God is often rightly portrayed in the old Testament as King of the Jews and all men. Over the years he has ruled his people in two principal ways, by the Law and by Grace. GOD gave the law to Moses on mount Sinai to govern his people while grace came through His son Jesus Christ’s obedience and sacrifice on the cross.
When God ruled by the law, his children did not know him personally and intimately because of their sins and disobedience. So God spoke through prophets and used his priests as mediators between him and the people. God used judges and kings to govern the people and they were all under the law. Anyone who loved God and wanted to please him back then had to keep all the laws and regular sin offerings were offered by priests when people disobeyed God and broke the law.
God’s rule by law ended with the birth of his son Jesus Christ who brought the ‘Kingdom of God’. Christ is the word of God that became flesh and he is our great high priest who rules with Grace and Mercy over all who believe and submit to his authority.
There is a huge difference between God’s rule through the law and by grace. The law was a sort of mirror that man could use to see the condition of his relationship with God. To be accepted by God , we have to be holy , perfect and righteous. The law clearly exposes how far we are from being Holy perfect and righteous. But while the law exposed our sins and drew us away from God, grace on the other hand brings us closer to God. We are humbled when we know that we are righteous and perfect and holy before God not because of our works or good deeds, but by Christ’s perfect obedience and sacrificial death on the cross. We can now have a perfect and intimate relationship with God the Father and come boldly before Him anytime we want.
In conclusion; God’s rule by grace is all about love and mercy while the law was about judgement. The law was out to expose man’s selfishness , imperfect and sinful nature while Grace exposes Gods loving, kind and perfect nature. Under the law man tried to do it all by himself, but under grace, man surrenders to God which is the natural order of things.
Malik The Preacher 