From the Pastor's Desk Column for 3/10

In last week's column, I mentioned the Ten Commandments as an example of God's standard. It is amazing to think that what was once so foundational to our nation and its laws is now cast off and almost unknown. I ran across an interesting story a couple of years ago regarding the symbols of the Ten Commandments at the Supreme Court of the United States. There are six depictions of Moses and/or the Ten Commandments at the Supreme Court building in Washington D.C., but apparently the latest tourist information attempts to pass off most of these representations as references to the Bill of Rights. This is not intended to be a political column, rather I wish to address the trend to move the Ten Commandments out of the public eye.
I saw a man on the street type of video a few years ago that showed more people who could name ten different brands of beer than could name the Ten Commandments. If it weren't so sad, it would be laughable. There has never been a point in human history where God said that these commandments weren't valid. In fact, they still serve a very valid purpose. These commandments show us the character and nature of God. They show that He is holy and just in a way that we simply do not measure up to no matter how hard we try. What we see when we look into the Bible is first and foremost a glimpse at the reality of why we are the way we are. I believe that the Ten Commandments have been pushed from the public eye mainly because they make us uncomfortably aware that we don't measure up to God's standard. In fact there is no way that we ever could. It seems like the most common phrase I hear as a reason for a mistake being made is that, “I'm just human”.
There is one human being in recorded history who never made a mistake. His name is Jesus Christ. He was more than “just human”; He was God incarnate. This is the time of year when we celebrate the fact that He did something for us that we couldn't do for ourselves. He lived a perfect life and then put Himself in our place, on our behalf, before God. Because He didn't break the commandments of God, He was able to take the punishment for breaking them in our place. He paid a debt He didn't owe for you and for me. Next week, we will look at the resurrection of Jesus as the best attested event in human history.