You will have no other gods before Me

Lord, I pray that you would write in our hearts your law, that we would be inclined to serve you, to love you with all of our being.

And Lord, as we hear your word, would you open our hearts to know your word and to remember your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated.

So, many people think that in order to be a Christian, you need to give up your autonomy and your sense of personal identity.

And it makes it quite uncomfortable when we think of laws that really dig deep inside of us, that shape all of our life.

And so, is that true? Is that what the Bible is saying about Christianity?

Is it really something that removes our autonomy, our sense of identity?

Well, if you have your Bibles with you, we'll turn to Exodus, chapter 20, and we'll look at verses 1 to 3.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

So, Exodus, chapter 20, verses 1 to 3.

Exodus 20:1–3

And God spoke all these words, saying,

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

See, when we read this in our culture, and even some Christians might, you know, go into this line of thinking after walking with the Lord for a long time,

we might hear the words when we read this,

And God spoke all these words, saying,

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land to oppress you and to make you my slave.

See, when we think of the story here, doesn't it seem like, you know, God is saving a people,

he's bringing them out of Egypt so that they can be God's slaves?

See, weren't they just doing what the Pharaoh told them, and now they're going to go do what God told them?

Like, isn't that a bit strange?

Isn't that like a bit of a contradiction?

Well, it's hard to accept a religion and a worldview in our day and age that invades our whole life.

When we tend to think in terms of simply adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that to our lives,

maybe a little bit of church going, or maybe a little bit of yoga, or a little bit of prayer to angels,

or a little bit of New Age, it won't hurt if we just do a little bit at a time, right?

As long as we do everything in moderation, and we try to keep a good balance.

See, this is today's Canadian philosophy of pluralism.

We don't want to give ourselves up entirely to something.

And when we hear words like this in the First Commandment, when it says,

you shall have no other gods before me, that seems kind of un-Canadian.

That seems a bit too much, a bit extreme, that we should say no to all the other religions and say yes to this God.

Why should we do that to this God?

Why should we say yes to this God only?

So the question is, why does God command such strict allegiance to him?

Why can't he be like my co-worker, who, you know, he's so suave, and so, you know, he's so outgoing,

and just does a little bit of everything, and seems to be enjoying life a lot.

Why does God have to be so strict?

He shall only have one God.

Well, let's look again at this text.

Let's see what it says.

So the commandment says, you shall have no other gods before me.

And to understand that, just a bit of an aside, if you've grown in the church for a long time,

you grew up in the church and you heard the Ten Commandments said over and over again,

you might have seen the plaque on the side with the Ten Commandments.

Oftentimes, we think of the Ten Commandments out of their context.

We think of them as rules.

This is what you must do to be in relationship with God.

So let's look at the context.

If you can, turn with me to Exodus 19, and we'll read verses 4 to 9.

So Exodus 19, verses 4 to 9.

Exodus 19:4–9

So God here is commanding.

Moses to speak to Israel these words.

And so we continue.

So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all the words that the Lord had commanded him.

All the people answered together and said,

All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.

And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.

And the Lord said to Moses,

Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud,

that the people may hear when I speak with you,

and may also believe you forever.

So in reading this,

we get a bit of a glimpse that there's a relationship going on.

God saved the people from slavery,

400 years of slavery,

and now he wants to give them a new life.

So if we can have our first point.

Second point, actually.

Thanks.

God's intention through Israel's salvation

is to create a new human race

who will live in freedom

like in the Garden of Eden.

So this is what's happening here.

And let's look back at verse 4 to 9.

Here it says,

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians

and how I bore you on eagles' wings

and brought you to myself.

So God carried them

almost like an eagle would carry the little baby eagles

on their wings, on their back,

and carry them to safety.

And he says that he brought you to myself.

God brought Israel to himself.

And now therefore,

if you will indeed obey my voice

and keep my covenant,

you shall be my treasured possession

among all peoples.

So just pause here.

The word treasured possession

is not God saying,

Israel, you will be my little sweetheart.

You will be my little cupcake.

Treasured possession.

It's actually saying

something a little bit deeper than that.

In the ancient days,

the word treasured possession

is something that a god

would say to the king of a nation.

It would say to that king

in having a relationship

that the king would be personally chosen,

blessed, and protected by God.

So it's interesting that

this is the language that's communicated

between a god and a king.

And here we have

God,

the Lord,

Yahweh,

who's speaking to Israel.

So Israel is like a king,

essentially,

what it's trying to say.

And what do kings do

in the ancient days?

They rule.

They have dominion over the earth.

And so if that's starting

to ring a bell,

that's a good thing.

This is language

that is kind of communicating

that we're going back

to the Garden of Eden.

We're going to have

dominion over the earth.

And then kingdom of priests.

The kingdom of priests

refers to those

who serve in the presence

of God

and the holy nation.

God calls them

a holy nation.

And that's

for those who carry out

God's likeness

or God's image

in all the earth.

So we see that

God's relationship with them

is quite special.

God's intention

through Israel's salvation

is to create

a new human race

who will live in freedom

like in the Garden of Eden.

If I can have

the second point, Andrew.

So false gods

are selected

by broken people

because they claim

to bring power

and success.

God mercifully

gathers broken people

to restore them

to life.

So there's a big

difference here.

The way that

false gods operate

and the way that

the God of Israel,

the creator of all

the earth,

operates.

And so God

commands his people

to not have other gods

because if they do that,

they'll go back

into slavery.

And it's tempting

because they promise

success

and they promise power.

But the God of Israel,

God mercifully

gathers broken people

to restore them

to life.

So we see here

that God

gives Israel

a similar mission

as he gave Adam.

And I just want

to point out

one more thing here.

It says,

Now therefore,

if you will

indeed obey my voice

and keep my covenant,

you shall be

my treasured possession

among all peoples,

for all the earth

is mine.

For all the earth

is mine.

If you remember,

we just did a series

in Genesis,

one to the beginning

of chapter 12.

And in Genesis 1,

the great commission

that is in Genesis 1,

or we call it

the creation mandate,

is that human beings

are to be fruitful

and multiply

and fill the earth.

And here,

God is gathering a people.

He's giving them a land

so that they can be

image bearers

in his land.

But his plan

is beyond the land.

He says,

All the earth

is mine.

So God's plan

is to fill the earth.

Again,

just like in Genesis 1.

Okay,

so we have this

relationship happening

between Israel and God,

and now God wants them

to obey him.

And that may not seem

to sit very easily with us.

So maybe an analogy

will help.

A few months ago,

I got engaged.

And I promise

I don't read the whole Bible

in light of marriage,

but this is something

that I think is relevant,

is that

before we got engaged,

we had a conversation

something like,

I'm just paraphrasing here,

and this is not

word for word,

but, you know,

we share a mutual affection

for one another.

And, you know,

we love Jesus,

and we want to serve

Jesus together

for the rest of our lives.

And we both agree on this,

and this is likely

to look like

vocational ministry.

Are you okay with that?

Yes, I am.

Okay.

And then we talk about,

you know,

I asked Renee

if she would want

to marry me,

and she said yes.

Okay.

So we have this

illustration.

Let's look at

verses 4 to 6 again

from chapter 19.

You yourselves

have seen

what I did

to the Egyptians,

and how I bore you

on eagles' wings

and brought you

to myself.

Now therefore,

if you will indeed

obey my voice

and keep my covenant,

you shall be

my treasured possession

among all peoples,

for all the earth

is mine.

And you shall be to me

a kingdom of priests

and a holy nation.

These are the words

that you shall speak

to the people of Israel.

So we see here

that God is having

this relationship.

He's establishing

a clarity

about what the relationship

is going to look like

with Israel.

Okay.

So God is going

to be king,

and Israel is going

to be the holy nation,

the kingdom of priests.

And so they're

establishing clarity here

and expectations,

what this relationship

will look like.

Okay,

and then we continue.

What is Israel's response?

Let's look at verse 8.

It says,

all the people,

all of Israel,

answered together

and said in one voice,

all that the Lord

has spoken,

we will do.

And Moses reported

these words

of the people

to the Lord.

So we see God

makes a proposal

to Israel.

Israel says,

yes,

we will do it.

We will be

your people

and you will be

our God.

And so

this is the

kind of engagement

picture,

and then we move

to Exodus 20.

So let's turn there,

Exodus 20,

and we're on

the wedding day,

so to speak.

So let's read here.

And God spoke

all these words saying,

I am the Lord,

your God,

who brought you

out of the land

of Egypt,

out of the house

of slavery.

So just pause here

in verse 2.

We see that God

is mentioning

the two people

who are part

of this relationship.

It says,

I am the Lord,

your God,

and you,

referring to Israel.

So he's communicating

this is what's

going to happen.

This is what I did.

This is our relationship.

This is the nature

of our relationship.

And this is quite

similar to when

on my wedding day

with Renee,

I'm going to say,

I, Jonathan,

take you,

Renee,

to be my lawfully

wedded wife

and vice versa.

And so we're

establishing that covenant.

We're saying,

these are the parties

that are involved

in this relationship.

But now back

to the text here.

In verse 3,

we see,

you shall have

no other gods

before me.

And this is a stipulation.

This is God's expectation

in the relationship.

And on our wedding day,

we're going to say

something similar like,

for better,

for worse,

for richer,

for poorer,

in sickness

and in health.

And those are the promises,

the vows that we're making

to one another

to establish our relationship.

So,

this text is talking about

having no other gods

before me.

And this is a stipulation.

But what does God mean

exactly by

no other gods

before me?

Like,

does he mean

instead of me?

Or does he mean

ahead of me?

Or next to me?

Think of it this way.

you who are husbands

in the room,

if your wife

would come to you

at the end of the day

and would say,

honey,

there's this man

who,

you know,

that I met at work

or at the mall

or something

and he wants to be

my husband as well,

would he be okay

if he was

my husband

instead of you?

And the answer

would be no.

Could he be

my husband

ahead of you?

No.

Could he be

my husband

next to you?

No.

So the answer is no.

There is no other

husband in the picture.

I am your husband.

You are my wife.

We are together.

And this is our covenant.

This is what we've established.

Okay.

So,

okay,

so we're talking

about gods here.

And in our modern age,

like,

we understand

that there were

gods back then.

And there are

other religions today.

But, like,

how does this work

in our day and age?

Other gods

before me.

and in our

relationship

with God.

Well,

there are all sorts

of different gods

these days

that we don't

necessarily call gods.

But we refer

to them as gods

because they have

a certain power

and a certain promise.

Whether it's

the god

in our modern day

of success

that if we do

certain exercises

or we do

certain

vows

to certain

people,

we follow

certain rich people,

we will be rich

as well,

we will be successful

or the god

of sexuality

or the god

of power,

of influence,

or of convenience.

And we live

by them

and God

calls us

to a strict

devotion to him

for our good.

So,

you might be thinking

despite the fact

that God says,

or the Bible says,

that we are

being saved

from slavery

into freedom,

it still doesn't

really make sense

that freedom

involves following

commandments.

I'm not too sure

I follow.

Okay,

so let's just

look at this.

Maybe I can give

an analogy

that will help.

If I were to

babysit one of my

little nephews,

I were to bring

him to the park,

we would arrive

at the park

and we're there

to go play

in the park,

right?

So,

we get there

and I would say,

okay,

little nephew,

don't run

in the rose bush,

watch for the beehive,

don't get bit

by the dog,

et cetera,

et cetera,

right?

Because we're there

to play in the park,

we're there

to enjoy the park

and we won't enjoy

the park

if we have to go

to the hospital

because the bees

and the dogs

bit you

and all that,

right?

So,

for maximum performance

in the park,

we want to have fun,

we want to take advantage

of these 30 minutes

that we're going

to spend in the park

or maybe hour,

let's just make sure

we play in the park

and we don't go

outside of the park

where it's dangerous.

Okay,

good.

And we're good?

Okay,

so,

what this is saying

is that

when we sin,

we sort of lose touch

with the purpose

of life.

We sort of lose

touch with the purpose

of life

and we need

proper boundaries

because our inner explorer

will be drawn

to all sorts

of other things

around the park

or in the peripheries

of life

that just want

to destroy us.

And so,

here's the point

of God giving us

commandments.

God provides us

moral perimeters

to live by

but the question remains,

what is the purpose

of life?

Can we have the next

slide,

Andrew?

We like to think

we can create

our own purpose

in life

apart from God's will

but we will run

away from his commandments

towards our

re-enslavement.

We like to think

we can create

our own purpose

in life

apart from God's will

but we run

away from his commandments

towards re-enslavement.

A little while back

I watched a video

on email,

it's one of those

chain emails

that gets sent around

and I try to watch them

because some of them

are actually really funny.

Anyway,

this video,

there was a cheetah

who was stuck

in this life trap.

I think it was the paw

that was stuck

in the trap

and the cat

was just going everywhere

and there were

these two forest rangers

or safari park rangers

that were trying

to free the cheetah

and they had these poles

and they were just

kind of holding

around the neck,

holding on this leg

until they can get

the trap open

so that the cat

can be free.

Now,

I was thinking like,

oh my goodness,

this cat is angry.

This cat is going to like

shred these guys

with the claws

and these guys

are done with

if the cat is set free.

Like,

what are they doing?

And so anyway,

they get closer and closer

and as soon as

they get the trap open,

the cat is ready

to be released

except that they still

have the poles

around their necks

and I'm just,

I'm kind of losing it.

And anyway,

the cat is just furious

and they finally get

the poles

with the little straps

around off the neck,

off the paw

and we're ready

for action.

And I would think

that people would try

to poke the cat

and say like,

go away,

go away,

don't attack us.

But the reality is

that they didn't need

to do that.

The cheetah just ran

for dear life.

The cheetah went

and,

well,

the video didn't really

show what the cheetah did

but I assume

that the cheetah went

to go be a cheetah again.

You know,

go around the pond,

drink some water,

eat some food,

do a bit of hunting,

hang around with other cats

and that's kind of

what I assumed

out of the picture.

But here's why

I bring up this illustration.

Unlike the cheetah,

we don't run towards

doing what God

frees us to do.

See,

if it was just us,

we would just be set free

and then we'd probably

stick around,

you know,

smell the trap

and hang around

with the forest rangers.

The Bible uses words

like enslavement,

modern terms,

we talk about addiction.

For people who are

walking to be set free

from different addictions,

whether it's from alcohol

or drugs

or sex

or money,

it's not as simple

as just being told

that you're set free.

We always run back.

We have these

desires within us

that are shaped

by things of this world

and God wants

to set us free

from the things

that captivate us,

things that hold us

in bondage.

Okay,

so in the biblical narrative

as we've seen so far,

the problem is that

the Israelites'

freedom from Egypt

is not sufficient.

They're saved by God

but they still need

to know

how to live.

And so,

can we have

the next slide?

Is there a slide

before that?

Okay,

I might have missed it.

So,

I'll just say it.

God's command,

God's commandments

reflect his character

whereby only God

can fulfill the law.

The question is not

what will help me

but who will help me?

See,

in the nature

of God's command,

God gives Israel

his commandments

and Israel is not,

you know,

better than everyone else.

God saves them

because he's merciful,

not because they're good.

And that is a picture,

Israel is a picture

of the whole world

that whatever Israel does,

we would,

anyone who's outside

of Israel

would do the same.

Israel sins,

anyone else would sin

at God's commandments.

So,

God gives us commandments

that reflect him.

They kind of articulate

his character

for us

because his commandments

are holy

and they're so holy

that only God

can fulfill them.

So,

the question is not

what will help me

but who will help me?

See,

we are creatures

who are driven

by desire,

by love

and we find those things

in things that don't

fulfill us

and the Bible

will make the claim

that because we're

made in the image

of God,

only God

can fulfill us,

only God

can satisfy us,

only God

because God

is personal

and,

you know,

art is not,

sciences are not,

mathematics are not,

those things are great.

They can be

false gods

who will drive us

into slavery

and make us more empty

unless God

is there to save us.

So,

God's commandments

reflect his character

whereby only he

can fulfill the law.

The question is not

what will help me

but who will help me?

Now,

what do I mean by this?

When we look at the law,

we look beyond the law

to the law giver

and that is God.

God is the law giver

and we look to a God

of grace

who sets us free

and gives us parameters

to stay free

to continue in freedom

and so God's laws

are grace to us

yet we can't

follow through.

We can't do them perfectly.

We still fall short

and so for this reason

we need a Messiah.

We need a God man,

someone who is a human

yet has God's zeal

for holiness

and so God sends

his son Jesus

for us

to live

the life

that we should have lived

but we couldn't

because we are

too sinful.

Jesus comes,

he lives a perfect life

and he walks perfectly

in holiness

before God

fulfilling all of his commandments

and he also taught us

the first commandment

that we're looking at today

though the words here say

you shall have no other gods

before me.

Andrew,

can we have the next slide?

Jesus taught us

the most important commandment

is hear Israel

the Lord our God

the Lord is one

and you shall have

no other God

or you shall love

the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your mind

and with all your strength.

See,

Jesus

having lived

this life

he

also

taught this commandment

but taught

the positive implication

of the commandment

to love God

not just avoid

other gods

but to

have God

that's what the commandment

is implied

to love God

and so

how can we love God?

Well,

we just look at him

we think of God

we think of his acts

we think of what he has done

for us

see God has done

everything possible

for us

to be in a right relationship

with him

when we could not

God does it

and God

provides

pardon through his son

on the cross

that when we believe in him

we are forgiven our sins

and he also gives us

power to live

a life

a new life

that reflects

his holiness

he pours out

his Holy Spirit

to those who trust

in Jesus

and so this is our hope

the hope is that

Jesus has done it all

that we look to Jesus

we fall in love

with Jesus

because he loved us first

we follow Jesus

because of the power

that he

imparts

to us

so now if you're

a Christian

here

and you might be

wondering why

we teach the

Ten Commandments

we just started

a series today

we're going to go

for the next ten weeks

looking at the Ten Commandments

and you might be wondering

like why

the Ten Commandments

like I'm a spiritual

Christian

I'm not a

law Christian

Andrew can we have

the next slide

can we say this together

whoever keeps

his commandments

abides in God

and God

in him

but

sorry

okay

what this is saying

is that

when we're in a relationship

with God

when we love God

we reflect him

and by this we know

that when we follow him

that his spirit

is the spirit

who is working

in and through us

and so to be

a spiritual Christian

is to be a Christian

who follows God

who follows his laws

not to be in right

relationship with him

but because we're in right

relationship with him

so I would invite you

to stand

at this point

and we're going to have

a closing prayer

so please stand

so some of you

might not have given

your life to Jesus yet

but

you want to

there's something

today that

really interests you

this could be

a conversion prayer

for you

and

either way

this is a prayer

for Christians

as we walk

with God

on a daily basis

so let's pray this together

or let's say this together

Lord

though your word

commands me

to love you

with all my being

you know

the propensity

of my heart

is to leave you

out of my life

in your mercy

write your law

upon my heart

turn me to Jesus

the one

whom the law

directs me

to worship

pour out

your Holy Spirit

upon

so that I may

be inclined

to keep it

all the days

of my life

through Jesus Christ

our Lord

Amen

just remaining standing

Father we're

thankful for

your grace

that you've shown

Lord you've given us

your son

so that we may

be made right

with you

so that we may

continue in this

commission

that you've created

human beings

to be a part of

to fill the earth

to be creative

and to do

your will

and to reflect

you

and to enjoy

you

Lord would you

teach us that

today

would you teach

us that

in Jesus name

Amen