First Command Ex 20:3 • The First Commandment • Thou shalt have no other gods before me • God Will Not Share His Glory With Anyone (Isaiah 42:8 ) • Thou…me-You Individually….to me Personally • An Exclusive Love Relationship with Each One of His Children • The Context of the First Commandment • Man’s Belief About God Was in Three Stages • First Stage, Polytheism-Belief in Many gods • These Man-made Deities Competed for the Worship of Men. • The Egyptians Were Worshiping Multiple gods • The Israelites Eventually Worshiped These gods Too (Ezek 20:7-8) • Second Stage, Henotheism-Territorial gods (Jud 11:24) • Conflicts Between Nations Were Seen as a Conflict Between gods and Their Territories • Third Stage, Monotheism-One God for all the Earth • Other gods • Why the Mention of other gods? (Is 45:21 & 1 Cor 8:4 ) • False gods Enslave Because Demonic Forces Use Them to Gain Mastery (Gal 4:8) • Men Wish to be Like the False gods of Their Belief • Exclusive Worship • before me (al-pānı̂m)-Literally, Before My Face • This Does Not Mean Priority • This Does Not Mean Insulting God to His Face • Since God is Everywhere, We are Forbidden from Worshiping False gods Anywhere (Dt 4:35; Is 43:11 & Mk 12:32) • When it Comes to Worshiping God, It is All or Nothing (Jos 24:15, 1 Ki 18:21 & Matt 6:24) • Two Tests for Idolatry • One is the Love Test • Anything that Replaces God as the Object of Our Affections • The Other is the Trust Test • In Times of Trouble, We May Turn to Addictions or Obsessions • In Times of Insecurity, We May Turn to Tangible Means • In Addition to All These, There is the god of Self • Christ is the Cure • Single, Deep Love and Commitment to Christ • This is Against the Popular Trend in America of Many Ways to God • The Pluralistic Approach is a Direct Attack on the First Commandment (Jn 14:6) • It is Not Simply Our Duty to Worship Christ as the Only God, But Also Our Privilege
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