The First Commandment: “You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me”

30 Jan The First Commandment: “You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me”

Posted at 15:03h in English Service by

Pastor Vincent - 5 February 2015

The Person Of Jesus, The Word Of God

"You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” [Jn 5:39-40] Often, we get so involved into doing the “Works” for God. We preach the gospel when it comes to the weekly scheduled time, we pray because we know that we should seek Lord, we serve in the ministry because we are put in that serving places… But often, after doing all that we’re doing, we have also become less wise, losing more grace, increasingly unable to grasp the sense of Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus said - You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. You cannot believe anyone’s writing when you do not have the soul of the writing, i.e. Christ. In another word, have we been so absorbed into the visible works and routines even in church-serving, busy schedule of our daily lives that we become less of Christ in doing them? Have we lost the person of Jesus in these? If Jesus is to live in your roles, positions, fields and family, what will he do? He has always been in obedience to the Father, yielding His sovereignty to the Father and following His will in saving the lost sheep - as we continue to know the Word, are we also becoming more like Jesus? Come to have a life with Jesus today. The part of your life which you keep for yourself is also the very place Satan stays to kill, steal and destroy the relationship you have in God. Yield your sovereignty to God instead by connecting, seeing and hearing from the unseen God in every ways and in every things that you do. You’ll be in awed of the infinite love and strength this Father-Son relationship gives you, just like the relationship between the Father God and Jesus. "And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me”. [Jn 5:37]

From Series: All English Service, Topical Messages | More Messages from Pastor Vincent

Download Video     Download Video     View Notes

More Messages Associated With "Knowing Jesus"...

Powered by Series Engine

<Ex 20> 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.

 

 

2 questions:

(1) What does this commandment teach me about God?

(2) What does this commandment teach me about our Christian response and duty?

 

“First” commandment: Most important >>> Foundation to other commands

 

First commandment: The object of our faith; are we worshipping the right God?

 

“What does the Lord require in the first commandment?”

  • HEIDELBERG CATECHISM: “What does the Lord require in the first commandment?” [Q&A 94]
    • That I, not wanting to endanger my own salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, sorcery, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I rightly know the only true God, trust Him alone, and look to God for every good thing humbly and patiently, and love, fear, and honor God with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against God’s will in any way.
  • Challenges faced today in obeying this first commandment: Pluralism, relativism and liberalism
  • “No other gods before me” may sound like God just wants to be the Number 1 God among many other ‘gods’, but no!
  • “Before me”: Besides me, to my face, in my presence

 

Idolatry is a BIG problem for mankind

  • Idolatry is the Number 1 enemy of our relationship with God
  • It’s so hard for the human heart to stay single-hearted
  • HEIDELBERG CATECHISM: “What is idolatry?” [Q&A 95]
    • Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed Himself in the Word.
  • 2 tests:
    • (1) What do you love most?
    • (2) What do you trust most? 

 

Exclusive devotion

  • “Forsaking all others”
  • Similar to exclusive relationship in marriage
  • Problem: We may not reject God altogether, but we also want other ‘gods’
  • God is a jealous God <Ex 20:5>
  • We are called to worship God with our everything <cf. Lk 10:27>
  • Though salvation is God’s free gift, following Jesus will cost us everything <cf. <Lk 14:25-33; Mt 16:24-26>

 

 Reflection

  1. Share about your struggles with idolatry. What are your idols? How can you set them in their right places (e.g. let money really be a ‘tool’ instead of ‘master’), and not let them usurp God’s place in your heart? How can you test whether you have succeeded in so doing?
  2. How have the pluralism, relativism and liberalism of our times challenged your obedience to the First Commandment? How can you restore the exclusive and singlehearted devotion to God? Are you willing to exclusively worship God even if it costs you everything?
Print page
Avatar
Preacher Hui Jun
[email protected]

Huijun serves as Secretary of The Blessed RUN Ministries. She is also the Preacher at The Life Church and Missions (Singapore). She graduated from Singapore Bible College and currently lives in Singapore with her husband, Chengji.

No Comments