Exodus 20:1-17
Then God spoke all
these words, saying,
2 "I am the
LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery.
3 "You shall
have no other gods before Me.
4 "You shall
not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
5 "You shall
not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on
the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing
lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My
commandments.
7 "You shall
not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not
leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8 "Remember the
sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 "Six days you
shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh
day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any
work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female
servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
11 "For in six
days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is
in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed
the sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your
father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land
which the LORD your God gives you.
13 "You shall
not murder.
14 "You shall
not commit adultery.
15 "You shall
not steal.
16 "You shall
not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 "You shall
not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's
wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his
donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
God has spoken through
His law to demonstrate His holiness and our sinfulness. Though the
law cannot save us, it points us to the One who fulfilled it and
through Whom we can have life.
When did God's law come into effect? We
might be inclined to answer by saying, "At Sinai." In
reality, however, God's law has always been in effect. God's law has
always been in effect because God has always existed. His law is
based on His divine character and nature and is simply a codified
description of what life looks like when lived as God designed it to
be. Between Eden and Heaven – the bookends of redemption history –
God has graciously given His law to serve as a "schoolmaster"
(Gal. 3), teaching us how He commands us to live, and showing us how
far we fall short of His holy standard.
God initially gave His law to Moses as
the Ten Commandments (literally, the "Ten Words"). Christ
Jesus boiled these Ten Commandments down into two overarching ones –
love God exclusively with all
that you are, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew
22:36-40). That is a picture of God's divine design – man living in
unhindered fellowship with God, which results in man living in
unhindered fellowship with others. Because God is the God over all
creation, His law is applicable everywhere. It is for those who live
in America and Australia, Europe and South America, and everywhere in
between. Everywhere God reigns, His law applies. Let's see how God's
law both shows God's design for His world and how we fail to live
according to it.
I – God's design is for
man to be rightly related to Him (vv. 1-11)
God's law is often viewed as a list of
things we should not do. If we look beyond the negative format of
"Thou shalt not," however, we see the positive
principle that demonstrates God's design for His world as He created
it. "Thou shalt have no other gods," becomes
"Worship God alone." "Thou shalt not take God's
name in vain" becomes "Revere God's name as holy."
To live our lives as God designed, God must have first place in our
lives. If we get this wrong, nothing else in our lives will be
rightly ordered.
God's law reminds us that He is not
only holy, but also jealous, and rightly so. God's jealousy for His
glory and preeminence is not like our selfish jealousy. His jealousy
for His glory results in our good. There is nothing worthy of taking
God's place as King in our lives. Anything, or anyone, else that we
allow into that place is a lesser thing. And so, for His glory and
our good, God commands first place - the place He, and only He,
rightly deserves.
Are you an idolater?
That sounds like a harsh question. The reality is, we are all prone
to idolatry. Though you may not make hand-carved idols or swear using
God's name, we easily allow things in our lives to become ultimate
for us. A good test is to look at your checkbook and your calendar.
In many cases, the ways you spend your time and money will tell what
is ultimate in your life. If you are allowing anything but God to
have first place, everything else will be out of order as well. Ask
God, by His grace, to help you live with Him in first place.
II – God's design is for
man to be rightly related to others (vv.12-17)
When God has first place in our lives
and we walk in complete surrender and obedience to Him as our King,
our relationships with others flourish as well. This is not because
of our personal effort to be a nice person to others. This is because
God works in us to make us more like Him. Rather than having to be
told, "Thou shalt not kill," we simply walk
according to God's character and nature – "Show respect for
innocent human life." Rather than having to be told not to
commit adultery, we simply walk according to God's design, "Be
faithful in all your relationships."
It is important to note again that
these laws are not simply outdated cultural mores. These laws apply
to all people in all places at all times. Since these laws reflect
the character and nature of the eternal God who does not change, they
are timeless and unchanging. Since God has created man in His image
and reigns as sovereign King over all the earth, His law is
everywhere applicable. You do not have to tell the man in an
unreached tribe in the South American bush that it is wrong to kill
or steal or lie. He knows this. Why? Because the almighty God who
made him has written it upon his heart.
Are you struggling in
your relationships with others? If so, it is not ultimately an
interpersonal problem but a spiritual problem. In order for us to
love our neighbor as ourselves, we must first love God with all that
we are. My inclination to be jealous, angry, bitter, or unforgiving
to my brother is an indication that God does not have first place in
my life. Ask God to help you keep Him in first place, enabling you to
love others as yourself.
Conclusion Idea
God's law is a good gift from a good
God. It stands as a strong reminder that none of us measure up to
God's standard of holiness and righteousness (Ro. 3:10, 23). James
reminds us, when compared to a standard of holiness, to be guilty at
one point is the same as being guilty of all (Jas. 2:10). No amount
of law-keeping can erase our points of failure. Therefore, what we
need is for someone to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.
That is precisely what Christ Jesus has
done. Far from abolishing the law, Christ Jesus fulfilled it (Matt.
5:17). He then, as a lamb without spot and blemish, laid down His
life for us and rose again so that in Him we might have forgiveness
and life. In so doing, Christ Jesus, by His grace, empowers us to
live life by God's design so that we reflect God's character and
nature, bringing Him glory, the purpose for which He created us. For
the believer, the Law is not an external standard we attempt to keep
in our own power. It is a reminder of the character and nature of
God, who, by His Spirit, is making us more and more like His Son, our
Savior, the Lord Jesus.
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