Exodus 20:1-17

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Once upon a time there was a perfect world. There was no death, no pain, no tribulation, no tumult. Everything was perfect because there was no sin. There were no ‘little white lies’ or gossip. No one ever said, “I promise,” because everyone only and always spoke the truth. No child retaliated against a sibling. There were no unfaithful husbands or wives because each man and woman only had eyes for his or her spouse. Not only was there no murder, there was also no fighting, no insults, no anger (Mt. 5:21-48). 

This perfection existed because everyone heard God’s Word and listened. They received every good gift from God’s hand with open hands and thankful hearts. There was no turning away from Him, no idolatry, no suspicion. God was their everything, and they were His. They trusted Him completely, loved Him above all things, and rested in Him and the gifts He freely gave. And this peace with God spread to peace with the rest of creation (Gen. 1:31; 2:15-25).

People wanted nothing but good for their neighbor. There was no envy, no suspicion, no asking, “What’s in it for me?” Work was joyful and fruitful. Life was whole because the God who created all things was in perfect harmony with each part of His creation. Because the one relationship that matters most was perfect, everything else was perfect.

This perfect world is not a fairy tale. It was the world as God created it to be, and the Ten Commandments are simply a description of what that harmony looked like. The Commandments are not a list of arbitrary rules that God made up after suffering, death, and sin entered the world and everything had already gone wrong. They are the blueprint of creation as God designed it to function. They show us what life looks like when we are right with God which makes us right with our neighbor and right with the rest of creation.

Sin—both your own sin and the sins others commit—is what has disrupted the perfection that God created (Gen. 3:1-19; Ro 5:12). Because of that sin there is now death, pain, lies, anger, betrayal, covetousness, and every brokenness that we live with every moment of every day.

Into that brokenness, God came to reclaim what was lost. He did it in the Garden when He promised to send the Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). He did it when He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that all the families of the world would be blessed through them (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14). God also does it when He speaks these Ten Commandments.

The most overlooked part of the Ten Commandments is what is often referred to as the introduction, “God spoke all these words saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex. 20:1-2). Notice that God doesn’t begin with rules His people must keep in order to be His people. He begins with the proclamation, the promise, “I have already claimed you because I have brought you out of slavery. I have made you Mine.” Only after that does God give them the rest of His words that shape the life of His people.

I’ve preached this before, but it bears repeating: Nowhere does the Bible refer to this portion of Scripture as “the Ten Commandments.” Instead, Scripture calls them “the Ten Words” (Ex. 34:28; Dt. 10:4). Notice how, as God speaks them, it isn’t, “You must,” or, “You must not.” It is, “You shall,” and, “You shall not.” These words describe the life of one who belongs to God. This is how life will be if you belong to God.

So, when these words don’t describe us (and that will regularly be the case), that means that we aren’t living as God intends us to live. That is when we need to repent and run back to God and ask Him to rescue us from our deadness and slavery to sin (Ro. 6:1-2).

Also, notice who speaks these words. The text says, “God spoke all these words.” In Hebrew, the word for ‘God’ is Elohim, which is plural. The triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is speaking from that mountain. The Holy Spirit is inspiring the Word. The Father is also there. But it is the Son who speaks these words with His Own voice (c.f. Ex. 3:2-4, 12). Jude 5 explicitly says that Jesus, the Son of God, saved His people out of the land of Egypt. The very Son of God who would come to die and rise again is the One giving the Ten Commandments/Words to His people.

This changes how you hear them, doesn’t it? These are not the cold demands of some distant deity. These are the words of your Savior who loves you and has claimed you by His death and resurrection. He tells you how to live once again in perfect harmony with God and with the rest of creation.

In our Gospel reading today (Mt. 5:17-26), Jesus says, “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” (Mt. 5:17). Jesus didn’t come to set the Commandments off to the side or to say they don’t matter. He came to fill them up, to keep them perfectly in your place. And He clearly shows us just how deep they go. It is not only murder that breaks the 5th Commandment—anger in the heart does too. It is not only adultery that breaks the 6th—lust does too. The Commandments are multifaceted. They reach into the heart. They expose us. They show us that we have not lived as the people God has claimed us to be.

That’s why the Law accuses. Because of our sin, we cannot fill what God requires. When Jesus says that He’d come to fulfill and accomplish the Law and Prophets (Mt. 5:17-18), He’s giving us a picture. Imagine that God has given each of us a five-gallon bucket and says, “Fill this bucket to the brim and overflowing with perfect obedience, with holiness, with good works done from a pure heart.” That is what He asks. But what do we do with that bucket? In our sin and weakness, we don’t fill it. Instead, we toss it around, spill its contents, and leave it empty and damaged. We turn inward and are selfish, lazy, and rebellious. We do not love God with all our heart. We do not love our neighbor as ourselves. Our buckets are dry.

But, dear saints, here is the Gospel. Jesus does not come and take the bucket away or wink and say it doesn’t matter. He does not coddle us and say the Commandments are too hard or that we should just ignore them and give up. No! He comes and fills your bucket for you.

Christ lives the perfect life of obedience in your place. Every Commandment kept from the heart, every jot and tittle fulfilled. On the cross, He takes your spilled and empty bucket from your rebellious hands and fills it Himself. He bears the shame. He bears the punishment you and I deserved. He dies the death our sin earned. He rises again and hands your bucket back to you full of His perfect obedience. That is what Jesus means when He says that He came to fulfill the law.

Now, because of what He has done, you are claimed by His Blood and filled with His righteousness. You stand before the Father not with your own empty bucket, but with Christ’s overflowing bucket (Gal. 3:27; Ro. 13:14). The Father is pleased with you and proud of you for Jesus’ sake (Heb. 2:10-11).

What this means now is that the Commandments aren’t only accusations standing against you. They are also the path your Savior has already and perfectly walked for you. And they curb sin as you walk through this life and this world. They guide you as His claimed and filled people to love God and to love your neighbor. You do not keep them to earn God’s favor—you already have that in Christ. Now, you keep them because you are His, because His Spirit is at work in you, because this is the life He has given you to live.

When you hear the Commands, do not hear a bunch of impossible demands that God knows you cannot keep. Instead, hear the voice of your Savior who has already kept them for you and who now, by His Spirit, empowers you to walk in them. Because of Christ, you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Ro. 6:11). Yes, repent when you fail. But also, trust that Christ has filled the bucket. And then, by grace, strive to live as the claimed and filled people you are.

You are not your own. You were bought with a price (1 Co. 6:19-20). You have been claimed out of slavery—out of the slavery of sin and death—and you have been filled with the very life of Christ. That is who you now are because that is whose you are. God has claimed you as His own, and you are filled by God with the perfection of Jesus. God be praised! Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.