The Liberating Law

Phil Davis (Interview)

Intro

When my wife and I got married at the service I said these words...

“I, David, take you, Desiree , to be my wedded wife: to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance: I pledge to you my faithfulness.”

Those were my vows…very traditional…I didn't wrote my own, these are tride and true vows…

vows that millions of couples have said to one another

For me these vows are extremely easy to follow.

I have never had a problem honoring my vows because my wife loves me and I love her.

And although I feel love for her, I also decide it. I decide I am going to love her....I decide that I will be faithful and that I will honor, and love and cherish…

But it isn’t like its hard demanding work…I love being married and because I love my wife, I don’t really need to think too hard about it.

So because of this love that we share our vows are not some kind of marriage checklist

Now to be sure…everything in those vows are pretty fundamental especially the part about faithfulness…And if that part of the vow isn’t upheld…well... then marriages end that way...

Marriages get into trouble when you keep score and when you turn your vows into a behavior contract...

hey Honey, the vows say I get to “have and hold you” Haven’t done that in a while

“I’m sick”

But it says I can have and hold you in sickness and in health”

That’s obviously ridiculous. if you treated marriage like a checklist of rules then odds are that you either will be unhappy for a long time or that you wont be in that marriage for very long

I bring this up because this is probably the best analogy that I can think of to talk about the 10 commandments.

We have been looking at Moses and the exodus all summer long.

And what we have seen in General is that God raises up a man, Moses who will listen to God and obey his commands...

Through Moses, God rescues his people out of Egypt and he brings them to his mountain...

And he has been working up to this one point to bring his people to his mountain and to make a covenant with them.

This is why I started by talking about marriage vows.

Because when we read the 10 commandments we think of it more as the “Rules” rather than the “vows”

The rules

When you think about it we all know the difference between rules given out of love than rules that are intended to manipulate or control

Now rules are good we need them in our society and in our relationships…And We intrinsically know the difference between when rules are given out of love vs when rules are given out of manipulation or anger...

When you set a rule in your house

“when you cross the street, look both ways” This is a rule given out of love...

Bed time rules! These are given out of love, your kids think you hate them but you know they need the sleep

No electronics past a certain time…your kids think your monster but you have their best interest in mind

Growing up my parents were strict with me, but they were loving…I had probably stricter rules then other kids…this caused some fighting in my teenage years but I distinctly remember in my early 20’s finally seeing the outcome of the way of life between a friend who had no rules and me and I literally called my dad and thanked him for the rules he enforced because I could see that they were not out of trying to repress me, but his rules were trying to form me into an adult and it worked!

And unfortunately many of you have experienced toxic rules where manipulation are involved, If you don’t do XYZ then I will withhold my affection from you...

You have to earn your love and trust with me…Here the rules are based on blackmail and unfortunately I have spoken to enough that I realize many people grew up this way and it affects them greatly till this day...

Well the way we view rules will have a huge affect on the way that we see the 10 commandments

So let’t look at the first two verses before we even get to the 10 commandments:

Exodus 20:1–2 NIV

And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

I am the Lord your God…I rescued you from Egypt, the land of slavery...

Because God loves his people, he heard their cries

Because God loves his people he rescues them

The 10 Commandments begin with an expression of God’s love for his people (Ex 20:1-2)

What this tells us is that everything that follows is from a God that loves us

Everyone has a different reaction to rules based on the rule giver

Maybe growing up you had rules that were given out of anger or you saw rules used in an abusive way. If you experienced that then even when we get into a section of text like the 10 commandments then your initial reaction is going to be…Oh man rules…I don’t like those.

But the reality is that just because you were raised by someone who used rules like whips and chains that is not the way that God uses them...

What we see here in the 10 Commandments James spoke about last week…This is a marriage covenant between God and his people...

God is saying I Brought you out so you can be my chosen people to reveal me to the rest of the world!

One of the most glaringly obvious facts about the text that we are going to red is that that nowhere in this text is the word, “laws” or “statutes” or “regulations” are used

Moses could have used the word “Law” but he doesn’t…God could have said this is my “law” but he doesn’t… In fact it wont be until the next chapter that the word law is even used

Exodus 21:1 NIV

“These are the laws you are to set before them:

Why? because in the same way that you stood before your spouse and repeated your vows, God calls his people up to his mountain and makes a covenant with them…You didn’t tell your spouse…Ok Babe, here are the rules that you have to follow if this is going to work out! NO! and if someone says that to you dont marry them!

And says hey I love you…because I love you and rescued you, this is what I expect in return!

In the Hebrew tradition, if someone is rescued there is a word called “hessed” that defines the relationship. When you are rescued by someone it is called “hessed”, it is a lasting loyalty and respect that you give to your rescuer

So this is really how we are supposed to view the 10 commandments. not as a list of rules to modify your behavior…But how do we respond to a God that has rescued us from our sin?

So lets go over the 10 commandments now

Exodus 20:3 NIV

“You shall have no other gods before me.

Commandment 1: so I have mentioned this before, there is a generic word for god used in the Bible and a specific word for God…The generic word is “Elohim” This simply means spiritual being. God clearly made other spiritual beings, angels and such and some of them are fallen, which means they have rebelled against God.

So when God says you shall have no other gods before me the word he is using is “Elohim” This can also be translated that you shouldn’t have any other spiritual being above god.

I mean it is probably why God didn't just say, I am the only god don’t believe in any others...

So how does this play out in our world today?

First it means that what we call trinity, the father, son and Holy Spirit is always put first in our life. That God is first no matter what. That we don’t elevate money or power or our desires above God, because everything we do is a form of worship

and we know there is a spiritual reality behind all that is worshiped!

Right at the beginning…God wants to tell you…Hey I rescued you, I am faithful to you…will you be faithful in return...

Honestly if someone were to ask me, what is the most impotrant marriage vow, I’d say its fidelity to one another.

This is God’s fidelity covenant

Lets look at the next one

Exodus 20:4–6 NIV

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

No images, no idols

Now it needs to be pointed out that we are already a living breathing image of God. You and I…So we worship the artist not the image.

God takes idolatry seriously, because in this text it shows, idolatry can corrupt successive generations...

In this text it is clear, don’t make a copy of anything and worship it on heaven or earth...

People are getting into crystals for healing, that is idolatry…that is an empty well, there is nothing but misdirected worship there

It is literally worshiping the art rather than the artist!

Its really easy to tell if something is an idol in your life. If God walked up to you right now and said, give it to me…

Give me your car, give me your house, give me your Bike Dave…Would you give it to him?

I mean isn't this the test for Abraham…Hey Abraham…You have to give me your son…I want to make you as numerous as the stars in the sky but you have to have faith in me and not make this child an idol...

So if everything and everyone you have belongs to the Lord first then you have no idols…

But if you truly wouldn't give something up then guess what you have an idol and this Hebrew idiom of punishing the children of the sin of their parents literally just means that you will pass your idolatry down your family tree

Exodus 20:7 NIV

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

This one we have to be careful with: Many of you might just think this is about cussing but it is much deeper than that

if God is our covenant partner we need to be careful not to speak for him

I have a brother-in-law that is a famous skateboarder…and when I skated more I would be really careful not to tell people that. Because I didn’t want to speak for him…He has a brand and reputation to protect so I wanted to be careful to let him speak for himself....And this is just a person…a guy who rides around a little wooden toy for a living

In the same way we have to be really careful not to misuse the name of God.

And WE DO THIS ALL THE TIME!

In really subtle ways:

How about when we says, “the Lord spoke to me” and you have to do xyz…?

What we are doing is saying, everything that I am going to say right now has more authority than you, it is an unquestionable truth…You are taking the authority of God and you are using it like a weapon to make them do your agenda. I can not stand preachers who go on TV and say, the Lord is telling me right now that 10 people need to sew 10,000 into this ministry…That is turning God into a utilitarian tool for manipulation.,..that is making God a prop to raise money, its terriable....

That is what it looks like to misuse the name of the lord...

During the US CIVIL war both sides claimed that God will see them through that God is on their side and I love what Lincoln said when he was asked what side of the conflict God is on: His response was

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”

I cant tell you how many times in my life I have seen some politician start a war and claim that God is on their side…Or that God is on the side of America or something like that…Really? Or is that just a tool to muster up some public support

In our country God’s name is regularly taken in vain usually either in a conservative fashion to buttress morality and the American way of life or in a liberal fashion to provide motivation for social change of various ideological kinds.

But God will not be exploited! He will not be drawn into your cause or made to squeeze into your agenda…We have to get on his plan not he on ours

This is what it means to misuse God’s name....its making it a tool to get what we want…

When we misuse God’s name we weaponize him and use him for our purposes and the opposite needs to be true in our lives, that he uses us for his purposes!

Exodus 20:8–11 NIV

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The sabbath is like 7 weeks worth of sermons at least…there is a ton here but I just want to focus on one thing here...

I will always tell you that the structure of the Bible preaches...

I told you that the creation event is called the 10 words....The culmination of the creation event, God rests with his people in the garden..>He Sabbath’s with them

Then in Exodus there are 10 plagues and wouldn’t you know it…those 10 plagues are 10 acts of recreation and they end with this plague of the first born that in order for the Jews to escape they need to rest with the Lord in the way that he calls them to…AKA the feast of the passover …Its actually a sabbath feast

And now we get to the 10 commandments…which the Hebrews also call the 10 words

God is saying remember the 7th day…See on the 7th day is a day for resting with the Lord

Remember the 7th day…Its the day where I saved you from death....The 7th day is when Passover was held…so these 10 commandments are linking back to the passover event through the sabbath regulation.

The sabbath is a reminder not just to rest from your work but to specifically rest with God...

The sabbath is God’s gift to humanity to rest with him so that you can focus on the world that is to come!

So these 10 commandments are in a line of biblical structure that is

Creation, De-creation, re-creation

Through this command to rest, its a little hard to see without knowing the whole structure…but it shows Israel, Het I am making you into a new people!

These 10 commandments are the way of life for a person who is rescued by Yahweh

These are the first 4 commandments…and they are all about honoring the God who rescued you...

The first four commandments relate directly to the honor and worship that we give to God

The idea is if we honor the lord then the last 6 commandments will basically be a no brainer

Exodus 20:12 NIV

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

The commandment in the middle shows us how we move from honoring God to honoring others.

The first person that is like God to you is your mom and dad. So when you teach your kids to honor you, you are setting them up for success in following God later...

There has been a lot of negative commentary on churches over the past couple of years because the drop-off rate of kids after they turn 17-18 leaving the faith is huge…

And there are changes that the church needs to make to address that and one of them is parenting

So Parents dont tolerate anything less then your kids honoring you! Parents you have to insist that your kids show you respect and honor you so that they will one day learn what it means to honor God...

I mean we have to remember that the 10 commandments are a covenant that is made out of love so it could be really easy for you to hear what I am saying as like beat your kids into submission…and that is not at all what I am saying...

What I am saying is training your kids to honor you and respect you, and talk politely to you and to listen to what you say even if they dont like it, sets them up for following God later in their lives....

Why? BECAUSE GOD DOES HAVE A STANDARD! and you can either teach your kids to honor and respect you or that they dont have to live by any standard…and when you teach them that you are setting them up for failure!

But I don’t think that the church is really where the problem lies...I see a ton of kids who are are disrespectful to their parents…Parents you have to stop allowing that! Your kids honoring you needs to be paramount in your home…You are the ones who are supposed to be like god to them so if they can not honor your rules and honor you rightly then how on earth are they ever going to surrender to God…How are they ever going to live surrendered?

See honoring Mom and Dad is a linking command…The first 4 are all about Honoring God…Then it is like Honor your parents…And guess what Parents that needs to be taught

and then the last 4 commands are like…here is what it looks like to honor me

And here is the idea…If you honor God and your parents then there are some things that should just not show up in your life

Like these:

Exodus 20:13–17 NIV

“You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

So last week James talked about how God was forming his people to be a kingdom a priests…and the reality is that they blew it there a little bit and that is why we just have the levites as priests...

But the point is that in the first 4 commandments…If you relate to God rightly, then you will relate to the world rightly in the last 6 commandments...

The idea is that if you allow this covenant to form you then you will be the kind of person who is a priest for God

You will be made new in following these commands...

You will always be the kind of person who

Don’t murder: Honor life…respect life at its beginnings!

Do not commit adultery: Respect your vows…Just as you have no other gods before you…In your marriage, be faithful....

See if you are a part of God’s covenant people then our of your relationship with God you would be truthful and you would never give false testimony against your neighbor!

See out of your relationship with God you would never covet or want to take anything your neighbor has…you’d be happy for your neighbor for having what they have....

See the point is this:

The 10 commandments are an invitation to be God’s new creation people

This is the invitation of Jesus

To be redeemed by him…To give yourself over to him and he will make you new

The Apostle Paul says

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

The 10 commandments seeks to take these slaves who have been living in Egypt and to give them a new identity

And this is what Jesus wants for you...

He died on the cross so that you can have your old life redeemed and made new

And the promise of Jesus is that in him we can find life that is really life…In him we can be made new creations...

That we dont have to be defined by our past any more

Response:

So there are a number of possiable responses today but I just want to focus on one....Maybe you are here and you either need to renew your vows with God or you need to make new vows with him

God has a hand extended and wants to covenant with his people…with you! He wants to make you into a new creature! .