Journey to The Journey

I have a confession. I have been struggling for quite some time with contentment, particularly in regards to my vocation. I have shared this with numerous Christian friends and family. I've sought counsel. I've asked for prayer. I've fought to gain healthy perspectives and to wage war on my sin. I desire genuine repentance in this area. And yet, I still struggle.

The great 21st century philosopher Eminem once said "my words are weapons." I may say that tongue in cheek, but the reality is, he was on to something very true there. Jesus himself taught this truth to his disciples when he said, "Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person" (Matthew 15:11). Our words have great power. With our mouths we can build up and bless, but we can also harm and destroy. The Ninth Commandment focuses narrowly on bearing false witness against your neighbor, but the larger teaching on the command in scripture, as Cody pointed out in his sermon, greatly expands this focus to include all types of lying, of course; but also to provide us instruction for how we are to wield the great power found in our words for the good of others and the glory of God.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the biblical teaching on money. The scriptural imperatives for stewarding our time, talents, and treasures flies in the face of our sinful inclinations. History testifies to our innate desire for more...we want what we don't have (this is next week's lesson) and we want more of what we do have; and we will beg, borrow, and steal to get it.

Despite the many ways in which sin has perverted it, sex is a good and beautiful part of God's creation. It was given to man for his flourishing, and so that it might be enjoyed. But like all good things, it must be enjoyed within the boundaries that God has established for it...namely, within the safe an loving confines of a male-female marriage relationship.

Too often we allow ourselves to become convinced that our sins are just too great to be forgiven. We believe the lies that we aren't loved enough in Christ to be forgiven. We busy ourselves with vain attempts to work off our debt, or maybe at least enough of it, so that Jesus can accomplish the rest. But Jesus' final words on the cross declare that his atoning work is finished!

It is significant that when God shifts his focus from our vertical relationship with him to our horizontal relationship with others in the Ten Commandments, he begins, here with the Fifth Commandment, with honoring the father and mother. If we are to understand Jesus' response to the lawyer in Matthew 22:34-40 as being prescriptive, then we can boil the Ten Commandments down to two fundamental principles...love God and love others. "On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (i.e. everything else). Therefore, as Cody pointed out, the First and Fifth Commandments serve much like headings, under which those commandments that follow fall.

You see, the Fourth Commandment foreshadows the restoration of the peace that was to come in Christ. Sinclair Ferguson writes, "We rest in Christ from our labor of self-sufficiency, and we have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). As we meet with Him, He shows us Himself, His ways, His world, His purposes, His glory. And whatever was temporary about the Mosaic Sabbath must be left behind as the reality of the intimate communion of the Adamic Sabbath is again experienced in our worship of the risen Savior on the first day of the week - the Lord’s Day."

The very fact that God has a name and that he has shared it with his creatures is an invitation to draw near and worship him. His word reveals what is true about him so that way may know it and by extension know him. And yet, what we can grasp and understand of the character and glory of God is but a small drop in a vast ocean. This too should inspire awe and worship in us. That this God, majestic in splendor and glory, holy and incomprehensible, has lisped to speak to us in a way that we can apprehend even some small fraction of who he is, that we might know him and be invited in to worship him; moreover that he would condescend to redeem us unto himself when we have transgressed against him, is almost too much to fathom. And yet it is the gospel.

This week in our study over the Ten Commandments, we looked at the Second Commandment concerning idols and idolatry. This can be a difficult topic because there is much ambiguity around what constitutes an idol and how we define worship. For most of us, when we think of an idol, we think of a small figure of some sort, handcrafted from some medium (wood, metal, stone, etc.). Likewise, when we think of worship, we think of physically prostrating oneself before someone or something...the object of said worship.

This week we began a new teaching series over the Ten Commandments. What a great way to begin a new year, by focusing on the commands of God! Unfortunately, what often comes to mind for most people when they think about laws and commandments is the loss of individual freedoms. To many of us, the Ten Commandments are oppressive and not a cause for celebration.