Our youngest granddaughter, Brooklynn, is in our Kids Day Out here Mon-Wed, so I see her here several days a week – she just turned 5 last week, and is hilarious – her name for me is Papa, but very often, she will either say, “you’re my grandpa,” don’t love that, or she simply calls me by my name – GREG – she also runs the place – she often tells me, “You are at my school” – Of course, I argue with a 5 yr old – “No, you’re at MY WORK” – So, last week, she comes to church wearing a bright green “dress up” princess dress, complete with black high heel boots on the wrong feet – We have some of these dresses here at the church for kids to play dress up, but she got dressed in this at home because she decided that was a good look for the day (she may have actually stolen it from the church) – She is oblivious to the fact that the dress is for dress up only – she’s rocking it, not just here, but Chick fil a, Wal-mart, wherever mom takes her – But no one is going to question her dress – why? BECAUSE SHE’S A 5 YR OLD GIRL – Now, if her mom showed up here next week in a princess dress, we’d all probably lean forward a little, maybe call the authorities – why? Because there is a SEASON of life where that is acceptable, even cute, but at some point, it’s no longer acceptable.

Paul will address this concept in Galatians 3 today – For some of you here, you have lived under the idea that your righteousness, your goodness, your worth is all tied to YOU, how you perform, how moral you are – But Paul will lay out clearly today that there was a reason and a SEASON for the law, but that SEASON is long gone, and your right standing with God is placed squarely on the shoulders of JESUS – let’s walk through this section of Galatians 3. – Galatians 3:15-22

V15-16 -  Here Paul is making the argument that God’s blessing and covenant came through Abraham, not through Moses – Paul is referring to the promise of covenantal blessing in Genesis 15:4-6 – Do you see Paul’s argument? The promise of blessing and legacy was not a result of following the law, but through the promise of blessing through Abraham’s offspring, or seed – notice that offspring is SINGULAR, not plural – The covenant wasn’t fulfilled through many, but ONE – The promise of salvation was carried through Abraham’s lineage, but ultimately fulfilled in one offspring, JESUS – What Paul is saying is that right standing with God didn’t come by following the Law of Moses, but by RECEIVING the promise of SALVATION by FAITH – Genesis says that Abraham believed God, and his FAITH is what JUSTIFIED him – God’s promise was not based on Abraham’s goodness, but on God’s goodness and Abraham’s faith to believe that God keeps his promises.

V17-18 – Here is the crux of Paul’s argument – Before God gave the law, he gave the promise – 430 years AFTER God promised salvation through Jesus, he gave the law – The PROMISE SUPERCEDES THE LAW – Here is the idea he’s laying out here.

Illus – Yvonne and I have been reworking our will recently – and the will states that if both of us tragically die, then our oldest, Allie, becomes the executor of the will – And we haven’t given provision for who gets what, it’s just in her hands to work through it with her sisters – now, Allie goes to court, and the judge reads that the will states that everything technically is going to she and her sisters, but then says, “in addition, I’m going to need all of you to go ahead and finish college first, and keep a GPA of 4.0 in order to get the inheritance” – first of all, they’re in big trouble, but secondly, he can’t do overrule or add to our signed document – the PROMISE made by me and Yvonne SUPECEDES any ruling the judge makes – Our PROMISE of blessing (or the passing down of debt) is the FINAL WORD.

Paul is saying here if the law given to Moses cancels the promise given to Abraham, then God is a liar – then he asks a great question – then WHY THE LAW?

V19-20 - Here are a couple of thoughts of why the law was given? First, it creates boundaries around sin – Matt Chandler gave a great illustration of this that really resonated with me: Why do you not speed badly? Not why do you not speed, but why do you not speed badly? Because you don’t want to get caught – For me, speed limit between Houston and Dallas is 75, so I set cruise on 83 – I’m speeding, but not so badly that I’m likely to get stopped – here is the point: I’M SPEEDING – I’m only not speeding too much because I don’t want a ticket – Chandler says that SIN cages a LION, it doesn’t change the LION – so, being afraid of the consequences of breaking the law doesn’t make you righteous – it just keeps you in check – So, you may not commit murder or adultery, but if it’s only for fear of getting caught, that is not righteousness, it is just fear of consequence.

Second, as we’ve talked about repeatedly, the law was given to show us we can’t live up to the standard of God – in fact, the law actually increased the understanding of sin – as soon as God spoke the law into existence, a baseline was established, and immediately broken by the Israelites – Commandment #1 – “Have no other gods before me” was broken before it was even spoken over the Israelites – The law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and before he could even get down the mountain, they were dancing around a golden calf.

So the law was given to expose your predisposition toward sin – it was “added” to expose the heart of every person – You were born with a predisposition toward sin – Your predisposition is self-protection – When Katie was 4, we were at birthday party for cousin, someone stuck finger in cake – when I asked her if she did it? NOPE, are you sure? NOT ME – One more chance to tell the truth, but let you know, icing all over your face – BUSTED – but this is picture of all of us – ICING all over your face – and the LAW doesn’t just expose sin, but the heart behind it.

The Law was given to expose sin UNTIL the promised seed came – So, here Paul orders things – God promised BLESSING and SALVATION to ABRAHAM through Jesus, then gave the LAW through MOSES to show WHY we needed SALVATION in the first place – Jesus spoke to it in SOM – “you’ve heard it said…But I say” – Jesus was saying, “You don’t commit murder or adultery because you’re afraid of getting caught, but you want to, which is just as bad” – Jesus is saying that the law actually just exposes your desire to be self-righteous, meaning that as long as you are technically a keeper of morality, you are good, even if deep down, your heart craves it – self-righteousness comes in many forms – the religious person that reads his Bible every day, but does it out of disciplinary box checking and not desire to know the creator is self-righteous just as much as the person who thumbs their nose at the law and says, “I am my own god and governor, no one tells me what to do” – Here is the problem: You can’t fix yourself – Romans 3:10-12 – Paul quotes Psalm 14:1-3 – no one is righteous, NO NOT ONE.

The is why Paul  mentions the need for a mediator – Moses received the LAW to REVEAL the problem with no solution, but God BECAME the mediator of the promised blessing through JESUS – 1 Timothy 2:5 – One GOD, One MEDIATOR, the God-man, Jesus Christ – Hebrews 12:24 – The mediator whose blood speaks a better word – HIS BLOOD PAID for YOUR SIN.

V21-22 - The LAW is not in OPPOSTION to the PROMISE, it actually shows the NEED for the PROMISE – You don’t toss the law out when you say yes to Jesus – in fact, Jesus changes the condition of your heart, so that the law becomes a JOY to follow – you no longer follow out of fear of consequence, but out of the joy of salvation – For me, when Jesus changed my heart, he changed my pursuits – one area was my mouth – Eph. 4:29, Ephesians 5:3-4, James 3:9-11 – I didn’t stop cussing because I read these verses – I knew them for years, and it changed nothing – actually theses verses simply REVEALED that my heart was not ok – but when Jesus changed my heart, my DESIRE was to be obedient to the WORD – I don’t follow because I HAVE TO, I follow because I WANT TO.

This gives insight in how to read the Bible – you can read through the eyes of the LAW, through the eyes of Moses, who presents a problem without a solution, and this will lead you to a life of shame, not measuring up, and as a result you will see the Bible as a book of do’s and don’ts that will cause you to shy away – OR…You can read the Bible through the eyes of the PROMISE, through the eyes of ABRAHAM, and the Bible becomes a beautiful narrative of a GOD who loves YOU IN SPITE YOUR BROKENNESS and INVITES YOU into RELATIONSHIP with him through JESUS – And you read not through a lens of SHAME, but through a lens of FREEDOM.

So, the question is, what season are you in? How do you view your life? Or you viewing life through the eyes of Moses, a problem with no solution, but a problem that keeps you at the center trying to solve it? Or through the eyes of Abraham, receiving by faith that BLESSING comes through faith in ONE SEED, JESUS, that while you couldn’t fix yourself, Jesus took care of it by his death on the CROSS - 1 Corinthians 13:11 – It’s ok to view life in a childish way when you’re a child, like wearing a princess dress in public, but when you are grown, it’s not a good look – in the same way, because Jesus has charted a path out of shame and into freedom, it is not a good look to continue to try to EARN YOUR OWN WAY by being a good law keeper.

The invitation of Jesus is an invitation into rest – Matthew 11:28-30 – Rest in who HE IS and what HE’S DONE, not what you bring to the table, which will never be enough – it’s a NEW SEASON.