Good idea: Pray and read through Exodus 20 today to see some context.
Let's Talk About The Two Roads Before Every Soul.. And Where They Lead A Person?
Finding True Happiness God's Way is what His Top Ten list is about. Yes,
The Father Certainly Has A Good Way For You.
And He Has Given To Us The Ten Commandments As A Gift -- He Has Given To Us Jesus As Well, His Indescribable Gift!
“Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments.” — Psalm 1 nkjv
The word blessed in Scripture can also be translated deeply happy, favored, or truly flourishing. Every human being longs for that kind of life. We all want peace instead of guilt, purpose instead of emptiness, and hope instead of despair.
Yet the Bible teaches that there are only two roads.
Jesus said:
“Enter by the narrow gate... because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” — Matthew 7:13–14
One road leads to eternal life with God. The other leads to destruction and everlasting separation from Him. One road ends in joy; the other in regret. One is marked by obedience and faith; the other by rebellion and self-rule.
There is no third path.
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’” ~ C.S. Lewis
Everything Your Heart Is Searching For Is Found in the Father's House
Many people assume that Christianity is restrictive, joyless, and dull. They imagine that God exists merely to spoil our fun.
But the opposite is true.
Sin promises freedom and delivers slavery. Christ calls us to surrender and gives us life.
Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the prodigal son (Gospel of Luke 15:11–24). The young man believed happiness lay far from his father's house. He chased pleasure, independence, and indulgence. Yet after wasting everything, he found himself bankrupt, starving, and ashamed.
When he returned home, he discovered that the very things he had been searching for were waiting there all along: the best robe, a feast, music, celebration, and, above all, the loving embrace of his father.
So it is with God.
Everything the human heart truly seeks—love, security, identity, forgiveness, joy, and lasting peace—is found in fellowship with our heavenly Father.
“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” ~ Augustine of Hippo
God’s Top Ten: Our Vertical Relationship with God and Our Horizontal Relationships with Others
Please turn with me to Exodus 20, where we find what may rightly be called God's perfect “Top Ten List”—the Ten Commandments.
Before we study this sacred text on any day, would you pray a simple prayer to Him.. something like...
Father, as I open up Your Word teach me. I acknowledge that it is not merely relevant to modern life for any of us—it is eternally right and absolutely true. All the way through it points to Jesus and You. Your Word is the final inerrorant authority for what we are to believe and how we are to live while here. Please teach us to think biblically by Your Spirit, rather than all emotionally, or culturally, or hyper politically. I need to know Jesus today. Please forgive me for breaking your laws, for sinning. I am not even sure how many times I have hurt you by sin. Rescue me today and change me from the inside out. Make me not only a hearer of Your Word, but an obedient doer of it wisely. Not all who try to do it are wise, but I want not misapplications with Your Word. Help me. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, regenerate me inside and conform me to the image of Your Son. I want good character like His so I can shine and help others know Him. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
God's Top Ten List Is Perfect
People are fascinated by “Top Ten” lists—top movies, top songs, top books, and top achievements. Such lists are based on opinions, votes, and shifting preferences.
But God has given humanity a Top Ten list that does not change.
There was no committee.
There was no public vote.
There was no debate.
The Ten Commandments are God's own words, written by His finger on tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18). They express His holy character and reveal His moral will for all people in every generation.
Because God is truth itself, His commandments are not suggestions or preferences. They are absolute, authoritative, and eternally right.
The Two Great Divisions of the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are beautifully organized into two sections.
The First Four Commandments: Our Vertical Relationship with God
The first four commandments deal with our relationship upward—with the Lord Himself.
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make or worship idols.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
These commandments teach us that God must occupy first place in our hearts, our worship, our speech, and our time.
Jesus summarized this section when He said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” — Matthew
Everything begins vertically. If our relationship with God is not right, every other relationship in life will eventually suffer.
The Final Six Commandments: Our Horizontal Relationships with Others
The last six commandments deal with our relationships outward—with other people.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet.
These commandments teach us how to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Jesus summarized this section by saying:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” — The Gospel of Matthew
The Ten Commandments therefore form a divine cross:
- Vertical: Love God supremely.
- Horizontal: Love others sacrificially.
When these two dimensions intersect, life is ordered according to God's design.
The Fifth Commandment: The First Human Relationship God Addresses
The very first commandment concerning human relationships is:
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” — Book of Exodus
This is profoundly significant.
Before God addresses murder, adultery, theft, lying, or coveting, He begins with the family.
Why?
Because the family is the foundational institution of human society.
God Established the Family
The family was not invented by culture, government, or public opinion.
God Himself created it when He united Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:24).
Marriage is God's sacred covenant between one man and one woman for life, and the family flows from that union.
Since God created the family, only God has the authority to define it.
And because the family reflects His design, Satan fiercely opposes it and seeks to distort, divide, and destroy it.
Marriage Reflects Christ and His Church
The Christian marriage relationship is more than a social arrangement—it is a living illustration of the gospel.
In Epistle to the Ephesians, husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.
Wives are called to respond with loving respect and willing submission to their husbands as unto the Lord.
Thus, God says to the watching world:
- “The sacrificial love of this husband reflects Christ's love for His church.”
- “The devoted response of this wife reflects the church's love for Christ.”
Marriage is therefore a visible testimony of the invisible relationship between Christ and His redeemed people.
Honor Means to Give Weight
The Hebrew word translated “honor” carries the idea of giving weight, significance, and value.
To honor one's parents means to treat them with respect, gratitude, and seriousness.
This commandment reminds us that authority begins in the home, and that reverence for God is often cultivated through learning respect for parents.
The Second Epistle to Timothy warns that in the last days one mark of moral decay will be that people are “disobedient to parents.”
A society that loses respect for parents is a society unraveling at its foundation.
God's Order Is Always Right
At times God's commands may conflict with human reasoning or cultural trends.
Yet the ultimate answer is simple and sufficient: God has spoken.
Because God is the source of all truth, since all truth is God's truth, whatever He says is true.. whether we fully understand it or not. We can trust Him and the Bible.
His commands are not burdensome restrictions but loving boundaries established by a wise and holy Father who knows what is best.
As generations faithfully honor God's design for marriage, family, and obedience, His blessing is often passed from one generation to the next.
“You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth by the Master Craftsman.” ~ Max Lucado
The Purpose of God's Law
The Ten Commandments were never given as a ladder by which sinners climb into heaven.
They were given as a mirror to reveal our sinfulness.
When we examine ourselves in the light of God's holy law, we discover that we have all fallen short.
Only one Person has ever perfectly kept the law: Jesus Christ.
He fulfilled every command without sin.
Then, at the cross, He bore the judgment that lawbreakers deserved.
As the Epistle to the Colossians teaches, Christ took the written code that stood against us and nailed it to His cross.
The Law Pointed Them Ahead To Jesus As We Are Pointed Back In Time To Christ, His Cross And Empty Tomb
The law exposes our guilt.
The gospel offers forgiveness.
The law says, “You have sinned.”
The gospel says, “Christ has paid.”
The law condemns.
Christ saves.
When we repent and place our faith in Jesus Christ, God not only forgives us, but writes His law upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Then obedience becomes more than duty—it becomes desire.
We no longer ask, “What must I do to be accepted?”
Instead, we do well to say, “Because I am loved and forgiven, I delight to obey my Lord.”
The Ten Commandments can be summarized in two directions:
- Upward: Love God with all your heart.
- Outward: Love your neighbor as yourself.
The first four commandments govern our vertical relationship with God.
The final six govern our horizontal relationships with people, beginning with the most basic human institution of all: the family.
What is the very first of the manward horizontal commands of God? Look at the fifth commandment—“Honor your father and your mother”—it kinda stands as the bridge between loving God the Father and loving other people.
Man, as a dad, I want to be humble and certainly be able to learn from anyone, from the good or bad people, from those close or far from me.
If someone chose to oppose me or my wife, Liney, while we were doing good (God's will) when God's word tells us to be doing such, then it's my prayer that Liney and I would continue to be strong.. be ourselves.. doing what God was leading us to do regardless. We have an obligation to protect, to give preventive medicine of God's truth out, so that younger ones won't have to go through the same painful experiences.
I told a few of our grandkids that we each can learn the easy way (taking God at His Word regarding what was sin that needed to be avoided) or we each can learn the hard way (trusting our friends or self, and do the opposite of what God's word says, and then there are consequences to suffer) -- it's our individual choice. I had to learn too many things the hard way.
When we are doing God's specific will for us, like when reading the Word to our grandchildren when they ask us to.. and some of those kids do that.. then guess what.. any who opt to be opposing that from happening are getting in God's way. They would be opposing what's needed, what's good, and God Himself. What about in other areas where the Bible is clear? Christian grandparents have been themselves in the Lord for a lot of years, and they ought to be able to be themselves at all times. Teaching children what God wants passed on to them is very important to God.
When God, His gospel, and His order are embraced in this world, then families are better off, they are changed, they are strengthened, and society gets stabilized more -- and Christ is glorified. Please get yourself caught by the ultimate Fisher of men!
Jesus catches His fish and then He cleans them. Sanctification is His work, and He's still working in me -- I'm not there yet. Have you allowed Him to start that work in you?
Do you voice form prayers? When God's law reveals our own sin, the Holy Spirit goes to work in wooing us toward Jesus -- yes, the Law points us to the Savior. What's your personal relationship with God the Son like?
And when we come to Jesus Christ, the One who perfectly fulfilled the law, we discover forgiveness, transformation, and the power to walk in newness of life.
Read some on God's decalogue -- God's Top Ten List.
No comments:
Post a Comment