Lent 3 (3)
Notes
Transcript
1 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 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 fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 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. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
How many different board games are there?
Board Game Geek has 88,591 items on their website, but some of those are card games, some are expansions. The exact number would heavily depend on where your personal boundaries for 'board game' lie.Feb 4, 2017
Top Ten
Game of Life
Clue
Candy Land
Monopoly
Scrabble
Battleship
Risk
Stratego
Axis & Allies [2019 Masters Tournament Champion at Gen Con — Charles Michalek and Carl Vander Galien]
Chess
One thing that all of these games have in common is that they all have rules/laws that are to be followed. Although peole will often use “house rules”, the proper way to play a game is to play according to the rules.
Rules (laws) don’t just govern our leisure activities. You would be hard pressed to find any area of our life which is not regulated either by natural laws or the rules that are established in our homes, schools, workplace, church etc. It helps to make sure that everything is done decently and in order.
Have you ever wondered where the rules come from? One explanation is this.
The history of law links closely to the development of civilization. Ancient Egyptian law, dating as far back as 3000 BC, was based on the concept of Ma'at and characterised by tradition, rhetorical speech, social equality and impartiality.[54][55][56] By the 22nd century BC, the ancient Sumerian ruler Ur-Nammu had formulated the first law code, which consisted of casuistic statements ("if … then ..."). Around 1760 BC, King Hammurabi further developed Babylonian law, by codifying and inscribing it in stone. Hammurabi placed several copies of his law code throughout the kingdom of Babylon as stelae, for the entire public to see; this became known as the Codex Hammurabi. The most intact copy of these stelae was discovered in the 19th century by British Assyriologists, and has since been fully transliterated and translated into various languages, including English, Italian, German, and French.[57]
The Old Testament dates back to 1280 BC and takes the form of moral imperatives as recommendations for a good society. The small Greek city-state, ancient Athens, from about the 8th century BC was the first society to be based on broad inclusion of its citizenry, excluding women and the slave class. However, Athens had no legal science or single word for "law",[58] relying instead on the three-way distinction between divine law (thémis), human decree (nomos) and custom (díkē).[59] Yet Ancient Greek law contained major constitutional innovations in the development of democracy.[60]
Roman law was heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, but its detailed rules were developed by professional jurists and were highly sophisticated.[61][62] Over the centuries between the rise and decline of the Roman Empire, law was adapted to cope with the changing social situations and underwent major codification under Theodosius II and Justinian I.[63]
We know that the Bible has many rules and laws in it as well. Already in Genesis we are introduced to the first law that God gave to Adam and Eve. He specifically told them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It had a specific command and a warning of what the consequence would be if they disobeyed.
Genesis 2:15–17 (NIV84)
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
This was first articulated law but it was not the first law. One explanation for saying that they were created in the image of God is the belief that their will was 100% compatible with God. They were holy and without sin and had the ability to keep the natural law perfectly. St. Paul later would write about how all people have the natural law written in their hearts.
12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
This is not perfect; however. Because our conscience can become calloused and our natural knowledge of the law can become corrupted.
So before the giving of the Ten Commandments, God had rules and laws for people to follow. They were not 100% consistant between the cultures of that time but were very similiar. The application of the moral law did vary by civil and ceremonial laws, but there was law before the Ten Commandments were written.
Exodus 20 reports to us how God codified the moral law for the Israelites. This is known as the Ten Commandments. At that time God also gave them very specific laws regulating their civil and ceremonial lives.
How familiar are you with the Ten Commandments? Well, we memorize them as children and learn Luther’s “What does this mean?” with them. They are the foundation of the rules we have in church, society, government, and the home. Many places have statues showing the Ten Commandments in prominent places. And even if those statues are removed, we understand that the laws are still in force.
What is the purpose of the law?
Not to save us. “No one can be justified by observing the law.”
Galatians 2:15–16 (NIV84)
15 “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Curb
The penalties attached to breaking the law can serve as a deterrent. I don’t speed excessively because it is dangerous and because I don’t wan’t to pay a $175 or more fine or explain it to my wife.
Mirror
The law of God shows us that we are sinners. This becomes more important because our society is more and more confused as to what is right and wrong. Consider the following verse.
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
In that list of sins are those who are sexually immoral and drunkards. The going mantra about certain sexual sins is “Not that there is anything wrong with that” and drunkards are often jokingly referred to as “the town drunk” and a source of humor as in The Andy Griffith Show. But the law serving as a mirror labels all those activities as “Wicked”. And even if we don’t act on those sins, St. Paul says the law reveals our sinful thoughts and desires.
Romans 7:7–8 (NIV84)
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.
Guide
The law as a guide shows us how to live out of thankfulness to what God has done for us. God gave his laws after he had redeemed the people of Israel. He gives us his law to show us how to live. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
Getting back to board games. You encounter a game for the first time. You open the box and it is filled with a game board, dice, cards, tokens, all kinds of shiny stuff. How do you know how to play it?
Rules (Some can be quite extensive).
Watch a YouTube video on how the game is played can also be helpful.
The Lord gave his people the Law to show them how to live. What he did for them was the motivation.
What has the Lord done for you? He has saved you.
How are we to respond? By keeping his commands. “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” New command is to love one another.
1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.