The LORD Is One

The most important thing in life that anyone can learn is the teaching about God. Everything else is secondary compared to the teaching about God. If our understanding of God is wrong, then our understanding about His commands will also be wrong.

This passage of scripture is called the “Shema” to the Jews, simply because the first word in verse 4 is “Shema,” which translates to the word “Hear.” It not only means to hear and to listen, but it also means to obey. This passage of scripture is so important that even devout Jewish believers recite it twice a day everyday.

1. The Declaration

The beginning of verse 4 lays out a declaration that would echo the powerful nature of God not only to the Jews, but to an entire world that needs to understand who He is. “The LORD our God is one LORD.” When you look at the word “LORD” it is repeated 22 times in Deut.6. This is the same name that is used in Genesis 2:4 when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. It is the same name that is mentioned in Genesis 4:26 when men began to call upon the name of the LORD. It is the same name that is mentioned in Exodus 3:14 when the LORD said to Moses,” I AM THAT I AM.” The name that is mentioned in all of these scriptures is Yahweh, the covenant name of God. The God of Israel. The I AM.

An accurate translation of Deut. 6:4 would say, Listen and obey O Israel, Yahweh is our God, and Yahweh is one God.” He is the God of creation, He is the God of all mankind, He is the God who not only exist, but also effects His purpose. He is the God who was in the past, He is the God who is in the present, and He is the God who is already in the future. Time and space cannot limit God. No human words can define the greatness of God. But what we do know about the LORD is that He is one God. We do not serve a God that can be acknowledged in many different forms like the gods of false religions. There is no such thing as the sun god, the moon god, or the god of the ocean. But, there is only one God and He is God alone, and He is LORD over all things, and He knows who you are. Let’s think about that. The only True Living God knows who I am? He knows you and He loves you so much that He left His throne in Heaven to suffer for you, to be beaten for your healing, and to be nailed to a cross for your sins. The same God of creation in the Old Testament identified His self with you because He knew that it was the only way that you could be identified with Him. He loves you.

But scripture teaches us that we need to reciprocate that love. Not only does God love us, but He expects us to love Him also. It is not enough for us to only believe that there is One Lord. James 2:19,” You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath]! Even the demons believe that there is only one LORD, but their belief does not result in salvation. It brings them terror at the thought of God. Belief does not bring peace with God. Salvation isn’t the acceptance of theological viewpoints. Salvation goes much deeper than that, it involves the whole inner man, and it expresses itself outwardly through lives that have been changed by the Gospel. How does this happen? Saving faith happens when we not only believe in God, but we also fall in love with God.

2. The Command

Deut. 6:5 commands, “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God.” Love is an affection based on a close relationship. When you love something, you desire to have it. When you love someone, you desire to be in their presence. For example, my wife. I love her and I want to be around her. I love my children and I want to be around them, and I want to protect them. It is more than just an emotion, it is a choice that I make everyday. It is because of the closeness of my relationship with them. If I have a strong love for my family, how much stronger should my love for God be?

All Thy Heart- your mind, your feelings, your thoughts, and motives.

All Thy Soul- your character and your principle of life.

All Thy Might- your strength, power, exertion of force, and your commitment.

Mark 12:28-30 says,

28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

So what is our relationship with God supposed to be based on? The answer is love. With all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. We are to love the LORD totally. We have to have total commitment of ourselves in the purest and noblest intentions of trust and obedience toward God. God is to be loved totally because He alone is God, and nothing else can take His place. And He has made a covenant of love with us. He suffered because of love, He was crucified, because of love, and He has given His self totally in love to his people. Therefore, we ought to love God with everything that we have.

The question I ask you today is do you love God more than anything else? Do you value a relationship with Him above everything else? Is your job more important than God? Are your hobbies more important than loving God? Have you given your whole heart, life, and mind to God? If not today is the day. There is only one LORD and He must be the only LORD in your life.

Why does our relationship with God have to be based on complete and total love?

3. The Warning

Deut. 6:12,”Beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

Deut. 6:14,”Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you.”

The Israelites were warned that if they did not completely and totally love God, obey His commands, and meditate on God’s word everyday they would risk forgetting the God who delivered them from Egyptian bondage and falling into the sin of idol worship. The most important command was to love God with such a passion that it required every fiber of a man’s existence. But without this type of relationship it is impossible to live for God. A love for God does result in a saving faith, and a saving faith results in a life that is obedient to God’s word.

John 14:21,” 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

The problem when sin was brought into the world was that it happened not only because of the deception of the devil, but because there was not complete trust in what God had said. The serpent asked Eve, “Did God really say that?” So sin was conceived as a product of doubt and disobedience.

The problem that the Israelites would face after they crossed the Jordan River into the Promise Land was that they would be surrounded by people who worshipped idols. They would be commanded by God to tear down these idols and the altars and high places that these idols were worshipped at. They were commanded to only worship Yahweh the one and only God. But, when you read throughout the history of the Israel and Judah you find that after hundreds of years these places of idol worship were never destroyed. Some of the Kings did good things, but they never chose to tear down the altars of idols. They remembered how to defeat enemy armies, but they forgot the command to tear down the altars that belonged to false gods. Because they never really fell completely in love with the LORD, they never completely understood or obeyed His commands, and eventually they forgot the LORD who brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. How troubling of a thought.

You may say, “I believe in God, I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and I come to church. But have you fallen in love with Jesus? Do you only believe in God’s word, or have you fallen in love with God’s word. We live in a world that is bombarding our minds with lies and deceit every day. Everyone has a voice and everyone is passionate about their opinions. If we are not careful, our minds can be deceived by these people. If we do not love God with our whole lives, we also could fall into the trap of sin.

So, I ask you again today, do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Have you been baptized in the Name of Jesus?

Have you been filled with the Spirit?

Have you taken a deep look at your relationship with God?

Is God first priority in your life?

Listen and obey brothers and sisters, The LORD our God is one LORD. Do you love Him more than anything? Is he the only LORD in your life?

The altars of the world are calling out for your time, energy, and attention, but the God of creation is calling out to you today. Will you answer Him? Will you allow Him to move in your life?