We turn the pages to know the Impossible kind of Love

Recap of Series:

Week 1 “Don’t miss the journey for the Destination” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Week 2 “The Old Testament opens the window for us to understanding the New.” (Matthew 5:17)

Week 3 “We turn the pages of scripture to know truth from error.” ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Week 4 “When we hear it through the spirit we place our life under His knife.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Today we are going to consider how turning the pages of scripture helps us to understand the impossible commandment.

The text we come to today in Hebrew culture was called the Shema.

Shema, in the simplest terms, means 'to hear' or ‘listen’. The Hebrew word pronunciation sounds more like “sh'-mah”. But it also means to obey and take action. So, to hear God is to obey God—and to obey God is to hear God.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy: One Nation under God (Listen, Love, Live (6:4–9))

This section is the heart of the entire chapter.

In 6:4 Moses utters one of the most important revelations of God’s identity.

So important is this verse that when certain medieval Hebrew scribes copied it, they made two individual letters larger than all the other letters in the verse.

These two letters (ʿayin and dāleth) together form the Hebrew word ʿēd, which means ‘testimony’ or ‘stipulation’.

So, as medieval readers came to this verse in Hebrew, there was a big visual reminder to them that they were reading the Hebrew Bible’s central testimony about God.

This revelation was the basic framework for understanding God and living life under the covenant.

Big Idea: God calls us to the impossible kind of Love.

The greatest commandment is one of the most hopeless and hopeful commandments in scripture. For those who do not know Christ this is the impossible command, however, for those who know Him it is one of the most hopeful commandments as we are being changed from one degree of glory to another.

I have never once kept even the first clause of the foremost commandment: “You shall love the Lord our God will all your heart.”

Even at the very best moments of my life, where my heart and affections for him are at their strongest they are still polluted with the indwelling sin of selfishness. And I am rarely at my highest and strongest.

Isaiah 64:6 ESV

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Outside of Christ, we are only wretched. The two greatest commandments reveal just how wretched we are. But in Christ, united to him, we are completely forgiven of our constant failure to keep them and his constant and perfect keeping of them is credited to us.

And one day we will be freed from all sinning, we too will have the joy of keeping them constantly perfectly just as Christ does. One day we will know the thrill of loving God with our entire being and the amazing, pure freedom of loving others as ourselves.

The Benefits of Ignoring Notifications

How many times do you check Twitter? What about Facebook? Don't forget Instagram. Like Pavlov's dog we are being trained with beeps, buzzes, and indicator notices on our phones. A Harvard Business Review article points to the value in delayed gratification, a concept that might seem foreign to many of us. Ed Batista from the Stanford Graduate School of Business writes, "Not only are we constantly interrupted by alerts, alarms, beeps, and buzzes that tell us some new information has arrived, we constantly interrupt ourselves to seek out new information."

But Batista also warns that external forces want to distract us. He claims that "trillion-dollar industries are dedicating some of their brightest minds and untold resources to come up with newer and better ways" to grab your attention and divert it to something else.

While our attention many times is directed towards things that have little bearing on our lives, Moses seeks to grab the attention of the nation of Israel.

1. Listening reminds us that there is only one God above all others.

“Hear oh Israel, the Lord your God is one”

On the first hearing of this introduction to the greatest commandment, it would appear this is merely a declaration of the Godhead, which is the Father, Son, and Spirit as the three in one. Which you would be partially correct in that assumption. The God of Israel is not a pantheon of gods, but one. He was therefore, to be the sole object of Israel’s faith and obedience.

The text begins by addressing the nation of Israel as a singular entity: “Listen, Oh Israel, Moses does not call upon Israel to look at something, for God did not show himself at Israel, but rather made himself heard.

Moses does not invite Israel to imagine something about God. This does not assume that the law does not lead us to logical deductions.

The overriding factor of this command is that Israel is Yahweh’s own personal revelation of Himself to the world.

Jesus is the only one who could perfectly fulfill the greatest commandment here on earth.

This therefore prevents Israel from several things:

presenting a God of their own making or imagination.

this is not a call to feel something mystical or magical about God.

Instead God is calling Israel to Listen. It is also a call or declaration of allegiance to the one God.

People are called upon to listen attentively to God’s word, to his Son and also to words of wisdom.

Christians must not only listen to God’s word but also put it into practice. Those who refuse to listen to God’s word or to correction are condemned.

Remember at this point in scripture people did not approach God themselves but relied on Moses and the later prophets to be the mouth piece of God as he brought the 10 commandments to the people in Deuteronomy chapter 5.

We read in Deuteronomy 5:1 that the people are summoned to hear, learn, and do what God has commanded.

Deuteronomy 5:1 ESV

1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

This opening call is answering the question that has plagued fallen humanity since the garden.

WHO REALLY IS GOD?

As we gave the statistics at the beginning of this study that tell us that 9 in 10 Americans believe in a higher power, however, only a slim majority believe in God as described in scripture. Over half do not believe in original sin, over half believe that God changes, over half believe that there is more than one way to the kingdom of God.

Many believe in some kind of higher power, however, to claim in the one God of the Bible above all other claims to a higher power is not acceptable.

When people say they believe in God, what are they really claiming?

We cannot assume today that people are making the claim of “The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” as described by Moses in this text.

*Yaweh is the sole object of our Worship, Allegiance, and Affection

We live in a pluralistic society with a diverse group of people who believe all kinds of different things and tolerate each other’s beliefs even when they do not match their own. How can we live faithfully in a society that is becoming increasingly hostel or intolerant towards Christians.

(The call scripture is giving sets us apart in a world of compromise)

How can you claim to have the only truth? How can you claim to serve the only God?

The world today is highly individualized and is increasingly becoming more intolerant. This sort of society says that we must live in a society where every individual is equally respected in every situation. Culture today places the God of the Bible as a God among many God’s in the marketplace of the world.

The word “monotheism” comes from two words, “mono” meaning “single” and “theism” meaning “belief in God.”

Specifically, monotheism is the belief in one true God who is the only creator, sustainer, and judge of all creation.

Monotheism differs from “henotheism,” which is the belief in multiple gods with one supreme God over all. It is also opposed to polytheism, which is the belief in the existence of more than one god.

Deuteronomy 4:35 ESV

35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.

Malachi 2:10a ESV

10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

1 Corinthians 8:6 ESV

6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Obviously, for most people it wouldn’t suffice to say there is only one God because that’s what the Bible tells us. Without God there is no way to prove that the Bible is His word in the first place.

We could go straight to Jesus Christ and His ministry at least approved by God by His miraculous birth, life, and the miracle of the resurrection. God cannot lie or be deceived; therefore, what Jesus believed and taught must be true. Therefore, monotheism which Jesus taught and believed must be true.

Why is the Doctrine of One God so Important for our Faith?

1. If there were more than one God, the universe would be in disorder because of multiple creators and authorities, but it is not in disorder; therefore, there must be one God.

2. Since God is a completely perfect being, there cannot be a second God, for they would have to differ in some way, and to differ from complete perfection is to be less than perfect and not be God.

3. Since God is infinite in His existence, He cannot have parts (for parts cannot be added to reach infinity). If God’s existence is not just a part of Him (which it is for all things which can have existence or not), then He must have infinite existence. Therefore, there cannot be two infinite beings, for one would have to differ from the other.

The authority of the Bible rests on the God of this book being the only God ultimate in His authority and power. Without the one God it leaves room for us to make a God of our own making to be what we want Him to be.

All three persons which make up the Godhead were present at creation, they were present at Jesus Baptism, they were present at the cross, and they will be present when He returns in all of His Glory.

2. Loving reminds us that there is only one Love above all others.

Half-Hearted Happiness To love God wholeheartedly, we must be convinced that our only happiness is in him alone. We cannot believe this until we renounce all other efforts at happiness. If we look to God to supply half our happiness, we can only love him with half our hearts.

Now that we have established that there is only one God, one Savior, one Spirit, who make up the Godhead. The writer takes us to the crucial commandment to Love God with all of our Heart, Mind, and Strength (might).

Israel’s commitment to God was not to spring out of a sense of legalism or duty but out of a relationship solely based on love. The Biblical term for love goes much deeper than your cultural understanding of love today.

The extent of man’s love for God was to be an all encompassing total love. Israel was to love God with their whole being. This command was to be written on their heart rather than on tablets of stone.

The word for love here is not out of a sense of some sentimental obligation. The word for love in the Hebrew has a greater sense of being loyal to someone. Ancient kings used the same basic word in treaties to describe loyal behavior, particularly of a subject king towards a superior king. The consequence for a failure to fulfill it was a curse and punishment.

Note: The key word in the text is the word “All”.

Do you love God will all of your Heart, all of the time? Do you Love God with all of your mind, all of the time? Do you Love God with all of your strength, all of the time?

This appears to be an impossible command to accomplish all of the time?

There are times that God gives His people seemingly impossible tasks.

He gave the nation of Israel over 613 total laws to follow.

The Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus asked her to go get her husband and bring him out to the well. Jesus knew very well that she did not have a husband and the one who was living with was not her husband.

God called Hosea to go marry a woman who would not remain faithful to him.

WE ARE ALL CALLED TO BE HOLY AS HE IS HOLY!!!!! (IMPOSSIBLE TASK)

The Rich Young Ruler

Matthew 19 recounts the story of the rich man who asked “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The rich man responded with the claim that had kept all of the commandments, but wondered what more he must do. Jesus answered “If you want to perfect like me, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come, follow me.”

Jesus standard is that of perfection which must have been extremely startling to his disciples who overheard the conversation. When they asked him about it, Jesus responded that with man this is impossible, but, with God all things are possible.

Perfection is impossible for anyone but Jesus Christ “for none is righteous; no, not one” Rom. 3:10. Riding a camel through the eye of a needle would be easier than pursuing a blameless life.

THE IMPOSSIBLE KIND OF LOVE

First: The call was also for Israel to love Yahweh with the heart. In Hebrew thinking, the heart was what we would call call the mind or the will. Moses is calling Israel to align themselves consciously as a nation to God. This is an intentional persistent choice of the will.

Second: Moses references to the soul is a reference to a person’s life or being. By aiming this at the nation as a whole, Moses demands that each person in Israel show complete loyalty in every aspect of life. Only a full commitment from each person could contribute to the full soul and devotion of the nation.

Third: ‘strength’ here signifies intensity. It implies Israel should use all its energies to be loyal to Yahweh their God. This leaves no room for negligence or half-heartedness. This is an all in kind of devotion to God.

The Key of this seemingly impossible commandment rests on a persons Heart. Even David was considered a man after God’s own heart and wavered in his all out devotion to God.

*We must have an on-our-heart Saturation of Scripture.

Hannah logic after her great grandfather Author past away, she knew that for the believer Christ dwells in your hearts as the Paul writes in Ephesians 3:17.

What happens when you die? Oh I get it “if Jesus rests in your heart, when you die he comes out your back.”

Maybe not the best theology, but, she understood the idea that the word of God rests on your heart as a follower of Christ.

Psalm 119:11 ESV

11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Each one of these commands to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength require that His word saturate our inner being.

It’s takes a continual deep meditation of Scripture.

Joshua 1:8 ESV

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

1) Examine the text’s details by asking questions

We make good practice of observation skills by asking who, what, why, when, where and how questions.

2) Determine the texts meaning.

We use good study Bibles to help in the process. We take all of scripture and do word searches to determine where else the Bible uses the same words and languages. We do not lean on our own understanding but, rely on the Holy Spirit to help.

3) Internalize the text’s content by Memorizing Scripture.

Write a verse of scripture on a 3X5 index card. Read it aloud ten times. Then say it aloud until you can say it by heart. Keep the card with you throughout the day.

4) Personalize the Text’s content

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord, with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, in all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path.”

Mark, you cannot trust your own understanding for it is flawed and false, you must acknowledge that God is the only one who can give you the truth that will direct your path in life.

5)Tap the power of scripture by Praying it.

Hebrews 4:12 calls scripture living and active, sharper than a double edged sword. Take meditation to a new level by praying it back to God. It might look like this:

“Lord I know that my heart is sinful to it’s core and my understanding is skewed by the world, help me today to not trust in my understanding and my ways, but to fully trust in you and your perfect knowledge and understanding for my life.”

6)Embrace the Texts impact by applying Scripture

All of the meditation in the world will amount to nothing if the laying up of Scripture in your heart does not move you to action in your daily lives. Remember James reminds us in James 1:23 if we stop short of putting the work into practice he is like someone who looks at his reflection in the mirror then walks away forgetting what he looks like.

What's on your heart? Let it be the words and wonders He has commanded.

Now how do we live the impossible command everyday?

3. Living reminds us that there is only one life above all others.

I am trying to remember the last time I heard parents tell me that they intentionally discuss theology or religion with their children. Most say that they want whatever their children come to believe honestly and not because they have been indoctrinated by us in the home.

I do not want them to be slaves to a parental tradition. I want them to experience reality on its own terms and come to whatever conclusion they are drawn from the evidence.

This is crazy talk. Deuteronomy 6 is in direct conflict with such a statement. Parents it is not the job of the Church to spiritually raise your children. Unfortunately many families today drop their children off at the door steps of the Church and expect them to come back fully formed and transformed followers of Christ.

Recent studies have shown that when students leave High School many stop attending and Church all together or go apostate meaning they no longer believe in the God of the Bible. I have to believe this is a direct result in this kind of thinking.

Notice the writer uses the word “You” Nine times from verses 6-9. This indicates a personal responsibility and connection to the commandment they are to follow. The you here is referring to a people group, namely the nation of Israel. However we know that as 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, now you are God’s people.... The grafting in of the Church today. Since Jesus gave this same commandment to his disciples it also refers to your responsibility.

* The life above all others is a Diligent life.

Doing something diligently means doing it thoroughly and well. It's the opposite of doing it lazily or shoddily. If you are tireless, persevering, and do things with great care, then you do things diligently.

Notice he did not say teach them casually, occasionally, once in a while to your children. “No, it says you shall teach them diligently.”

Parents, do you believe that all children are a gift from God?

Do you believe that God gave you the children He did for a specific reason and plan?

I do not think their is a mandate found in scripture more significant than this one.

And it is not something to be done occasionally when we think about it or find the time. If you believe that your children are a gift from God then do you not think that God hold you responsible for how you are spiritually training and bringing them up in the love and fear of the Lord. Parents, this is a weighty proposition.

The primary responsibility for the spiritual education of our children according to scripture is the family, the parents. And what is commanded here is the passing on of tradition.

“Raising a Modern Day Night.” (passing on the spiritual legacy to our son)

In our forward looking age many of us have looked upon tradition as a dusty outdated idea. Very few families gather for prayer in their home, or regular times of Bible study and worship. Many parents work in a reactionary mode when their children are rebellious or lack any desire for spiritual things.

I will now go back to the command to love God with all of your heart, soul, and might. What example are you giving in the spiritual raising of your kids. When gathering to worship on Sunday is an option, or you choose another option what does this say to your children. With the sports world of select leagues and cheer teams teaching our children that worship is not that important what does this say to our children. It is no wonder by the time they leave High School they have lost any desire or zeal for the things of God.

What happened in the nation of Israel was that they began to substitute human traditions for the word of God.

*The Life above all others is a talked about Life.

How do you talk to your children and family about your faith and love for God with all your heart, soul, and might.

When is the last time mom and dad that you have had any meaningful spiritual conversations with your children. The reality is that we talk about the things that are in our heart. The things we care about the most.

If our heart is more focused on who is going to be in the Superbowl then this is what we talk about. If our heart is more focused on our career or things we have accomplished, then this is what we talk about.

What Moses is telling the nation of Israel here is that for far too long the words that they have been speaking are not the true words of life. Our spirituality is not something we shut down the minute our feet hit the pavement outside the church. However, for many of us the last spiritual conversation you will have this week will end in about 30 minutes. Then we pick the discussion up again next week at the same time and place.

We do not live a segregated life for the Kingdom of God

God’s covenant with His people demands that He is to be the subject of our conversations at all times in the home, by the way, by night and by day. God’s love and His covenant with His people is to absorb the interest of a man’s whole life.

Note: Pop culture in movies and media portray the Christian life as segregated from one’s secular life.

*The Life above all others is a foolish life

We bind His words between on our doorposts (mezuzah) on our hands, between our eyes. We become hope filled fools in the worlds eyes.

phylactery boxes: Phylacteries, sometimes called tefillin, are small, square leather boxes containing portions of Scripture worn by Conservative and Orthodox Jews during prayer services. Phylacteries are worn in pairs—one phylactery is strapped on the left arm, and one is strapped to the forehead of Jewish men during weekday morning prayers. The word phylactery comes from a Greek word meaning “safeguard, protection, or amulet.”

(In reality most Jews did not completely follow this mandate).

1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but is the power of God to those who are being saved by it.

Psalm 14:1 ESV

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.

Will you Become a Fool for Christ,

Many people labeled Paul out of his minds, a fool for Christ. Jesus was also seen as someone who was not in His right mind. Remember in Acts 5:41 the apostles left the counsel in Jerusalem rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of Christ.

The binding and writing of the Lords command for the nation of Israel was suppose to serve as a reminder of who God is and how they should live before the other pagan nations.

How does your life reflect who you are and how you are living the foolish life for all the world to see?

The final lesson we must learn as we turn the pages of scripture is that it does not stay mainly in our heads but is transferred into the world in which we live.

Mechanical energy, also known as motion energy, is how an object moves based on its position and motion. It occurs when a force acts upon an object and the object uses the transferred energy as movement. If an object is moving, it is using mechanical energy.

Turning a doorknob

breathing in and out

hammering a nail

riding a bicycle

Exercising

driving a car

When our lives have been transferred and transformed by the word of God the natural response is to transfer it to the world around you.

Now, the question is what are you transferring, and how is it transferred?

1). We are to transfer the command to love God with all our heart, soul, and might to the marketplace of the world around us.

2). We are not to conform to the world but to be transformed (transferred) by the renewing of our minds.

The goal of our lives is not to seek popularity in the culture so that we can use it for God. The goal of our lives must be about bringing glory to God and his Son our Lord Jesus Christ. And when the world looks at our portrayal as foolish. So Be it!

THINGS THAT THE WORLD FINDS FOOLISH IN YOUR WALK

Selfless Generosity.

Forgiving those who persecute us.

Considering others of more value and significance than ourselves.

Living life with a sense of urgency (life is but a vapor).

Viewing our possessions and life as not our own but to be vessels used for God’s glory.

We never compromise the Bible with the thinking of the world.

CONCLUSION

God’s people were not to forget His words. First, you must seek to know His word.

Like the boxes with scrolls in them our culture today is full of cultural symbolism in clothing and jewelry that characterize the wearer.

The wedding ring is a reminder of our marriage vows and a particular status.

The number on our favorite jersey connects us with our favorite athlete.

The logo on our shirt may communicate brand loyalty or someone’s place of work.

We wear these things to remind us about what is important and, to a certain degree, what defines us.

The reality is we do not need to wear a crucifix around our neck or a fish on the bumper of a car to remember who we are as followers of Christ. All we need to do is daily turn the pages of scripture as it re-energizes our foolishness for Christ that the world does not understand or comprehend.

The hopelessness of the Greatest Commandment is that apart from Jesus Christ it is impossible to love with this kind of Love. The Great hope of this commandment is the reality that if you know Jesus He is working daily to perfect you in all of your going out, and coming in, when rise in the morning, and when you go to sleep at night.

It all comes down to How are you Loving God today?

Are you trying to Love Him in your own week broken state of Life, or are you Loving Him with the hope and promise of the day when you will finally be able to love Him with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.