The Law & Hell
Sermon Notes
Now today we’re continuing our teaching series called Starting Point: Reasons for Faith, Not Skepticism, and so far in this series we’ve discussed reasons for faith in the existence of God, reasons for faith in trusting the bible’s true, and last week we started part 1 of a 4 part overview of the bible’s story. In part 1 we talked about the creation and fall of humanity, and today we’ll talk about part 2 which is The Law, meaning God’s laws. Those of you who are moms know the importance of having rules for your kids, and teaching them consequences if they break the rules. Likewise God gives us certain rules and consequences if we break those rules. So today we’re exploring the purpose of God’s laws, and how could a loving God allow a consequence like hell to exist? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Let’s turn to Exodus 20:1-17 and get into it. Exodus is in the front quarter part of your bible, we’ll be in Exodus 20:1-17. The title of today’s message is The Story Part 2: The Law and Reason For Hell, and here’s the big idea. God’s laws aren’t a condition for a relationship, they’re a loving response to a relationship... God’s laws aren’t a condition for a relationship, they’re a loving response to a relationship...
Context:
Here’s your context. In Genesis 1-2 we learned God created the universe and everything in it, and after creating humanity, after creating Adam and Eve He said it’s very good. But in Genesis 3 they sin against God and that’s when things go from being very good, to being very bad. That’s when sin and suffering enter our world. Now God eventually restores them from their sin, and by the time we get to Exodus 20 the earth is largely populated. But human sin and corruption continues, so God rescues the Jews from Egyptian slavery, and uses them as a unique nation to bring further restoration in our world. We’re studying the part of biblical history where God gives them some laws, the 10 Commandments to follow as a nation, so let’s check it out.
The Word:
Exodus 20:1-21 states, “And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’” Notice that God doesn’t start with the rules, He starts with a relationship...He starts with a relationship saying I am the Lord your God, that’s personal. God’s affirming His relational commitment to them. He says I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. It’s a picture of God being like a loving parent who takes their child by the hand, scoops them up, and rescues them from danger. In this case it’s the danger of Egyptian oppression. God is making it very clear that their relationship and salvation came first, it came before the rules. Now that’s different than every other religion in the world, because every religion in the world teaches first you obey God’s laws, then you get the relationship and reward. Even some non-religious people think this way with their western karmic view of life. “If I’m a good person and do good things, then good will come back to me.” It’s about following the rules first, then you get a reward. Christianity’s the only faith that teaches the relationship and reward comes first, then comes the rules. So we shouldn’t view God’s laws as a condition for a relationship, instead they’re a loving response to a relationship. When God gives us laws it isn’t to hinder our relational joy, it’s to benefit our relational joy. Just like a stop light reveals we cherish life and want to protect life, God’s laws reveal what He cherishes and wants to protect in our lives. So keep that in mind as we read the 10 Commandments. He’s giving us these laws not to hinder us, but to benefit us. They aren’t a condition for a relationship, since He offered a relationship before the rules.
Commandment 1 = (vs. 3) “You shall have no other gods before me.” We’re to put God first in our lives. God’s heart is for us to put our relationship with Him first.
Commandment 2 = (vs. 4) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image.” We’re to worship God, not our idols. Not money, people, fame, or anything else but God. It’s also about worshiping God rightly, meaning worshiping God for who He actually is, not who we want Him to be or created Him to be in our minds.
Commandment 3 = (vs. 7) “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” We’re to honor God’s name, have reverence for God’s name.
Commandment 4 = (vs. 8) “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” We’re to take a day off each week to rest, have some fun, celebrate God, enjoy the life He’s given us.
Commandment 5 = (vs. 12) “Honor your father and your mother.” We’re to honor our mothers and fathers, love and care for our families, respect other human authorities.
Commandment 6 = (vs. 13) “You shall not murder.” We’re to protect and value the sanctity of innocent human life, regardless of age, race, or gender.
Commandment 7 = (vs. 14) “You shall not commit adultery.” We’re to value God’s sexual ethics and the centrality of marriage. Jesus said this includes even emotional adultery, meaning lusting with your eyes and your heart.
Commandment 8 = (vs. 15) “You shall not steal.” We shouldn’t steal others property, cheat people in business, fudge tax numbers, take credit for things somebody else did.
Commandment 9 = (vs. 16) “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” We’re to place a high value on being truthful in all our relationships, including marriage, friendships, business relationships, even the stranger on the street.
Commandment 10 = (vs. 17) “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” We should be content with God’s provision, thankful for what we do have, instead of complaining about what we don’t have. This includes being content with our looks, talents, success in life and ministry, instead of coveting what God’s doing in somebody else’s life.
All these commandments are about a relationship! They’re about our relationship with
God and our relationship with others. It starts vertical with our relationship with God, which then affects our horizontal relationship with others. It’s God setting us apart to live radically different in our cities, as we love God and others like He’s loved us. Will we stumble at this? Yes, which is why we need to remember He offered His love before His expectations. We need to remember He offered His love, before He ever expected us to do anything. But God’s love isn’t meant to be an excuse for disobedience, it’s meant to be a motivator for obedience. When you know God’s love, you’ll want to obey God’s laws. It’s because you know His laws are coming from a place of relational love...So let me address several questions people tend to ask when it comes to God’s laws, and how could a relationally loving God, allow a consequence like Hell to exist.
#1 What’s the purpose of God’s Laws? = As we just discussed the purpose of God’s laws is to 1st reveal God’s heart, 2nd protect our relational joy, 3rd create radically different people in our cities, and 4th point out our need for God’s continual grace in every relationship we have. We can’t fully live out the laws of God in our relationships, without the grace of God in our lives.
#2 Why do Christians obey some biblical laws, but dismiss others? = I get this one a lot from skeptics. They’re like “Christians are so hypocritical. They want to uphold biblical laws on sexual ethics, but dismiss things like dietary ethics on bacon? Why is it okay to uphold certain laws, but not others?” It’s a fair question, but it’s an incorrect view of biblical law. See there’s 3 categories of God’s laws. It’s civil, ceremonial, and moral laws. Civil laws are governing laws the Jews used to govern as a nation. We don’t follow those because Jesus and the early disciples said we’re to obey the governing laws of the land we’re in. Simply put, we don’t practice Jewish governing laws living in America. Ceremonial laws are worship laws they used to connect with God in ceremonial worship. We don’t follow those laws either because we connect with God directly through Jesus. But the Moral laws are the laws that’re used for issues on morality like stealing, lying, murder, the 10 Commandments. The reason we uphold those laws is because the moral character of God doesn’t change. So we’re not picking and choosing which laws to keep out of hypocrisy or convenience. It’s because there’s a difference between civil, ceremonial, and moral laws. We’re to uphold the moral laws, because God’s moral character doesn’t change.
#3 What did Jesus say about God’s laws and Hell? = In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” Jesus came to perfectly fulfill all the requirements of the law on our behalf. He lived the perfect life we haven’t lived, and then died the death we deserved to die for our sins. He experienced hell on the cross, so we didn’t have to experience hell in eternity. In fact Jesus talked more about hell than anybody else in the bible, which should cause those of you who aren’t Christians to pause and think. I mean you already trust a lot of Jesus’ teachings like ‘Love your neighbor...Let he who hasn’t sinned cast the first stone...or...Don’t judge!’ If you trust Jesus in those teachings, maybe you should consider trusting him in his teachings on Hell too.
#4 How could a loving God send somebody to Hell? = A lot of people wrestle with this. They’re like “If God’s truly loving, then He should just forgive everyone and let everyone go to heaven.” But in an attempt to make God more loving, we’re actually making God less loving. It’s because a God that doesn’t take action against injustice isn’t loving. I mean do you really want a God who overlooks injustices of people like Hitler, ISIS, the Pulse shooter, or Sandy Hook shooter who shot up all those children in Connecticut? Wouldn’t it be unloving for God to turn a blind eye to all those injustices? You don’t want our local authorities governing like that, so why do you want God to govern like that? You believe it’s unloving to overlook injustices like that, and that there needs to be justice such things, well so does God. You believe criminals need to be convicted and sent to prison for their crimes, well so does God. Hell is God’s way of not overlooking sin, it’s God’s justice. But be careful not to compare yourself with others like Hitler saying “I’m not as bad as him,” because it’ll always make you think you’re better than you are. Instead of comparing yourself to Hitler saying “I’m not as bad as Hitler, therefore I deserve heaven.” We should compare ourselves to God saying “I’m not as good as God, therefore even my own sins make me undeserving of heaven, make me undeserving of God’s presence.”
#5 Isn’t Hell excessive for the crime? = “I mean if somebody sins they have to go to hell for all eternity? The punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime.” But it does fit the crime if we understand the magnitude of who we’re sinning against. For example you won’t get arrested for lying to a friend, but if you lie to a judge in court, you’ll face up to 5 yrs in prison. The sins are the same, but who those sins are against is what makes the extent of the punishment different. Yet God’s an infinitely greater judge than a judge in court, so lying or sinning against Him deserves a much greater punishment than 5 yrs in prison. The reason we think the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, the punishment of an eternal hell is too big, is because our view of God is too small. If we truly understood the magnitude of how infinitely HOLY God is, we’d be less surprised there’s a Hell, and more surprised God’s even willing to save anybody from Hell.
#6 Why would God create people, He knew would go to Hell? = This is one I’ve wrestled with a lot, and something I found helpful several years ago is the doctrine of concurrence. The doctrine of concurrence is the belief that God is sovereignly in control of the world, while at the same time allowing free will in the world. God and humanity are acting in ways that accomplish God’s plans, while at the same time allowing us to have free will. But if you say God should’ve created the world without people going to hell, then you’re saying God should’ve created us without free will. You’re saying God should’ve created us like the very phone, computer, tv you’re watching this from. But God doesn’t desire a programmed relationship, He desires a genuine relationship with us. For that to happen He gives us free will, which means God doesn’t send people to hell. Instead people send themselves there when they choose hell without God, rather than heaven with God...And it grieves God’s heart...Just like God’s heart is revealed in His laws, Ezekiel 33:11 reveals God’s heart towards people who reject Him. In Ezekiel 33:11 God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked would turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die?” God’s practically pleading for people to turn from their sins, even stating He has no pleasure in the death of wicked people. God’s heart isn’t for people to go to hell, it’s for people to turn to Him and live.
#7 What about people who’ve never heard of God before? = We talked about this a few weeks ago when we studied Romans 1. Romans 1 says that all people have a chance to know who God is, by observing His find tuned creation. Our fine tuned creation points to the existence of an intelligent designer, it points to a Creator. Likewise the moral law, the moral conscience inside us convicting us of doing right or wrong, is pointing to the God we’ll one day have to give an answer to. So all people are given the chance to have at least some working knowledge that God exists, which is what makes missional living so critical. It’s that God sends people like us to tell them the gospel, to tell them Jesus is the God who’s been stirring their hearts. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 to go make disciples of all nations, because he wants us to share with all people from all nations, including those in Orlando, that he’s the God who’s been stirring their hearts.
#8 Why doesn’t God do something about it? = Why doesn’t God do something to save those heading for hell? He did, and we nailed Him to the cross...Jesus didn’t just come to warn us about hell, he came to save us from hell, and we nailed him to a cross...He came to suffer for our sins in this life, so we don’t have to suffer for our sins in eternal life. C.S. Lewis states, “To those who object to the doctrine of hell, what are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and at all costs give them a fresh start? He did that, when Jesus died on the cross...You want God to forgive them? But they don’t ask for forgiveness...You want God to leave them alone? That’s what hell is!..Look there’s only two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says in the end ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it.” Jesus came to give us a way out of hell, and if we reject his way out that isn’t on God, it’s on us. God wants a relationship with us, but He won’t force a relationship with us.
So the bad news is not everybody will be saved, but the good news is anybody can be saved through faith in Jesus. The good news is Psalm 51:17 states, “A broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise.” God will never turn down a broken and contrite heart, that repents and desires a relationship with Him. If that’s you, if you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then click I commit my life to Jesus in the chat box, or email us at info@cityawakening.org, we’d love to talk with you about that...If you already have a relationship with Jesus, look for the God stirrings in your friends hearts, and tell them about Jesus who’s pursuing a relationship with them. But also take time to praise Jesus for securing your own relationship with him. Praise him over the fact that he pursued you and died for you, before he ever giving any laws to you. Let’s praise him, keep pursuing him, and express our love by obediently following him.