CREATION TO CHRIST GODS UNFOLDING PLAN OF REDEMPTION

CREATION TO CHRIST GOD’S UNFOLDING PLAN OF REDEMPTION

REVIEW POINT #1 Living with the world will always end in slavery.

REVIEW POINT #2 Escaping the world will always come about by turning our affections to Christ.

10 COMMANDMENTS – RIGHTLY DIVIDED The 10 commandments were historically given TO Israel. This was part of the covenant that was made between God and his chosen people, Israel. In following and DOING these commandments, it proved Israel’s submission and faith towards God.

10 COMMANDMENTS – RIGHTLY DIVIDED The perfect law of God never brought about life for those who attempted to follow it. Instead, due to our inability to completely adhere to it, the law killed us. For those who have accepted Christ as their Savior, we are no longer bound by the Old Testament law.

REVIEW POINT #3 Our adherence to the law is not sufficient to make atonement for our sins, rather our atonement is found solely in the sacrifice of God’s Son.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20: 3

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Exodus 20: 4

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus 20: 7

3 rd COMMANDMENT “Take” is also translated as “bear up” or “carry”. Israel was not to hold up or claim God’s name in a vain or empty manner. Saying one thing, doing another. Do you identify as a Christian, but your life continues to suggest otherwise?

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: Exodus 20: 8 -10

For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20: 11

4 th COMMANDMENT The Sabbath was to be a day of rest. First mention of “sabbath” is found in Exodus 16. The first instance of a sabbath is found in Genesis 2. God did not need to rest but he chose to do so to model it for humanity.

4 th COMMANDMENT – A DAY OF REST Resting meant you trusted that the work was over. That we can trust in the Lord’s supernatural provision. When God rested from his creation it showed that he had confidence in what he had made. There was nothing more to do.

4 th COMMANDMENT – A DAY OF HOLINESS “Holy” means to be, “set apart” Israel was to be set apart from the other nations of the world. They were to be a nation that rested in the Lord when all the other nations were toiling away.

4 th COMMANDMENT – REST & HOLINESS God was telling his people to stop putting their confidence in everything they could accomplish. And to trust in the Lord for something greater.

For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth. 7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were] the fewest of all people: Deuteronomy 7: 6 -7

But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Deuteronomy 7: 8

KEY POINT #1 To rest in the Lord is to trust in the Lord.

What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Romans 8: 31 -32

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? Matthew 6: 28 -30

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: ) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6: 31 -33

10 COMMANDMENTS Commandments 1 -4 focused our attention unto the Lord. Commandments 5 -8 focus our hearts on God’s care of others.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20: 12

5 th COMMANDMENT This word, “honour” is also translated, “to be heavy” or “weighty”. Honoring your parents ascribes a weight to their presence and their words. In esteeming them highly, we lower ourselves.

He must increase, but I [must] decrease. John 3: 30

5 th COMMANDMENT Just as God wanted Israel to honor their parents, God as their heavenly Father expected the same reverence as well. Do the weight of his words force you to lower yourself before him?

Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 20: 13

6 th COMMANDMENT This is premeditated murder. Murder leads to more murder. Death leads to more death.

And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment [is] greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me. Genesis 4: 13 -14

23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. Genesis 4: 23

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3: 16

Thou shalt not commit adultery. Exodus 20: 14

7 th COMMANDMENT Adultery is an ACT of unfaithfulness to your spouse. But at its core, this unfaithfulness begins with the heart.

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 [Let her be as] the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. 20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21 For the ways of man [are] before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. Proverbs 5: 18 -21

7 th COMMANDMENT Adultery is a lust that has been acted upon. Where you are no longer satisfied with what God has provided. You are looking to meet an unmet need that you believe your spouse is not providing.

7 th COMMANDMENT God told Israel not to intermarry with the world because he knew that those marriages would lead Israel away from the Lord. That departing from the truth would lead to Israel’s spiritual adultery against the Lord.

Thou shalt not steal. Exodus 20: 15

8 th COMMANDMENT To steal also means to deceive. The last three commandments all deal with taking something that doesn’t belong to you. Someone’s life, wife and possessions.

6 th, 7 th, 8 th COMMANDMENTS I’m not going to kill because I value your life over my anger. I’m not going to commit adultery because I value my spouse over my lust. I’m not going to steal because I value your welfare over my own.

[Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Philippians 2: 3

KEY POINT #2 When we esteem others better than ourselves, then life (instead of death), love (instead of lust) and abundance (instead of theft) become our habitation.

10 COMMANDMENTS Commandments 9 -10 show us that God has provided everything we ever need. We can be content.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Exodus 20: 16

9 th COMMANDMENT Lying about others just makes you a liar. And you will be found out.

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32: 23

9 th COMMANDMENT God wanted Israel to realize when they spoke poorly of their brother, they really were speaking poorly of themselves.

But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falleth. Luke 11: 17

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's. Exodus 20: 17

10 th COMMANDMENT If God hasn’t given it to you, then you don’t need it. So then the question can be asked, “Is thing that I want to possess something the Lord wants me to have in my life? ”

And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. Deuteronomy 12: 7

KEY POINT #3 Lips of rejoicing are sung from a heart of contentment.

And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. Exodus 20: 18 -19

And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God [was]. Exodus 20: 20 -21

KEY QUESTION #1 What is your response when you hear the commandments of the Lord?