No image or idol

Father, your word is written, and Lord, you've given us minds and hearts to feel and to think,

to rationalize. Lord, help us to come to your word in honesty. Help us to be true about ourselves

so that we can come to you in truth. And Lord, would you give us grace this morning? In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen. So I'm guessing that probably a certain amount of people here, a good number of you have

grown up in an Anglican setting. And if you're familiar with the Anglican setting, for you,

seeing images like this of Jesus is fine. But for some people who are newer to the Anglican way,

if you're like me, you walked in this church and you saw these images and you're wondering what is

going on. Like, isn't that what the second commandment forbids us to do? And so what I did,

I saw that, but I just, you know, I said, you know what, I'll just stick it through. They teach the

Bible here. So like, I don't know, it's evangelical. They believe the Bible. So I'll just stay here for

a few other weeks, but there's something about these images. So with the text that we're going

to look at today, we're going to have some indication as to what we should do with these

images. Should we repent as a church for having images like that, or is it okay? So if you have

your Bibles with you, you can turn to Deuteronomy chapter 5, and we'll read from verse, I'll start at

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

verse 8. So this is the second commandment, and this is the second week of our series for the

10 commandments. So the second commandment starts in verse 8. You shall not make for yourself a

carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or

that is in the water under the earth. 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

fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me

and keep my commandments. So this is the commandment, that we shouldn't make a carved image, and the

implication here is that it's a carved image of God. So as Christians, we believe that Jesus is God,

and here we have an image that was created by human hands and that we set up every week.

Is that a sin against the second commandment? Is that what the second commandment forbids?

Well, in the Protestant tradition, we believe that the Word of God is at the center of worship,

and let's just kind of take a look at verses 1 all the way through verse 7, and we'll see the

importance of God's Word, or actually 1 to 5. So, and Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,

Hear, O Israel. So there's the Word. God is speaking through his servant Moses, and the first word comes

to them saying, Hear, hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak,

that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn to do them and be careful to do them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant,

but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain.

And here, face to face, it's not saying literally face to face. God was not literally face to face,

but God was in their presence, and it was in an intimate setting, face to face at the mountain,

out of the midst of the fire. And out of the midst of the fire is talking in terms of,

it's a language to communicate that God's presence was consuming like a fire.

While I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord,

for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain.

So, here we have in the opening verses of the chapter, the emphasis is on the Word of God.

Do we hear God's Word? And when we hear God's Word that God declared, that God spoke,

what is going to happen? Are we going to obey? And this theme is something that we see all the way,

starting with Adam in the garden, Adam and Eve hearing God's Word and disobeying God's Word.

And then we see later on with Abraham. Abraham heard the word of the Lord, he trusted in the Lord,

and his faith in God's Word was counted to him as righteousness. Now we have Israel hearing God's

Word, establishing a new covenant, and the fulfillment is found in Jesus, who is the Word of God.

God become flesh. So, here's the theme is really, really important of the Word of God,

and that's what is central in our Protestant understanding of worship, because it seems like

that's what the Bible is making central. So, the question remains, are we sinning corporately every

week by limiting and containing Jesus in these images? Is that what the church has done for so many

years in history? Well, let's take a look at the second commandment again, just at the very beginning.

It says, you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything,

and anything going on, saying anything that is of a creature nature.

And the point of this is to say that we cannot hold God or contain God in this image, in an image of

worship. And that's what we call a New Testament. In Greek, we have the word icon, and it's similar to

what we have on your phones or on your computer. The icon of, say, Google or Facebook or something,

you click on it, and then you have access to all of Google, all of Facebook, all of whatever icon

you have on your computer. Now, is this what we have here? Do we come here and experience the

fullness of Jesus by looking at these images and by engaging with these images? Just like in Exodus,

we have the story of Israel making a carved image out of gold and saying, when Aaron said,

this is your God, Israel, who delivered you out of Egypt, are we saying, church of the Messiah,

this is your God who saved you from your sins? Or do we say, when we have the wooden cross set up

here usually, do we say, this is the cross that you need to hold on to, you need to physically hold

on to this cross because they will carry you all the way to heaven? Or do we say, when we have a

worship experience with music, with song, that when we have the right instruments, the right voice

singing, and we have the slides are changing perfectly on cue, and the lighting is just right,

and that's when the Holy Spirit comes. The Holy Spirit is in the room. It's just, it's tangible.

Is that what we're saying? The answer is no. That's not what we're saying. We don't believe

that we can manipulate God, that we can play with God in such a way that we'll activate him,

kind of like rubbing stones on a piece of wood and creating a fire. That's not what we're saying.

But what we are saying is that these images here serve a different purpose, that we don't come here

to engage with God, like with an idol, like the second commandment is prohibiting. But these images

serve to tell a story. So they communicate a story that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary,

he was crucified, and he was raised from the dead. They tell a story. They move us away from the

pictures. They're not meant to be accurate in and of themselves, but they're meant to tell us of a

story, of a story that the word encapsulates. And so even with words, we can create imagination.

With words, we can tell stories. And this is what the images are doing as well. So here's the big

question. Why does God command us to not make images of him? Why does he command us to not make

images of him? I answered that a little bit already. But the first reason, which I believe, is that

God reveals himself. When we create objects of something, it derives from our imagination.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who, it was an acquaintance I haven't seen in a little

while. And I mean, it was an acquaintance. We met a few times. We talked a bit, but that was a couple

years ago. I just saw him last week. And he said, Jonathan, I thank you so much. Thank you so much

for the blog post that you put on the internet and how like, yeah, you're engaging with culture and

showing a really good Christian view on how to engage with that. And I said, oh, that's great.

But it's not me. Like, I didn't write those. I don't do blogs. You're probably thinking of someone

else. And then I was able to clarify with him verbally that, yeah, in fact, it was not me. It

was another Jonathan. And I kind of looked like him, but it was not me. So with my words, I provided

clarity. I revealed to him who I am and corrected him. And he was thankful. It was a bit awkward,

but he was very thankful that we're able to continue. And he has a right perception of who

I am. And that way we can engage in truth. So is it possible that we do that with God?

Is it possible that we come to God with a perception that is not of God, that is of our own doing?

Now, this is, I think, what the commandment is first trying to drive home. We have the first

commandment, which we looked at last week. It talks about having God in our relationship,

a unique relationship, that he is our God, we are his people, and we are to put him first in our lives,

that God is to be preeminent in our lives. And now we come to the second commandment,

which talks about having a right understanding of God, that God is transcendent. God in his nature

is holy. He's uncreated. And so this is, in having a relationship with someone, you want to have

a right understanding of them, a right knowing of them, if you're going to have a truthful relationship

with them. When I first started my relationship, another relationship analogy, please bear with me,

my girlfriend, now fiance, we had, we really liked one another. And we read a really helpful marriage

book that said that what we really liked was our perception of one another, because we didn't

actually get to know each other yet. We only knew a little bit of ourselves, of one another. And what

we really liked was an image, a fantasy of the other person. And then as the more we get to know

each other, the more we're able to clarify that this is who I am, this is who you are. And that way,

we were able to have a true relationship where we actually get to know each other more and more.

And as we know each other more and more, we're able to love each other more and more. And so this is,

I think, the idea that God is trying to show here. Let's read verse four again. So

just to get a real drive home, just to drive home the point that God has revealed himself. So

chapter five, verse four, the Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of

the fire, while I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord.

So the Bible says that God has revealed himself. And with that revelation, when we come into a

relationship with God, we need to continually test our perception of God so that we come into a right

understanding. So Andrew, can I have my first point, please?

So to understand God apart from his revelation in his word written is to not understand him.

It is a good and fearful thing that God has revealed himself.

Now, you might be thinking here, maybe you're not a Christian and maybe you are a Christian,

but you're not too sure about this whole revelation thing. And you might be wondering,

don't all religions start with someone inventing a deity and calling it God? Like, isn't that how

religions start? Like, isn't that how Christianity started? Like, just somebody who decided to make a

story and that is where, that is what religion is and that's what all religions are. Like, isn't that,

isn't Christianity just the retelling of pagan stories through history that, and just to try to

explain the inexplicable? So the question, are all religions the same? Well, no, they're not. But

the reason why people make that claim is because, and there is some truth to that, is that yes, they

usually start with one person making a claim about God, but that's not the case with Christianity.

And no, they're not the same. No, the religions are not the same because they're not all about

explaining the inexplicable. See, religions and worldviews have things superficially in common.

So in the surface of things, they look alike. Usually religions and worldviews will tend to provide

for us a framework on, on how we ought to live. They'll give us instructions on how to be a better

person, for instance. But where they differ completely is either in the reality that they are part of,

of history, if it's experiential. But most importantly is how do we get to that, to do the

right things? How do we get to follow that religion? Is it because we see that it's a good thing,

that it would be better for us to do because we would become better persons? We might become more

successful. We'll make friends by doing it. Or is it because this God whom we worship interrupted

human history, while he has created it, comes into history, reveals himself, and to not believe him

is to deny reality? Is that really what it's about? So here's the thing. Christianity is not a religion

that tries to give answers for the unknown. It's a reliable account of history, and it's even a

biography of the true and living God dealing with humanity. So this leads us to the fact that having a

right information about God is important because so far we've come to understand that God created

all things, we live in this world, and God has revealed himself. And so to have a right relationship

with God, we need to have a right knowledge of God. Just last week I had a conversation with one of my

brothers. He's a pilot, and he's been a pilot for a long time, and he's known a lot of pilots who've

unfortunately lost their lives in flying airplanes. And he said what happened was that these pilots,

they would follow their radars, and the radar would only be so accurate to tell them that there's a

mountain coming ahead, but it wasn't accurate enough to tell how high the mountain was. So a lot of these

pilots were flying into clouds and hit right in the mountain and died. And so the reason I'm sharing

this is because having the right information about something can have some pretty serious consequences,

or not having the right information of something can have some pretty serious ramifications. And so we

want to have a right knowledge of God. So if I were to summarize in one statement the idea that to have

a right information of God is to seek to know his essence, his nature, and that they are different

than creation. They are different than the created order. And the second commandment is telling us that

we cannot think of God, Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, in terms of Egyptian and Canaanite worship,

which is what is primarily trying to address here, that we cannot think in those terms, where God is

one with and part of creation, and he is not a creature like a fish or a bird or any animal.

He's different from them, and he cannot be represented by such images.

So, why is this relevant to me and you? Why does all of this matter? Why does God's character matter?

Well, let's look at verse 9. Continue here at verse 9. It says,

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

So, it's saying here that we should not bow down to these images and serve them. And what it's really

picking up on is that human beings are creatures of worship, that if we don't have a tangible revelation

of the true and living God, we'll turn to other things and we'll worship. And we'll worship when that

thing fails, we'll worship something else. And we'll keep going and worshiping and worshiping,

because it's part of us. And what, if I were to define worship just in a very simple statement,

I would say that worship is a service to and an intimate identification with the object of our

affection. So, we tend to seek something that is greater in life, something that is more powerful in

life. We tend to say words like, thank goodness. Well, who's goodness? Who's that? But for some

reason, we're thankful to something greater. We're thankful to something that might have provided

goodness. And in some ways, if you're familiar with your Bible, in the book of Acts, there's the

altar to the unknown God. And that's basically what it is. Thank goodness for this. And I say it. I'm not

saying that it's a bad thing to say, but I'm just kind of pointing something out. So, here it says,

verse 9, you shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

And now you're thinking in your seats, I don't have to worry about that. I don't have to worry about

bowing down to an image or serving an image. That's an ancient thing. These people were not

intelligent enough to know the difference. Well, here's what it's trying to say. When it's talking

about bowing down, we need to understand the principle behind that. When we bow down, we show

honor, we show respect, we show allegiance to a king. We say, my liege, and we bow. And in doing that,

we show that this is something that is of great importance. And so, whether it's the true and living

God or if it's other things, this is what it's trying to draw here. And then when it talks about

serving, it's talking about worship. Worship that demonstrates our love. So, when we love something,

we want to dedicate ourselves to it. If it's a good cause, if it's a political party, if it's a

cultural norm, we want to invest ourselves in it. And that is what worship is getting to.

And so, whether it is politics or good causes or culture, as Canadians, we love to invest ourselves

and to identify with these things. And those are things that the Bible is trying to show here,

that we are worshipers and we serve, we bow down to these things, and we let them influence us and

change us in a way that will serve their purpose.

So, here it says that God is jealous. In verse 9,

you shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

Why is he jealous? Well, these things are not God. Our political party, whether it's the old

political party or the one that was right now, however we feel about them, they're not God.

Our culture does not define what is right and wrong. God defines what is right and wrong.

And these are images that we have in our culture that we try to attribute deity to.

So, now, Andrew, can I have my second point?

We are image bearers of God, image bearers who chose selfishness over a glorious relationship

with our loving creator.

So, this is the second reason, I would believe, that God commands us to not make carved images of him.

When we read, we'll go back to verse 8, and we'll read the words here that are really important,

that are resonating, something that was spoken of before.

So, verse 8,

you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, and so on.

So, the two words here, image and likeness, are seen in juxtaposition in Genesis chapter 1,

Genesis 1:27

verse 27,

when God says,

let us make man in our image,

after our likeness,

and let them have dominion over all the earth.

See, in Genesis 1,

it is God who created man.

God created man in his image,

in his likeness.

Now, after the fall,

it is man who tries to create God

in his image.

He tries to create God in his likeness.

And this is what this commandment is trying to say.

Look, this is an error.

You can't do that.

God is self-sustaining.

He's self-sufficient,

self-existent from all eternity.

And we are mere creatures.

How can we think that we can

arrive at a conclusion,

we can create God

and contain him

and put him in such an image?

So we see a reversal of roles

in the mind of human beings.

And what this does,

let's just read that again.

We are image bearers of God,

image bearers who chose selfishness

over a glorious relationship with our creator.

What I'm trying to communicate here

is that we,

in our sinfulness,

in our sinful inclinations,

to create a subversion image of God,

is that we want to cut off

any type of accountability with God

by pretending that God is sculpted

by human imagination and human hands.

But the truth is that human beings like God

are not statues that are static

and have no moral responsibility.

We are dynamic,

and our actions have moral ramifications.

So here we see,

at the height of human sin

and arrogance and pride

is a willful ignorance

of God's existence and person.

Andrew, can we have the second point?

Our imagination is a sacred,

God-given gift

that we must shepherd.

Either we imagine rightly about God

and thereby cultivate humility,

or we imagine falsely about God

and foster pride.

Our imagination is a mechanism

that God has given us

so that we can see something

that is not present tangibly.

So he gives us this imagination

so that we can create wonderful things

like art, like music,

like do scientific experiments,

that we can tell stories,

that we can do poetry,

all to help demonstrate

his character and his purpose

and his goodness

to all of creation.

And so we need to use our imaginations

to ponder about God

and ponder about his goodness

and render back,

give thanks and worship God

with our imaginations.

But the problem is that

we use our imaginations

to ponder how we can gain power,

how we can gain success,

how we can scheme our way

up the ladder.

And in doing that,

we often betray

our fellow human beings.

So we create another image of God,

a worship idol,

to pretend that we are not image bearers

and let ourselves off the hook

when we sin.

Andrew, can we have the next point?

With our nature bent towards sin,

we deflect responsibility

and moral accountability.

We hide behind the fig leaves

of philosophy and modern thought,

claiming innocence

from our wrongdoings.

Isn't it common that we just think

we brush religion off

or at least Christianity off?

We say, oh, that's just an old book.

That's just an old fairy tale.

Well, and we just dismiss it, right?

And in creating an image of God

that's saying that God

is smaller than he is,

that God is maybe very, very loving,

we tend to give ourselves

the license to say,

well, maybe the way

that I treat my employees at work

doesn't actually matter.

I can do this and it'll be fine.

Or maybe the way

that we treat our sexuality

in such a way

we can say that actually

God created me this way

and he's fine with it.

I can do what I want with it.

And we reduce God

in a smaller God

so that we can hide ourselves

behind the fig leaves

of philosophy and modern thought.

So here's the thing.

Our pride feels safe

when there is a God

limited by our imagination.

And worshiping it

makes me look pious.

We like to look like

we're doing good things

as Canadians.

We like to look like

when we give a good amount

of money

to a certain resource organization

or we give our time.

We tend to do this

so that people will look at us

and say,

oh, look at him.

Look at Jonathan.

Look at the way

that he serves his church.

Look at the way

that he serves his neighbors

in his neighborhood.

Or we look at

different

maybe missionaries

who go to do missions.

And it's maybe because,

you know,

look at me.

Look at the way

that I'm doing this.

Or we try to work

in a good environment

to make lots of money

really quickly

and maybe even

unethically

so that,

you know,

we can help the church.

We can help

our family.

And so here,

this is what's important

is that we have

a right understanding

of God,

a right understanding

that God is

who he revealed himself

to be.

So let's look back.

We'll read verses

8 to 10,

which is the whole

second commandment.

It says,

You shall not make

for yourself

a carved image

or any likeness

of anything

that is in heaven above

or that is on the earth beneath

or that is in the water

under the earth.

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 fourth generation

of those who hate me,

but showing steadfast love

to thousands of those

who love me

and keep my commandments.

So, so far,

we see that we can't

contain God.

We can't bind him

in our attempts

to control him.

And it's also telling us

that we are God's images

in creation,

that we're meant

to reflect his character,

that we are accountable

in the actions

that we do.

And so,

in being created

in his image,

we ought to reflect him

in creation.

And it's also talking

about how God

is jealous

over human beings

for our unique privilege

as his image bearers

who seek

their own advancement.

So, whether you're

a Christian or not,

we tend to think

that God

is either good

and nice.

You know,

he's kind of

the old grandpa

God

who will accept

everything

and

he'll just be

very nice

to his grandchildren.

He'll give them

a lot of gifts.

So, we tend to think

of God

either like that

or we think

of God

as the

merciless bear

who's just hungry

and wants to shed blood

and who wants

to destroy us

off the face

of the earth.

But here's the question.

Who does God

say he is?

Who does God

say he is?

Let's look back

at verse 9.

It says,

For I, the Lord,

your God,

am a jealous God

visiting the iniquity

of the Father.

So, here it's talking

about God

bringing judgment,

holy judgment,

a judgment

that is set apart

because there is

a purpose

that isn't met.

There isn't love

that's rendered

back to God.

People,

in their pride,

in our sinful nature,

we tend to think

badly about God

and we don't want

to have anything

to do with God.

So, God brings judgment

to bring order

back again

in the hope

that they will repent.

And here's the second thing,

but showing steadfast love

to those who love me

and keep my commandments.

And so, God's love,

God reveals that he's just

in his judgment

and now his love.

He's steadfast in his love.

His love endures forever.

It's saying to a thousand

generations,

I believe,

in the Exodus

or here as well

in verse 10,

but showing steadfast

love to thousands

of those

who love me

and keep my commandments.

And the word thousands

is just trying

to paint the picture

that it's so much love

and God wants

to show

his steadfast love

to those

who love him

and keep his commandments.

And he's jealous

over them.

He shows jealous love

because there's

an intimate relationship

there

that is supposed

to be,

that's supposed

to happen

with human beings

and God.

God.

And so,

here's the thing.

When we think

of God

in these terms

that he's both

just

and he's both

loving,

he judges

and he shows

grace and mercy,

this tells us,

at least in the ancient days,

nowadays,

it's hard to tell

because I even struggle

with that,

to think of God

as a God

who shows mercy

because I tend

to think

in an entitled way.

To think,

of course,

he owes me love,

he owes me grace,

he owes me mercy.

But here,

it's so unique

of God

that he's

a just judge

and at the same time

a loving,

loving God.

And we see

the clearest picture

of all this

when God sent

his son

to die

on our behalf,

to die on the cross,

when Jesus

offered himself

to be crucified

at the hands

of people

who would reject God.

So, let's just

have our next slide,

which is essentially

the gospel.

So, we are

image bearers of God,

image bearers

who chose selfishness

over a glorious

relationship

with our creator.

Christ is the perfect

image of God

who chose to suffer

and die

at human hands

and who was raised

to eternal life

to make things right

between us

and God.

God.

So, if this is

actually the first time

that you come

to somebody

sharing the gospel

with you,

that maybe this is

the only explanation

that you've had

about the gospel,

this is really

what it's all about.

It's God showing

his love

and showing

his wrath,

pouring it on Jesus,

the wrath

that sinful people

like you and me

should have

borne ourselves.

So, God shows

his justice

that he pours

his anger

against sin

and our sinfulness

on Jesus

and he shows

his steadfast love

by sending Jesus

so that his arms

are wide open

and he's asking

you to trust in him.

In the service

so far,

we've looked,

we've said

the words

that God said

in the Bible

that he does not

desire the death

of the wicked

or of the sinner

but that they would

turn from their

wickedness

and live.

This is God's heart.

This is God's revelation.

I don't want to have

anything to do

with a God

who's not like that.

I'm too sinful.

I need a God

who shows mercy,

who shows steadfast love.

I don't want a God

who flatters me,

who makes me think

better of myself

than I actually am

so that I

hurt people

that are around me.

No, I need a God

who deals

rightly with sin

and who deals

mercifully

with a sinner.

And that's Jesus.

And that's Jesus.

So here's the thing.

Everyone here

has sin in their lives

that separate us

from God.

And our only hope

is to trust in Jesus

and to confess

our sins

so to receive

the pardon

for our offenses

and power

by the Holy Spirit

to live a new life.

Please stand.

Father,

as much as we

on a daily basis

want to think

of you differently,

if it was for my will

and Lord,

I would make things differently.

But Lord,

you are the God

who is holy.

You're the God

who's eternal.

You're the God

who knows

and sees all things.

You're the God

who sees

every thought

in the imagination

of my heart.

And yet,

God,

you show love.

You show mercy.

You bring things

to a right end.

And Lord,

this is the hope

that we have in you,

that you would make

things right

in the end.

that it does not

depend on us

who made things wrong

and now have to

make things right.

No,

it's you,

Lord,

who's shown it to us.

You've shown how

you want us

to be made right

with you.

And Lord,

this is our hope

that you will make

things finally

right with you.

Lord,

would you give us

grace this day

to continue our lives

in light of this gospel.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.