To be Those Who Love God

The Ten Commandments

When God first created us He wrote His will upon our hearts. But after the fall into sin, God made known His commandments through His servant Moses by writing them upon stone tablets.

NAB Romans 2:14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

God gave three kinds of law to the Hebrews: the moral law, which told of the duty all people have to God, the political law, which applied to the functions of their nation, and the ceremonial law, which gave rules for their religious practice. It is only the moral law which is binding for all people.

Jesus summed up for us the law of God.

NAB Matthew 22:37 and He said to him, "'you shall love the lord your god with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "this is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "the second is like it, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

Love is the fulfillment of God’s law. This law applies to all people.

NAB Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

The First Commandment

God commanded, "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME". {Exodus 20:3} Luther tells us that this means, "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things."

Who is God?

This is perhaps one question that has perplexed people throughout the ages. What better way to answer this question than to hear what God Himself has to say about Himself.

NAB 1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.

NAB Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

We learn from Scripture a mystifying fact: the revelation of God as one in three persons and three person in one God. A mystery we call the Trinity.

Those other gods:

Our Lord has forbidden us from having other gods. Martin Luther wrote: A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need. To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart. --The Large Catechism

The seeking of other gods as spiritual realities to fill the spiritual needs in ourselves is idolatry.

NAB 1 John 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

An idol can be just about anything that becomes the center of meaning for our lives. In ancient days people worshipped stone and gold idols for meaning. Today we find a resurgence of different gods that are worshipped by a growing number of people. There are those who worship the goddess of nature. There are those who see the universe itself as a god. Eastern religious teaching about all things are part of god is becoming popular. Any worship of God other than the God revealed to us by Jesus is idolatry.

But we learn from the Gospels that anything can become an idol or false god for us. Whatever we put the central meaning of our life upon can become our god. The rich man thought more of money than God. {Luke 16:19ff} Peter feared being arrested more than he cared for God. {Matthew 26:69} Goliath trusted his strength more than he trusted God. {1 Samuel 17:1ff}

We must also be careful not to assume that just because the name Jesus is attached to a teaching about God that it is true. The Mormon church teaches about Jesus, but they believe that our God used to be a created being like us who had his own god. And achieving perfection was giving god-hood and then he created us. And we too can achieve god-hood from our God and be given our own planets to care for if we achieve perfection.

We are to be lovers of God?

We are to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. To fear is to respect God in His awesome nature. To Him alone do we answer for what we have made of the life which He has given to us. To revere God is also to appreciate the wonderful gift of grace given us in Christ.

NAB Matthew 10:28 "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

But God does not desire slaves who quiver in fear, but people who truly understand that while He hates evil, He also bestows mercy and forgiveness because He loves us. God wants us to know Him as the God of grace and to love Him with all our being.

NAB Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

God desires that we trust Him and His promises for eternal life. We trust God because we know that we are in His keeping and that God will give us help for every need.

NAB Psalm 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

How can we love God?

If we had to make ourselves fear, love, and trust in God above all other things, we would fail miserably because left to ourselves we are selfish sinful human beings. But we are not left to ourselves. We love God because He first loved us and gave His Son Jesus Christ for us as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He has taken away our sin and filled us with new life that looks to Him, that loves, Him, and trusts Him.

NAB 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

NAB Galatians 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

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Rev. David D. Reedy 2002

 

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church   

Dayton Tennessee   

423.775.4253

Prince of Peace is a LCMS congregation located in Rhea County Tennessee, serving the entire county of some 32,000 people.