The cleanliness laws in the Old Testament were very cultural in meaning. At the time, they were the means to make it possible for God, who is holy and perfect, to literally live alongside people who are not holy and perfect. They were created to describe a way of living that made the Jewish people a distinctive nation; these laws made the Jews stand out from all the other people in the world due to their peculiar behaviors. These laws also made the community a far-more closed society than other nations ever experienced. The laws created culture… and they dictated unity. To the Jews these laws were more evidence that God’s greatest desire was for relationship with Him.
Jesus’ ministry looked much different than that of the Old Testament laws. He reached out to the unclean and this was the distinctive characteristic of his ministry! The Gospels are filled with such moments! He made those who were left out of the sacred life of the nation clean in body and soul… he made them ready to be with God and ready to be used by God. And his death and resurrection also made it possible for us to live our entire lives ready to be used by God and ready to be with God… Jesus made it possible for us to become God’s tent where His Spirit lives right in the middle of our lives.
The entire arc of the scripture is this: Jesus, by taking on our unholiness made it possible for us to live the life we were created to live; Jesus, by taking on our uncleanliness made it possible for us to live today in the literal presence of God. Jesus made it possible for us to live in ways that reflect all that God intended when he first made mankind… Jesus has made it possible for us to, as much as we can this side of eternity, return to Eden!
Again, these laws were of the time and are clearly not the way we live today. B
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'You Were Made for More' because God created you ON purpose FOR a purpose. This is the vision of Grace Church, led by Pastor Barry Rodriguez and based in Indianapolis, IN.
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