The Law of God

We're going to look at the moment where God gave the law to the people of Israel. And I don't know about you, but for me, there's no question about the influence that the 10 Commandments we find in the Old Testament have, how it has influenced and affected so much of the way that this world operates. From our Australian perspective, how our justice system works, right down to outlining the international business ethics by which corporations do business. The 10 commandments, otherwise known as the law of Moses, has given guidance to millions of people across thousands of years. It is very, very influential and important, I believe.

Yet we find more and more that the Western world is beginning to distance itself from this ancient source. Recently, I've been studying at Griffith University, and I did a business law subject. The lecturer, who's actually a practising barrister, said to us that law, in his definition, is an evolving thing that merely reflects the values of a society. As society changes, laws change. In other words, there is no absolute truth in law.

It is all relative. Yet at the same time, more and more Christian scholars, philosophers, academics are using the argument of an inherent moral conscience in every human being that argues the case for the existence of God. So why do we think, all of us, to some degree across this world, why do we all think that murder is wrong? Why do we extend compassion to other people? Why is lying something that we do not tolerate or accept?

I believe that the moral law of God summed up this morning in the 10 commandments is an ancient code which has been sewn into the fabric of our consciences from the beginning. The Bible says, for example, in Genesis three that Adam and Eve, when they ate of the tree of good and evil, the knowledge of good and evil, they became aware of sin and what it was. And I believe at that moment, they understood to some degree the unchangeableness of the law of God, that there is a right and a wrong way. But at the same time, sin, that sin that they discovered, entered the world and made sure that every single descendant of Adam and Eve became corrupted. And although we would inherently know the law from that day to some degree, we would never obey it fully.

And so today we find something similar to what a writer by the name of John Leo, who writes for the US News and World Report wrote about the 10 commandments as it looks in our society today. Okay, so it's a bit tongue in cheek, but this is what he writes. The 10 commandments for our society today, or this is an American society. Thou shalt not steal, but creative work on your tax return is okay.

Thou shalt not kill except if the Pentagon says you must. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods except that our whole economic and marketing system depends on the power of envy and wanting more. Thou shalt not commit adultery, except if thou art unhappy, or if personal fulfilment points thee towards the new secretary in thine office. Honour thy mother or mothers, including thy birth, adoptive, step, surrogate, or same sex partner mothers. And honour thy father, thy mother's sperm donor or her casual inseminator, current whereabouts unknown.

Confusing, isn't it? What is right and what is wrong has become so complex in our world today because what we see, what is right and what is wrong, has become determined by us. One day finding a newborn baby abandoned by their mother and having died of hypothermia, one day that is considered murder. But a baby in a womb can be aborted almost right up until it is born in some places in Australia, and that is legal. And so we begin to find all sorts of clauses and subclauses to our man-made laws and no one can be wrong because it all comes down to a difference of interpretation.

And in so many cases, as long as I don't hurt anyone, it is fine. And Christianity says life was actually meant to be much simpler. Life was meant to be simple. That there is a blueprint by which we were created. A blueprint for the entire universe and that there is a plan by which human beings are meant to live by.

So I want us to look at Exodus, at the moment where this plan is explained to God's people. And we're going to read two sections this morning. Exodus 19:1-6, the introduction to where this law is given. And then we're going to read the law itself. So turn with me, if you have your Bibles, to Exodus 19:1.

We'll read through to verse six, and then Exodus 20. Exodus 19:1. In the third month, after the Israelites had left Egypt, on the very day they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel.

You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." Then we skip forward to some of these words that God wants the Israelites to know.

The covenant that He is making with them that day. Exodus 20:1. And God spoke all these words. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honour your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God has given you. You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in the smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen, but do not have God speak to us or we will die." Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." The people remained at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

So far, our reading. The barrister who taught me some of the principles of business law said that, and I quote, "A law reflects the mind, the personality, the priorities, the values, the likes and the dislikes of the lawgiver." The law reflects the values of the lawgiver. What we find this morning, what we read is a summary of all the laws that would eventually be written down in large chunks across the first five books of the Old Testament. In Exodus chapters 21 to 30, there are a lot of laws about how God wants Israel to live under His authority.

And then we have the book of Leviticus and sections of Numbers doing the same thing. The 10 commandments are the condensed summary versions of over 613 laws that God gives. They all point to these 10 laws. Each law given to Israel, however, reflects God's heart and His mind. The law points to the lawgiver.

In the law of God, we see several things. We see that God is concerned about us. That He loves humanity. That He wants humanity not simply to survive, but to thrive. To be healthy.

We see that God is fair and that He wants people to be treated justly. We see that He created human beings as relational creatures, and that in the law, these relational aspects of human beings is between you and I, but there's also a relational aspect between us and God, that we are spiritual beings. We see that God has a concern for the poor and the marginalised, that they need to be looked after. We see that God is concerned about the earth, that Israel was to look after the planet. And the list goes on and on.

613 various laws. What we see in the law is the beginning of knowledge of who God is. God wanted Israel to know Him more. Remember, He said that I want Israel to leave Egypt to come to the Holy Mountain so they may worship me there. In other words, to come to know me there.

All of the signs and the wonders, He says, were part of His revelation. He says, "Remember, I've taken you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, on eagles' wings with signs and wonders," but this is the crux. This is the pinnacle. The law of God is what He wanted to bring them. This is where it was at.

But we see a second aspect of the giving of the law this morning, and that we find in Exodus in the introduction to why they're here. God says to Moses, right, it's time. I've brought you out of Egypt, and now I want to do what I've been planning this whole time. I want you to know me more fully, and the way you will know me is by understanding what is important to me.

But more than this, more than this, we find in verses five and six, this statement. Have a look. Verses five and six. Although He says, "The whole earth is mine, you, Israel, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Although everything on this planet belongs to me because I am its creator, every race in this world belongs to me.

You are to be for me, a holy nation. I am revealing this law to you in supernatural ways because I want you to be priests for me." Okay, so what does this mean? Priests in those days were well known.

Every religion, every sect had a priest who mediated between humanity and the deity. They revealed to humanity who this god was, and they brought to this god the concerns and the needs of this people. They stood in the gap between a god and the people. And in this verse in Exodus 19, this verse in Exodus 19 is actually one of the key verses in the Old Testament if you understand it because basically what is happening here is this is the Old Testament equivalent of Matthew 28:19's Great Commission. Jesus in Matthew 28 says to the church, "Go into all the earth and make disciples of all nations."

And here, God is saying to all the nations, "You are going to be mediators of who I am." Before God gave Israel this law by which He wanted them to live, He told them that they were going to be walking billboards to the power of God. They were going to be like priests mediating on behalf of God. And how would this work? By obeying His law.

Isn't that fascinating? The world around you will know that I am God by your life that is shaped by these commandments. As a holy nation, Israel would be different to all the countries around them, all the people groups that the world knew because they would reflect the heart of the living God, and they would become a place where the poor were cared for, where the widows were protected, not exploited, where they looked after the soil in which they planted their crops, where they would set slaves free instead of keeping them in their households forever. Unheard of. These were all found in those 613 laws summed up in the 10 commandments.

The laws were given to Israel to live physically and spiritually healthy lives. Lives that were well balanced and wholesome. They were given so that they would become so healthy that the nations could not help but be drawn to that. They would have healthy societies because they would have healthy families. And they would be drawn not only to the families, but to the God of these families who had given them these commandments.

To create in people a sense of what the Hebrew word says, shalom, peace, wholesomeness. The sense that life was lived in the way that it was intended to be lived. Erwin Lutzer, who is a pastor and a writer, has said that God is an omniscient, all-knowing creator who knows which rules are best for mankind. And these moral laws are a reflection of His nature imposed on a universe which He created. A universe which functions best when these laws are obeyed.

Since God is the creator of everything, He knows how it should work properly. And the world is going to function best when they operate according to how God created it in the first place. In that vein, it also stands to reason that if humanity does not obey His laws, humanity does not function according to its intention. Another great Christian thinker and writer, G.K. Chesterton, wrote this. He said, "No man can break any of the 10 commandments.

He only breaks himself against them." No man can break the 10 commandments. He can only break himself against them. When we sin, he says, we are breaking the laws of God, but the truth is we are simply robbing ourselves of the shalom, peace we could be having. They don't break.

We just rob ourselves. The more we understand the 10 commandments, the more we will understand God. And the more we understand God, the more we will realise that the 10 commandments was never really primarily meant for God's happiness, but for ours. So often we've been taught that we are making God upset or angry when we slip up or when we cross the line, but the real person we are ultimately hurting is ourselves. Let's take and make this practical.

Let's take the example of lying, OK? The ninth commandment, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. You shall not lie." You've heard of the phrase "a web of lies."

Right? Well, that's exactly what happens, isn't it, when we live a life of lies. You can start by telling a very minor fib, and we like that word "fib" because it sounds a lot less severe than lying. We start with a minor fib, thinking that there will be no consequence for that fib. Soon, however, you find someone else wants to find out a bit more about that particular lie.

So now you can't go back on that lie because then you'll be known to be a liar. So you tell another fib. But you make sure that this fib is a bit more detailed and a bit more all-encompassing so that they won't ask any more questions. And before long, you are walking around on eggshells trying to remember all the baloney that you've made up. That's happened to me.

And how does this hurt us, you say? Well, generally speaking, these lies are to cover up something that we're either ashamed of or to mask certain negative feelings. Feelings of insecurity. Feelings of anger or spitefulness. Rumours.

Starting a lie about someone else. Being spiteful. Feelings of inadequacy, wanting to look the part in front of people. That's just a very small example of how the ninth commandment not to lie still has consequences for us. By commanding us not to lie, God knows that living in a world of truth is healthier than living in a world of lies.

By commanding us not to lie, God knows that the truth sets free. He knows that the truth is better for human relationships. He knows that we are to flourish in a world where truth can give closure to pain. That truth is actually a glue in society, that it holds things together. If society was full of lies, what hope could we stake our hope on?

What could we stake our hope on? We wouldn't have any security at all. We wouldn't be able to believe that what I'm getting sold, well, maybe that's not a good example.

But how could we trust anything with anyone, any boss, any coworker, any mum, any dad, any child, if we couldn't believe any words coming from their mouth? Truth is a glue in society. The commandments of God were given for our benefit, and so we should obey them for our benefit is what God is saying. As Christians, we cannot and we should not compromise on these things. We can so often talk about grace, but we need to know these commands.

We need to reflect on these things in our lives daily. We need to compare our actions to what God wants of us. Why? Because it is for our good. But the same truth applied to us as it did for the Israelites.

This is the second aspect that we are living billboards to the glory and the majesty and the existence and the beauty of God of which these laws are a reflection. Through our obedience, the truth is people will be drawn to our God. As if we were priests explaining the deepest and the most profound mysteries of our God. Before we start working on our evangelism spiel, before we get our tracts nice and neat and in order to hand out, God tells us that we are to obey His law so that the world may know Him or at least want to know Him. But finally, and we are always going to end up here eventually, we know that deep down we have fallen very far from being these beautiful billboards to a beautiful God.

Our lives drag Him and His glory through the mud, and we rob ourselves of the joy He wants our lives to be. We fail. And we fail often if we are to be completely honest. And for the Christian, even as it was for the Jews then, the 10 commandments are not the way to get to heaven. They are not even the centre of our faith.

God is both the way to heaven and the centre of our faith. Being a Christian is kind of like being married. Being a Christian is kind of like being married. When those vows are taken in the wedding, promises are being made. These promises to love and to cherish in sickness and in health shape the married life.

These are guidelines which are absolutely essential if the marriage is to succeed. Therefore, when you marry your husband or your wife, you promise to forsake all others. You promise to be faithful to them, and you promise to do this until death separates you. Those are the guidelines you live by in marriage. Nevertheless, what is central to marriage is not those guidelines.

What is central to marriage is the person you are married to. Isn't it? And these rules, these promises enable that relationship to flourish. These rules never replace that relationship. Likewise, being a Christian has to do with a personal relationship with the living God who wanted to reveal Himself to this world.

A relationship which was ultimately made possible, we believe, by the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Jesus was the perfect billboard of the beauty of God. None of us were capable of living by that. And Israel certainly never was. We've got their history to prove it.

At least not for very long. But Jesus was capable of living by this law. And like Exodus 19:6 suggests, people, you see it. People were drawn to God by His life. He was this billboard.

They saw what He had, and they longed for the peace, the shalom, the wholesomeness that He had. There was something mysterious. There was something beautiful about Him. And why was that? Because Jesus embodied this law of God perfectly.

And it was for this reason that Jesus ultimately became the perfect sacrifice and substitute for us. Because another law in these 613 laws that were given, another law of God was an escape clause for sinful humanity. It was a blood sacrifice law to cleanse us from our brokenness before a holy God. A God who allowed a little lamb or a little dove to represent Israel's spiritual death so that they could live at peace with God. But when Jesus came, He became the perfect sacrifice once and for all, the book of Hebrews says.

In 2 Corinthians 3:7-9, the apostle Paul writes this. He writes this about a second, even more glorious revelation of God. A new law. A new access to the beauty of God. He writes that the 10 commandments failed, not because they were imperfect, but because we were.

And by rights, God should not have accepted our half-hearted attempts at being obedient to them like a bad marriage. Having broken these vows that we made, having broken our relationship with God leading to a spiritual death and a separation from Him, Paul writes, "Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved on these letters of stone that Moses had, if that ministry came with glory, He says, so much so that they could not look steadily at the face of Moses," if you read this story more fully. They could not look and behold Moses because He reflected the glory of God so much. If this ministry was so glorious, will not the ministry of the spirit, the ministry that Jesus Christ brought, will it not even be more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness, He says.

In other words, God has accomplished something that works and is infinitely more glorious because this time is not dependent on us. It's dependent on His son, Jesus. Romans 10:4 writes, "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. God gave us the 10 commandments, a summary of His law for our benefit to flourish in life.

Live by it, friends. Live by it this year, this new coming year. Make it your greatest desire to practise it in your families, to love the poor and the needy and the sick, to treat others fairly, to love your neighbour as yourself, to know these laws, have it written on your hearts, to love God and forsake all idols. Because your life will be all the more better for it. But then watch for the transformation that will happen around you because you will become billboards to the beauty of this beautiful God, to this glorious God, the God whose values are imprinted on your life.

Watch as people become drawn to the God you worship. And finally, rejoice. Because although these laws are obeyed imperfectly by us, Christ has made us perfect in the sight of God through His death and sacrifice on our behalf. And our imperfection and our brokenness will never be enough. Friends, it will never be enough for God to turn His back on us and to forsake us.

We may experience and indulge in the shalom peace which God wants for us. And this is possible because Christ and through His ministry has brought righteousness for everyone who believes. Hallelujah.

Let's pray. Father, we look at these laws and we realise that we have not broken them, but we have broken ourselves against them. And that all the strife and all the fears and the anxieties in our lives, oh Lord, they have come about by our weakness. Lord, we say with the psalm writer, thank you for your law. It is like honey, the sweetest honey from the comb.

It produces life. If we are planted in it, we are like a tree planted by streams of water whose leaves will not wither. Father, may our lives be embedded, grounded, rooted in your law. May our lives reflect your character as we obey these laws. Father, as we go into this new year, before we start planning for new ventures and endeavours and investments and studies, Father, may we look at our hearts aright.

May we get rid of the dross, of the chaff, of the rubbish in our hearts and lives that do not align with your law, with your word. May we forsake all the grey areas that we believe this world has given us. There are clauses and there are subclauses to the laws. And may we return to the simple, effective words of truth we find in Scripture. Father, finally and most gloriously, thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, who has enabled us to desire this in the first place.

Who gives us a spirit and a heart that is burning as we speak, that desires to be in line with you. Father, thank you that you sent your son Jesus as a sinful man to die as a sin offering. Thank you for the freedom. Thank you for the release of that in our lives. And thank you for the shalom peace that it now presents us and offers us freely through our faith in you, Jesus.

In your name we pray. Amen.