The law given to Moses was temporary (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Galatians 3:24-25).  It could never make bad people good, or nice people perfect.  Although the Jews claimed that God loved them because they loved His law, the problem was that none of them could ever keep it – and therefore they were excluded from fellowship with God.  

So, what was the purpose of the law?  It defined sin and made it clearly punishable.  Christ is the Saviour who redeems believers from the punishment of sin: but first, sin and its punishment had to be defined. Romans 3:20 says, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”  That is why the law had to come before the Saviour.  

But the promise of salvation through Christ (Genesis 3:14-15; Genesis 15:6) had to come before the law, otherwise the law would have been inescapable!  God entrusted the fulfilment of the law to Jesus as the Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).  He mediated between law-breaking humanity and Father God.  But because Jesus was also fully God, God became His own mediator in accepting the punishment for every broken law (Isaiah 53:4-6).  This shows that God is indeed just.  He never blurred the edges between holiness and sin, but He fully defined both in the law, and brought them together (mediated) in the crucified body of Jesus.
 
This is greater mercy and grace than we can ever grasp, but those who trust in Jesus live with hope and joy because of it.  Our sin is never minimised in God’s eyes; Christ suffered for all of it.  But neither should God’s grace be minimised in our eyes; our experience of His love is totally dependent on it.  This is the message of hope which is desperately needed throughout this broken world.  If we know it, we have an obligation to live in the good of it and share it with others.  A good way of doing that is to ask your friends and colleagues to watch www.crosscheck.org.uk and share your personal testimony with them.