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Date Posted: 20:54:10 04/19/04 Mon
Author: Cheri
Subject: Putting God First.....

PUTTING GOD FIRST

JEREMIAH 29.11

"FOR I KNOW THE PLANS
I HAVE FOR YOU, DECLARES
THE LORD, PLANS TO PROSPER
YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU,
PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND
A FUTURE"

Put God First
Exodus 20:1-4

Herman was 93 years old but he insisted that he could drive a car just as well as he could at 39. As he was driving down Interstate 5 when his car phone rang. It was his wife urgently warning him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on Interstate 5." And Herman said, "Honey, it's not just one car. It's hundreds of them."

It is often very easy to get going in the wrong direction. One bad decision and we are headed the wrong way on the highway of life. Many of us probably wish we could learn how to better steer our lives. We need driving lessons for life. Well in Exodus chapter 20 God gives us some practical commands about how to get going in the right direction. Exodus chapter twenty contains a list of ten rules for living known as the Ten Commandments.   These commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai some 3,500 years ago. Even though they are centuries old we will find that they are just as pertinent and practical to our lives today in the 21st century.

This morning we want to look at the first two commandments which are found in Exodus 20:1-4. The first two commandments tell us that the first step to finding direction in life is to put God first in everything we do. Exodus 20:1-4 reads, "And God spoke 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 you God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins 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."
God says here that nothing or no one is to come before Him. You are to have no other allegiance that gets in the way of you putting Him first. In Matthew 4:10 Jesus repeated this commandment, "Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."

Now why are we to worship God only? One reason we are to worship God only is because he commands it. He says, "You are to have no other gods before me." (v. 3) The Lord God is the only God that is worth our worship and our allegiance. And besides that as creator of this universe He determines the rules and he says, "no other gods." Plus no other man-made god is worth our worship it is a waste to worship them. Psalm 96:5 says, "All the gods of the nations are nothings."

Now we live in a society that insists that all gods of all religions are the same and that it doesn't matter which one you worship. The God of the Bible is the same as the god of the Muslims or the god of the New Agers or the god of the Hindus the world says. It doesn't matter what god you believe in, they say, as long as you are sincere in your beliefs. It doesn't matter if you believe in heaven or hell or reincarnation, you are free to choose your own beliefs. A man was reading a book about Hinduism and reincarnation and said to his wife, "If reincarnation was true, does that mean I could come back in the next life as a worm?" His wife said, "Oh, no I've read that you never be the same thing twice!" But other religions and their ideas about god and salvation are not all the same. There is only one true God, the God of the Bible, who revealed himself in Jesus Christ and you are commanded to worship Him and only Him.

Another reason we are to worship God only is because of who he is. If you sign up for a class in college, you want to know who the professor is because who the professor is, makes a big deal in how good the class will be.
And who God is determines a lot for us. We worship him because of who he is. And who he is, is a powerful God. He says here, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (v. 2). This brings to mind God freeing the Israelites from bondage. The Egyptian Pharaoh would not let God's people go and so he sent ten plagues to Egypt to show his superiority. Each of those plagues, mocked one of the Egyptian gods. For instance, when God sent darkness to Egypt he was sending a message to the Pharaoh that he was more powerful than their made up sun god called Ra. And when Moses received these commandments, he understood exactly what God was saying. He was saying to Moses I am the God who sent those ten plagues to Egypt and parted the Red Sea. I am the most powerful God in the universe. I am the God of all.

God is not only powerful he is jealous. He says "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God." (v. 5) God is jealous when we place other things before him. It is like a wife who finds a picture of another woman in her husband's pocket. She asks him who it is.   And he says, "When you won't talk to me, I talk to her. When you don't listen she listens." And he says to her, "Your jealous." But she has a right to be jealous. He is not fully devoted to her. That's how God feels when we are fully devoted to him. He is jealous for our allegiance and worship.

God is also just. He says he punishes, "the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generations of those who hate him." (v. 5). Sin is no laughing matter to God and he will punish sin justly.
Many people view God as a doting grandfather who is incapable of punishing them. Heine the German poet once said, "God will forgive me, that's his job." God is forgiving yes, but he also is just and keeps us accountable for our actions. Deuteronomy 32:4 says, "God is the Rock, his works are perfect and all his ways are just. He is a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he."

God is just but he is also loving. He says, I show "love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (v. 6). Notice that God's justice extends to the third and fourth generations but his love extends to a thousand generations. God's love goes on and on. An atheist said to his Christian friend, "If there is a God, may he prove himself by striking me dead right now." Nothing happened and he said "You see, there is no God." And his friend replied, "You've proved nothing but that God is loving and gracious." God is not waiting to strike people dead. No, the kind of God revealed to us in the Bible is a God who is compassionate and deeply desires to love you. His love extends to a 1,000 generations!

Now Exodus 20:4 is the second commandment which warns against idolatry. "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." An idol is a graven image of god. This commandment, according to Dr. Jack Cottrell, forbids "making and worshipping images of other than God." Idolatry is fashioning a god in our own image. Whether that god is made of bronze or silver or granite or whether it is something we make up in our minds. This commandment forbidding idolatry is repeated in Deuteronomy 4:12. In Acts 17:29 the apostle Paul said, "We ought not to think that the Divine Nature of God is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art or thought of man."

The reason God forbids idolatry is because it confuses his nature with created things. God is uncreated and he does not like to be confused for something he created. He is not like a bird (in the heavens above) or like an animal (on the earth beneath) or like a fish (in the waters below) he is unique. In Psalm 4:2 the Lord asks, "How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?" Jack Cottrell says, "By forbidding attempts to make images of Him, God preserves His uniqueness as the only true God. Through this prohibition God helps us maintain a high concept of who he is."

Dr. Laura Schlesinger has a book on The Ten Commandments and she lists some modern day forms of idolatry. We may not cast gods out of gold or metal but we do forge some modern day gods in our minds.  

One idol she mentions is superstitions. Some people observe superstitions from unconscious habit and others believe that they can protect them. Superstitions such as avoiding walking under a ladder or throwing spilt salt over a shoulder represent entertaining rituals that reflect a fear of the unknown. But such superstitions are a left handed acknowledge of "other gods" or spirits that have power over our lives.

Another form of idolatry is horoscopes and sorcery. Many people begin the day by looking at their newspaper horoscope. Will it be a day for love or staying away from difficult decisions? But relying on horoscopes or a psychic or the stars is idolatry because it says something else is guiding my life and not God. When you ask Miss Cleo for direction or John Edwards to connect you with the dead you commit idolatry. Only God knows the future, only God gives proper direction for life. No human being can predict the future or speak to the dead and if they can they are under the power of Satan.
The Bible makes this clear. In Isaiah 47 God says, "Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame." (Isaiah 47:13-14).

Another form of idolatry is nature. Many people today worship the trees, spotted owls and buffalo clover. Now nature is a gift from God and should be treasured, but nature and the animals are separate from God and not to be worshipped. We're going too far when we give praise to Mother Nature or worship the universe. That is idolatry. We must not confuse the creator with his creation. In Romans 1:22 the apostle Paul talked about people that "although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look created things."

Another form of idolatry is the worship of celebrities. We are so hungry for leadership that we go to extremes following Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera or everyone's favorite band N'SYNC. We dress like them, talk like them, spend hours watching them on TV. We put them on pedestals. When Beatle George Harrison died a couple months ago, they showed on the news people gathered at Central Park in New York, to sing his songs and meditate, since he was a Hindu and that's what George would of wanted. To me it looked like they were worshipping George Harrison. Idolatry.

Another form of idolatry is sports and recreation. As Talk Show host Bill Cunningham says, "Sports is the end all to end all things in America." And it is sad when on Sunday people fill a football stadium, but church's sit empty. And some of us are guilty of letting sports and recreation get in the way of God. We skip church for our games or leave worship early to get to the game on time. We check the sports page in the morning before we open our Bibles. Or we play golf three times a week when our sermon is not yet done. Sports and recreation can be idols.

One last form of idolatry is self. Yes, man has exalted himself as god. He has made an idol out of himself. A father asked his daughter if her fiancée believed in God. "He does," she replied, "in fact, he thinks he's god almighty." And man in his pride has exalted himself as god.

Well, what I think God is saying to us in these first two commandments is this, he's saying "I want to be number one in your life." I want you to have no other activity, person or thing to come before me. I want to be your number one priority. And if you put me first, he says, then I will make sure that all others things in your life fall into place. Remember Jesus' words, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all the things of this world will be given to you as well." (Matt. 6:33)
And if you want true fulfillment in life you need to seek after God with all your heart. Make Him your number one priority. Jesus also said, "No man can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and this world." (Matt. 6:23) And so would you evaluate your life and make sure that you have are not serving any other gods? And if you are, would you vow to set them aside and make God number one in your life?

Do you know why God gives this command to make him first? He gives it because he created you to have a relationship Him and when you replace your need for him with something else, it leaves you unfulfilled. You were made for God. And when God is not first, nothing will be right. Helen Keller was deaf and blind almost from infancy. Her tutor Annie Sullivan finally broke through and developed a means of communicating with her through touch. She discovered that Helen Keller was a brilliant, gifted young woman who was eager to learn. But Helen had never had anyone talk to her about God. No one had even discussed God with her. And so one day Annie Sullivan said, "Helen, I want to talk with you today about God, our Creator." And Helen responded "Good, I've been thinking about him for some time."
And you were created in your inmost being with a deep desire to know God. It is an innate instinct.

Ecclesiastes 3:10 says that "God has set eternity in the hearts of man." He made you to know him, and to put him above all else. You were designed to be close to Him. And nothing, no matter how important it may seem at the present, should be more important to you, than God. Haddon Robinson points out that one old recipe for making a delicious rabbit dish started out with this instruction: "First go catch the rabbit." And let me point out that most important step to a successful recipe for life, is to first catch God. Find him, seek him and then all other things will fall into place.

I have asked Irene Feldkamp to come share her testimony about how she was able to find God and how putting him first in her life has given her the fulfillment she was looking for. Welcome Irene. (Irene's testimony)

Have you put something before God? Are you headed in the wrong direction on the highway of life? Do you have an idol you need to destroy this morning? Pascal once said, "The last thing one knows is what to put first."

Do you know you need to put God first this morning? You can. God is just waiting for you to come to Him. Would you make a decision to put him first in your life! You can do so by taking the first step, by accepting Jesus Christ into your life, being baptized into him, having your sins forgiven. Come to forward as we sing this song of invitation.


© 2002 Oak Hills Christian Church


We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints--Colossians 1:3-4

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord--Colossians 3:1

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