12. Law As Shadow Not Solution



The Law is a vast topic, and quite an undertaking for one lesson.



There is much to say, but since our goal is to follow the unified story of Scripture, we’ll focus on one central truth:



The Law was never the solution or the destination. It was the God-given shadow of a coming reality. When Christ appeared, the substance arrived.



In our previous lesson, we saw that Jesus Christ opened the way into God’s presence.



He said,



“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6)



If Christ is the Way, and only he could open the way beyond the veil, then what was the purpose of the Law?



The Law was a witness, tutor, guardian, shadow, and pointer.



Many people assume the Law was given so that people could become righteous by keeping it.



Yet Scripture repeatedly teaches that the Law could not give life, justify sinners, or make worshipers perfect.



Instead, the Law revealed God’s holiness, exposed sin, and showed mankind’s inability to keep it.



It bore witness to a greater reality that was still to come.



The priesthood, tabernacle, sacrifices, and feast days all were shadows pointing forward to Christ.



The Law itself testified that the work was unfinished.



Priests died, sacrifices were repeated, and the Day of Atonement came every year.



If those sacrifices could truly remove sin, they would never have needed to be offered again. (Heb 10:2)



Then Christ appeared.



Jesus said, 



“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matt. 5:17)



What does that mean?



Jesus fulfilled the Law by perfectly obeying it and by bringing to completion everything it foreshadowed.



The Law anticipated the true sacrifice, the true High Priest, the true temple, and the true righteousness.



Everything the Law anticipated finds its fulfillment in Christ.



The New Testament guards us from two common errors:



The first is believing the Law was bad.



The second is believing the Law saves.



Scripture teaches neither.



Paul writes,



“So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Rom. 7:12)



The problem was never the Law.



The Law came from God and revealed God’s character.



The Law exposed sin and prepared the way.



But there is a great contrast.



The Law could reveal sin, but it could not remove sin.



The Law could command righteousness, but it could not produce righteousness.



The Law could point to life, but it could not give life.



As Paul writes,



“The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6)



Paul also says,



“Christ is the end of the law…” (Rom. 10:4)



The word translated “end” is telos, which means “goal” or “destination.” The Law was always leading to Christ, and in him it reaches its intended goal.



Likewise, Paul writes,



“These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col. 2:17)



The Old Testament shadows prepared God’s people to recognize Christ.



When he came, the reality arrived.



And Jesus himself said,



“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” (Jn. 5:39)



The Scriptures were never an end in themselves.



From beginning to end, they testify about Christ.



The Law was never the final destination.