Day 62 - Deuteronomy 11-13

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 62 - Deuteronomy 11-13 (Blessing for Obedience and Curse for Disobedience)
(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/)

"Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known."  (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)

Perhaps the best way to summarize the heart of the law of God as given to Moses  is this: blessing for obedience and curse for disobedience.  There was only one problem, though; that is, no one was able to keep all of the commandments.  Because of man's inability to obey the law, God provided a way of atonement or reparation for man's sin of disobedience by instituting animal blood sacrifice.  The idea was that the blood of the innocent animal was shed in place of the sinner's own blood for his sins.

This very same principles of blessing for obedience and curse of disobedience are the foundation every culture and society in the world.  Without them, chaos and disorder will prevail because people will do whatever they want without fear of consequences.  

The provision for temporary atonement of sins in the Old Testament through animal sacrifices was not intended as a license to disobey God's laws.  Disobedience still brought a curse upon the sinner and obedience brought blessing to the faithful worshiper.  It was God's way of motivating the people to obey His commands as well as instilling fear in them not to disobey Him.

One question to ponder with regards to the above thought is this: Has this principle changed with the coming of Jesus and the new covenant that He ushered in?  I believe that one major change that the new testament  introduced is that Jesus has borne the curse of sin upon His own body on the cross as the perfect Lamb sacrificed once for all for the sins of the world.  As a result, all who have trusted in Christ for salvation no longer need to fear the curse of sin.

Does this mean that a Christian who disobeys God's commands will no longer suffer any punishment for that sin or sins?  The Bible teaches that when a Christian sins, his fellowship with God is broken and awaits to be restored through genuine confession and repentance.  If the sinning believer confesses and asks forgiveness, his fellowship with God is instantly restored and he then experiences that blessing that follows that fellowship.

If you have never known the full forgiveness of all yours sins through salvation in Christ, pray right now to God to forgive you in Christ and He promises that He will.  If you are a Christian living in disobedience to God, confess your sins right now and God will restore you back in fellowship with Him just as before.