Not to Destroy, but to Fulfil
By Francis Monroe Burg
He Fulfilled the Law and the Prophets—Is Developing a People—The Heathen for a Possession "THE law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." Luke 16:16. Jesus states plainly that He came to fulfil the law. In every sense this is true. He came in fulfilment of and to fulfil what Moses in all his writing had said of Him. The sacrifices in connection with the sanctuary service foretold His coming as the Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world. He shed His blood; and through His sacrifice and through His blood, we have remission of sins. By virtue of His suffering, He is now interceding in heaven for us,—the High Priest in the sanctuary which God pitched and not man. Heb. 8:1, 2. He has now appeared in the presence of God to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Heb. 9:25, 26. All that Moses in the law wrote concerning His priesthood is being fulfilled; and when His intercession is finished, He will complete the atonement by the final blotting out of sins, the antitype of the work of atonement described by Moses in Leviticus 16. HE FULFILLED IT BY HIS LIFE
He came also to fulfil the law that God gave to men through Moses on Mount Sinai. This He did by living its precepts before the world, and by teaching and applying its precepts to every-day life. The prophet Isaiah said of His mission, "He will magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21. The spiritual conceptions of men had become so narrowed that they did not see the exceeding breadth of the commandments. See Ps. 119:96. They had even made the commandments of God of no effect by their traditions. Matt. 15:6. Jesus cleared away all this rubbish, and plainly set before them the true meaning of the law, and its application to every-day living. He Himself kept the law as man's example. "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John 15:10. HE IS DEVELOPING A PEOPLE
Now He is developing a people in whose lives will be seen in living characters the beauties of the commandments of God, and a church will be prepared and ready to meet the King at His coming. Rev. 14:12; 22:11-14. He came to fulfil the prophets. These seers of old had foretold His first advent. In fulfilment of these predictions, He came and lived among men. They also foretold His second coming as King of kings. His ministry will soon be finished in heaven, and the kingdoms of this world will "become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 11:15. THE HEATHEN FOR A POSSESSION
Then will be fulfilled Ps. 2:7-9: "I will declare the decree: . . . Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." And the prophecy of Daniel concerning His eternal kingdom will have its fulfilment: "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." Dan. 7:27. Micah said, looking forward to that glorious day, "And Thou, O Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem." Micah 4:8. Scriptures without number from the prophets, referring to His first advent, and also to His second coming, might be cited. What a unity and how consistent are the Scriptures when we read them from the right angle and with our minds unclouded by unsound and speculative theology! May we have our vision made more and more clear, till we see Jesus on every page of the blessed Book!