What God Requires of Us
"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
From the beginning of time, God always does what is good for His creation and revealed to us what is required for us to enjoy the good He intended for His people. There was very little required of us but to love God and to trust and follow His Word since He made a entire world for us to enjoy and to flourish in.
The Lord freely and graciously gave us the commands to "be fruitful and multiply", to "fill the earth" and "subdue it" and "have dominion," and to "freely eat" and enjoy what was provided. We were first living according to the principle of LIFE, where we lived by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. This was a higher plane than merely living by good and evil.
It was the sin and rebellion of mankind after the deception of the devil, in the Garden that led to spiritual death and the beginning of decay and deviation from what is good. Man felt guilty and ashamed in his conscience and sought to hide from God to cover his own sin.
In order to govern and expose the sin of the fallen creation, the Lord had to give us His perfect Law that would reveal what would be required of us to return to the good that He ultimately intended for us and to rise above our fallen sinful nature. So God gave various commands through the Law through Moses, which was summarized in Deuteronomy 10:12-13:
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?"
It is so important to see that the Law of God was FOR OUR GOOD. Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we are able to see that following the Lord from a heart of relational love is the only true way to multiply blessing wherever we are.
When people follow the ways of the Creator, the creation is benefited and blessed. When people go astray, there is a relational disconnect and destruction. It is the goodness of God, not His harshness, that leads us to repentance so that we return to the goodness of God (Rom. 2:4).
Therefore, we must never lose our AWE of God to have a healthy understanding of the Law of God. Jeremiah called the people to return to His ways, saying, "Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it: Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.”
The problem is not with God's law but with the sinful heart of man. Therefore, we needed the GOD MAN, Christ Jesus, to come and fulfill the Law of God on our behalf. He was the righteous STANDARD...who gave the gracious SUFFICIENCY...to become our eternal SALVATION.
"And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Heb. 5:9).
The INSPIRED Word points us to Jesus…who INCARNATED as the Word which became flesh…and then after Jesus obeyed the Law perfectly, He sacrificially saved us by His grace when the IMPLANTED Word took root in our sinful hearts and His truth set us free.
Therefore, before we can obey what God requires of us, we must first LOOK TO HIM who fulfilled the righteous requirement for us. "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17)
For...Jesus DID justly. Jesus LOVED mercy. And Jesus WALKED humbly before God.
Whereas the religious spirit misses the weightier matters of the law (See Matt. 23:23), Jesus reveals the full weight of His glory and makes the requirements of God possible by giving us His righteousness, through His generous Spirit. Now IN HIM and THROUGH HIM, we can live a life that is good and acceptable and pleasing unto God and that benefits everyone around us.
His Authorship leads to a life of Authenticity so that we follow in His ways, where:
Justice involves making right judgments in alignment with God's word and living it out to others.
Mercy shows compassion and love with God's heart to go above and beyond justice.
Humility is our right position before a holy and awesome God and opens the door to His grace.
As Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Gal. 2:20-21)
Beloved, let us see what Christ has already done and ask to be filled with the fullness of His Spirit each day to live as He calls us to live.
But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
From the beginning of time, God always does what is good for His creation and revealed to us what is required for us to enjoy the good He intended for His people. There was very little required of us but to love God and to trust and follow His Word since He made a entire world for us to enjoy and to flourish in.
The Lord freely and graciously gave us the commands to "be fruitful and multiply", to "fill the earth" and "subdue it" and "have dominion," and to "freely eat" and enjoy what was provided. We were first living according to the principle of LIFE, where we lived by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. This was a higher plane than merely living by good and evil.
It was the sin and rebellion of mankind after the deception of the devil, in the Garden that led to spiritual death and the beginning of decay and deviation from what is good. Man felt guilty and ashamed in his conscience and sought to hide from God to cover his own sin.
In order to govern and expose the sin of the fallen creation, the Lord had to give us His perfect Law that would reveal what would be required of us to return to the good that He ultimately intended for us and to rise above our fallen sinful nature. So God gave various commands through the Law through Moses, which was summarized in Deuteronomy 10:12-13:
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?"
It is so important to see that the Law of God was FOR OUR GOOD. Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we are able to see that following the Lord from a heart of relational love is the only true way to multiply blessing wherever we are.
When people follow the ways of the Creator, the creation is benefited and blessed. When people go astray, there is a relational disconnect and destruction. It is the goodness of God, not His harshness, that leads us to repentance so that we return to the goodness of God (Rom. 2:4).
Therefore, we must never lose our AWE of God to have a healthy understanding of the Law of God. Jeremiah called the people to return to His ways, saying, "Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it: Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.”
The problem is not with God's law but with the sinful heart of man. Therefore, we needed the GOD MAN, Christ Jesus, to come and fulfill the Law of God on our behalf. He was the righteous STANDARD...who gave the gracious SUFFICIENCY...to become our eternal SALVATION.
"And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Heb. 5:9).
The INSPIRED Word points us to Jesus…who INCARNATED as the Word which became flesh…and then after Jesus obeyed the Law perfectly, He sacrificially saved us by His grace when the IMPLANTED Word took root in our sinful hearts and His truth set us free.
Therefore, before we can obey what God requires of us, we must first LOOK TO HIM who fulfilled the righteous requirement for us. "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17)
For...Jesus DID justly. Jesus LOVED mercy. And Jesus WALKED humbly before God.
Whereas the religious spirit misses the weightier matters of the law (See Matt. 23:23), Jesus reveals the full weight of His glory and makes the requirements of God possible by giving us His righteousness, through His generous Spirit. Now IN HIM and THROUGH HIM, we can live a life that is good and acceptable and pleasing unto God and that benefits everyone around us.
His Authorship leads to a life of Authenticity so that we follow in His ways, where:
Justice involves making right judgments in alignment with God's word and living it out to others.
Mercy shows compassion and love with God's heart to go above and beyond justice.
Humility is our right position before a holy and awesome God and opens the door to His grace.
As Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Gal. 2:20-21)
Beloved, let us see what Christ has already done and ask to be filled with the fullness of His Spirit each day to live as He calls us to live.
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