Only One God

TRUTH: WE CANNOT PURUSE GOD’S HEART IF GOD DOES NOT OURS.

HOOK

Obligation. No one here likes obligations. Let’s face it, obligations are a drag.

Q - We’ve all had them, right?

Illustration: chores before parents get home // clean room, mow yard, dishwasher, etc.

Q - Isn’t that different from doing something for someone you want to do?

Illustration: buying someone a gift.

As we launch into our next series we’re going to explore what it looks like to be after God’s own heart. We’re going to do this by diving into the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.

When we come to the Ten Commandments, most of us get the vibe that they are obligatory commandments from God; we get the vibe that God issued them just watch us fail at them. You might be here tonight and this vibe from the big ten was your first impression of God - “Keep the ten or die!” - God.

The reality is that God gave His people the Ten Commandments as commandments to be a guide to His heart, a guide for our good, and which is ultimately a guide to live for His glory. The Ten Commandments were given so that God’s people could know God’s ways.

Context Rewind - God revealed His works through rescuing Israel out of slavery in Egypt through plagues. After the last plague, God lead His people out of Egypt through, literally through, Red Sea into the land promised to Abraham in Genesis.

*Side note - read the story of Moses in Exodus before reading Genesis. Moses wrote the first five book of the Bible (Pentateuch, Torah). “In the beginning God” will have a whole different meaning.

The Ten Commandments are also known as the Decalogue. First 4 deal with man’s relationship with God. Remaining 6 deal with man’s relationship with others.

Pursuing what God wants for our lives is what all want. If we’re honest with ourselves, that desire lies within all of us. Sometimes we go through season of dryness or rebellion, but we all have this desire deep down to live our lives in a way that pleases God.

You could say that we want to be individuals who are after God’s heart. When it comes to being a person that’s truly after God’s own heart, we need to understand this:

TRUTH: WE CANNOT PURUSE GOD’S HEART IF GOD DOES NOT OURS.

BOOK

Exodus 20:1–6 ESV

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 slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

TRUTH: WE CANNOT PURUSE GOD’S HEART IF GOD DOES NOT OURS.

I. GOD DECLARED WHO HE IS.

Exodus 20:1–2 ESV

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 slavery.

Before God stated what He desired, He declared who He is. One of the sobering facts about how God revealed Himself to Moses was through His name.

Exodus 6:2–3 ESV

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.

By His name, God revealed Himself to Moses. What God was doing was declaring not only was He the one true God, but he was the LORD.

GOD DECLARED TO MOSES & THE NATION OF ISRAEL THAT HE WAS THEIR GOD. “Here I am, have Me.”

When God stated who He was, He included that He is our God. God is reachable. God is personal. God is knowable. Think about this. Consider this intently - He is the LORD your God who recuses!

Before stating the ways God desired for HIs people, God declared His desire for relationship with His people.

Our obedience to Him doesn’t cause our relationship with Him.

Our relationship with Him causes our obedience to Him.

II. GOD DECLARED WHAT HE HAS DONE.

Exodus 20:1–2 ESV

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 slavery.

In the midst of bondage and enslavement, God heard their cry and rescued the nation of Israel through Moses.

When Israel had no hope, God made a way.

When Israel back themselves in a corner, God made the way out.

God performed miracle after miracle (plagues) to declare to the world, and to Pharaoh, that He is God.

Q - Can you imagine watching the plagues take place in Egypt?

The people of Israel we’re rescuing themselves. God was doing to rescuing. Why? He is their God.

III. GOD INVITED HIS PEOPLE TO HIM.

Exodus 20:3–6 ESV

3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You were created for one god: The LORD God.

TRUTH: WE CANNOT PURUSE GOD’S HEART IF GOD DOES NOT OURS.

Jesus’ take:

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Your loyalty can only be to one God at a time. Lets face it - we do have “gods” in our life that demand our loyalty, or heart.

Our hearts were created and designed to know God’s works and follow His ways.

God’s ways for our lives are for our good. When you remove relationship from the equation, you replace it with obligation.

Q - Who in here wants to follow obligation?

Q - Who in here wants to grow in a relationship?

There’s a huge difference.

LOOK

Because God’s heart is for us, our hearts are given to Him.

God’s heart for us is visible - the cross of Christ.

What God really wants is you.