A new take on the 10 commandments?

I always used to think of the 10 commandments as a bunch of rules - a list of "do not"s. But a friend pointed out the other day that when the Bible says "thou shalt not...." it is not saying "you shouldn't" or "don't" but simply "you will not".

What difference does that make? Well a pretty huge difference actually. It turns the 10 commandments from a list of rules to a description of how God designed the world to be and how God promises it will be one day in the future. If you read the 10 commandments in that light it soon becomes clear that our world is not as God intends for it to be - it is broken and needs fixing!

I've often heard people talk about the 10 commandments in relation to personal sin - i.e I broke one of the rules therefore I must do something to fix it or else I will go to hell. If you read the rest of the Bible you will soon see that's not what it's about at all. The problem is so much bigger than just you or I. The problem is the whole world is broken and no amount of good deeds or "hail marys" from you or I can fix it. We need a rescuer!

The Bible is the story of that rescue plan. Right from the start it shows us clues about the rescuer who is coming (Jesus - in case you hadn't guessed) and it gives us a message of hope about how life will be once the rescue plan is complete. Right now we're still part way through the rescue plan. Jesus has completed step 1 (come to earth as a man, die a brutal death, come back to life after defeating death and show the world a glimpse of what new life will look like) and he's getting everything ready for the final phase (see John 14:1-3).

I don't know about you but I find watching the news pretty depressing as I hear about all the insane and evil things that people do to each other. How great it is to know that this isn't how the world is supposed to be!? The Bible tells us that God has a plan to fix it all. One day Jesus will return to create a new heaven and a new earth (see 2 Peter 3:13) and the 10 commandments tell us how things will be in that new creation - no more death, no more jealousy, no more stealing, no more cheating, no more lying (see Revelation 21:3-5). I can't wait to live in a world like that. How about you? How do we get to be included in this new creation? Simple - the new creation will be full of all those people who have become friends of Jesus and put their trust in Him.