Naylor Community
Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Exodus 20:1-6
New International
Version
The Ten
Commandments
20 And God spoke
all these words:
2 “I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have
no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not
make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the
earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 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 parents to the third and fourth generation of those
who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me
and keep my commandments.
-- every Friday, our office goes out
together for lunch – we have a bubble around Moody – a series of restaurants
that we can go to and have lunch and get back within a set time – so, we rotate
among these restaurants and try to hit a different place every week
-- well, last week, it was time for
Chinese – so, we all loaded up together and went down to the local Chinese
restaurant to order food for lunch – while we were there waiting for our food,
I was looking around the room, and I noticed a shelf that had been built along
the top of the wall – there was a golden statue of Buddha sitting on the shelf,
adorned with necklaces and other items – they had two electric candles burning
on the shelf, one on each side of the Buddha – they had an incense burner – and
there was a bowl of fresh apples set out before him
-- I had noticed this before, of
course, but I really hadn’t paid much attention to it – it’s a common sight in
Chinese restaurants – you’ll see something very similar in all of them
-- but since our discussion last
week about being made in the image and likeness of God, it really caught my eye
and I started pondering again about what it means to be made in the image and
likeness of God – and then I started thinking about the Ten Commandments and
God’s prohibition that we were to have no other gods before Him and that we
were not to make for ourselves idols or images in the form of anything in
heaven above or the earth beneath or the waters below
-- later that day, I was surprised
when my favorite podcast came on and the hosts were discussing the very same
thing – Voddie Baucham, who is a well-known preacher and author, had shared in
an interview last week that he refuses to watch Dallas Jenkin’s show, “The
Chosen,” because he views it as a violation of the second commandment -- "You
shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is
in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."
-- the hosts on the podcast were
discussing whether Baucham was right in his concerns about The Chosen or not
-- so, I wanted to take a few
moments this morning to continue our discussion about images and likenesses and
what the Bible says about the whole thing
II. The Image and Likeness of God
-- last week, we talked about the Creation
story from Genesis 1 and how the Bible says that mankind was created in the
image and likeness of God – as you probably remember, I pointed out that even
though we tend to consider image and likeness as meaning the same thing, that
in the original Hebrew, there were two different words used in Genesis 1:26,
and how they do not mean the same thing
-- so, we discussed how all humans are
made in the image of God, but not all humans are made in the likeness of God –
that being made in the image of God means that we are created differently from
all God’s other creation -- it means that we have been created with memory,
intellect, will, moral understanding, and a spirit – all humans are created
with those attributes because all humans are made in the image of God – and,
because we are made in the image of God, that confers value and worth to the
entirety of humanity – all human life is sacred because all humans are made in
the image of God
-- being made in the likeness of God is a
little different, though – to be made in the likeness of God means that we live
into the image of God by entering into a relationship with Him – it means that
we know Him and He knows us
-- and because of our knowledge of God and
our understanding of God, we are changed and become like Him – being sanctified
and set apart so that we become more and more like Jesus in our thoughts,
actions, behaviors, and beliefs
-- so, being made in the likeness of God is
a call to take the image of God that is within us and do something with it --
to live it out and reflect God in all we are and all we do -- to live in a
covenantal relationship with Him by receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior and
allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify us and make us like Him
-- that is what the Bible means about
being made in the image and likeness of God
-- God is serious about His image
and about our role as His image-bearers who live in His likeness – that is why
He clarifies what He means by His image and how we are to worship Him in the
Ten Commandments
-- let’s look at this passage again
and see what we can learn about who God is – what the image of God is – and His
concern with the worship of other images instead of Him
-- and, in the process, see if
Voddie Baucham is correct in his boycotting of The Chosen because of these
commandments
III. The Second and Third Commandments
-- let’s get right into it – look
back at verse 1-3
20:1
And God spoke all these words:
2
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of
slavery.
3
“You shall have no other gods before me.
-- so, here we see the First
Commandment – God begins by reminding the Israelites who He is and what He has
done for them – just as God did with Moses at the burning bush, God speaks
directly to the Israelites and proclaims His deity and authority over the
people of Israel
-- He begins by proclaiming His name
to the people – I am the Lord your God – I am Yahweh – your God and your
Creator – I am the God who brought you out of Egypt – I am the God who rescued
you from slavery – I am the God who is leading you to the promised land
-- He identifies Himself to the
nation so that there is no misunderstanding – so that everyone knows who God is
– that’s one reason why Jesus had us pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father,
who art in heaven” – we need to know who God is – we need to identify who God
is – that’s the main point in God proclaiming Himself before the Israelites
here in verses 1 and 2
-- keep in mind who God is
addressing here – where they have been – for 430 years, the Israelites had
lived in captivity in Egypt – they had dwelled as strangers in a foreign land –
and they had been influenced by the culture in which they found themselves
-- as they went about their daily
lives – as they interacted with the Egyptians and the other cultures in that
land – they were exposed to the pantheon of Egyptian gods – they would have
known and recognized the gods of Egypt – they would have know about the
Egyptian worship practices – of their household gods – of their worship of the
major gods in the temples – of the statues and images of the Egyptian gods
throughout the land
-- and, so, when Moses stood before
God at the burning bush, the first question he had for Him was, “Who are you? –
what is your name? -- if the Israelites ask who you are, what do I tell them? –
which one of all those gods are you?”
– and God responded the same way that He
does here – “I am THE God – the only God -- I am the God of your fathers – the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…My name is ‘I am who I am’” – which is
translated as Yahweh, the sacred and personal name of God
-- so God speaks to the nation of
Israel here in this passage and He proclaims His name and deity to them once
again, just as He did with Moses at the burning bush – and tells them that He
is the only God and that they are not to give their worship to another – verse
3 [read Exodus 20:3]
-- in this first commandment, God is
distinguishing Himself from all the gods of Egypt – from all the gods of all
the lands – He and He alone is God – He and He alone is the Lord God Almighty –
He and He alone is Yahweh – the great I Am
-- I am the Lord your God – you shall have
no other gods before Me
-- the first commandment tells us who
we are to worship – the Lord God Almighty is the only God we are to worship
because He is the one and only God
-- which brings us to the next commandment
– verse 4-6
4
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 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 parents to the third and fourth generation of
those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who
love me and keep my commandments.
-- the first commandment told us Who
we are to worship – the second commandment tells us How we are to
worship Him
-- and, on the surface, it seems pretty
simple – don’t make idols or images -- don’t bow down to them or worship them –
easy-peasy, right? – none of us are in danger of violating this command
-- how many of you have a graven image in
your house that you bow down to and worship? – any of you got a big statue of
Jesus in the backyard that you’re kneeling down to every night before you go to
bed? – none of us, right?
-- so, we’ve got the first and second
commandments down pat, right? – I am the Lord your God – you shall have no
other gods before Me – and don’t make any idols or images and don’t bow down to
them or worship them
-- so, when it comes to the Big Ten, we
can skip right over numbers 1 and 2 – we got those covered and don’t need to
worry about them anymore, right?
-- let’s talk for a minute about what we
mean by idols – what is an idol?
-- quite simply, an idol is an image or a
symbol of a deity that is used in the worship of that deity -- they can be
man-made, like the idols and the images that the Israelites were familiar with
from their time in Egypt – like that Buddha statue that I saw in the Chinese
restaurant or the various statues and images we see in Hindu temples – or,
idols can be natural objects, like the sun and the moon and the stars -- or even
an animal – any image or symbol of a deity used in worship is an idol
-- the problem with this is that, regardless
of whether we’re talking about a man-made image or a natural image, the concept
of that idol comes solely from the mind of the idolator -- it is that person's
image or representation of their god – so, the person who makes the idol is the
creator of their god
– in other words, when that person thinks of
their god -- what they think of – what they see in their mind – what they
envision with the eyes of their heart – is the physical image or their
imagination of what their god looks like – their god is reduced down to the
form of their idol or image of their god
-- don’t get confused by what I’m saying
here -- the people who use idols in their worship know that the idol or image
they are looking at or holding is not really their god -- it is only a
representation of their god that they use to help focus their worship
-- for instance, the people in that
Chinese restaurant don’t actually believe that that statue of Buddha on the
shelf is really Buddha – it is just a symbol of Buddha – a representation of
the real Buddha – that they can focus on and envision as they pray to their god
-- none of these people think their idols
are real – they just represent a real god – but their god becomes the idol
because that is how they see him
-- so, what’s the problem with that? – why
did God prohibit the Israelites and us from making idols? – we can’t see God –
God is Spirit – the Bible tells us that – and so we are worshiping this God
that we can’t see or touch or feel, in any real sense
– so, think about it -- wouldn’t it be
nice if we had an image of God that we could see and touch and feel? –
something that we could hold that just represented Him? – we would know it
wasn’t really God, but it would give us something to hold onto and to focus on
as we prayed and worshiped the real God – what would be the problem with that?
– why did God tell us no, don’t do that?
-- The basic reason for this prohibition
is that idols distort our concept of God -- when we make an idol of God, we are
substituting the real God for something less – we are replacing God with
something that we have created ourselves
-- the first two commandments tell us how
we are to relate to our maker – God begins this passage by reminding us of who
He is – of proclaiming His name and His presence before us
-- then, He tells us that we are to
worship Him only -- to not put any other god before Him -- we are told to
worship Him as He truly is -- the transcendental, all mighty God, omniscient,
omnipresent, and all powerful -- NOT an image or representation of who we think
He is or how we conceive Him to be
-- when we worship an I, an idol or
picture of God – whether that is by making a graven image, a physical statue, a
picture we look at, or simply hold an incorrect vision of Him in our minds, we
have ceased to worship the true God of the Bible – we are worshiping a god that
we have created – and that is the danger of idolatry
-- think for a moment about all these
other religions that revolved around the worship of idols – what led them to
create and worship idols?
-- short answer: two things: self-imaging and control
– first, by creating an idol of their god,
they were able to create a god that they could relate to on their own terms –
it was a god that met their needs – it was someone that understood them and
sympathized with their situations – it was exactly who they thought they needed
– they weren’t worshiping a real god – they were worshiping a god that they
made up who was exactly what they thought he should look like and act like and
be like – they become the creator of the god they desire
-- and, second, control – the idol allowed
them to control their god – it allowed them to shift their likes and desires –
their wants and needs – onto their god
– because he looked like they wanted him
to look and did what they wanted him to do – in effect, they created a god that
they could control – a god that would give them what they needed, when they
needed it – all they had to do was say the right words or make the right
sacrifice and their god had no choice but to grant their petitions – they are
the ones in control because their created god has no choice but to serve them
-- that’s why people want idols – that’s
why we have this tendency in our hearts to create idols in our own lives – it’s
because it’s easy – and it really puts us in charge
-- but that is not the way of God –
that is not the way of the Lord God Almighty
-- God knew that our tendency as humans,
when confronted with things that we can't understand or that are too big for us
to grasp, is to boil it down to its simplest element -- to make a
representation of it, so that we could understand it
-- that’s why we try to pigeon-hole God –
to put God in a box – and say, “This is what our God looks like – this is what
He does – everything about God is right here in this box and He never does
anything outside of the confines of this man-made box”
-- when we do that with God, we are
limiting Him -- it results in us not giving Him the full glory due Him -- it
causes us to see Him as less than He really is
-- that is the reason God gave us this
commandment to us to follow – we are not to create idols or images of God because
to do so is to make a lesser version of Him – we are to only worship the Lord
God Almighty as He is revealed to us in His word – not as we think He should be
-- I think John Wesley summed it up best
when he wrote, "Our religious worship must be governed by the power of
faith, not by the power of imagination."
-- as J. Ligon Duncan pointed out, [in
these first two commandments] “God is saying, "When you think about Me,
you have to think about Me in accordance with the word. Images distort Me,
representations distort Me. Your imaginations distort Me. So, if you want to
know Me, you have to know Me by My word."
-- we are not called to worship a lesser
god of our own making – we are called to worship and serve the God of the Bible
– the Lord our God – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – Yahweh – our
Creator God – the one and only God
-- so, the danger for us in these first
two commandments is not really in making graven images or physical idols that
we bow down to – the danger is in creating a lesser god in our minds that we
put before the real God – and that is exactly what we have done
-- we have raised up entire generations in
the church and encouraged idolatry by teaching them that they can think about
God however they want to think about Him
-- a few years ago, I was speaking to a
friend of mine who has been led astray by some false teachings in regards to
salvation and universalism – as I was reminding him of what the church has
always taught in regards to salvation and eternal punishment for rejecting
Christ, he responded by saying, “My God is a God of love – My God would never
send someone to Hell forever”
-- I’ve had other people tell me something
similar – “I believe in a God who loves everyone – I don’t believe in a God of
wrath or judgment”
-- have you ever heard anybody say
anything similar? – are you hearing what they’re saying? – are you realizing
what they’ve done?
-- they have created in their mind an idol
– a false god – someone who looks just like them and who acts just like them
and who agrees with them on every issue of the day
-- I see that a lot right now – in our
churches – in politics – in our culture – it’s everywhere – people are
worshiping man-made gods and not the God of the Bible
-- think for a moment about the rhetoric
that is coming from both sides of the political aisle in America right now –
all of us know that we are as divided as a country can get – we have the right
on one side and the left on the other and both of them think the other is evil
and the enemy
-- but here’s the kicker – both sides have
created their own image of God – both sides have made God into an idol – and,
so, each side believes their God approves of only them – that their God is
pleased with what they are doing and with their chosen leaders – and that He
disapproves of everything the other side is doing -- and this is true whether
we’re talking about the right or the left
-- what they have done is created a god in
their own image – someone who looks just like them and acts just like them and
is pleased with them – and neither side is worshiping or giving allegiance to
the real God of the Bible that we see here in Exodus 20:1-2
-- and that’s exactly what God was warning
us against and commanded us not to do in these first two commandments
-- think about it like this -- our
vehicles today have warning lights on them to let us know when something is
wrong – if you’re driving along and the oil light starts flashing red, it lets
you know something’s wrong with the oil
-- here’s the warning light for
idolatry – when someone says – when we say – “My God thinks like this” or “I
believe in a God who…” – that’s a warning sign that you may be forming an idol
of God in your mind
-- rather than knowing God and
seeing what His word says about something, you’ve instead created a God that
thinks exactly like you on this given subject
-- when we are worshiping the true
God of the Bible, then it’s not “I believe in a God who” – it becomes, “God
tells us in His word” or “As the Bible says here, God is like this or has
commanded this”
-- so, even though we don’t have graven
images in our homes and in this church, we are still in danger of creating
idols in our minds and our hearts
– that is why it is so important for us to
know God’s word and to know Him through His word so that we aren’t making Him
in our own image but we are letting Him make us in His image and His likeness
-- there are other idols we need to
guard against in our lives, too – as we said, anything that we elevate above
God – anything that we worship in place of God – is an idol in our lives
-- our families can be idols, if we
place a greater importance on them than on God Himself – our jobs can be idols
– our sports teams can be idols – our favorite politicians can be idols –
anything can be an idol if we hold it up higher and make it more important in
our lives than God
-- but the greater danger is in
creating and worshiping a lesser god in our minds – in limiting God in our
lives and in our prayers because we have made Him out to be something that He
is not – and that is the primary concern He had with the Israelites, even
though they did frequently go into straight-up idol worship by adopting pagan
gods and worshiping them from time to time
-- God is the one who is to be
exalted – the Lord God Almighty is the only God, and there are none before Him
– and so we are not to create idols of Him or anything else – to not let
anything else replace Him in our lives – but to worship and serve only Him
-- that is the reason for the first
and the second commandments
-- I know I’m going long, but one
more thing here to close the loop on this message – what about Voddie Baucham
and his boycotting of The Chosen because it is a violation of the second
commandment?
-- what about Islam’s harsh stance
against images or pictures of anything in creation? – if you go to an Islamic
mosque, they won’t have any pictures or engravings of people or of nature –
there are no landscape mosaics in an Islamic mosque because of this command
-- so, how do we answer Voddie
Bauchman and the Muslims? – are we wrong to watch movies that portray Jesus? –
are we wrong to have pictures of Jesus in our church, like this one right here?
– are we wrong to have pictures or statues of nature or animals?
-- the short answer is no – it’s
okay to have those pictures or images or representations of Jesus or God,
provided we don’t worship them or bow down to them
-- the prohibition in the first and
second commandments concerns the worship of God – it is not a total ban on
images or pictures of God or anything He created
-- and we know this from the Bible –
God Himself told the Israelites to make images of cherubim and to put them on
the cover of the Ark of the Covenant – He told them to carve images of
pomegranates as part of the decorations in the temple
-- so, it’s okay to watch The Chosen
and to see an actor portraying Jesus in that drama – provided you don’t make
that actor your god – provided you don’t bow down and worship the actor
-- if Voddie Baucham has that
problem in his life, then that may be a sin for him – but I have no qualms
about watching The Chosen and do not believe that dramas like that or pictures
like this are a violation of these commandments
IV. Closing
-- let’s bring this to a close
-- when Kim and I were members of a church
in Morven, our community was in the middle of a severe drought – being a rural
community with a lot of farmers, this was serious business – people’s
livelihoods were at stake – if rain didn’t come, a lot of people were going to
be harmed
-- so, one Sunday morning – right
before the sermon -- we gathered together at the altar as a church family – as
the people of God in that community – to pray for rain – to cry out to our God
for Him to end the drought and to send the rain that we so desperately needed
-- the pastor lifted up her prayers
– we all bowed our heads and joined together in prayer – and then we sat back
down for the rest of the service
-- and then we noticed that one
little boy was crying and was very upset – we didn’t know why until after the
service ended -- he was crying because he had not brought his umbrella to
church and he didn't want to get his new shoes wet when he left after the
service
-- we all knew that we were going to
hold a special prayer service that day to pray for God to send rain, but not a
single person in that church brought an umbrella with them that Sunday
-- why should we? -- It hadn’t rained in weeks and weeks and
there was no indication that it would rain that day either – so, none of us –
including the pastor – prepared for rain – none of us prepared for God to
answer our prayer
-- if we truly believed in the God
of the Bible – the same God who led the Israelites through the Red Sea on dry
land – the same God who calmed the storm – the same God who brought water out
of a rock and manna from the sky – the same God who died and rose from the dead
on the third day – if we truly believed in Him and worshiped Him, then why
didn’t we all bring umbrellas to church that day?
-- what does that say about our
belief in God? – what does that say about who we were praying to on that
Sunday?
-- only one person in our midst that
Sunday prayed to the true God and believed in Him that day – and his tears
convicted us of our idolatry
-- as we leave here this morning, I
want to encourage you to remember who you are and who God is – the Lord tells
us here in this passage that He is Yahweh – the Great I Am – the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the Lord our God
-- and we are to have no gods before
Him – we are to make no images or idols – whether graven or in our mind – we
are not to bow down to them or worship them – but we are to worship and serve
only Him – for He made us in His image and His likeness to be His image-bearers
to this world – to represent Him to others in place of any idol so that they
might come to know Him as their Lord and Savior, too
-- so, know who God is – study His
word – talk with Him – get to know Him – so that you can worship Him with all
your heart, mind, soul, and spirit and not an idol of our own making
-- let us pray
No comments:
Post a Comment