Life-Study of Psalms, by Witness Lee

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I. CHRIST BEING THE REALITY OF THE LAW,
SIGNIFIED BY:

A. The Testimony of God, Signifying Christ
as the Living Portrait of What God Is

Christ is the reality of the law as the testimony of God. The testimony of God signifies Christ as the living portrait of what God is (Col. 2:9; 1:19).

The Ten Commandments are brief, but they give us a portrait of God. They show us that God is a jealous God, that He cannot tolerate other gods. In this matter, He is like a husband who is jealous concerning his wife. Also, God is a God of love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Here we have five crucial words—jealous, love, light, holiness, and righteousness.

The Ten Commandments were written on two tablets, with each tablet containing five commandments. In this way, the Ten Commandments were divided into two groups of five. The first three commandments are concerned with God. The first commandment says that the Lord is God and that we should not have any gods before Him (Exo. 20:2-3); the second commandment, that we should not make idols or worship idols (vv. 4-6); and the third commandment, that we should not take the name of God in vain (v. 7). The fourth commandment requires that we keep the Sabbath (vv. 8-11). This commandment indicates that God is love. Because He loves us, He wants us to have a day of rest. The fifth commandment is the commandment to honor our parents (v. 12). This commandment is ranked with the first four commandments, which are related to God. The reason for this ranking involves our source as human beings. In Luke 3 the human generations are traced all the way back to Adam, and then to God. This indicates that when we honor our parents, we honor our source, which, ultimately, is God Himself. When we honor our parents, we recognize the fact that, through them, we can trace our source back to God. Those who do not respect their parents do not respect God.

The five commandments in the second group are all related to humanity. These are the commandments about not killing, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying, and not coveting. We may use five words to summarize these five commandments: murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and covetousness. Anyone who does not murder, commit fornication, steal, lie, or covet is a perfect person.

We have pointed out that the Ten Commandments portray God as the One who is a God of jealousy, love, light, holiness, and righteousness. The last five commandments are related to God’s holiness and righteousness. For example, a person who steals or lies is not righteous.

The God who is jealous, who is love and light, and who is holy and righteous is embodied in Christ. For this reason, Christ is God’s testimony. Christ is jealous, loving, and full of light. He is also holy and righteous. He is the reality of the law, which is a portrait of God.

(Life-Study of Psalms, Chapter 40, by Witness Lee)