The Big Reversal

The Old Testament spends its entire volume dealing with the outward behavior in order to get to the heart. In other words, it focuses on external behavior but with the intent of exposing the corruptness of human nature (Jeremiah 17:9). The purpose for revealing our innate wrong way of thinking is not ultimately to condemn us but to get us ready for the Coming Savior (Ephesians 4:20-22).

Once Jesus walks this earth and accomplishes His mission of paying for all humanity’s rebellion, a big shift in focus occurs. No longer does God have to deal with us from the outside in, but He declares that He will live in us when we receive His payment (John 14:23). In other words, now He can work from the inside out (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Therefore, after Jesus’ ascension, the New Testament deals primarily with our heart, often called our inner man, showing how a new identity and the power of the Holy Spirit enable us to please God and bless others (Colossians 3:9-10). Behavior is now dealt with as a maturity issue (Hebrews 5:12-14). Just as children are human from the start, yet they must learn new skills, so the New Testament authors reveal the Lord works with us who believe (I Peter 2:2).

This Reversal is so vital to understand because it changes the way our symptoms (outer behavior) are diagnosed and treated. It also provides a freedom from conformity and man’s opinion based on outward behavior so that we can be open, vulnerable, transparent, and honest as God works on our hearts (Ephesians 6:6). This Reversal provides God the way to hold us each accountable for our heart attitude rather than just the appearance of righteousness (Colossians 2:16-23). It also frees us to walk in mercy, forgiveness, and grace rather than shame, condemnation, and judgment.

The amazing thing about the New Covenant (the Reversal) is that it allows God to prioritize mercy over judgment (James 2:13). It doesn’t mean His holiness has changed, but that an eternal payment has been made. He poured out His wrath on Jesus (Isaiah 43:10). When we accept Jesus’ stand-in for us, then we’ve stepped under the covering of His death, like an umbrella that repels the rain (Romans 6:6). Jesus took God’s wrath—the punishment we deserved—for us and replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Isn’t that amazing? He says, “No longer is your heart deceitful and desperately wicked, incurable. I’ve destroyed that old heart and performed heart surgery. You have a new heart! A pure heart, clean and whole and righteous, the home of My Spirit. You are now the temple of the Living God (I Corinthians 6:19). I live in you so I will no longer punish you for your sins but I will help you grow so that you hear My voice and have the power to obey (Philippians 2:13).”

The Apostle Peter said, “We have been given great and precious promises! The divine nature!” (II Peter 1:3-4) Incredible. Impossible. Accomplished. The divine nature means a relentless submission to the will of the Father, just like Jesus (Philippians 2:5-8). It doesn’t mean we’re perfect yet. God is working on our souls—our wills, hearts, and emotions. But because we know He is working, we can be kinder to one another (Ephesians 4:32). We can delight in each other’s growth and development like siblings delight in each new developmental stage (Hebrews 10:24).

Praise God, we no longer have to be afraid of judgment and we no longer have to strive to get our behavior to match people’s expectations (Galatians 6:13-15). Did you know that rules aren’t necessary when the heart is right? It’s true. Rules are simply a way to try to define what a humble, righteous heart looks like (I Timothy 1:5). The Apostle Paul tells us that rules are for the unrighteous and self-centered (I Timothy 1:9-10). Do we still have to have rules in place in our homes, businesses, schools, and countries? Of course, because none of us are perfect yet and too many people assume that liberty means we get to do whatever we want (Romans 13:1-5). But God’s liberty means we get to do whatever HE wants (Galatians 5:13). And that’s a big difference.

So the Great Reversal allows God to plant His heart in us and transform our thinking to mirror His (Romans 12:1-2). Once we’ve accepted this heart change, the Curse is broken over our lives. The Bible says, “Jesus became a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13-14). This means, He’s saying in effect, “I’m not going to hold you to a punishment that is more than you can bear. I’m not going to punish you at all! I’m going to help you grow and bless you. That blessing includes the greatness of My lovingkindness and mercy. It means I’m going to give you second chance after second chance after second chance, and add no sorrow to it (Proverbs 10:22). My discipline will be like a chiropractor’s care. When something is out of place in your life, you’ll feel its pain like a dislocated shoulder. But when you bring your attitude and behavior to Me, I’ll fix it from within you. I’ll adjust your thinking and behavior to be like Mine, and then you’ll sigh with such relief and gratefulness, you’ll never be afraid to come to Me for My correcting mercy and grace again!” (Hebrews 4:16, 12:10-11)

 

The Purpose of the Law

When Adam and Eve sinned, God spoke a curse over man, over woman, and over Satan (Genesis 3:14-19). The Curse’s purpose became immediately obvious: it identified each one as rebellious. It’s purpose was to punish that rebellion, but it could never cure it. Nor did the sacrifice of the lamb to make the outer coverings for Adam and Eve atone for their sin (Hebrews 10:3-4). Rather, the sacrifice and the punishment were to show guilt and remind them of how terrible it is to listen to the wrong voice, to disobey God.(Romans 5:12-19).

In Genesis chapter 4, another curse is pronounced. This time, God declares to Cain, “Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. Therefore, you are cursed…” (v10-11). Cain cries out, “My punishment is more than I can bear!” (v13) His cry is the echo of every heart when a true understanding of the penalty for sin occurs (Romans 3:19, 6:23). When Israel becomes a nation and receives the Law from the Lord on Mount Sinai, curses and blessings are pronounced upon the people according to their behavior. The curses are meant to stigmatize and punish anyone who disobeys the Law while the Lord promises to bestow blessings on those who adhere to the Law and show that their hearts are set on obeying His voice (Deuteronomy 27:11-28).

The Apostle Paul explains much later in history, as a redeemed Pharisee, that the Law was designed to identify everyone as sinners but it could never save anyone out of that sin (Romans 3:20, Hebrews 7:18-19). In point of fact, the law condemned us all and etched an eternal identity of ‘hopeless sinner’ upon each and every one of us, because there is no one who meet the perfect standards of Heaven (Rom 7:7-24). Because of this stigmatism, this hopeless state, Jesus stepped in to pay for our sins with His own blood and place a new heart in us by the power of His Spirit. This is why Paul so fervently and joyfully declared the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection, because He offered us what the Law could not: a new identity as children of God, forever free from condemnation when we accept the payment of Jesus' blood upon the Cross and the power of His Spirit giving us a new heart(Galatians 3:13, Romans 8:15, Ezekiel 36:25-27).

However, between the time of Moses and Jesus, the Israelite nation began to view the Law as a way to separate ‘sinner’ from ‘righteous’. They took the requirements, placed upon outward behavior (for only God can see the heart) and based their judgment completely on people’s outward behaviors. This is why, when Jesus began His ministry, He spoke ruthlessly against the attitude of a Pharisee. He exposed the sins of their hearts, not allowing them to hide behind the appearance of good behavior (Matthew 15:18-20). He called them white-washed tombs, full of dead man’s bones. He said they needed to cleanse not only the outside but also the inside (Matthew 23:25-28). And He preached the entire Sermon on the Mount with the intent to expose every flaw in a self-righteous person’s thinking. He said, “You haven’t committed outward adultery, but you’ve lusted in your heart, and to God, it’s the same thing” (Matthew 5:28). He said, “You haven’t physically murdered anyone, but you’ve lived hating that person and using all your power to hurt him in all other ways. To God, it’s the same thing!” (Matthew 5:21)

In all His dialogues with the nation of Israel, Jesus’ message is strong, personal, and clear: “God sees the inside. God judges righteously (John 5:30). It’s all the same to God. He cares about the heart attitude and not just the behavior (Luke 11:40). You’re wronging people and creating new traditions to call it good (Matthew 15:3-9). But the purpose of the Law is to show you how much you need a Savior (Romans 7:7). Yet you’ve turned God’s commandments into a cudgel that you wield upon others instead of falling to your knees in repentance (Luke 11:46).  David said a broken and contrite heart is what God desires, and he was right (Psalm 51:17)! I told Samuel the prophet, ‘Man looks at outward appearances but God looks inside the heart’ (I Samuel 16:7). I’ve come to this Earth to die for your sins, but you won’t receive Me if you don’t believe you’ve sinned!”

The whole point of Jesus’ strange harshness is to get the nation ready: ready to cry out in repentance and desperation for the mercy He was about to offer at the Cross (John 7:37-39). He ate with sinners because they already recognized their deep need for healing, mercy, and restoration (Matthew 9:12-13). They longed to be in fellowship with the One they had always been ostracized from. But the Pharisees, who upheld all the Laws and kept ‘sinners’ out of God’s holy presence, needed to know that they were in the same boat (Matthew 23:13). Jesus longed for them to recognize their need so they, too, could receive forgiveness and a new nature (II Corinthians 5:17).