The Good Life pt. 2

Intro.

Imagine standing in front of a beautiful painting, each brush stroke revealing the artist's intention. The Ten Commandments function similarly, showcasing God's character as if He were standing before us, revealing His heart. Each command reveals who He is: a God who desires our justice, love, and integrity. As we understand these commandments, we see not only rules but a reflection of the Holy One who created us, showing us the way to a fulfilling life that mirrors His own.

As God led the Israelites out of Egypt, and the came to the mountain, the Lord called Moses up to that mountain in order to give the prophet a series of direct commands by which Israel was to live as a community.

As we learned last week, God give us commands because He says, 1 Pet. 1.14-16

1 Peter 1:14–16 LSB

14 As obedient children, not being conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

God’s commands are His instructions (the literal definition of “Torah”) on how one can lead a holy life as He is holy; they are directions for us that we may know how we can reflect His character and live the life we are designed for.

This week, we will look at the Ten Commandments (specifically a few of them) and see part of how God has revealed Himself to us through them.

Upon going through this and seeing what God has to say, I want us to be able to read through the Law in Leviticus/Deuteronomy being able to begin perceiving how God tells Israel to reflect His character.

We are not under the Law, so we are not bound by covenant to live by it’s specific commands; however, we must know that the character of the God Who gave the Law is the same today! So we must read the Law and learn what it reveals about our God!

Exodus 20:1–17 LSB

1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am Yahweh 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. 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, Yahweh 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, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. 11 “For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Character in Commands

Famously, God spoke to Moses on Sinai and delivered to Israel the Ten Commandments: (Deut. 5.5-21; Ex. 20.1-17)

No other gods before Me

No idols of any created likeness

Do not take God’s Name in vain

Remember the Sabbath

Honor Father and Mother

Do not murder

Do not commit adultery

Do not steal

Do not bear false witness

Do not covet

Perhaps you notice upon the reading, or perhaps you have been told this before, but God has delivered the 10 commandments to Israel in two “halves”: Commands about our relationship with God, then commands about our relationship with people

What about God’s character or nature is revealed to us in these commands?

God’s Love:

We’ve seen from John 13 and John 15 that we are to love one another, as John says in 1 John, because is love! 1 Corinthians 13 reveals certain aspects about what love is:

Patient, not covetous, kind, does not act unbecomingly/dishonorably, rejoices in truth and not unrighteousness.

In the 10 Commandments we find:

Do not murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, covet — These are things which no man does for the cause of love. In fact, what makes each of these things what they are is the element of selfishness. Each of these is self-motivated. If one is motivated by love, then they would be self-sacrificing and uplifting as opposed to these things which only take.

Notice how each of these things are the exact opposite of love? These are things which are opposed to God’s character, and that the sinful pagan world around both ancient Israel and ourselves would celebrate.

As the people of God, even though we are not bound under the Law, our command is still to love God and man; therefore we must avoid all such sins as these.

Christ says in the sermon on the Mount that if we are even unjustly angry with our brother we have become guilty of murder; if we simply look upon a person in order that our minds would linger on them lustfully, we are guilty of adultery; Paul says if we covet that which belongs to our neighbor, we are guilty of idolatry, and James says a covetous attitude breeds murder and fighting!

God is Jealous:

Ex. 20:3-5 is where God directs Israel that they are not to make molten images to worship them or have any other gods before Him.

Exodus 34:14 “14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—”

God is a jealous God. Merriam Webster defines “jealous,” in part, as, “intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness.” God is the only God, and He is completely intolerant of idolatry and adulterous worship in all its forms.

If, like we said last week, being obedient to God’s commands means we will be living the kind of ethical life we are made for, then to worship only God is part of that! Going all the way back to the Garden, and even here in Exodus to a different extent, God has always dwelt among His people. We are meant to live in communion and fellowship with God as our God. No idol we can make is the eternal and sovereign God over creation — yet sometimes we let fickle and temporary things become God to us in our hearts.

If this has happened in your life, it is time to purge your life of idols and take down whatever is in you life that is and idol before God.

Now, what does, “no other gods before Me,” mean? Some would say that we are merely commanded to not have other gods as higher on the totem pole than the Most High; is that what God means?

The Hebrew itself would tell us that this cannot be the meaning, because it carries definitions about one’s face and presence. Meaning, that God is actually telling Israel, as well as us in the NT, that we are to have no other gods in His presence or before His face. God being all knowing, there is nothing which is not “before His face” and God being all presence, there is nothing that is not in His presence!

Ethics of the Ten Commandments

Therefore, seeing how the Ten commandments reveal, in part, aspects of God’s character regarding His love and His jealousy over His people, what does that have to do with being a wholly ethical person?

Given that most of the Commands are given as “negatives,” we have to look to what is the opposite of them.

murder, covetousness, adultery, thievery, lying — each of these are destructive actions which only serve the self.

Therefore, what we are to do would be constructive. Building others up instead of tearing them down, giving instead of taking, integrity and honesty with care instead of lying, steadfast love and commitment instead of adultery. Do we see how these virtues are the opposite of the negatives?

The virtuous and ethical person is one who is no egotist, but is concerned with the well being of others.

Likewise in our relationship with God, it could be said that to only worship the Most High is a truly ethical spirituality/religion, because we are in pursuit of knowing and living with the God Who loves us and made us! Wood, metal, flesh, biochemistry, sports, movies, etc., did not make you and are not capable of fulfilling you. You were not made for those things.

You and I were made for God according 1 Cor. 8.6 and Col. 1.16 we are made by and for God! And, if all goodness and truth comes from God, we would never be in the right to try finding it anywhere else. The only ethical worship and spirituality is that which is devoted to the Almighty God, the Source of life, goodness, and truth.

Conclusion

I hope that our study this morning, although by no means exhaustive, was helpful in helping us see how God’s commands reveal His character to us, and that to reflect His character/obey His commands is the truly and wholly ethical way of living.

We said it last week: If we are doing or thinking in ways which do not reflect God’s character, we are acting/thinking immorally and sinfully, for these two are the same.

What steps can you take to ensure that you are not allowing idolatry to creep into your life?

In what ways can practicing love and integrity in your daily life reflect God’s character?

Brethren, let us seek to know God’s heart. We can know facts about God, or we can know God, and they are not the same. Let us know God and prove ourselves to know Him in living our lives in accordance with Who God is.