First 3 Commandments Series

Last week we noted from Exodus 19 how God prepared the Israelites for His presence and His Words. The Israelites consecrated themselves, kept themselves pure in the sight of God, for three days to receive God and His Laws. For the next few weeks, we will study these Laws known as the 10 Commandments. Open your Bibles to Exodus 20……. Today we will note the first 3 Commandments.

Let us again take a moment in quiet personal prayer to prepare ourselves to hearing God’s Word; let us quietly ask Jesus Christ to cleanse our hearts and yield to the Holy Spirit……

Read along with me now and hear God’s voice through Exodus 20:1-11…….

The 10 Commandments really are self-explanatory. Let us look at them right away through the eyes of a Believer of Jesus Christ and note what we need to do in our lives.

But first of all, how does Exodus 20 v1-2 relate to us Christians?

v1 – And God spoke….. the Hebrews believed in God and listened…. what about us?

a. We Christians believe in the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

b. The question today is not “Does God still speak?” but “Am I really listening to what God is saying today?” Besides the Bible, how else can God speak to us today?? – God can speak to us through the Holy Spirit within us and through other Believers! God speaks through His Creation! God speaks through people because they are all created with God’s “image”!

c. God also states to the Israelites “I am the Lord your God!” Lord is who we bow down to and follow! Do we live our lives under God’s Lordship? Most of the time, we do not place everything under the Lordship of Jesus Christ! And so, because Jesus Christ is Lord of all….

Lets us always be mindful of our sins and confess them to Jesus and recommit our obedience to the Lordship of Christ.

d. God also reminded the Israelites that He took them out of slavery in Egypt. As Christians, what should we constantly remind ourselves of what God has done for us?? – Romans 6:18 states that Christians have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness!

Our Scripture of the Week is v3; before we discuss it, let’s answer this question; What is a god (G/ g) to people?? – something or someone people worship! and so….

v3 states……… at least 3 things to note:

• people may follow other gods than the real one!

• there is only One True God!

• We need to reject other gods besides Jesus Christ!

We must bow down to and worship only Jesus Christ, not to any other person or creature! We must be discerning because today in the guise of “Christianity”, people are making disciples of themselves not Jesus Christ; we must follow people who leads us to worship Jesus Christ alone, not an organization, not a denomination, not a certain person!

v4: focus is on worshiping a thing man-made = an idol

What 3 things can be indicators of what we worship?? – time, money, and knowledge! Do our calendars, checkbooks, and libraries point to the One True God? Let us remind ourselves of asking this question whenever we open our calendars, wallets, check books, our computers and other books! Do our calendars, checkbooks, and libraries point to the One True God?

Anything or any activity we spend more time on, more money on, more learning of rather than God is an idol which we must say less to! this does not mean we all have to be hermits for God calls us to live in the world; what God is telling us is to see God in the things that we do; and if really does not connect with God, we must part from it!

What man-made “idols” can people have today?? – there are so many!!!!

v5-6: Why should God be jealous if we bow down and worship idols??

God created us and He deserves our attention! And, does God have a right to punish and to love people?? The Creator God has a right to punish and love people but not randomly but with a purpose! A complementary truth for us to note in the New Testament is Hebrews 12:6 - the Lord disciplines the one he loves.

v7: NIV: "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God..” Other Translations: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain….”

The Hebrew Word for vain is shawv = deceitful, deception, emptiness, falsehood, vanity, worthless.

James 5:12a…. states “Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else.”

What are some examples today of misusing the Name of the Lord??