(Galatians 3)
I am the Lord your God… you shall have no other god before Me (Exodus 20:2). And now, Israel, what does the Lord God require of you but to fear the Lord your God – to walk in all His ways and to love Him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with you entire being to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? (Deut. 10: 5, 12.13)
The Law showed the nation of Israel the holiness of the Lord, the need for them to desire it for themselves through obedience to God’s commandments as their part of the covenant. No one outside the Law’s requirements was able to please God’s holiness. In holiness, our God is righteous, and righteousness is the foundation of His throne (Psalm 89:14a). From the beginning men adopted many gods to satisfy their spiritual hunger, since they were created with a spiritual need for God. The Law was given with the purpose to point men to the One True God and His attributes. There are two aspects of the Law: ceremonial and moral. The ceremonial rituals served to point to the ultimate sacrifice of God’s Son, ending all the sacrifices of animals for the atonement of men’s sin. The blood of God’s Son poured out for the forgiveness of sin was more than sufficient to ratify the agreement of the new covenant- covenant of blood.