Series: The Big 10
(based on a series by James Merritt)
“WHO’S NUMBER ONE?”
EXODUS 20:1-3
OPEN
This coming Friday, we celebrate Independence Day – the day that the Declaration of Independence was first signed and ratified. Its words still inspire and give our patriotic spirits a lift when we read it.
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Those are powerful words from the beginning of our nation. They cause our hearts to swell with patriotic pride and the causes of liberty and freedom.
Today, we continue with the second message in our series called “The Big 10.” As God met with his chosen people to form a great nation, he spoke to them some words. In the original language of the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments are referred to as the “Ten Words” or “Ten Sayings.” They establish the framework for liberty and freedom in everyone’s life.
James Madison, fourth president and chief architect of the Constitution is credited with saying, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization not on the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
Today, we look at the first commandment. Ex. 20:1-3 – 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.” In this passage, God is challenging us: Who’s #1?
To come to a clearer understanding of what God is saying here, we’re going to ask and answer three questions. These questions and their answers will help us to integrate this first command into our lives.
WHO IS THIS GOD?
Before God tells me what to do, he tells me who he is and then tells me what he has done.
1. He is the God who is present. That word LORD might be in all capital letters in your Bible. It’s the personal name that God gave to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3. God wanted Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people out of slavery. When Moses the people would want to know the name of the one who sent him, God told him to use his personal covenant name – I Am.
In the original language it’s a term that means “I am the being One” or “I am who I am” or “I will be what I will be.” It signifies God’s unchanging character. His own name means that God is absolutely faithful to his word and to who he is. God says, “I deserve first place in your life because I am the I AM.”
2. He is the God who is all-powerful. When God gave these commands, he had just demonstrated his absolute and exclusive lordship by miraculously delivering his people from bondage in Egypt.
The 10 plagues that God brought upon Egypt before his miraculous rescue were calculated to show that Jehovah God was supreme and that the deities worshiped by the Egyptians were nothings. Each plague was targeted to a specific area or object considered sacred by the Egyptian people – the Nile River, cattle, the sun and Pharaoh himself.
It was Jehovah God who unmasked these false gods. It was Jehovah God who opened the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape. It was Jehovah God who brought them out of the land of Egypt. No wonder God would rightfully demand, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
3. He is the God who is personal. We think of the 10 Commandments as written collectively for everybody in every generation. I’m just one a gazillion people to whom God sent them.
But in the original language, they’re structured in such way that they are extremely intimate and personal. They’re given as an individual appeal. Each of the 10 Commandments is expressed in the second person singular. It’s not second person plural – the collective “you” referring to a group of people or as we say down South. “y’all.” It’s like God is saying, “You, Michael Luke, you put no other gods before me.” As if God wrote them personally to everyone in this room. The wording isn’t “it” and “them” but “I” and “you.”
God is the personal God of intimate relationship. God is saying, “I’m not just a lord. I am THE LORD. And I’m not just the LORD. I am YOUR LORD. I shouldn’t go through life believing in a God or even believing in the Lord. I have to go through life believing God is my God and God is my Lord.
4. He is the God who preserves. God says, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” I rescued you. I delivered you. I saved you.
For 430 years, the Israelites were in Egypt. For a majority of their time there, they were slaves who were treated with disdain; who were treated cruelly. But in Exodus 3, God comes to Moses and tells him that he wants him to lead his people out of bondage.
Ex. 3:7-8 – The LORD said, :I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
The words are important. God saw the affliction of his people, he heard their cries of pain and oppression, he knew their suffering, and came down to deliver them. God took initiative to rescue Israel from bondage of slavery in Egypt. He also took initiative to rescue us from sin.
There was nothing we could do to save ourselves so God came to deliver us. Phil. 2:6-8 tells us that Jesus “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! That’s why Paul would write in Col. 1:13-14 – For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
5. He is the God who is praiseworthy. God is unlike anything or anyone else. He must not be treated flippantly or casually. He is as angels proclaim around his throne holy, holy, holy – separated from everything course, vulgar or sinful. He loves you more than life itself but he’s not your buddy to pal around with. He’s not the old man upstairs.
He is the God of power and might. He is loving, gracious, and merciful. Because of who he is, he is worthy of our praise. The Israelites understood this. As they stood on the dry banks on the other side of the Red Sea after watching God destroy the Egyptian army with a wall of water after letting them pass safely through, they worshiped him in song.
Here’s an excerpt. Ex. 15:1-2 – Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.
6. He is the God who proclaims. He speaks. He communicates. He voices his love. He declares his will. He issues warnings. Since the beginning of the universe, God spoke his Creation into existence and speaks to his Creation.
The 10 Commandments are the voice of God. They express God’s will and expectations for his people in a succinct way. They are concise and understandable. They remove any guesswork. They’re straightforward. “You shall not steal.” It’s hard to interpret that any other way.
John 1:1, 14 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The writer of Hebrews tells us in Heb. 1:1-2 – In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
God says I want to be your God because of who I am. I want to be your God because I am where I am. And I want to be your God because of what I do.
WHAT DOES HE WANT?
The primary system of religious belief for the people who lived in Moses’ day was polytheism. The polytheist says, “There are many gods. Worship any one you want or worship as many as you want.” The Greeks and Romans, the barbarians in Northern Europe, and most of the ancient cultures were polytheistic. They believed that there were gods of seas and rivers, gods of the forests and mountains, gods of harvest and war and love and on and on.
This command was revolutionary for its time. God is not saying that other gods should rank behind him in importance. He is not saying we should worship him as the dominant god. He is saying that we should worship him as the only God.
This command is about the exclusive lordship of God. It deals with the issue of ultimate authority. Who is going to have the final say in our lives? Who is going to determine what is true? Who is going to decide what is right and wrong? Who decides how we spend our money? It’s useless to consider any of the other commands or even the rest of Scripture unless we acknowledge that God and God alone has this authority over us.
Let’s take that word “first” and make an acrostic from it to get a better understanding of this concept. He wants me to put him first in everything. If we believe that God cares about us, we must believe that God cares about what we do.
F – FINANCES. Finances can be an idol. If I’m going to put God first, it’s going to have to start here. I’ve got put God first in my finances.
How you handle your money is one of the most spiritual issues you will ever face. When God and your money go toe to toe, who ends up winning? Which one captures your heart? In Mt. 6:24, Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and money.”
There’s nothing wrong with having money. There’s nothing wrong with even having lots of money. The problem comes when we begin to serve our money. Our money can become our god.
The way we spend our money is the acid test of where our priorities lie. Your checkbook reveals what’s really important to you. Imagine bringing all of your bank and credit card statements to church. Imagine pulling them out in a big paper envelope and handing them to the person in front of you. Imagine them looking through your receipts and trying to figure out how you lived. Chances are that by looking through your receipts and statements, they could figure out where your priorities lie.
Your spending doesn’t just reveal your priorities. Your spending sets your priorities. Jesus says in Mt. 6:21 – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The heart follows the wallet. That’s why it’s so important to put God first in the area of your finances.
Deut. 14:23 – “Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.”
The Living Bible gives this paraphrase: “The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives” Why should I tithe? It’s not because God needs the money. The purpose of tithing is to teach you to put God first.
I – INTERESTS. God wants you to have hobbies. He’s given all of you different interests. You may like to collect things. You may like to play and watch sports. You may like gadgets and gizmos. You may like cooking, or sewing, or cars. None of these are wrong, but any of these can become idols. We need to put God first ahead of our interests – in our fun times, our play times, our amusements, recreations, and hobbies.
1 Cor. 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
I used to think that I worshiped God on Sunday mornings. Worship equaled church. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. I can eat to the glory of God. I can golf to the glory of God. I can collect stamps to the glory of God. How? In everything I do, I’ve got to put God first.
R- RELATIONSHIPS. My relationships with other people communicate my love for God. 1 Jn. 4:20-21 – If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Any time we’ve violated our neighbor by lying or stealing, we’ve broken the first commandment. Any time we’ve hurt our neighbor by murder or adultery, we’ve broken the first commandment.
If we’re putting God first, then all of our relationships will fall into one of two categories. The first category is comprised of the people we choose to be around because they draw us close to the Lord. The second category is comprised of those people who can bring them closer to the Lord.
S – SELF. You can be your own god. Thousands of years ago, kings used to make idols that looked like themselves. The kings would actually get down and bow before their own image. It’s possible to make an idol of yourself.
If you want to put God first, you’ve got to put him ahead of yourself. In Mt. 16:24-25, Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
Jesus teaches that true satisfaction and joy comes in life from putting God ahead of us. Mt. 10:38-39 – “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The most fulfilled people in the world are those who have realized that there is a God, and it’s not them.
T – TIME. The things that comprise a person’s schedule and calendar reveal a lot about what has first place in their life. What do we schedule in? What do we schedule out? I’m not talking about just showing up at a church building every Sunday – although that is included. One day a week is not what God wants.
Suppose I told Anna, “Honey, I’m going to be absolutely and totally faithful to you one day out of the week. No, I mean it. That day is all yours. And you’re welcome!” Do you think she’d be okay with that arrangement? We all know the answer to that one, don’t we?
If I’m going to give more than a few hours one day out of my week to God, I’ve got to start scheduling time reserved just for him just like I schedule every event that’s important to me.
Jesus set the example in this area for us. Mk. 1:35 – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. As you read through the Gospels, you find that Jesus regularly practiced getting away and getting with his Father.
Before the days of modern navigational equipment, ships would cross the Atlantic Ocean using two separate compasses. One was fixed to the deck where the steersman could see it and try to keep the ship on course. The other was fastened to the top of one of the masts. Often, a sailor would climb the mast to check to see if they were still on course.
On one voyage a passenger asked the captain why they had two compasses. The captain said, “This is an iron vessel, and the compass on the desk is often influenced by its surroundings. The compass on the masthead is above the influence of what’s around it. We steer by the compass above because it’s more reliable. It’s safer.” What’s guiding your life? The incorruptible nature of God or the wisdom of this world?
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Jehovah God has just as much competition for our hearts today as ever before. We often make the mistake that Satan is anti-religion. He’s not. He doesn’t even mind our worshiping Jehovah as long as we mix in a few other gods for good measure. In fact, Satan doesn’t mind our choosing good or even doing good sometimes – as long as we’re doing it because we think it’s a good idea. What Satan objects to is our doing good because we have put Jehovah first.
We don’t worship Mars, the Roman god of war today. There are no temples to him like in the days of the Roman Empire. But how much do we put our trust in the military might of our nation that we can outgun any other nation in the world.
We don’t worship Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sex and fertility. I’ve never seen a temple for her in any place I’ve traveled. But I can assure you that a great many people do worship sex.
A god is anything in which we put our trust and our focus. It can be a job, a relationship, a political system, money and even our selves. It’s anything that we look to as our ultimate source of strength. And it doesn’t matter if we refer to it as a god.
I don’t need other gods because with him I have everything I need! Let him fill your heart, mind and soul and when you do, you will possess his grace. Speaking of heart, mind and soul, this is an invitation to love God. You shall have no other gods before me so love me.
Isn’t that what a marriage is? Isn’t that what happens at a wedding? A bride and groom stand up in front of an audience in the presence of God and before a minister and say I will have no other because I love you more than any other. And’s that what we say to God. I love you more than any other – heart, soul, mind and strength. God says love me as I have loved you.
1. Without an intimate knowledge of God, the natural response to this first command is, “So what?” Life truly has no meaning without God. Why shouldn’t I lie, cheat and steal? Why shouldn’t I live any way I want if I don’t know God?
If I don’t know you, I probably won’t give a lot of heed to what you say. You can tell me something until you’re blue in the face but if I don’t know your character, if I don’t know your intentions, if I don’t trust your word, I’m not going to pay any attention to what you say.
George Washington is considered the father of our nation. While I respect what he did and am grateful for what he did, I do not love George Washington and I don’t feel compelled to model my life after his.
On the other hand, Tommy Luke is my dad. He raised me and has poured his life into mine. The respect and love I have for Tommy Luke are the results of his commitment and love for me. So it is with Jehovah God.
2. We all have an absolute. Everyone’s life is ultimately determined by some supreme value or authority whether they’re conscious of it or not.
Notice that the first command doesn’t say, “You shall believe in a god”? We were created with a need for God. There is a God-shaped hole within us that cannot be filled with anything other than the one true God.
Not only does every person have a need for God but every person has a god. A god is whatever has first place in your life. In every person’s heart, there is a throne; and on every throne there is a god. The only question is whether that god is true or false.
We seem to have pushed God to the perimeters of our lives but it becomes convenient at times to acknowledge that God is out there. You never know. Someday we might face a problem or difficulty that we can’t handle on our own so we dust God off and bring him back closer to the center of our lives. We live as practical atheists, calling on God only when we have a need; otherwise God is ignored as non-existent.
3. We will become like the God we worship. Whatever is most important to us will determine the direction we go. If our god is alcohol, we become a drunkard. If our god is a drug, we become a drug addict. If our god is food, we become a glutton. If our god is materialism, we’ll never be satisfied with anything. There will never be enough money, possessions or property. If our god is popularity, we’ll always be looking for another adoring fan or another pat on the back. What we worship determines our destiny.
CLOSE
Getting this first commandment right is a lot like buttoning a shirt. If you start wrong, you’ll never get it right. If we get the 1st one, the other 9 will fall into place. It’s useless to consider any of the other commands or even the rest of Scripture unless we acknowledge that God and God alone has this authority over us.
Visualize a stone archway. The stone at the crown of the arch is called the keystone. It locks the other pieces into place. All of the other rocks depend on the keystone to hold them together.
The first command is God’s keystone for the remaining points of his commandments. The other nine have to be interpreted as applications of the first.
When the fourth commandment says to set aside one day a week to rest and reflect on God, The idea is that you’re not to allow work to become your god. The sixth commandment says that we’re not to murder. The precept is don’t let hatred be your god. Number seven says don’t commit adultery. God is not against sex. He created it and made us sexual beings. But he’s given us a channel in which to express our sexual drives - marriage. Satan has billed the sex god as sexual freedom. But God says it will lead to your destruction if you worship it. Numbers eight and ten say don’t steal and don’t covet. Don’t let things be your god.
Someone today may well say, “I know that God has said not to commit adultery but times have changed.” Times may well have changed but God hasn’t changed. God is who he is. He has always been who he is and he will always be who he is.
Stealing will always be wrong. Lying will always be wrong. Harming your neighbor will always be wrong because God is the great I AM. He is still I AM. He will never be He was.
He is the unchangeable reference point, the constant moral center, the pivot point for all decisions we make. So everything we do should start right here with this first commandment.
The God who spoke to Israel revealed himself in a more intimate way in the New Testament as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. In Mt. 28:19, Jesus taught us to baptize in name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In light of the teaching of the NT, we cannot follow this first command unless we consciously direct our worship to “God in three persons.”
There are people who believe that they don’t need Jesus Christ because they do their best to keep the 10 commandments and that’s all they need to do. We cannot ignore the claims of Jesus Christ and say that we worship the God of the Bible.
Jn. 5:22-23 – “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”
God’s commands and God’s Son gives me opportunity for response. Wow, God loves me! Wow! God wants a relationship with me. Wow! God has saved me! So how should I live from this day forward? I’ll put him first in everything.
(Taken from materials by Rick Atchley, Darryl Dash, Tom Ellsworth, Jack Cottrell, James Merritt, and LeRoy Lawson)
