The law was not in God’s original intention, nor was it God’s original ordination for man. It was added later along the way because of transgression (Rom. 5:20; Gal. 3:19). God originally did not have the intention to deal with man according to the law; rather, the law was added because of man’s fall and corruption.
The function of God’s giving the law, on the negative side, was for man to have the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). God gave the law to the children of Israel, not for them to keep but for them to transgress, in order to expose their wickedness. While God was giving the law, they fashioned a golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai and worshipped that idol, thus violating the first three of the Ten Commandments of the law. After Moses received God’s law, he came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of stone, on which were written the Ten Commandments of the law; but upon seeing the people worshipping the idol, he broke the two tablets of the law. That indicated that when the law was received, or while it was being received, or even before it was received, it was already transgressed and broken by the people. Therefore, God’s intention in giving them the law was that they would transgress it so that their offense might be shown, even that it might abound (Rom. 5:20). This was to expose their fallen condition, thus causing them to have the knowledge of sin. Without the law, man cannot know what sin is (Rom. 7:7). But when the law comes, man not only can know what sin is, but he can know what kind of sin he has committed. Like a mirror, the law reflects the true condition of a man that he may know himself. The law does not make a person evil; rather, it merely exposes the evil that is already in him. Therefore, the negative aspect of the function of the law is that man may have the knowledge of sin and thereby flee to Christ.
Since the law causes man to have the knowledge of sin, it causes him to know himself and thereby sense his need of God’s grace. Under the exposure of the law, man knows that he is fleshly, that he is sold under sin (Rom. 7:14), and that in his flesh nothing good dwells (Rom. 7:18). What he does, he does not acknowledge; what he wills, this he does not practice; but what he hates, this he does (Rom. 7:15). To will is present with him, but to do the good is not (Rom. 7:18). He can only cry out hopelessly, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24). Therefore, the law causes man to know the true condition of his weakness and impotence; consequently, it causes man to deeply realize and sense his need of God’s grace. Thus, man receives God that He might bear all his responsibilities and allows God to work Himself into him to be his element and to work through him to accomplish His purpose.
In the dispensation of law, not only were God’s chosen people guarded by the law, but Christ was brought in under law to the chosen people who waited for Him in that dispensation (Luke 2:25), and to those who would believe into Him in the coming dispensation. In that dispensation of law, under law, Christ was born under law of a virgin who piously kept the law (Luke 1:27-33; Gal. 4:4), and He was circumcised, named, and presented to God according to the law (Luke 2:21-24). He also lived under law as a law-abiding, lawful, proper, and perfect Man (Luke 2:40-52). Eventually, according to the requirements of the law, He went to the cross to accomplish redemption for God (John 19:28), terminating and replacing the law (Rom. 10:4). Thus, He transferred both God’s chosen people in the Old Testament and those who believe into Him in the New Testament from the law of the old covenant to the grace of the new covenant (Rom. 6:14), that they should not be guarded and enslaved under law any longer, but rather enjoy the grace and freedom in Him (Gal. 5:1-4; Rom. 5:2).
In the dispensation of law, God also obtained the pious men and the righteous men, those who fully kept the law under the law of the old covenant through the tabernacle and the offerings, both of which typified Christ. These, as Zachariah and Elizabeth, were righteous and blameless in the sight of God according to the Old Testament commandments and ordinances (Luke 1:5-6). They were blameless, but not without blemish, not without sin and sins. They still needed the unblemished sin offering and trespass offering (Lev. 4:28; 5:15), which were types of Christ, for their atonement that they might have contact with God. Moreover, through the tabernacle and the temple they came before God to enjoy all His riches, that is, to enjoy God as the source of life and the supply of life (Psa. 36:7-9). Thus, they were kept in the way of God’s new creation. In this way, God obtained this group of people who are typified by the moon underneath the feet of the universal woman in Revelation 12, as the second part of the new race of the new creation, to constitute the New Jerusalem as God’s eternal expression in the new heaven and the new earth.
God’s original intention was to do the work of the new creation on the fallen man of the old creation according to His promised grace. However, because the fallen man did not know his weakness and corruption, and therefore did not realize his impotence and his need of God’s grace, God temporarily changed the way of His work of the new creation on the fallen man of the old creation. That is, He gave the fallen man the law, which was established according to what He is. Thus, He initiated another dispensation, the dispensation of law, which extended from Moses to Christ. God’s intention in setting up this dispensation of law according to His economy was to accomplish the following things through the law; first, to keep the chosen people in custody that they might satisfy the requirements of the law through the offerings, which typified Christ, and thereby be guarded, as sheep are guarded in the sheepfold; second, to provide the chosen people with a child-conductor that they might be led to Christ, that through the offerings they might be forgiven, and that through the tabernacle and temple they might enjoy God’s riches; and third, to cause the chosen people to have the knowledge of sin and of themselves, and thereby realize and sense their need of God’s grace. As a result, God kept His chosen people in the custody of the law, obtained the second part of the new race of the new creation, and brought Christ to the chosen people who waited for Him in the dispensation of law and to those who would believe into Him in the coming dispensation.