July 20, 2003
Morning Service
Text: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Subject: The Supremacy of God
Title: God is Good All the Time
I got to thinking the other day just how much we rely on our culture. We have become a media focused nation. We rely on the various types of media to entertain us. We plan our days according to what the weatherman says the weather will be. We converse with our friends by phone and by email. We allow ourselves to be influenced by a liberally biased news media on a regular basis. Without even considering alternatives we believe what the news stations are telling us about world events from their perspective. This president is bad, the other one was good … the government will help you with all your problems, but the church is not to be trusted. The problem is that most people accept that the news media just reports news. They do not take into consideration that it is not only the news that counts, but also the way it is presented. For instance, did you ever notice that in stories about abortion rights on TV that a baby in the womb is never called a baby? It is always a fetus. It is the media’s way of dehumanizing that child that is being killed. In the process the minds of those who hear are being desensitized. Recently, the liberal media has run stories about our president and how he is putting our soldiers in Iraq at risk because there are not enough support troops to keep them safe. I suppose that they have forgotten that the previous president is the one who cut defense spending and reduced the size of our military in his first few years in office. Just by changing a few words or counting on the short memory of most Americans, commentators can trick us into believing something that just isn’t true.
Here is an interesting story that I received via email recently. You all know how hard the media has campaigned to get our guns taken away from us! Here are some statistics that they don’t tell you on TV.
The number of guns owners in the US is 80,000,000.
The number of accidental gun deaths per year is 1,500.
The number of accidental gun deaths per owner is .0000188.
Now consider this.
The number of doctors in America is 700,000.
The number of accidental deaths cause by physicians each year is 120,000.
The number of accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
Statistically, doctors are over 9000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Not everyone has a gun, but almost everyone has at least one doctor.
The email went on to say – Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand. (As a public health measure, I have withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear that the shock could cause people to seek medical attention).
This funny little story was just an example for you to see just how the media can distort statistics and stories in order to makes us see reality thorough their eyes. If you rely heavily on TV and radio or even the Internet to receive our information, eventually you will be deceived.
On the other hand, there is One who never deceives. He tells us about events that have happened without bias. I must admit, He desires to use those words that are written or spoken in order to change the way people think, but He never distorts the truth to do that. He is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who is the source of truth because He is truth. Yet even though many will not accept the truth, God allows us to make our own decisions concerning what is true. He never forces His will upon anyone.
Our passage today follows Moses’ reading of the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. Those words are as true and relevant today as they were when they were written some 3500 years ago. The words contained in the Law reveal much to us about God’s awesome character. There are three things we want to uncover for you today. As we read and dissect this familiar passage I want you to begin to see these things.
One, the superiority of God; He is above all things.
Two, the transcendence of God; He is not just sitting on the throne, He lives among us.
Three, the consistency of God; He is faithful to all generations.
Today we want to discover in a new way that God is Supreme above all things.
I. The Superiority of God. (verse 4)
A. “Hear O Israel” … Verse 4 is referred to as the Jewish “Shema”. The Jews put so much emphasis on this verse and its assertion of God’s superiority that they made it a prayer, which they recited twice a day. “Shema” comes from the Hebrew word “shama” which means, according to Strong’s concordance, “to hear intelligently. It implies attention and obedience”. The Jews emphasized this verse because they thought that since they were God’s chosen people that God’s revelation of Himself to mankind was limited to Israel only. Moses’ call to the people was to hear intelligently with obedience in mind. In Isaiah 6:9-10 we read, “He said, ‘Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and be healed.” Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah in condemning the Jews for not hearing with spiritual ears and seeing with spiritual eyes. The point is, Moses wanted to be sure that the people understood what he was about to say.
B. The Lord is the God of Israel. “The Lord our God”… God is the only God that Israel is to worship. He is the God of creation. He is the God of the commandments. He is a jealous God who wants His relationship with His people to be pure, without idolatry. He made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt. He alone is God. Now why do you think that God commanded that there be no graven images made to be worshiped? Listen to what the psalmist said about Israel’s devotion to idols. Psalm 106: 34-37, “They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. The worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.” Worship of idols is the worship of the demonic forces behind the idol. You can’t worship God and “gods”. Why?
C. “The Lord is one.” Many will point to this passage to say that the Christian doctrine of the trinity is not scriptural. There is one God not three. First of all, let me say that this passage does not negate the doctrine of the trinity. Rather, it verifies it. Now the doctrine of the trinity is difficult, at best, for even the most mature Christian to understand. It is a concept that is better understood than explained though. We know that when we confess Father, Son and Holy Spirit as God we are not saying there are three gods. There are three persons unified as one God. As I said before verse 4 does not contradict the trinity, it re-enforces it. The use of the word one at the end of the verse confirms it. Let me explain. The word used here is “echad” – one. When “echad” is used in the Bible it is always referring to one thing made up of many parts. Had Moses intended to make his people understand God as a single individual he would have used the word “yacheed”. Now look at how “echad” is used in the bible. Genesis 1:5, “there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.” Genesis 2:24, “man … will be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Ezekiel 37:15-17, “The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.” Why is it significant that we understand the concept of three God’s in one? It help’s us to understand how much God cares for us by coming to earth to die for our sins, and that he remains here in the person of the Holy Spirit to guide believers into all truth, while at the same time sitting on the throne in heaven. He is Lord of heaven and earth.
II. The transcendence of God. (verses 5-6)
A. Webster defines transcendence as “the act of being beyond normal limits, surpassing, being outside or going beyond the limits of possible human experience; going beyond the limits of possible knowledge; being above and independent of the limitations of the material universe.” What makes God transcendent? It is the fact that beyond our understanding God loved us so much that He left His throne in heaven and came to live among us as the man Jesus. For many, their understanding of God is one who sits in heaven and could care less about what happens on earth. But God transcends space and time to reach the earth and save mankind.
B. We love him because He first loved us. We are to love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. God loves us the way He wants to be loved – with every part of our being. The heart is the seat of our emotions. We are to love God emotionally, the same type of love you would have for your spouse and your kids, except that God demands that you put Him first. Nowhere does the scriptures indicate that you should forsake your family. But, if the love for your family ever in any way interferes with your relationship with God, you have your priorities wrong. The soul refers to our intellect. Not only are we instructed to love God with our emotions; we are to love him because we know in our minds that He is God. Often, when people make a decision to accept Christ it comes when the truth about Him has been clarified in their minds. With that roadblock out of the way the path to their hearts is cleared. When Jesus was being tried before Pilate, it was obvious that Pilate knew in his heart that there was something about Jesus that made Him special. But he just could not let his intellect connect. We are to love God with all our strength. We are to love God in our physical bodies as well. How can we do that? By refraining from activities that would bring dishonor to God. By resisting those substances that would cause damage to our bodies. Paul wrote, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?” By our actions, people should be able to see that there is something different about us. If God has called us to love Him then He surely gives us a way to show that love.
C. He gave us His commandments. Even though as Christians we are no longer in bondage to the Law, it still gives us all the information we need to walk in God’s grace. Joshua said in Joshua 1:8, “do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” The commandments of God are all about loving, personal relationships. But just obeying the Law is not enough.
D. God transcended heaven by coming to earth in the form of man to save us from our sin and make us righteous before God. Romans 8:3, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man.” The picture of God sitting on a throne ready to strike down those who sin is contradicted by the fact He sent His only Son to die for us. He is willing that none should perish but all should come to repentance through Jesus Christ. He is a loving God. He is Good and He is good all the time.
III. The consistency of God. (Verses 6-9)
A. God’s commandments are good enough for you. Then they should be upon your hearts. The love of God stretches from generation to generation. How does that happen? By passing them on to our children. Have you ever watched the summer Olympics? In the track competition, one of the most interesting races is the 4x100 relay. Four men on a team, each running 100 meters, passing a baton to the following runner and so on till the last man, who normally is the fastest, crosses the finish line. However, this is not a race about who the fastest four runners are. It is a race about teamwork and footwork. As each runner moves closer to the next man he must begin to move so that by the time the previous runner reaches him he is at full speed. Oh yeah, there is one more thing – there must be a transfer of the baton from one man to the next. If the baton is dropped, the race is lost. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.” Then he passed the baton on to Timothy. More races are lost in the baton passing than anywhere else. It is imperative that we pass the baton to the next generation so that the race will not be lost.
B. You see, God is good enough for your children too. He is the God of every generation. One thought that you need to keep with you always. The church is always just one generation away from extinction or revival. Moses writes that you are to impress on your children everything you know about God. Talk to them about God. Everywhere you go. At home or on the road. When you lie down or when you get up. Your relationship with God should always be obvious in every aspect of your life.
C. God lives where you live. “Write them on the doorframes of your house.” Look what Jesus says about the place where you live. “I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, will bear much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” God is so consistent in His word and His promises, and His actions.
What have we learned today?
First, God is one God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Second, He is a loving and caring God who did not stay in heaven but came to earth to reconcile us to Himself.
Third, He is a God for all ages. Peter said in Acts 2:39, “The promise is for you and your children, and for all who are afar off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
The world offers us many choices. We must live in this world but we must remember that we are only pilgrims who are on a journey to the land of milk and honey. What the world offers really looks good. But we must look carefully. For when we see the pleasures of this world presented to us, there often is a crafty enemy who has cleverly concealed the hook of sin in the bait of temptation. As soon as we move to the bait to taste of it, Satan sets the hook. Then he has us. But there is One who offers good things to us that are eternal. What He has to offer is far greater than what the world offers. For God is supreme and His promises eternal and good. The enemy offers temporal pleasure that leads to death. It becomes more and more evident as we walk through this life that the things that are superior are the eternal blessings of God. The things that transcend space and time are the eternal promises of God. The thing that is consistent is the eternal grace of God.
God is the Supreme Being.
He is good and He is good all the time.
