«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　Heb. 1:3 Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

　　Psa. 119:97, 119 Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my musing. …I love Your testimonies.

　　In the New Testament we have a description of God, but we do not have a picture of God. John tells us clearly that God is love and light, and Paul tells us that the very God who is love and light is absolutely holy and righteous. The Ten Commandments are a type signifying Christ as the portrait of God, as the expression of God's image. Hebrews 1:3 says that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the express image, the impress, of God's substance….To see Him is to see God. The law is also a portrait of God. By studying the commandments of the law, we can see that God is love and light and that He is holy and righteous. Because the law is such a picture of God, the law was called the Testimony of God (Exo. 25:16, 21; 31:18). The Ark in which the law was placed was called the Ark of the Testimony (Exo. 25:22), and the tabernacle was called the Tabernacle of Testimony (Exo. 38:21). In the Psalms the law is often referred to as the testimony (Psa. 19:7; 25:10; 119:2). This testimony was a portrait, a picture, of God.

　　God's people received the revelation concerning God Himself so that they might be separated unto the holy God as His sanctified people. This matter is given particular emphasis in the book of Leviticus. For example, Leviticus 11:44 says,”I am Jehovah your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 348 -349)

　　We know from the first chapter of Genesis that in His work of creation God accomplished many things. However, Genesis 1 does not reveal what kind of God our God is. We do not know from this chapter whether He is a God of love or of hate, a God of darkness or of light. We do not know whether He is holy or common, righteous or unrighteous. The law was given that we might have a portrait, a description, of God and thereby understand what He is. For this reason, God considers the law as His testimony. As a testimony of God, the law is a type of Christ. Christ is the living portrait of God, His living definition and description. Therefore, Christ is the real testimony of God.

　　Contrary to the concept of both Jews and Christians, the law was given not for us to keep, but to reveal what kind of God our God is. As the testimony of God, the law is indeed lovable. Romans 7:12 says,”So then the law is holy, and the commandment holy and righteous and good.” In Romans 7:14 Paul says that”the law is spiritual.” The law is holy, righteous, good, and spiritual because it is a portrait of God. We should love the law because it is a picture of our God. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 983-984)

　　The law is God's testimony (Exo. 16:34; 31:18; 32:15; 40:20; Psa. 19:7), God's expression, a revelation of God to His people…. The law of God reveals God's attributes, showing that He is jealous (Exo. 20:4-6; cf. 2 Cor. 11:2), holy (Exo. 20:7-11), loving (vv. 6, 12-15; cf. Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14), righteous (Exo. 20:5), truthful (v. 16; cf. 1 John 1:5-6), and pure (Exo. 20:2-3, 17). As the word of God and the testimony, the expression, of God, the law is a type of Christ as God's Word and God's testimony, God's expression (John 1:1, 18; Rev. 19:13; 1:5; Col. 1:15).

　　The reality of keeping the law is to live God and express God. Such a living, a living in the eternal economy of God, is the living of a God-man, a life of continually denying the self and being crucified to live Christ, who is God's testimony, by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ for the enlarged and expanded expression of God (Matt. 16:24; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a; Rom. 8:4). (Exo. 20:1, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 49