself. And the difficulty is that, no matter what we do, we cannot abide by God’s Word.

We see this played out in the history of Israel. Although they had the Word of God, and although they knew his laws, they continually violated them. And they lived like the nations who surrounded them.

It was for this reason that they fell under God’s judgment. It was for this reason that they experienced his wrath. And it’s for this reason that their nation was eventually destroyed.

The same is true of us. We cannot live according to God’s laws no matter how hard we try. Like the people of Israel, like the Jews, we continually revert to our sinful ways.

We too, then, are under God’s wrath. We are under his judgment. And we deserve nothing other than death and destruction.

The good news, however, is that God sent his Son into the world. And Jesus was able to keep the Word of God. He was able to fulfill the Law of God. 

He did so for us. He did so on our behalf. And he did so that, as we trust in him, we can receive the blessing of life.

More than that, he took our sin upon himself. He took our curse upon himself. He then died in our place, satisfying the wrath of God and paying the penalty we deserve.

Although we are still called to be different from those who surround us, and although we are still called to have distinct lives, our life is found in Jesus. Our salvation is found in Jesus. It’s found in the one who lived the perfect life we’re unable to live, and gave his life in our place.