Last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our church’s sermon series through the Bible book of Exodus as we reached chapter 20 and God’s Ten Commandments. Pastor states that purity of mind in the mind is something that should be protected. It is the reason that no good parent introduces their children to the difficulties of life too soon. Today, we are coming to one of the most famous passages in the entire Old Testament, the Ten Commandments. God always comes through on His promises; it is us who break them. So, our faithful, covenant-keeping God outlined what relationship was supposed to look like between God and His people. God’s Law has been given a negative connotation as being negative, but nothing could be further from the truth. What does God Law and the Ten Commandment mean for us today. They are not suggestions.
Exodus 20:1-17 And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Some people think that all we need to respond to God in obedience is to remind ourselves of His love, His Mercy and His goodness. We read in Romans 2:4, “do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?" It is good to remind ourselves of God’s goodness and love, but it is never enough to keep us obediently walking with God all the time. We also need a healthy reverential fear of the Lord, not wanting to let our heavenly Creator Father down, in order to make His boundaries for us (His Commandments, Laws, Statutes, and Precepts), our life boundaries and standard. God has committed Himself to His people and outlining terms for our Father/Child relationship together. There are “if/then” statements that are part of our relationship with God.
The underlying principle that God loves us, longs to provide for us and blesses us as His people remains as relevant as ever. Let’s look at the Ten Commandments as a whole for the implications to Christians today. Pastor Kyle outlined three things that every Christian needs to know about the Ten Commandments. The first is that God (Creator and Sustainer of everything) wants to be “Number One” everywhere to those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on the Ten Commandments in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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