People of our arrogant generation seem to have no reluctance about challenging God’s authority over their lives. It is not only media stars who would dare suggest doing away with certain of the 10 Commandments. Most of the rest of us have felt free to challenge any (or all) of them that get in the way of our own self-willed lifestyles.
Murder, rape, theft and perjury are in the news so often that we aren’t shocked by them anymore! Corrupt politicians, dishonest businessmen, and philandering neighbors hardly raise an eyebrow.
Pornography is sold at the corner market, drugs are dispensed in school hallways, and TV brings the coarsest of language right into our family rooms.
Many have turned away from God, closed their ears, and refused to hear. We have allowed a world to be created that has no significant place for God in its educational programs, scientific pursuits, movies, music, homes, or hearts.
What fools we are if we separate ourselves from the only hope we have for making life meaningful!
What is the Christian’s initial response? One of praise and adoration to God! He established a spiritual kingdom (the church) that cannot be overcome by anything the world has to offer!!!
We also must remember God, seek God, hear God, and obey God.
It can begin with the acknowledgement
of a simple statement by Paul to the Christians at Rome long, long ago: (Rom 13:10) "Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore
love is the fulfillment of the law."
How bad has it become?
Our society has rejected the notion of fixed norms for conduct, and we lack the internal control that comes to a people who have a strong sense of right and wrong.
Without rules, norms, or standards, we move toward chaos. We need both goals and limits. We need a strong sense of what is desirable and what is forbidden. We need the security which comes of having some dependable rules for right living.
A U.S. Army official has said: “The army would like to see every American parent, teacher, and clergyman work to give our children…a firm regard for right and an abiding distaste for wrong.”
A sociologist, discussing the crime problem among teenagers: “They grow up lacking the internal controls needed to stay on course.”
Our self-chosen ways usually lead to our destruction.
(Prov 14:12) "There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death."
It ought to be very different: (1
John 5:3) "This is love for God: to obey
his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…"
God has not left it to us to decide what is right but only whether we will choose to walk the path of holiness he has marked for us.
The first commandment asserts the claim of God to absolute sovereignty over the lives of his people. This is the 1st commandment then, not only in order of their statement but in order of their internal coherence. It has to do with fixing priorities in human affairs.
God is; God exists. There is a Creator of the universe: the one true and living God. He is the LORD GOD Himself (Jehovah, Yahweh). He created all that is, including man. Therefore, God cares for man: He cares about man’s welfare, what happens to man as he walks throughout life day by day.
But God cares about something else as well: God cares about what man thinks of Him. What people think about God determines their eternal fate. God wants, even longs, for us all to live with Him eternally. This is the reason God gave us this first commandment:
“Thou shalt have no other gods
before me” (Exodus 20:3).
But the great tragedy is this: not
all of us will live with God eternally. Why? Because many do not live with God now.
1. There
are some who deny God: they just do not believe that God is, that God exists.
·
Some persons are secularists, people
who believe that this physical world is all that exists.
·
Still others are evolutionists, people
who believe that man has evolved to be the ultimate being of this earth, evolved to be the
god of this earth.
· Other persons are humanists, people who believe that man—his knowledge, his science, his technology—determines the destiny of man and of all else in this world.
Now if a person denies God, he naturally does not live with God, not now nor will he in the future. He has cut himself off from God. This commandment is directed to the atheists, secularists, humanists, and evolutionists.
“Thou shalt have no other gods
before me”—not
this secular world and universe and certainly not man himself who is ever so frail, so
frail that his life is as a vapor that appears for just a brief time and then vanishes
ever so quickly.
2. There
are some people who question God’s existence: God may exist, but He may not exist.
There may be a God behind the universe, but there may not be. They just do not know, not
for sure. How could they ever know? They are skeptical toward God. They are agnostics.
Now, if a person questions God’s existence, he
naturally does not live with God, not now nor will he in the future. This commandment is
directed to the agnostic:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”—not
man’s questioning and reasoning ability, not his science, technology, nor exploratory
abilities.
3. There
are other people who believe in many gods, believe that the destiny of man and his world
are in the hands of many powers and authorities throughout the universe (polytheism). This
commandment is directed to all who believe in many gods. There is only one true and living
God.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
(Exodus 20:3).
4. There
are many people—many, many people—who believe in one god and only in one god.
But that god is not the true and living God, not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Many people, especially within industrialized nations, say that the god worshipped
by the Moslems, Buddhists, Christians, and others is the same god, that we all just call
god by different names. But this is not true, not according to Scripture, not according to
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
claims to be the only living and true God. He declares that this is the very reason He
sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world: to reveal Himself—to reveal the truth to
us—that there is only one true and living God. And this is the key belief: the god
most people believe in is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He and He alone
is the true and living God. He and He alone is the One who sent Jesus Christ to reveal the
truth of Himself and the world to us.
This commandment is directed to those
who believe in only one god, but who believe that he is the god of all people and
religions of the earth.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
(Exodus 20:3).
As stated above, God loves all people
and longs for all to live with Him eternally. But so many of us are mistaken about God; so
many of us deny, question, and have wrong images of God; so many of us tragically reject
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And all who reject the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ reject the only living and true God. And if we reject Him, we doom ourselves to be
separated forever from God. This is the reason God gives us the first great commandment:
to warn us, to warn us that there is only one true and living God.
You have probably read the bumper
sticker "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven." That bumper sticker gives me
a tinge of uneasiness. It makes me uneasy when Christians use it for a copout for
irresponsibility.
As we see the moral decline in the
world infecting Christians, we must realize that Christians are responsible. Too many
Christians have misunderstood grace by thinking that grace nullifies the law. We are saved
from the condemnation of the law through Christ, but the law holds us accountable to live
lives worthy of Christ's calling.
Grace saves but it doesn't make us any
less accountable to God, in fact grace furthers our obligation us to God.
Romans 13:8-14 Let no debt remain
outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his
fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery,"
"Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and
whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your
neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the
fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for
you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first
believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds
of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not
in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and
jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how
to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (NIV)
Who is to obey this commandment? “You.” Note the word “you.” The first commandment is personal. The commandment is addressed to each person, each individual. Keep in mind that God is the Sovereign LORD and Majesty of the universe, the only living and true God. His commandments are, therefore, bound to be addressed to every person throughout the universe. No person—believer or unbeliever—would ever be exempt from the commandments given by the Sovereign Lord and God of the universe. Every person is required to obey God’s commandments.
You yourself are personally
responsible; you yourself are held accountable to obey this commandment.
In Deuteronomy when Moses called the Israelites together for the purpose of reminding them of the Law they received at Mt. Sinai, he repeatedly used three significant words. The word "hear" is used over thirty times, the word "learn" was used seven times, and the word "observe" was used over one hundred times. Each of these words demands obedience from the people of God.
When Moses records the Ten Commandments
in the book of Deuteronomy just before Israel crossed Jordan to occupy the land of Canaan,
Moses reminds Israel of the Law given at Mount Sinai. Moses writes, "The Lord did
not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us
who are alive" (Deuteronomy 5:3). This indicates that the law is given to each
succeeding generation.
The New Testament does not nullify our
need to obey the moral precepts found in the Law of Moses. There are many reasons why
Israel was commanded to be obedient to the Law of Moses. Grace multiplies the reasons why
we should be obedient to these moral precepts. Jesus Christ did not come to destroy the
law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). He actually came to show us how to live by the law's
moral precepts. He came to justify us through his sacrifice, which satisfied the laws
demand for justice.
It is the very nature of God that sets
the law's bounds. God's law is not arbitrary, but it defines the essence of his nature.
God must be true to the law, or else he denies his very nature. Although the law was an
expression of his nature, it was necessary for him to meet the just demands of the law
through the giving of his own Son. His nature demanded justice for sin, but his nature
also required that he meet the just demands of the law through the sacrifice of his Son.
It was the law that demanded a sacrifice for our freedom; it was God who provided the
sacrifice. It was in Christ that justice and mercy met at the cross providing the means of
God's grace for each of us.
Today it is grace that motivates us to
keep the law, while we rely upon Christ's sacrifice to save us from the condemnation of
the law when we fail. Law needs love and grace as its driving force and it requires the
sacrifice of Christ for our sins as we fail to live up to the perfect standard of the law.
The first commandment requires that God
have first place or no place. The ancient world worshipped a multiplicity of Gods but none
of those religions required that their gods have first place.
The Law of Moses was unique in that it
required Israel to have only on God. Moses informs Israel why she must worship God.
The reasons Israel must be faithful to
God.
1. God is to be their God because of
who He is.
Moses wrote the first five books of the
Bible during the 40-year wilderness period. In those books Moses revealed God as the
source and sustainer of their lives. God is creator of heaven and earth and they are made
in his image.
Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over
the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said,
"Let there be light," and there was light. (NIV)
Moses wanted the Israelites to
understand that morality began with God. All morality begins with the person and nature of
God. Moses seeks to establish the relation of the person of God and the law. The thunder,
lightning and the cloud at Mt. Sinai along with all the miraculous plagues in Egypt
created the relation between the person and the law, for those miracles and laws revealed
the nature and person of God.
The same reason applies to those of us
in Christ, because Christ came to show us the Father. He came to show us how to live
according to the moral precepts of the law. The law was fleshed out in Christ.
John 1:1-3,14 In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the
beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been
made . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)
John 14:15 "If you love me, you
will obey what I command. (NIV)
The law becomes the guideline for those
who have been confronted by God, because the law emanates from the very nature of God. The
love of Christ becomes the motivating force.
2. God is to be their God because of
His faithfulness to them.
God made a promise to their forefathers
and he has held himself accountable to them. It is amazing to me how God has held himself
accountable to us by the promises he has made.
Genesis 12:1-3 The LORD had said to
Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the
land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I
will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through
you." (NIV)
Deuteronomy 7:8-9 But it was because
the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out
with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh
king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God,
keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his
commands. (NIV)
We must obey God because he has been
faithful to each of us in carrying out his promise to Abraham. God's faithfulness is
extended to each of us through Jesus Christ. Christ was the fulfillment of God's promise
to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth (Matthew 1:1ff). When we put on Christ
in baptism, we become an heir of the promise to Abraham (Galatians 3:26-29).
3. God is to be their God because of
what He has done for them.
God has demonstrated his willingness to
be involved in their lives.
Exodus 13:3 Then Moses said to the
people, "Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of
slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing
yeast. (NIV)
We must be obedient to God because he
was also leading us out of bondage when he led Israel out of bondage. Our future hope of
heaven was made possible because of what God did for the Israelites in Egypt. This is why
Christ has become our Passover as he was sacrificed as our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians
5:7)
4. God is to be their God because He
wishes to bless Israel.
God's covenant with Israel manifest his
willingness to enter into their lives to bestow his blessings upon them.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 If you fully
obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD
your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come
upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city
and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your
land and the young of your livestock-- the calves of your herds and the lambs of your
flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you
come in and blessed when you go out. The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up
against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee
from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put
your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The LORD will
establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of
the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you
are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you
abundant prosperity-- in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops
of your ground-- in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The LORD will open
the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to
bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the
LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at
the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today,
to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. (NIV)
We must realize that our obedience is
not without the promised blessings of God. Jesus promises blessing to the faithful.
Matthew 19:29-30 And everyone who
has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my
sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are
first will be last, and many who are last will be first. (NIV)
5. God is to be their God because His
love disciplines Israel.
Where there is no discipline there is
no love. God's willingness to discipline Israel was proof of his willingness to enter into
a covenant relationship with them. Just read the following verses in Deuteronomy as God
enters their lives to warn them of the consequences of disobedient. Deuteronomy 28:14-68
God's continues to discipline his
children and it is his discipline that proves that we are his sons.
Hebrews 12:5-11 And you have
forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make
light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the
Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not
disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline),
then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human
fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to
the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they
thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No
discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a
harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (NIV)
God would test the sincerity of their
effort to put him first.
1. They would be tested by false
prophets. Nothing demonstrates our willingness to
follow God more than the leaders we choose to lead us. Leaders are simply a reflection of
the purpose and direction of our lives. They are a reflection of the values we hold.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If a prophet, or
one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or
wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says,
"Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship
them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God
is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your
soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands
and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to
death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of
Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the
LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. (NIV)
1 Samuel 8:6-18 But when they said,
"Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not
you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from
the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other
gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them
know what the king who will reign over them will do." Samuel told all the words of
the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the
king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his
chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be
commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap
his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He
will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of
your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a
tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your
menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his
own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the
LORD will not answer you in that day." (NIV)
False prophets and people with less
than pure motives test our faithfulness to God.
Acts 20:28-32 Keep watch over
yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds
of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave,
savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own
number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So
be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night
and day with tears. "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can
build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (NIV)
2. They would be tested on the basis of
how they treated their fellow Hebrews.
Deuteronomy 15:12-18 If a fellow
Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh
year you must let him go free. And when you release him, do not send him away
empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your
winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves
in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.
But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves
you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear
lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your
maidservant. Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service
to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the LORD
your God will bless you in everything you do. (NIV)
Moses says, "Remember that you
were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you." This rule extends to us
through Christ.
Matthew 7:12-14 So in everything, do
to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that
leads to life, and only a few find it. (NIV)
The Israelites faithfulness was tested
on the basis of their relationship to the world.
Exodus 34:12-16 Be careful not to
make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare
among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah
poles. Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous
God. "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they
prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you
will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your
sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to
do the same. (NIV)
Judges 2:1-5 The angel of the LORD
went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you
into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my
covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you
shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now
therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be in your sides
and their gods will be a snare to you." When the angel of the LORD had spoken these
things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim.
There they offered sacrifices to the LORD. (NIV)
1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world
or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the
boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world
and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (NIV)
What is forbidden by this first
commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3)? How is this
commandment broken, violated? This commandment concerns God’s being. God is declaring
that He alone is the Supreme Being, the absolute authority of the universe.
There is no other supreme being, no other god who created and who rules and reigns
over the universe. He alone is the LORD, the only living and true God, the only living and
true Creator. Note that God makes three stringent demands, three clear requirements in
this commandment.
1. Man is
to have no other gods, none whatsoever (Exodus 20:3).
a.
Man is not to set himself up as a god. Man is not to believe that he himself
nor any other being or energy in the universe is the ultimate source of the universe.
·
Man is not to deny God, declaring there
is no God (atheism).
·
Man is not to question God, saying God
may exist but He also may not exist (agnosticism).
·
Man is not to declare that man himself
is the supreme being, the ultimate authority of his world (humanism).
·
Man is not to look to science and
technology as the ultimate power in life (secularism).
·
Man is not to hold that his own
knowledge and reasoning ability are the ultimate control of the universe.
·
Man is not to believe that the spirit
of man (the combined spirit of all men) is the ultimate energy of the universe.
Man is not to proclaim some
impersonal mass, energy, or gas in the universe as the force behind all things.
b.
Man is not to believe that other beings, animals, or material things are
God. Man is not to look in the sky above nor in the earth below nor in the sea and its
depths and declare that something therein is God.
·
Man is not to look at the sky and
declare the heavenly bodies and beings to be the supreme force of the universe: not the
sun, moon, stars, angels, principalities, powers nor any other creature of any world or
any dimension of being.
·
Man is not to look at the earth nor at
some material substance of the earth and declare it to be God.
·
Man is not to look upon animals as some
god, no matter what the animal is.
Man is not to consider the physical mass nor energy nor gases that comprise the basic substance of things as a god: not the atoms, protons, neutrons, nor whatever the most minute building-block of existence may be.
c.
Man is not to believe in many gods (polytheism). There is only one living
and true God, only one true Creator, only one LORD and Majesty of the universe
(monotheism). Therefore, man is to have no other gods whatsoever. All other so-called gods
are nothing more than...
·
things created by the imaginations and
thoughts of people
·
things called gods by people
·
things that are lifeless and powerless
·
things that are only images made out of
metal, wood, stone, chemicals, or dirt
2. God
also makes a second demand of man: “You shall have no other gods before me”
(Exodus 20:3). The words “before me” (alpamaya) mean literally before my
face, against my face, in hostility toward me, in my presence, in my sight. It means
that man...
·
is to set no god before the LORD
God.
·
is to set no god beside the LORD
God.
·
is to set no god in the presence of
the LORD God.
·
is to set no god in the face of
the LORD God.
The great nineteenth century commentator George Bush makes several excellent statements that tell us exactly what the first commandment means:
·
“[Creating idols] may be done
mentally as well as manually. There may be idolatry without idols.
·
“[This commandment] forbids the
making of any other objects [as gods] whether persons or things, real or imaginary.”
·
“[Our] supreme regard, reverence,
esteem, affection, and obedience [is due] God alone.
·
“God is the fountain of happiness,
and no intelligent being can be happy but through him...[consequently] whoever seeks for
supreme happiness in the creature instead of the Creator is guilty of a violation of this
command.” 9
If we set up anything that is a rival interest in our
hearts and minds, anything that absorbs the love and service which belong only to the true
God, then that thing becomes another god. Whatever the heart clings to, that becomes our
god. Consequently...
·
the proud man who idolizes himself
makes himself a god.
·
the ambitious man who pays homage to
popular applause makes his ambition and the praise of men his god.
·
the covetous person who craves money
and things makes a god out of money and things.
·
the greedy person who hoards
possessions makes possessions his god.
·
the immoral person who craves sex makes
sex his god.
·
the glutton who craves food makes
eating his god.
·
the doting lover—whether husband,
wife, mother or father—who sets his supreme affection on the person loved instead of
upon God makes that person his god.10
3. God
also makes a third demand of us: man is to know and acknowledge the only true and living
God. There is one true and living God—the LORD God Himself.
a.
God declares that people who think there is no God are wrong (atheists). I
AM the LORD God, the true and living God. Atheists may deny God, and agnostics may
question if God really exists, but God is forceful in His declaration.
·
“I AM—I AM the LORD Your God”
(Exodus 20:2).
“The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).
b.
No other object and no other being are ever to be set up as a so-called
‘god.’ Taking ideas or objects and beings and calling them God is forbidden,
absolutely forbidden.
·
The LORD Himself (Jehovah, Yahweh)
emphatically declares:
“I am the LORD: that is my name:
and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isaiah
42:8).
·
The great apostle Paul declared:
“For though there be [many] that
are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:5-6).
We make a god out of anything that we
esteem or love, fear or serve more than God. Again, whatever the heart clings to, that is
a person’s god. It may be oneself. Frankly, many people focus upon pleasing and
satisfying themselves. They live by their own values and are concerned primarily with
their own feelings, comfort, desires, and pleasures. They simply live like they want and
do their own thing. They have exalted themselves to be their own god.
A god can be anything or any person.
Man’s first allegiance, first loyalty, first devotion is to be to the LORD God. The
LORD God is to be first in a man’s life; He is to be enthroned in the heart of man.
Man is to know and acknowledge that there is one God and one God alone. The first
commandment of the LORD is to be obeyed:
The very first commandment says, “You
shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Note the words “before
me.” This suggests at least two facts:
1)
If we set some so-called god “before God,” He knows
it. We cannot hide the fact from Him.
2)
If we set a god “before Him,” His anger is aroused.
What are the consequences of breaking this commandment? This passage does not cover the consequences. The reason is seen in the first two verses (Exodus 20:1-2). The motivation for keeping the Ten Commandments is not to be fear of the judgment of God. The reason for keeping the commandments is to be the love of God, the glorious salvation and deliverance He has provided. Note what God says:
“I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2).
1. There
are the consequences upon God.
a.
The person who does not follow God cuts the heart of God: causes pain and
hurt for Him.
“And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of
the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they
have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).
“But my people would not hearken
to my voice; and Israel would none of me” (Psalm 81:11).
“The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter
3:9).
“Thou that makest thy boast of
the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you, as it is written” (Romans 2:23-24).
“They profess that they know
God; but in works they deny him, being abominable [detestable], and disobedient, and unto
every good work reprobate [worthless, NASB]” (Titus 1:16).
a.
The person who does not follow God follows after dumb, lifeless idols,
man-made gods that can never help him.
“Shall a man make gods unto
himself, and they are no gods?” (Jeremiah 16:20).
“Ye know that ye were Gentiles,
carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led” (1 Cor. 12:2).
“Hath a nation changed their
gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not
profit” (Jeremiah 2:11).
“Let us labour therefore to
enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews
4:11).
“For all this they sinned still,
and believed not for his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,
and their years in trouble” (Psalm 78:32-33).
“That at that time ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephes.
2:12).
“Howbeit then, when ye knew not
God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have
known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly
elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:8-9).
“Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Tim. 3:5).
“For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the
truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for
God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans
1:18-23).
“Unto the pure all things are
pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even
their mind and conscience is defiled” (Titus 1:15).
“The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none
that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1).
“Those by the way side are they
that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they
should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the
word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of
temptation fall away” (Luke 8:12-13).
“Then said Jesus unto him,
Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” (John 4:48).
“In whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:4).
“How that they told you there
should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts”
(Jude 18).
“Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is
the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they
were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by
the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in
the water” (2 Peter 3:3-5).
“Then certain philosophers of
the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler
say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto
them Jesus, and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18).
“And they [the ungodly] say, How
doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who
prosper in the world; they increase in riches” (Psalm 73:11-12).
a.
The person who does not follow God will not inherit the kingdom of God.
“Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10).
“He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but
the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
“I said therefore unto you, that
ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your
sins” (John 8:24).
“Well; because of unbelief they
were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear” (Romans
11:20).
“That they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thes. 2:12).
“I will therefore put you in
remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of
the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not” (Jude 5).
“Well; because of unbelief
they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear”
(Romans 11:20).
“And the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the
stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by
them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of
the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock
of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him
that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel
in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols”
(Ezekiel 14:2-5).
“And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate [depraved] mind,
to do those things which are not convenient” (Romans 1:28).
“Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).
“He that rejecteth me,
and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the
same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).
“But the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).
“And Enoch also, the seventh
from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his
saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among
them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of
all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude
14-15).
“How shall I pardon thee for
this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed
them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the
harlots' houses. They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his
neighbour's wife. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?” (Jeremiah 5:7-9).
“The ungodly are not so: but are
like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way
of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:4-6).
“I said therefore unto you, that
ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your
sins” (John 8:24).
“But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).
“And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thes. 2:11-12).
“And he said, I will hide my
face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward
generation, children in whom is no faith” (Deut. 32:20).
“And the LORD saith, Because
they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither
walked therein; But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after
Baalim, which their fathers taught them: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give
them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they
nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed
them” (Jeremiah 9:13-16).
“Ahaziah the son of Ahab began
to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and
reigned two years over Israel. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the
way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, who made Israel to sin: For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to
anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done” (1 Kings
22:51-53).
“He [Ahaziah] also walked in the
ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counseller to do wickedly. Wherefore he
did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellers
after the death of his father to his destruction” (2 Chron. 22:3-4).
“But I said unto their children
in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their
judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: I am the LORD your God; walk in my
statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a
sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. Notwithstanding the
children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my
judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my
sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger
against them in the wilderness” (Ezekiel 20:18-21).
“Thus saith the LORD; For three
transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof;
because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and
their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked” (Amos 2:4).
The Jews lived in a world of blind and superstitious nations that worshipped many gods, something Israel saw for centuries in Egypt. Israel was to bear witness of the true and living God (Psalm 115) and invite their neighbors to trust Him.
Each morning, the faithful Jew declares, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.” (Deut. 6:4).
Putting God first is the basis of all morality and the very basis of all human relationships. The Bible has hundreds of commands that relate to our spiritual and ethical lives, but it all begins with this first command to put God first.
How we behave is the only way we have
of seeing ourselves in relationship to God. If we fail to exalt God in our lives, there
will be no permanent change. Shouting commandments and threats at people will not produce
change. Change begins with a vision of God in relation to our lives as we relate to
others.
Last modified:
April 18, 2006