[ Up ] [ Introduction ] [ First Commandment ] [ Second Commandment ] [ Third Commandment ] [ Fourth Commandment ] [ Fifth Commandment ] [ Sixth Commandment ] [ Seventh Commandment ] [ Eighth Commandment ] [ Ninth and Tenth Commandments ]

 

First Commandment Treasure God Himself The word “fear” in Luther’s explanation sometimes causes confusion. Fear can be used in a negative sense. We can be terrified of something and run away from it. This is not the attitude that we are to have toward God. Clearly we are not to flee from Him, but to turn to Him. The Bible often speaks of fearing God in a good sense. When used this way, it means that we dread displeasing God. We dread turning away from Him and His instructions. People often dread getting sick and dying. Or we may dread displeasing our friends. The danger is that this might become so important to us that we start to dread people and things more than we fear God. To understand this commandment, we need to know what “to have a god” means. To have a god is to hold dear to our hearts a person or thing. Your god is what you turn to to supply you with good things and to rescue you when disaster strikes. The person or thing that you dread, are devoted to, or rely on the most is your god. In this sense, everyone has a god for everyone turns to someone or something to provide them with what they need and protect them from harm. You might not call this your “god,” but you must deal with the same realities as everyone else. To reveal who or what is your god, you might ask yourself: Who most of all would I not want to be displeased with me, or what most of all would I dread giving up? Why do I get up in the morning? What keeps me going and gives meaning to my life? Who or what do I rely on to make things better when something is missing in my life? Whatever the answer to these questions is, that is your god. Today children, friends, money, pleasure, power, and possessions are all common gods. Thus our day is not that different from the times that we read about in the Bible. They, too, had many gods. The difference is that they thought of their gods in personal terms. They prayed to and tried to influence the wind, the waves, the sun, the moon and other forces of nature. And they also bowed down to idols that represented war, fertility and love. In the first commandment, God is telling His people not to rely upon any other god more than they rely upon Him. The forces of nature, love, hatred, and many other things have powerful effects on us human beings. However, God’s people are to remember that He alone is the source of all blessings. The various people and things around us that seem so powerful are only instruments established by God. These instruments are always under the control of God. He takes them in His hand and uses them as tools to accomplish His will. God even uses wicked people as His instruments (for example, the Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus and Pontius Pilate). In Isaiah 10:5-19, we see that the Lord used the king of Assyria as a club to punish the wicked. The king, however, was proud and did not recognize that the hand of God was involved in his victories. But this is like an ax exalting itself over the person who swings it or like a saw boasting against the one who uses it (vs. 15). As we go through the other commandments, we will see that God instructs us to use and protect various instruments that He has established. He has for example given us His word and our parents. God wants these instruments to be treated with respect. When we are in need, we are to take advantage of the instruments God has provided. For example, we go to the word for comfort, and we turn to our parents for help. The point of the first commandment then is not to tell us that we are never to love or trust anyone but God. It is not telling us that when we are in need we are to sit in our room all day doing nothing but praying to God. Clearly we should love and trust others. Clearly we should go to other human beings for help when we need it. But when you go for help where is your heart? Do you believe God will use the person or thing you turn to as His instrument in blessing you? Or do you think that person or thing is all that you need and God’s involvement is not necessary? God wants us to turn to Him and trust Him most of all because He alone is able to help. All other gods will fail us. The Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the only true God. He alone has all power. But knowing who the true God is and that He has all power is not enough to enable us to fulfill this commandment. As with all of the commandments, we will never keep them if we focus solely on what we are to do. We must look elsewhere. That is, we must stop looking at God’s command and instead look at His promises. We must stop looking at ourselves and instead look at Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. This alone will give us confidence that God will use His power to bless us and not to punish us. Christ’s work reveals not only that God has power, but He will use His power to help us. He will not fail us because He is faithful and keeps the promises He has given us in Christ.