Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Ten Commandments (1 & 2)

Exodus 20:1-6
1Then God spoke all these words, saying,
Commandment 1
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.
Commandment 2
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,
6but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
By the Ten Commandments, true theology and true worship, the name of God and the Sabbath, family honor, life marriage, and property, truth and virtue are well protected. God starting at “You shall have no other gods before Me” is very appropriate. It begins and directs the path of the rest of the Ten Commandments. Without the God of the Bible what then would the Ten Commandments would mean? A failed attempt to morality? A way of life? You figure that one out. Okay, I’ll just say it, nothing. Yes morality is good, but what are the attempts of being good with out a moral law giver…God? With out God what accountability does one have to hold these Commandments?
“Before Me,” meaning “over against Me.” No pagan god is incompatible with Adonai, Yahweh, Jesus Christ. When Israel worshiped a pagan god it plummeted into religious confusion (Judges 17, 18).
New Testament
In the New Testament this Commandment is found when Jesus firmly stated.
Matthew 4:10
Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
God commanded us to place Him in the center; “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” In the Old Testament it was common that they would fashion an idol to worship. What is amazing is that we still do it today. Although we don’t build many idols today we do create a god in our minds. These gods are often called “my-god(s).” For example; my god wouldn’t send anyone to hell. My God isn’t an angry god. I’ll respond to that with; of course your god wouldn’t send anyone to hell, because he doesn’t exist. What kind of God would He be if He only new love. He would not be taken seriously. He would be a push over, but He is not I’ll assure you.
It is simple and very easy to create a god, because we don’t want to be accountable when we die. It’s best we face it now because we can be forgiven if we REPENT AND PUT OUR FULL TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST.
New Testament
1 Corinthians 10:14
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
It is very easy to want to worship another god. We all have done it before. As I mentioned…we don’t want to be accountable. On the Day of Judgment God will ask you if you held His Commandments. Have you placed God before all things? Have you created a god to suit your needs and wants? Breaking these two Commandments will cast you to the pits of Hell. We have no right to enter Heaven, but there is good news. God came in the form of a man, Jesus. He was fully God and fully Man (Hypostatic Union, Colossians 2:9). He lived a perfect sinless life and died on the cross for your sins, so that you may be forgiven. Christ died and resurrected three days latter. In His death we are forgiven. Through Christ’ death He was able to impute us with His righteousness if we repent. We have no righteousness of our own. We can’t earn salvation. It comes in the form of the cross and resurrection. When we trust Him He will count you righteous. What a beautiful thing, God will not only forgive you, but He say “You’re not guilty.” What a beautiful testimony to live with. Please repent and put your full trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is that simple. Please consider these words.
We are the laborers and God is Sovereign

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