1. How dare God?
There will not be for you any others gods besides me.
Isnt this offensive? No other gods?! No options, no choices, no arguments, no tolerance. the LORD God said to His people Israel, and says again to us, who are the new Israel, His church: I am your God. You will not have any other gods.
Today the politically correct line is: You may worship the God of Judaism, or the Christian God, or Allah, the Muslim god; you may worship gods of many kinds as the Hindus do, or mother earth as a goddess, or perhaps no god at all: money or possessions or power or pleasure might become a god. No matter - today the word is tolerance. The politically correct thing is to allow anyone to worship anything... as long as no one gets hurt.
We who gather here today as Christians would call ourselves tolerant people. I hope so. Even better, we would call ourselves gracious and accepting people. We totally reject the sins of Christians of the past who evangelised Europe at the point of the sword, and waged religious wars against the followers of Mohammed, (in the crusades), and later, when Catholics fought against Protestants, and Protestants against Catholics. We know faith cannot be forced.
True obedience cannot be forced either.
How did you react when you heard that your pastor was planning a series of sermons on the 10 commandments? Honestly? Did you look up excited, or did your heart sink with foreboding?
God tells us in the 10 commandments what He expects of us as his creatures. His commands apply to every person- no matter what nationality or religion - because He made us all.
In my third year of high school I remember ripping a canvas painting off its frame, screwing it up and throwing it away. How dare I do such a thing?! what right did I have? I had every right: it was my painting.
In Romans 9 Paul gets us to think of a potter and his clay. Who is in charge - the potter or the clay? Of course its silly to think of clay speaking up and saying, hey, you potter, you leave me alone - I want to do things my way; I want to shape my life as I please.
What right have we to answer back to God?
He made us.He placed us on a living planet.He has provided us with so many things that are designed to help us live and enjoy this world.More than that, he placed eternity into our hearts: a quest for ultimates, the desire for perfect love, the need for friendship, and great responsibilities in our world and in our relationships.Its His world. And we belong to him because He made us.So He has every right to tell us what to do, and what not to do.
2. Whats so bad about that?! Whats the problem with God having the right to tell us what to do and what not to do?
Our discomfort with Gods commands comes from fear.Fear that the commands will restrict us;Fear that they will mean we will miss out on pleasures or freedoms that we really want.Fear that we arent able to keep them, and we will be punished when we fail to keep them.
Should we be afraid?
Yes - there is punishment and there are consequences for not living as we should. There are consequences for not obeying road rules - not simply that we might get caught if we speed. If we insist on driving in Australia on the right-hand side of the road instead of the left, what will happen?
What will happen? We will crash. Probably die. Probably cause the death of other people too.
There are consequencs for disobeying Gods laws: because His laws are designed to protect us.When God says, dont have any other gods he says it to protect us.
3. The Gift
He says this, and gives us all the commands, to protect us, but also to protect a precious, precious gifts.There is a gift in every command.The gift in this first command goes to the heart of our existence. It is the very purpose we exist:
The gift is - Himself.
His command forbids us to have anyone or anything else as most important in our lives ... because then we miss out on -Him.
4. But whats so good about having Him anyway?
If God is an ogre, or a harsh judge, or an oppressive, unfeeling deity, then, for sure, who would want Him?! But Who is He, who gives Himself to us, in this first command?
God is love.
He introduces the commands in a way that puts them in a whole new light: he says, I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery...
I am your God, he says.
He is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. No less is he pleased to call Himself the God of (John), (Margaret) and (David). He is the Redeeming God: he is the one who brings us release. This is his purpose - not to crush us, but to release us. not to deny us life, but to restore our life.And He knows that - without Him, our life is death.
Is He your God?
Or have you been enslaved by substitutes? ...All promising peace, fulfilment and happiness... but in reality, oppressing and enslaving?
Today let us return to the Lord our God - the only God for us, and the only true God for the whole world.Through Jesus his Son, let us seek and receive the forgiveness of our sins against this first command. His grace wins our hearts to Him, Who is perfect love. His grace makes us want to respect, love and trust Him above averything else.
We bless You Lord, for Your love! Amen.!
First command (God) | Second command (God's Name) | Third command-a (Sabbath, part 1) | Third command-b (Sabbath, part 2) | Fourth command (authority) | Fifth command (Life) | Sixth command (sexuality) | Seventh command (property)| Eighth command (reputation) | Ninth command (wanting things)| Tenth command (wanting people)| command against idolatry| 'What does God say of all these commands?'