“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”—Matthew 5:17
On the mount [of Olives], Jesus was closely watched by spies; and as He unfolded the principles of righteousness, the Pharisees caused it to be whispered about that His teaching was in opposition to the precepts that God had given from Sinai. The Saviour said nothing to unsettle faith in the religion and institutions that had been given through Moses; for every ray of divine light that Israel’s great leader communicated to his people was received from Christ. While many are saying in their hearts that He has come to do away with the law, Jesus in unmistakable language reveals His attitude toward the divine statutes. “Think not,” He said, “that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.”
It is the Creator of humanity, the Giver of the law, who declares that it is not His purpose to set aside its precepts. Everything in nature, from the mote in the sunbeam to the worlds on high, is under law. And upon obedience to these laws the order and harmony of the natural world depend. So there are great principles of righteousness to control the life of all intelligent beings, and upon conformity to these principles the well-being of the universe depends. Before this earth was called into being, God’s law existed. Angels are governed by its principles, and in order for earth to be in harmony with heaven, men and women also must obey the divine statutes. To humanity in Eden Christ made known the precepts of the law.... The mission of Christ on earth was not to destroy the law, but by His grace to bring humanity back to obedience to its precepts.
The beloved disciple, who listened to the words of Jesus on the mount, writing long afterward under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks of the law as of perpetual obligation. He says that “sin is the transgression of the law” and that “whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law” (1 John 3:4). He makes it plain that the law to which he refers is “an old commandment which ye had from the beginning” (1 John 2:7). He is speaking of the law that existed at the creation and was reiterated upon Mount Sinai.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 47, 48.
Further Reflection: How would I begin to explain to an unbeliever that the well-being of the universe depends on the law of God?
From Jesus, Name Above All Names - Page 230
Jesus, Name Above All Names