Motivated by Amazing Grace

In 1612, Emperor Shah Jahan married a woman by the name of Mumtaz Mahal. Although she was his third wife, she became his favorite by far. Mumtaz was Shah’s advisor, wife, and best friend. In 1631 Mumtaz died while giving birth to their 14th child and this struck the emperor to the core of his soul. He was so dedicated to honoring her that he pulled together the greatest architectural minds in that realm of the world and commissioned them to build the Taj Mahal in her honor. This project would take 20 years to finish and still stands today as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Love causes people to do all sorts of things, doesn’t it? Some silly, some beautiful such as the Taj Mahal. But the reality of love is that real love brings people to do extraordinary things. With that said, today we are going to dive into a series on the ten commandments and the first thing that we will see is not a commandment at all, but the preface to them and how it should spark love in our hearts toward the God who gave them to us.

But why? Why are we choosing this series. Well, over the last two months I’ve been meditating on what I want us to learn together in 2024 and the one thing that stood out over all subjects in my mind was that I want you to walk out of this year being better evangelists. I want you to understand the gospel, to love the gospel, and to, by God’s grace, feel compelled to share the gospel with those in your life and to feel equipped to do that. But why the Ten Commandments? Why not the Great Commission or something. The reason that I am beginning with the Ten Commandments is because once we finish understanding the Law, we will dive into Romans to examine the heart of the gospel. But since Romans speaks of the law so much, we need to take time to become familiar with it.

Now, with that said, would you say that you love the law of God? Is it important or is it irrelevant since Jesus came? Do we obey it in order to be saved or for another reason? Why can’t you do better and finally obey them all? Those are just a few questions that we will hopefully explore and answer here today as we set up our series on the Ten Commandments. The text we are going to look at today is Exodus 20:1-2 and it says,

Exodus 20:1–2 NKJV

1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

The Law of God is Precious

The Civil, Ceremonial and Moral Laws of God. Do they all stand forever?

The Civil Law

In the Old Testament we see that Israel is an actual nation of people that God chooses for the purpose of showing the world the goodness of God and for providing a Messiah. Well, to keep that nation in tact until Christ was born, they had to have laws to deal with things such as inheritance and other legal matters. Since the nation of Israel as seen in the Old Testament no longer exists and God has brought the Church into the world, these laws were fulfilled in Christ.

The Ceremonial Law

In the Old Testament we see Temple worship instituted by God and that He would expect specific acts to be preformed such as sacrificing animals. Now, those sacrifices didn’t actually save you according to the book of Hebrews, but they pointed forward to the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Through His work as High Priest and sacrifice, Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial laws in Himself. So if both of those aspects of the law are fulfilled, do any apply to us today? And the answer is absolutely which brings us to the moral law which is seen in the Ten Commandments.

The Moral Law of God

The Moral Law was given from Mt Sinai to Moses to give to the people of Israel who God had recently delivered from Egyptian captivity. Now, these laws don’t only apply to the people of Israel in the Old Testament, but apply to everyone on Earth forever. Here are a few reasons this law is seen as precious and forever standing:

It is perfect.

Verse one says that God spoke these words, which are the law. And since God is both wise and in control, this means that these laws are good and are to be obeyed. Psalm 19:7

Psalm 19:7 NKJV

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

It is permanent.

If you remember the story of the law being given to Moses, you might remember that God wrote them on tables of stone. This symbolizes the permanence of the Law and that it would stand forever.

It is honorable.

In Exodus 19:10, we read:

Exodus 19:10 NKJV

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.

Exodus 19:12 NKJV

12 You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

To put it plainly, God had them ready themselves for the reception of His law and forbid them from touching Sinai to produce reverence in the hearts of these people for the law of God.

Not only this, but later on God had them place the Ten Commandments inside the Ark of the Covenant as though they were jewels to display how precious they are.The Psalmist thought they were precious as well when he wrote,

Psalm 119:97 NKJV

97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

What does this imply for us?

If God spoke the law then we must listen to them seriously.

If God spoke the law then we should remember them daily.

If God spoke the law then we should believe them fully.

If God spoke the law, then we should love them dearly.

If God spoke the law, then we should obey the carefully.

But not only are the precious, but they serve purposes.

The Law of God has Purpose

To Restrain Evil

1 Timothy 1:9 NKJV

9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

In this passage, Paul teaches us that the moral law of God informs the people and governments of the world in what is just and right and how to restrain evil. The worrisome thing about American culture today is that they’ve totally rejected God’s law and any sense of what is right and now speak about things being, “Your truth and my truth.” This is and will continue to result in unbelievable wickedness.

To Show Us Our Sinfulness

Galatians 3:24 NKJV

24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Not only does it restrain evil, but it shows us our own sinfulness. You see, evil isn’t just an out there problem. It’s a me problem too. Read the Ten Commandments and ask yourself and anyone in here whether or not you’ve violated any of them if we are honest, we all will find that we’ve broken the law and we break the law regularly. What is so terrifying about this is that this is God’s law. It is what He demands of humans. That means that if we do not obey the law, then we have earned the wrath of God since He is a just God. So, the purpose of this Law is to crush our pride. To bring us to the place where we say, “I give up! I can’t do it! I’ll never get to heaven because I can’t obey, I can’t fix myself, and I can’t do any better. I’m hopeless.” It is to those people that Jesus says this in Matthew 5:3

Matthew 5:3 NKJV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The purpose of the law is to show you that you are a sinner, that God is holy and that you are under judgment, and that your only hope is in Jesus.

To Reveal the Will of God to Us

1 John 5:3 NKJV

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Are you wanting to know God’s will for your life? Do you want to know how to evaluate whether something is write or wrong or how you should treat others? Do you want to evaluate your heart to see where you’re at spiritually? The law of God is the solution for these things. You see, before you were saved, the law was brutal. It crushed your pride and told you there was no hope and when you finally understood that you went running to Jesus. That means that the law wasn’t bad, you were. The law was a friend used to run you into the arms of the Savior and now that Jesus has saved us, He points us to the law and strengthens us by His grace to strive to obey it.

The Love that Provokes Obedience to the Law

Exodus 20:2 NKJV

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

So, God has recently delivered the children of Israel from captivity. They have seen Him preform incredible miracles such as the plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea and now He speaks and says, “I am the Lord your God...” Now, if He would’ve left it at, “I am the Lord” they would’ve been terrified since the word Lord refers to Him as the Supreme Ruler and if they would’ve broken His law they would’ve been paralyzed by fear. But He steps in and says, “I am the Lord your God, you brought you out...” Or to put it simply, I am the great and mighty one who is your God, your deliverer.

When we were still in spiritual bondage, all we knew was slavery to sin. But by His grace, we have been delivered and our hearts are now motivated by love to obey Him. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” So, first, He is not just a powerful God who is uninterested in us, but He is our God and if He is our God, that means that we are His people. But how did that happen?

1 Peter 2:9–10 NKJV

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

We became the people of God because of the mercy of God which took us from darkness to light and how did He do that? Through the work of Jesus Christ for us sinners.

What does it mean for us that God is our God?

It means that He is our Heavenly Father.

This means that He cares for us since we are His own children. Matthew 7:11 “11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

It means that He is like a husband to his bride.

Isaiah 54:5 “5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.” And like a husband loves his wife, we are the apple of God’s eye who He loves and delights in. Zech. 2:8

Zechariah 2:8 NKJV

8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.

To keep it short, God being our God means that we are safe forever, that He cares for us forever, and that we will be with Him forever.

What is our response to this kind of love?

Our response to this kind of saving love is that we love and obey Him. That doesn’t mean that we obey perfectly, but it means that since we have been saved, we long to obey Him and that He will give us the strength to obey.