How does Jesus relate to the first word? Part 2. (Ex 20:3 - 4; Deut 6:4; 1 Cor 8:4 - 6)

Short teachings from Hillcrest Church further exploring Sunday's teachings.

Transcript

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Hey, hope you're doing well. Tim here, and we are diving deep into 10 words of life. So I wanted to uh I wanted to do one more episode just on how does Jesus relate to the first word and the second word really. Um, you know, in the the last episode I talked about how Jesus in his uh as the God man um in his humanity he becomes the one true human who lives out exclusive loyalty uh to God. He he um uh in the temptation, he he is the Adam who doesn't fall in the temptation, he is the Israel that doesn't worship the golden cat. Like he lives out the exclusive loyalty that um we were always meant to live. And this is part of the he lives the life we were meant to live. Um and we need his spirit in us to give us strength. The other, so that was that was the last episode and kind of the the um one part of how Jesus relates to the the the first words. Uh the other way is that we see in the New Testament the the exclusive loyalty um that the Israelites were were asked to give to the living God, to Yahweh God. You know, he said that you shall know the gods, um do not worship idols, you know, worship me alone. That exclusive loyalty to Yahweh that gets applied to Jesus in the New Testament. That the that Jesus gets um included in the I in the identity of Yahweh God, so that same exclusive loyalty is now said to also be due to Jesus, or you know, it's to be owed to Jesus. And uh, and I think it's hard for us um 2,000 years down the road with Trinitarian theology and growing up in the church and worshiping Jesus, you know, it's hard to understand how radical this was uh for first century Jews. But the idea that um that that the kind of worship that was due to Yahweh God would all that would was owed to Yahweh God would also be owed to a human figure like Jesus was just uh earth-shattering, groundbreaking, like unfathomable. And yet that's exactly what we see in the New Testament. So I'll just give you, you know, there's a lot of it, different examples. Um you know, you you move from uh Exodus 20, where these the ten words of life are, and we we read um like the first word, you shall have another gods before me. Um and then of course you shall, and the second one, you shall not make for yourself an image, um, not bow down to it or worship them. I am the Lord your God, am a jealous God. And so it's this this like God is you know, there's the He is the one true God, right? So um a key place this gets picked up, very, very, very important text um in the Hebrew scriptures is Deuteronomy uh 6.4, um, which is often called the Shema. Um and I'm flipping there now. Uh and you'll know it as part of the Great Commandment. But Deuteronomy 6.4, and it's called the Shema because the first word in Hebrew is Shema, which means hear or listen. Um, but Deuteronomy 6.4, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And then it goes on love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Um, and of course, this is the first uh the greatest commandment love to God with all your heart, so, mind, and strength. Love love your neighbor as yourself. But um, you know, that it begins with this declaration of the oneness of God, hero Israel, the Lord, and the L-O-R-E capital is Yahweh, our God, Yahweh is one, right? So, um, and this is this was like a the key scripture for uh Jewish men and women in Jesus' day. And in a lot of ways, it's um it's an it's unfolding what the first and second words are, right? This exclusive loyalty, you shall know that God's before me. I, the Lord your God, am one. I am the I am the the true um king of the universe. Um your exclusive loyalty is due to me alone. Now, what is so interesting is that this um by the time of the New Testament, Jesus is getting included in this exclusive loyalty. Um and uh, you know, and this was just like it was unfathomable uh for first century Jews. But I'm gonna go, a really famous one is 1 Corinthians 8, um, 4 through 6. And what um it's talking, it's interesting, it's talking about idols, because remember the second word, it's interesting, it's in that context, kind of other idols, other gods. And in that, it uses the like some of the language of the Shema, the Lord, God, one, but it applies it to both God the Father and Jesus Christ. So um listen to this. It says, so then, this is Paul writing to the church in Corinth, so then about eating food sacrificed to idols. We know that an idol is nothing at all in this world, and that there is no God but one. That's he's already referring back to Shema. Uh for even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us, so it's saying, like maybe there's other spiritual beings, but there's really only one God. And he's and he's already quoted the Shema, and now here's the kicker where he's pulling in the Shema language. Verse 6 Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live, and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. And what it's just like, he's using like, remember, and there's some language stuff, because Deuteronomy 6.4 is in Hebrew, and it says the Lord your God, uh 1 Corinthians 8 is in Greek, and so there's like, but in Hebrew, right, in Deuteronomy, it's Lord, the Lord your God, the Lord is one, right? Lord God, Lord one. In in 1 Corinthians 8, it's one God, Father, Lord, Jesus. And you see how it's using those same, like Lord and God, it's using the same terms, but now it's the Father and Jesus both being included as part of the identity of the one God. And in fact, to could to kind of really drive home the point, Paul describes them both with the same language. The one uh God the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we uh for whom we live, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. And so they're all things are are for God the Father and through Jesus. And it's just like it is uh a fascinating theological statement. Paul, remember, Paul, like trained Pharisee rabbi, he knew his Jewish theology, he knew the Shema, he knew Deuteronomy 6.4, he knew the first and second word of the ten words in Exodus 20. And here, in the context of saying don't worship other idols, there's one God. He says, Who is that one God? The one God is the Father and the Son. And of course, now, Trinity, there's other places where Paul then includes the Spirit in it, but for the context of this, uh, the point for today is to notice how Jesus is being included into the identity of that one God announced in Exodus and in Deuteronomy. And for us, this may not sound revolutionary, but when you're studying this kind of the development through history, this was revolutionary, a revolutionary new understanding in who God is and how God reveals Himself. Um, and I just think, you know, sometimes you whatever you'll hear about whatever, Jehovah's Witnesses or somebody who says, you know, the New Testament doesn't say uh Jesus is God, and it's like you like, dear, dear friends, you need to read uh the scripture much more closely and intently and seriously because it does over and over again, it declares um that Jesus Christ um is shares in the identity of this Yahweh God who delivered um the slaves from Egypt, who created all things and who will bring all things to completion. And so, um, yeah, how does how does Jesus show up in relation to the ten words? One, in his humanity, he lives he is the human who fully lives out exclusive loyalty to his Abba Father, and two, in his uh divinity, this that the same divine identity he is included in it um in the New Testament. So hope that encourages you. Uh grace and peace. We'll see you next time.