THE GREAT COMMANDMENT! |
The World, the Word & You!
Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan
"ARE YOU AWARE OF GOD’S GREATEST
COMMANDMENT? IT IS NOT ABOUT SOMETHING TO AVOID IN YOUR LIFE, RATHER SOMETHING
TO DO THAT CAN ONLY COME FROM THE HEART. YES, GOD GREATEST COMMANDMENT, IS TO
LOVE…”
I’m Dennis
Finnan, host and speaker on the World the Word & You! Broadcast and in a
moment we’ll talk about the Great Commandment Jesus taught to those who follow
Him…
… Everyone has heard about the TEN COMMANDMENTS in some way or another. It matters not if you are a Christian, a Jew or a follower of any other religious philosophy. The Ten Commandments are universal in knowledge to most peoples of the world. Yet, I must say how difficult it has been in these United States to understand the fierce hatred for them, as evidenced by our governing legislatures and judicial leaders. Why not long ago in the spring of 1997, a fierce battle erupted when the ALCU, the legal watchdog of the atheist movement in America, discovered a southern judge, Justice Roy Moore, an outspoken Christian, kept a copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall of His court room. The judge was sued by the ACLU for the audacity of hanging it in his circuit court in Gadsden, Alabama. Well, the case wound through the courts and ended several years ago unresolved on legal technicalities. Thankfully though Judge Moore never wavered, and he kept them posted prominently on his courtroom wall.
Now this was just one incident, for some years ago the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled then by rogue liberal and anti-god justices, determined it was unconstitutional for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in any public place! Since then, leaders in our public schools, city and state governments have in rabid fashion torn down any and all representations that depicted the Ten Commandments for the public to see.
However, again in June 1999, the Ten Commandments once again made the headlines when the U.S. legislature, in response to a rash of violent crimes and murders in public schools across the nation, thumbed its nose at the Supreme Court’s rulings, and passed a bill giving states the right to again display the Ten Commandments in schools and public buildings. Why did they do it? It was argued the Commandments of God found in Exodus 20 were “the foundation for our nation’s morals and values, and if displayed again would be a “moral compass” for the confused youth of our nation.”
Well, what can we say about this? What value are these ancient rules of Israel? Are we today to follow them? Or, are they something to put in a museum and ignore? Are they only for Christians to follow today? Well after another pause for a musical refreshment, we’ll study what Jesus had to say and how these commandments of God should be viewed by us today…
…As we look at the Ten Commandments today let’s first
look at what Jesus Christ had to say about them. He has commented on them and
we read of His comments in,
Mat 22:37-38 (NIV) "Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment."
Can you imagine how God Himself interprets the Law of
God called the Ten Commandments? God said that out of all Ten Commandments, the
first one is the most important and greatest of all. Let’s read the first
commandment as it is written to Israel in the Old Testament. We read of it in,
Exo 20:1-3 (NIV) “And God spoke all these words… 3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Can you imagine someone commanding love? However, that is the first commandment God gives to Israel and for that matter all creation. We are to LOVE, and first of all, we are to love the God who created us! Why is this the case? Permit me to suggest some considerations.
We are to love
because that is the greatest facet of our creation and being. God is love, the
Bible says,
1 John 4:8-11 (NIV) “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
We, the whole human race, are the creative work of a God who is LOVE! And, our first response should be to,
1. Exercise this ability and facet of our being, toward the One who created us. This is Jesus’ interpretation and summation of the whole Law of God we call the Ten Commandments. Secondly, we are to love God because,
2. WHATEVER WE LOVE WE SOON RESEMBLE
AND WORSHIP – Yes indeed this is true. This is why God says that
He is a Jealous God in the midst of His commandments as well as other
passages. Listen,
Exo 20:5 (NIV) "You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God…”
Exo 34:14 (NIV) "Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Now what exactly does the Bible mean by the fact that
God is a “Jealous God?” Well, in researching this word in the Hebrew language
and every usage surrounding God, the word “jealous” carries the idea of “zeal, ardor and passion.” God, in
this sense, is filled with zeal and passion towards those whom He created. In
fact, the Bible says He created us specifically for Himself. We human beings
are His prized possession!
Rev 4:11 (NIV) “”You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.””
God loves His highest creation, mankind, so much, that He refuses to allow anything to come between Himself and those whom He loves. This is called “jealousy.” Now we must realize that the word is not used in a negative sense or sinful way as we fallen human beings do. God is jealous of and for the worship and love of His people. Now God doesn’t need our love, nor does He need our worship. In fact, He doesn’t need anything from us at all! However, the opposite is true ¾ we need His love! Yes, we were created for love and to love and have the unique ability to do so in the most gratifying and satisfying ways. God knows we need to worship and love, and therefore wants us not to fall into directing this central and controlling aspect of our humanity towards anything else. Why? Because it will ultimately draw us away from Him and into harmful destructive paths. Hence, this first and greatest commandment, as the Bible and Jesus reveal. If we get the first commandment right ¾ all the others fall into place in their respective call upon mankind. Now let’s look at the Ten Commandments briefly and see what they say and how they are to be applied to us today.
In
summation of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20, (1) the first four
commandments deal with our relationship with God, while (2) the last six deal
with our relationship with others. However, all of them are based on the
obedience, not of LAW, but of LOVE. Jeremiah the prophet captured for us the
spirit of the Law of God for man. We read,
Jer 31:33 (NIV) “”This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Notice what God said about His Law and the ultimate relationship we were to have with it. It was to be written upon our hearts. Thus, the Law of God is not just for reading on a wall as one passes by, nor was it designed as a miracle cure-all for the sins of a nation, nor was it ever a holy obligation in the purest sense of obedience. God is not pleased if we just obey His law, period. God gave the Law to reflect “the ways” in which we could love Him from “our hearts.” However, herein is the problem. If we could and would just love God and obey Him, and also love others and serve them ¾ why everything would be hunky-dory, yes? Well I’m sorry the answer is no!
Let’s review the Ten Commandments and see what they teach us that pleases God.
We
discover in reading them in Exodus 20, that the Ten Commandments were divided
by the Lord Jesus into two sections, one covering love to God and the other
covering love to one’s neighbor (Matt. 22:37–40). So let’s begin…
In Exodus
20:1–3 The Bible teach us God requires
us to have no other gods
or love before Him. This is a prohibition
against the worship of many gods (polytheism) or against the worship of any
other god except Jehovah be it a person, an image, or any “thing,” that
commands our attention and time in devotion. The Second commandment is found
in,
Exodus
20:4-6 – We are not to create,
use, worship or serve any carved image of God. This covered the
manufacture of and worship of idols. This included pictures, images, and
statues used in worship. It does not, however, include all pictures or statues,
since the tabernacle contained carved cherubim. The commandment obviously
refers to pictures or images of deity. They are not to be used in or for our
worship of God who is Spirit.
Next we
come to the revelation that God is a jealous God—that is, jealous of the
worship and love of His people. He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children to the third and fourth generations. How? Well we aren’t
exactly sure but it appears God means through things such as inherited
weaknesses, poverty, diseases, and shortened lifespan ¾ all produced by sinful actions and living. But
the Bible also says, God’s mercy endures to thousands of generations
of those who seek and love Him and keep His commandments, from the heart. Now moving on we come to,
Exodus
20:7 God forbids the fraudulent use of
His holy Name ... This means to
swear by God’s name that a false statement is actually true is sin. It also
includes the use of profanity, cursing, minced oaths, or swearing to a promise
and failing to fulfill it. God does not want His Name bandied about carelessly
or abusively. Remember, it’s His right and choice. To break this commandment is
a sure promise from God of His wrath one day to come upon anyone who does. Next
we see the commandment in,
Exodus
20:8–11 We all know it, “Remember
the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” This is first mentioned in
Genesis 2:1–3, but now the Sabbath was formally given to the nation of Israel
for strict observance. This was to only be a part of Israel’s observance, for
nowhere in the New Testament are Christians or anyone else commanded to keep
the Sabbath law. It was given to teach Israel that God was Master of them and that
He wanted them to rest every seventh day and set it aside for remembering and
loving God through worship. Although this is not a command for us today, since
no one knows what day was the seventh day for Israel, the principle still
remains. God wants those who love and follow Him to set aside one day a week to
rest from daily labors, and to dedicate it to our Creator God in worship and
service. How sad so many followers of God in Christ have cast this aside,
losing the concept of its good and holy purpose. Next we come to,
Exodus
20:12, were we are told to
honor our fathers and mothers. To honor here means to obey,
revere, and hold in highest esteem. The verse teaches that a life of obedience
to parents is the start and later in adulthood, is to be filled with honor and
great respect. Do you honor and respect your parents? Do you call them, visit
them, care for them and their needs? God is vitally interested in you doing
this from a heart of love. Moving on we see,
Exodus
20:13 ¾ You shall not murder, not the word “kill”. This
refers specifically to callous acts of murder and not to capital punishment or
to manslaughter. The command teaches respect for human life. That goes for the
unborn life as well as those who are living. Do you respect life, honor it, and
guard it? All who do not, will one day be punished. Now we come to the most
abused commandment in our world today!
Exodus
20:14 You shall not commit adultery. This prohibition teaches respect for
marriage, and warns against exploiting another person’s body for your own
personal satisfaction. It also covers all forms of unlawful sexual behavior
such as homosexuality, which is strongly forbidden and condemned in the Bible
from cover to cover. Next,
Exodus
20:15 reveals ¾
You shall not steal.
This refers to any act by which a person wrongfully deprives another person of
his or her property. It teaches respect for private property. Be it
personal or governmental as well. Do you respect others property? God watches
to see if we do. Now the last two commandments are,
Exodus
20:16 ¾ You shall not bear false witness. This
commandment forbids damaging the character of another person by making false
statements and causing them grief. It also teaches respect for a person’s
reputation. Are you careful to guard that, or are you a gossip, talebearer, or
one who delights to speak evil of others? God watches and hears all our
conversations. Lastly, we see the 10th commandment that is found in,
Exodus 20:17 ¾ You shall not covet.
This commandment passes from acts to thoughts, and it shows that it is sinful
to “lust after” and desire anything and everything that God never intended you
or me to have! So much today is based on a lust for more and better that we as
a nation are consumed by disobedience to this last commandment. We beg, borrow
and steal to get what we lust for…
…Now that was a very brief look at the Ten Commandments,
but the question now is who is to obey them? Was it just for Israel? Is it for
all mankind? Is it only for the Christian today? Well the answer is found in
the New Testament, for we discover that all of these Commandments are REPEATED
for the believer in Christ to follow except, the forth, “Remember the Sabbath
Day.” That was strictly for Israel, but its principle still remains. God is
pleased when we “in love,” not “law” set aside one day to worship and serve
Him. Paul the apostle says,
Rom 7:7 (NIV) “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.””
God gave us the Ten Commandments so that every
generation would read them and know the depths of holiness God wants manifested
in those who follow Him. God wants us to be like Him. We read in,
1 Pet 1:15-16 (NIV) “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.””
Holiness means to be different from that which is
common. We are sinners and the common thing for us is to love ourselves and
anything that please us. But when we turn from this to love what pleases God,
then we become holy. The greatest thing that pleases God, Jesus said is,
Mat 22:37-38 (NIV) “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”
Now, some
people obey God because of fear. That never pleases God ¾ that we love Him this way. Others obey only because
they want His blessing. God is not pleased when we “use” obedience to get
something ¾
that is not love. No, the highest motive for obedience is your personal love
for the Lord! Do you love Him? How can you do this? It’s quite simple. You love
God best and fullest, when you love what is His greatest love ¾ this
is His Son the Lord Jesus Christ!
Mat 3:17 (NASB) “and
behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I
am well-pleased.””
1 John 3:23 (NIV) “And this is [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”
Have you embraced Christ in your heart? The bible tells
us we do this when we receive Him as our Lord God and Savior from our sins. The
greatest love has been shown to us as sinners. We are under God’s wrath ready one
day to be sentenced to Hell for our disobedience to the first and great
commandment ¾
failure to love god with all our being as we were created for. But, God in love
stepped in and made a way for all mankind to be saved from their sins and
penalty coming. He sent us a Savior, Jesus Christ. Do you believe in and on
Him? Have you accepted His death as a substitution for your impending sentence
in Hell? God the Father has, and all that remains is for you to accept His Son
to receive that full forgiveness and His total blessing.
Rom 5:8 (NASB) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
The Ten Commandments in a sense are not for the unsaved world.
They cannot and will not obey them, nor do they have any desire to. Displaying
them on a wall is nice, but it will cause no one to stop sinning. However,
displaying them on our “hearts,” will! Therefore, what God wants the
commandments to do, first of all, warn sinners they are not right with God
because of disobedience. Secondly, it is to show the sinner that he or she can
never keep these laws in and of oneself. We simply don’t have it in us.
Thirdly, God wants us to flee to Him for the solution, and the Law can and will
drive seekers to God, who reveals Christ to them ¾ the One who kept all the
Law perfectly as a man and gave His perfect life as payment for our sins so we
might go free.
John 3:16-17 (NASB) “”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”
Once you are a Christian, and experience a changed heart
and life through the New Birth, keeping the commandments can become a reality
and joy and even more, the deep love and satisfaction of your life! This sounds
strange to the unsaved, but to those who know Christ ¾ it is a truth that brings
great joy and blessing. May God give you a new heart, that comes with POWER to
keep God’s commands, and to do it only one way ¾ from the heart. That
satisfies God, and brings you the greatest joy and fulfillment of your live and
living, and best of all it awaits all who receive Christ. Do so right now by a
prayer of faith and enter into the family of God with all your sins behind you
and the most glorious future ahead….
…Just an update ¾ We all remember the fierce battle against Judge Roy Moore the circuit judge in the State of Alabama vilified for posting the Ten Commandments on His chamber wall. Well as of this date, he was just elected as the new Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and has promised to take the Ten Commandments with him to the state capitol in Montgomery. Well God bless this conservative Christian leader who is not ashamed of his faith and willing to uphold the basis on which our nation was founded, the Judeo-Christian ethics and morals of the Word of God. May the Lord reveal to you and each one of us His heart and may His laws be written on our hearts for His glory and our eternal good.
· Radio talk #0501
· Broadcast date: February 04, 2001
· Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator
· Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast
· Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 20 years, and serves as General Director.
These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.
For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(dennis@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/