I’m Dennis
Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a
moment we’ll talk about the LAWS OF GOD, the Creator of the universe expects
everyone to obey…
…Today we are
going to explore the oldest words of revelation from God, that pertain to the
life and living of His great creation, the human race. It is called the LAW OF
GOD. Now there is only one particular place where this can be found and it is
in the Judeo-Christian Bible, and specifically revealed to us in the Book of
Exodus, chapters 19 and 20. In particular, we are talking about the MORAL LAW
of God given on Mount Sinai to the people of Israel long ago and encapsulated
for us in what we all know as the TEN COMMANDMENTS. Yes God, the one who
created all things and especially the world we live in personally with His
finger, wrote in stone, TEN LAWS of COMMANDMENTS the people of Israel and for
that matter the world for all generations were to live by as we utilize for
our existence, God’s borrowed world and universe. Now following another pause
for a musical expression to bring you a bit of joy, I’ll return to talk about
the greatest command of all, the very first one given to us to hear and obey,
if we want to continue living in God’s care and presence. The fact is, no one
is exempt from obeying this, regardless of the age in which we live, for the
TEN COMMANDMENTS are neither dispensational nor exclusive to the Jewish people
or age. So don’t go away, you need to hear what I have to say that God has
said to you in His blessed and holy Word…
… 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 of the past quarter century. 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. Now this was just one incident, for
some years ago the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled then by a majority of rogue
liberal and anti-god justices, determined it was unconstitutional for the Ten
Commandments to be displayed in any public place such as schools and on
government property! Since then, godless 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.”
Now just what
are the Ten Commandments? Depending upon which Bible you use or denominational
faith you follow they are not all the same. However we follow the
Judeo-Christian Bible which presents them as follows:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
(1) “Do not worship any other gods besides me” (Ex. 20:3).
(2) “Do not make idols of any kind” (Ex. 20:4).
(3) “Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:7).
(4) “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Ex. 20:8).
(5) “Honor your father and mother” (Ex. 20:12).
(6) “Do not murder” (Ex. 20:13).
(7) “Do not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).
(8) “Do not steal” (Ex. 20:15).
(9) “Do not testify falsely” (Ex. 20:16).
(10) “Do not covet” (Ex. 20:17).
These verses
form a preamble and historical background to the Judicial and Ceremonial Law
God gave specifically for the Jew to follow in the Dispensation of the Law
period prior to Christ’s coming and death for sinners on the cross. The
Israelites were to obey God on the double basis of who He is, and what He had
done, for them. Now most scholars have divided the Ten Commandments (Exo.
20:1-17; Deut. 5:6–18) into two groups. You see, the first three commands deal
with our relationship with God, and the last seven with our relationship with
other people.
Well, what can
we say about this? What value are these ancient rules of Israel to us today?
Are we still commanded by God in this 21st century to follow them?
Or, are they something to put in a museum and ignore? Are they only for Jews
and or Christians to follow today? Well as we look at the Ten Commandments,
let’s first look at what Jesus Christ had to say about them, for He has
definitely commented on them and we read of this 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,
this is how God Himself interprets the Law 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 specifically
written in the Old Testament. We read,
Exo 20:1-3 (NIV) “And God spoke all these
words… 3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Can you imagine
some great, eternal and uncreated Being, commanding love from His sentient
creatures He made? However, this is what we are told and is for us, the first
commandment God gives for all mankind to obey. You and I, we are first of all,
to LOVE the GOD who created us!
Now, why does
God command this of all people of all ages? Permit me to suggest some
considerations. We are to love because that is the greatest facet of our
creative being. The Bible tells us we are created in God’s image and the Bible
tells us about it in,
1 John 4:8-11 (NLT) But anyone who does not
love does not know God--for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by
sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through
him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since
God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
Are you aware in
your soul and spirit that we are the “creative work” of a God who is in His
very Being is “LOVE!” As such, our first response should be to
1. exercise this ability of our being, and love IN RETURN, 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 WILL 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, 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 but Him.
Why? -- Because it will ultimately draw us away from Him, and into harmful
destructive paths.
Hence, God give
this as the first and greatest commandment. If we get the first commandment
right, all the others fall into place in their respective call upon mankind.
Now let’s look at this first commandment briefly, and see what it really says
and how it is to be applied to us today.
To begin, let’s
summarize all of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20. In so doing, we
discover they fall into two categories: (1) the first three commandments deal
with our relationship with God, while (2) the last seven deal with our
relationship with others. However, all of them are based on obedience not out
of LAW, but out 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, why everything would be
hunky-dory, yes? Well I’m sorry the answer is no!
In Exodus
20:1–3, which I read a moment ago,, we see the Bible teach us God first and
foremost 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 “Yahweh” be it a person, an
image, or any “thing,” that commands our primary attention and devotion.
What exactly
should this first and great commandant mean to us today?
First of all
since God has written His laws in our hearts, it means we were all created
with the inert ability to know there is a God over us, who creates us, and
requires us to love and obey Him. No one can say I didn’t know of this
obligation, whether they are a savage in the jungle or a broker on Wall
Street. Paul the great apostle of the Lord Jesus, by divine inspiration of
God, wrote of this inner knowledge and obligation in,
Rom 1:18-32 [Selected verses (NLT)] “But God
shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the
truth [inner Law of God] away from themselves. 19 For the truth about God is
known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts… 21
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him
thanks… 24 So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their
hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each
other's bodies. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about
God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God
made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen…. 32 They
are fully aware of God's death penalty for those who do these things, yet they
go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do
them, too.”
What this means
is no living being can ever say I didn’t know that God exists, or His command
to love Him back for the life and living He gave me. Those who disobey this
first and great commandment as Paul states, are under God’s death penalty and
decree. Listen to this as it is described in the Bible,
Ezek 18:20 (NLT) “The one who sins is the one
who dies…”
James 2:10-12 (NLT) And the person who keeps
all of the laws except one is as guilty as the person who has broken all of
God's laws. 11 For the same God who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said,
"Do not murder." So if you murder someone, you have broken the entire law,
even if you do not commit adultery. 12 So whenever you speak, or whatever you
do, remember that you will be judged by the law of love, the law that set you
free.
Today many say
– “wait a minute!” The Law of Moses is not for Christians today. Well it’s
true the Judicial and Ceremonial Law God gave Moses ended with the cross upon
which Jesus died, and the New Testament makes it very clear that the Christian
is not under the Law (Rom. 6:14 and Gal. 5:18) for we live in the sphere of
grace. Moreover, in Christ, we died to the Law (Rom. 7:1–4) and have been
delivered from the Law (Rom. 7:5–6). Does this mean that the Christian is free
of God’s law and we are to ignore the universal and holy demands of God?
Actually, the New Testament Christian is under a more demanding way of life
than the Old Testament believer; for the Old Testament Law dealt with outward
acts, while the New Testament law of love deals with inward heart attitudes.
So then, being free from the Law does not mean being free to sin, for liberty
is not license! Yes, we have been called to liberty, and we must use that
liberty for the good of others and the glory of God (Gal. 5:13–26). So then,
we Christians are under the higher law of love, the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).
Although, the first and greatest commandment is for all people, only those who
are born again by faith in Jesus Christ can live up to this command and obey
it. So in summing up the first commandment, it deals with your respect for
God, who said,
Exo 20:2-3 (NLT) "I am the LORD your God... 3
"Do not worship any other gods besides me.
The Lord is
identified as the One who gave you life and provides for your very existence.
The Israelites first, of all people, were not to worship any other god. What
is worship of another god?
“It is to devote your time, talent and treasures to something or someone
other than the Creator, whereby He takes second or no place in your life and
living.”
To take another
god such as this is called is idolatry, just as it is to take another sexual
partner outside marriage, becomes adultery. So then Jesus clearly defines the
first commandment,
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."
Have you obeyed
this, among all the other commandments? The answer of course, in all honesty,
is “NO!” God says the penalty for breaking any and all of His moral law is
death. This is what awaits all sinners who have broken God’s Laws in deed and
even thoughts and words. We are under judgment and when this life is over, we
will, as unsaved sinners, stand before the GREAT WHITE THRONE OF GOD and be
convicted of our sin and transgression and cast into the burning Lake of Fire
where all sinners will be forever and ever (Rev 20:11-15).
But friend here
is the Good News, God has solved the problem of our sin and penalty that
awaits us, by coming to earth as a man Himself, living a holy pure and
obedient life and being qualified as a man to enter God’s Heaven and life
eternal. Yet to satisfy God’s law for sinners, He went to the cross at Calvary
and there God punished Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. He being God
and having infinite life, His death counted as full and final payment of the
Law of Sin and Death and He offers His substitutionary forgiveness to all who
will turn to Him, love Him as God and obey Him. Have you? Or are you still
under judgment for not living up to absolute obedience to the Moral Law of
God. If you have not received Jesus Christ, why not right now call upon Him to
save you and forgive all your sins, and grant you His gift of life eternal?
That is the Christian Good News and message of hope, still available to all
who receive Jesus Christ. Do so today without delay and be free from God’s
penalty of sin. To God be the glory great things He has done.
