You can’t see many stars when you’re standing in the middle of King Street. But drive an hour out to the Westside, and camp out at Yokohama Bay. In the utter blackness of the night, the whole Milky Way will unfurl in front of you.

That’s how the gospel works too. Unless we see the blackness of our sin, we can’t appreciate the beauty of the gospel. And the way God graciously shows us our sin is in his law. That’s how we know we need the gospel. As John Stott has said:

Not until the law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need of the gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for Christ to set us free. Not until the law has condemned and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the law has driven us to despair of ourselves will we ever believe in Jesus. Not until the law has humbled us even to hell will we turn to the gospel to raise us to heaven.

That’s why Harbor Honolulu is launching 27 Days in Leviticus during our devotional times over the month of June. As we continue our study of God’s grace in the book of Galatians on Sunday mornings, we want to be bruised by the law so we can be healed by the gospel.

Here’s the challenge:

• Read a chapter of Leviticus each day.
• In each chapter, look for God’s glory and holiness, and also look for God’s mercy and grace. Look for his demands, and also his provision. You’ll be amazed how much of the gospel you can find embedded in the law! For example, the first ten chapters are all about the sacrifices God wanted his people to make. Why would they need to offer a sacrifice? Because they would fail to obey the rest of the law. So God graciously provided a way for them to to be forgiven and healed.
• If you want to dig deeper into what you’re reading, consider listening to these free lectures on Leviticus from Dr Jay Sklar at Covenant Seminary. They’ll help you see the gospel all through the law. Or check out this guided study of Leviticus by Michael LeFebvre.

As we journey through Leviticus and Galatians this month, let’s pray for God to reveal more of his holiness and more of our sin, so we can see, appreciate, and appropriate more of his grace.