A Brief Bible Study |
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Your Bible Lesson For The Day
What Does The First Commandment Demand?
The First Commandment:
You Shall Have No Other Gods Besides Me Ex.20:3
If you are married, you are likely to know that in marriage a husband and wife want one another’s heart. At onetime God spoke of his relationship with his Old Testament people in terms of a failed marriage to an unfaithful people whose heart had turned away from him. Today God wants our heart, as he makes clear in his First Commandment. So let’s see what his First Commandment means and demands.
In the First Commandment God says, “You shall have no other gods besides me.” What does this mean? A god is what we look to for blessings and for help. To have a god is to have one in whom we trust and turn to for blessings and help. God’s First Commandment demands that we turn only to him in prayer and worship as the one true God. Who is this God? He is the God who has revealed himself in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as the one God in three separate, distinct persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, according to 1 John 4:9, he is the God who loved us by sending his Son Jesus to save us so we may live eternally through him.
Now according to his First Commandment what does he want from us? Psalm 33:8 says, “Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world revere him.” The word “fear” means to revere and honor. With his First Commandment God demands that we hold him in revererence and honor him more than anyone or anything else.
When Jesus explained what is the greatest commandment of all, Matthew 22:37 reports that he said, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL and with all your mind.” So with his First Commandment God demands that we love him more than anyone or anything else.
And Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” With his First Commandment God also wants us to believe his promises and to put our trust in him more than we trust anyone or anything else.
We have now seen that God’s First Commandment demands that we fear, love, and trust in him above all. Simply stated, what it means is God wants our heart, a heart that worships him and clings to him at all times above all else.
You Shall Have No Other Gods Besides Me Ex.20:3
If you are married, you are likely to know that in marriage a husband and wife want one another’s heart. At onetime God spoke of his relationship with his Old Testament people in terms of a failed marriage to an unfaithful people whose heart had turned away from him. Today God wants our heart, as he makes clear in his First Commandment. So let’s see what his First Commandment means and demands.
In the First Commandment God says, “You shall have no other gods besides me.” What does this mean? A god is what we look to for blessings and for help. To have a god is to have one in whom we trust and turn to for blessings and help. God’s First Commandment demands that we turn only to him in prayer and worship as the one true God. Who is this God? He is the God who has revealed himself in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as the one God in three separate, distinct persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, according to 1 John 4:9, he is the God who loved us by sending his Son Jesus to save us so we may live eternally through him.
Now according to his First Commandment what does he want from us? Psalm 33:8 says, “Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world revere him.” The word “fear” means to revere and honor. With his First Commandment God demands that we hold him in revererence and honor him more than anyone or anything else.
When Jesus explained what is the greatest commandment of all, Matthew 22:37 reports that he said, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL and with all your mind.” So with his First Commandment God demands that we love him more than anyone or anything else.
And Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” With his First Commandment God also wants us to believe his promises and to put our trust in him more than we trust anyone or anything else.
We have now seen that God’s First Commandment demands that we fear, love, and trust in him above all. Simply stated, what it means is God wants our heart, a heart that worships him and clings to him at all times above all else.
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