These are notes I put together from a friend's sermon of about seven years ago. (I think he got it from Colin Smith.).
The 10 Commandments as Promises
It must have been a strange feeling for Moses to return to the place where God had spoken to him out of the burning bush. On his first visit, a flock of sheep had surrounded him. Now, two million people surrounded him. God called him back up Mount Sinai to give him the commandments by which His people are to live. The Law of God was never a ladder for unsaved people to climb to heaven. It was always a pattern of life for God's people who had been saved from judgment by the blood of the Lamb.
A New Dimension of God's Grace
God was not saying, "I'm giving you these commandments, so that by keeping them you may become My people." He was saying, "I am giving you these commandments because you are My people." The message of the Law to us today is not that we must keep the laws in order to be saved, but rather that, because we are saved, we should keep these laws. The Law tells us how people who belong to God ought to live.
This is important, because some people have the idea that the Old Testament is a book of law, and the New Testament is a book of grace, and that the OT has nothing to do with us because we're not under law, we're under grace. That is a complete misunderstanding of the Bible. The whole Bible is a book of grace. God has one plan from beginning to end, and it all fits together. God promised a Redeemer on the very day that sin entered the world. God has always saved His people by grace and through faith. We've seen this in the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Exodus. There is one God, and there is one story.
Get a Glimpse of the Glory of God
In the NT, sin is defined as "fall(ing) short of the glory of God" and as "break(ing) the law" (Rom.3:23; 1 John 3:4). Put these two truths together, and we make an interesting discovery. The Law is an expression of God's glory. Every one of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3-17) reflects some aspect of the character of God. When God declared, "You shall have no other gods before me" (v. 3), it was because: He is the only God. There is no one like Him. He said not to misuse His name because: His Name is above every name. The reason we should honor our father and mother is that: all fatherhood derives from God, and all authority, even within family life, derives from Him. Why should we not commit adultery? Because God is faithful. Why should we not steal? Because God is trustworthy. Why should we not lie? Because God is truth. Why should we not covet? Because God is at peace, and content in Himself.
The Ten Commandments are not an arbitrary set of rules. They are a direct reflection of the character of God. So as you think and meditate about the Law, let it lead you to worship and to the realization that the greatest challenge for God's people is to reflect God's character in the world. When we obey His law, we reflect something of His glory.
The Greatest Battles of Your Heart
A second reason for God giving these Ten Commandments is that they speak to the ten most significant struggles of human experience. Parents know all about this. They always give rules to their children to target areas of struggle. They give instructions like, "Eat your dinner!" or "Do your homework!" or "Clean your room!"… to help kids overcome their struggles. When God gave the Ten Commandments, He spoke directly to the primary struggles that all of us experience. Take a moment to read Exodus 20:3-17. These are the battle of our lives, are they not? The Law is like a light. It shines into our souls, and when we look at what God says to us, we have to admit that He is speaking directly to the primary battles of our own heart. This should drive us to God like nothing else.
The apostle Paul wrote that the Law is a good thing, just like X-rays are a good thing - even if they may bring us bad news. Through the Law of God, I discover that I'm a person who finds it difficult to let God be God, and I am a person who is naturally more interested in myself than in the interests of other people. The Law announces my need of Jesus Christ.
The Law is like a teacher to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). When you learn what the Law has to teach, you will, if you've learned the lesson properly, come to Jesus Christ. And if the Law does not bring you to Jesus, then you have missed the greatest purpose God intended for it. This is the point of Jesus' statement to the Pharisees, "You diligently study the Scriptures...yet you refuse to come to me" (John 5:39-40). The first reason you need Jesus Christ is NOT that you'll have richer, fuller, and more satisfying life. It is that you are a sinner in nature and practice, and the X-ray of God's Law shows it, even if you feel no pain!
Laying Track for the Train
God's ultimate purpose is to restore in us the true refection of His glory. Since God's glory is expressed in His Law. That means that the purpose of the gospel is to bring us to the position where we begin to live according to the Law of God. This transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit, and is spoken of in the Old and New Testament. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you... I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
The Law of God is like the rails for a train. The rails give direction, but the train will not go anywhere unless there is power in the engine. It is the special work of the Holy Spirit to give God's people power to move in the direction that is laid out in God's law. The Christian life is not a matter of believing in Jesus and then trying your best to live according to God's Law. The Holy Spirit resides in your life and He will make the difference between a battle in which you are destined for defeat, and a battle in which there will be ultimate victory.
Delighting in the Law
If you have understood the Law of God, it should cause you to fall down in worship, because the Law shows us who God is and what He is like. It will make you cling to Jesus Christ because you will be absolutely clear about why you need Him. It gives you direction for a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit that is no longer a list of impossible demands, but a description of new possibilities!
The 10 Commandments as Promises
It must have been a strange feeling for Moses to return to the place where God had spoken to him out of the burning bush. On his first visit, a flock of sheep had surrounded him. Now, two million people surrounded him. God called him back up Mount Sinai to give him the commandments by which His people are to live. The Law of God was never a ladder for unsaved people to climb to heaven. It was always a pattern of life for God's people who had been saved from judgment by the blood of the Lamb.
A New Dimension of God's Grace
God was not saying, "I'm giving you these commandments, so that by keeping them you may become My people." He was saying, "I am giving you these commandments because you are My people." The message of the Law to us today is not that we must keep the laws in order to be saved, but rather that, because we are saved, we should keep these laws. The Law tells us how people who belong to God ought to live.
This is important, because some people have the idea that the Old Testament is a book of law, and the New Testament is a book of grace, and that the OT has nothing to do with us because we're not under law, we're under grace. That is a complete misunderstanding of the Bible. The whole Bible is a book of grace. God has one plan from beginning to end, and it all fits together. God promised a Redeemer on the very day that sin entered the world. God has always saved His people by grace and through faith. We've seen this in the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Exodus. There is one God, and there is one story.
Get a Glimpse of the Glory of God
In the NT, sin is defined as "fall(ing) short of the glory of God" and as "break(ing) the law" (Rom.3:23; 1 John 3:4). Put these two truths together, and we make an interesting discovery. The Law is an expression of God's glory. Every one of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3-17) reflects some aspect of the character of God. When God declared, "You shall have no other gods before me" (v. 3), it was because: He is the only God. There is no one like Him. He said not to misuse His name because: His Name is above every name. The reason we should honor our father and mother is that: all fatherhood derives from God, and all authority, even within family life, derives from Him. Why should we not commit adultery? Because God is faithful. Why should we not steal? Because God is trustworthy. Why should we not lie? Because God is truth. Why should we not covet? Because God is at peace, and content in Himself.
The Ten Commandments are not an arbitrary set of rules. They are a direct reflection of the character of God. So as you think and meditate about the Law, let it lead you to worship and to the realization that the greatest challenge for God's people is to reflect God's character in the world. When we obey His law, we reflect something of His glory.
The Greatest Battles of Your Heart
A second reason for God giving these Ten Commandments is that they speak to the ten most significant struggles of human experience. Parents know all about this. They always give rules to their children to target areas of struggle. They give instructions like, "Eat your dinner!" or "Do your homework!" or "Clean your room!"… to help kids overcome their struggles. When God gave the Ten Commandments, He spoke directly to the primary struggles that all of us experience. Take a moment to read Exodus 20:3-17. These are the battle of our lives, are they not? The Law is like a light. It shines into our souls, and when we look at what God says to us, we have to admit that He is speaking directly to the primary battles of our own heart. This should drive us to God like nothing else.
The apostle Paul wrote that the Law is a good thing, just like X-rays are a good thing - even if they may bring us bad news. Through the Law of God, I discover that I'm a person who finds it difficult to let God be God, and I am a person who is naturally more interested in myself than in the interests of other people. The Law announces my need of Jesus Christ.
The Law is like a teacher to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). When you learn what the Law has to teach, you will, if you've learned the lesson properly, come to Jesus Christ. And if the Law does not bring you to Jesus, then you have missed the greatest purpose God intended for it. This is the point of Jesus' statement to the Pharisees, "You diligently study the Scriptures...yet you refuse to come to me" (John 5:39-40). The first reason you need Jesus Christ is NOT that you'll have richer, fuller, and more satisfying life. It is that you are a sinner in nature and practice, and the X-ray of God's Law shows it, even if you feel no pain!
Laying Track for the Train
God's ultimate purpose is to restore in us the true refection of His glory. Since God's glory is expressed in His Law. That means that the purpose of the gospel is to bring us to the position where we begin to live according to the Law of God. This transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit, and is spoken of in the Old and New Testament. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you... I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
The Law of God is like the rails for a train. The rails give direction, but the train will not go anywhere unless there is power in the engine. It is the special work of the Holy Spirit to give God's people power to move in the direction that is laid out in God's law. The Christian life is not a matter of believing in Jesus and then trying your best to live according to God's Law. The Holy Spirit resides in your life and He will make the difference between a battle in which you are destined for defeat, and a battle in which there will be ultimate victory.
Delighting in the Law
If you have understood the Law of God, it should cause you to fall down in worship, because the Law shows us who God is and what He is like. It will make you cling to Jesus Christ because you will be absolutely clear about why you need Him. It gives you direction for a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit that is no longer a list of impossible demands, but a description of new possibilities!
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