22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
An overture is a medley that opens an opera, suite, or play, and it introduces the different songs you will hear through the whole work. Movies used to do this often. Most of you are probably familiar with The Sound of Music. The movie begins with scenes of the mountains and fields surrounding Salzburg, Austria, and after Julie Andrews frolics through the grass singing “The Hills Are Alive,” the overture begins. The overture continues several more measures of “The Hills Are Alive,” but then transitions into “Do-Re-Mi,” followed by, “A Few of My Favorite Things,” which morphs into “Something Good,” and closes with a brief hint to “Climb Every Mountain.” There aren’t any lyrics in the overture, so you don’t know that part of the song, but you get to hear the melody so it sticks in your mind and you are able to recognize it when the actual song enters the movie. Not every song gets into the overture, but it gives you an idea of the significant events that are coming up in the film.
Well, the text we just heard is the overture of all of Scripture. So much of what the Bible teaches is introduced in these verses, but too often we miss them because we’re so familiar with the account of creation. So, we’re going to do our best to open our ears to hear the themes that are introduced in this text. We will catch some of the melodies presented to us, so that when the rest of Scripture gives us the lyrics, we can recognize the music behind the song. Just so you know, because there is so much packed into these verses, we aren’t going to be able to hit everything. Sorry.
Right off the bat, we are introduced to one of the great, mysterious theological truths of Scripture – we serve a triune God. In Hebrew, the third and fourth words are ‘God’ and ‘created.’ The interesting thing is that the word for ‘God’ is Elohim, which is a plural word, but the verb for ‘created’ is singular. This would sound really weird to a Hebrew-speaker reading it. Imagine if you read, “The painters (pl.) cleans (sg.) their brushes.” It’s a little jarring.
On top of that, in v. 2-3, you are introduced to each of the three Persons of the Trinity (especially if you know the rest of your Bible). You see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. (The Holy Spirit’s connection to water is a whole theme of Scripture by itself, but we’re not going to dive into that today.) The Holy Spirit is over the water. God the Father speaks. And the Word that is spoken is Jesus who was in the beginning with God through whom all things were made (Jn. 1:3).
We see a return to this theme of the Trinity in v. 26 where God says, “Let us make man in our (pl.) image (sg.) after our (pl.) likeness (sg.).” Then, v. 27 says with poetic beauty, “So God (pl.) created (sg.) man (sg.) in His (sg.) own image, in the image of God (pl.) He created (sg.) him (sg.); male and female He created (sg.) them (pl.).” Just briefly, as a sidenote, part of us being created in the image of God is that we share with God a plurality. Our one God has a plurality of three, one mankind has a plurality of two. This is why I would encourage you to not use someone’s “preferred pronouns” – especially if those pronouns are the plural, they/them. That is a demonic attempt to twist and mangle God’s creation and to make an individual more than he or she actually is. Moving on.
The second part of the overture I’ll point out today is that God is a God of order (1 Cor. 14:33). And we see this in the details of what is created each day. In v. 2, we are told that the earth is without form and void. In days 1-3, God creates defined spaces that give form and order, and in days 4-6, God fills those spaces. You can think of it as God creating a shelf on days 1-3 and God filling those shelves days 4-6. Day one, God creates light and time; then on day four, God fills it with sun, moon, and stars. Day two, God creates the atmosphere and waters; then on day five, God fills those spaces with birds and fish. Day three, God creates land and plants; then on day six, God fills the space with animals and mankind.
This is so beautiful. God doesn’t just build the house of creation. He also fills and decorates it. Because God creates with this order, we can say that wherever and whenever we see disorder, there are evil forces working against God. Satan brought that disordering when he tempted Adam to fall into sin, and we see that continued work of the devil and demons wherever there are attempts to bring anarchy, chaos, and confusion. After the Fall in Gen. 3, the rest of the Bible is about God bringing order back into a sin-sick, chaotic creation.
The third movement of this overture we will highlight is the movement from darkness to light. Verse 2tells us that before God spoke over the formlessness and void, there was darkness over the face of the deep. Before God creates, there is darkness, but then God speaks, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And notice how each of the first six days end with the refrain, “and there was evening and there was morning the ___ day.” So, each day of the creation account begins with darkness and moves toward light.
In our culture today, we mark the beginning of a day at midnight, and this is totally fine. We’re just using the way the Roman empire counted time. The Hebrew culture considers the start of the next day to be right around sunset, which would be about 6 PM because they are closer to the equator than we are. So, they have kept that theme of a day moving from darkness to light. And in the Church, we do this as well. Christmas begins in the “eve.” When it is dark, we celebrate the birth of Christ, and the day moves toward the light.
The interesting thing is that when we get to the seventh day, the pattern “there was evening and morning” that we have heard six times, is broken. There is only mention of the fact that there is a seventh day. So, this entire account moves from chaos and darkness to order and eternal, never-ending light. The book of Revelation shows the conclusion and culmination of this beautiful movement from darkness to light. Rev. 21:23-25 tells us that the eternal city of God will have no sun or moon for the glory of God gives it light and there will be no night there.
Since we’re talking about this seventh day with no darkness, we’ll move to the next beautiful piece of this overture – the eternal day of rest. The seventh day is totally unique in three ways. First, God doesn’t speak a single word on the seventh day. God is silent because the heavens and the earth were finished, completed. God has said all that needed to be said, and His creative Word continues to work to this day as it echoes through His creation. All of creation continues to run and exist because of the Word of God.
The second way the seventh day is unique is that it is blessed. On day five, God blessed the sea creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply, filling the waters and the air. On day six, God blesses mankind to be fruitful and multiply filling, subduing, and having dominion over the earth. it. (Many people today are calling for population control. They say there are too many people on the planet. Dear saints, this is a demonic thought. God created the world to be filled with people, and He blesses us for the purpose of filling the world.) But then, God finishes creation by blessing a day. It is God’s intention to use the blessed seventh day to bless His people – both physically with rest from work, and spiritually with His holiness being conveyed from God to people.
The third way the seventh day is unique is that it doesn’t have an end in the text. The text makes the seventh day eternal and open. Even though we have fallen into sin, God has given us access to the seventh day of eternal rest until Jesus comes again in glory on the Last Day. Hebrews 3-4 encourages us to listen to God’s Word and enter God’s rest. Hebrews 4:9–10 says, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.”
Dear saints, there are so many wonderful themes here in the account of creation, but the one that tops them all is the power of the Word of God. Through His Word, God created all things in six days, and since sin entered the world, God has used His Word to bring the sin-induced chaotic creation back into order and rest. So, God sent His Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh, into the world. Colossians 1:19-20 says, “In [Christ Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”
The God who says, “Let there be ____,” and that which does not exist obeys, He now says to you, “Your sins are removed from you as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12), and they are. He says to you, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26), and it is true. He says to you, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will rest you” (Mt. 11:28), and you find peace.
Dear saints, this is very good indeed. God has created, redeemed, and sanctified you. Trust in what Christ has done, and you will find your eternal rest with God and will all His saints. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
When God created Adam from the dust of the ground, God had a purpose behind everything. God created Adam with eyes so Adam could see not just the beauty of creation but also God’s goodness, mercy, and provision. God created Adam’s limbs to work in the garden that God had given to bless and sustain Adam. God gave Adam feet and legs to walk throughout creation and be in awe and wonder at everything God had given. When God created Adam’s mouth, God gave him a tongue and vocal cords that could declare God’s praise (Ps. 51:15) and mercy (Jer. 3:12; Mk. 5:19). Every part of Adam and Eve’s bodies were created to be in harmony with God, with creation, and with each other.
Contrast God’s ordered, creative work with the work of the devil. Unlike God, the devil hates order and cannot create. Satan is completely powerless when it comes to creating anything. So, when the devil saw the order and beauty of God’s creation, the serpent went to work to bring disorder and chaos.
Satan didn’t mind if Adam and Eve had ears that hear; he just wanted to make sure they were deaf to what God really says. So, the devil’s first words recorded in Scripture are, “Did God actually say?” (Gen. 3:1). That old snake went to work at closing the ears of Adam and Eve to God’s voice. And it worked. After they ate from the tree, Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking in the garden, and they fled from their Creator.
The devil didn’t mind if Adam and Eve had tongues that spoke. He just wanted to make sure those mouths spoke the same lies and bitterness that he has toward God. And it worked. After they ate from the tree, Adam and Eve spoke false words that blamed each other and even God Himself (Gen. 3:11-13) for the sin that they had committed with their own hands and mouths.
And still today, the devil doesn’t care if you have eyes that see. Satan wants to draw your attention to anything that will divert your eyes to God’s mercy and grace because he wants to blind you to God’s goodness. Satan wants to take your eyes off the cross where you see God’s unquestionable mercy toward you and instead focus your eyes on the wickedness, danger, and evil that surrounds you. The devil wants you to see the evil in this world and be filled with fear and worry.
No, the devil can’t create. But he can and does harm, mar, maim, spoil, disfigure, and paralyze. And the devil is effective and efficient at bringing chaos and disorder to our fallen world.
Consider how Satan has distorted your mouth which was created to speak the wonders and mercies of God, but now speaks lies and spreads gossip about your neighbor. Contemplate the ways in which Satan has closed your heart to helping and defending your neighbor who is a fellow son of Adam and daughter of Eve. Reflect on the ways your hands are tightfisted instead of generous. Think about the ways in which the devil has filled your mind with worry and anxiety instead of the peace of God.
Repent. God wants to open your eyes, ears, hands, feet, hearts, minds, and mouth and bring order once again. Consider this deaf man with a speech impediment.
Imagine what this man’s life must have been like. He had lived in a world of silence. He wasn’t able to communicate with others. Imagine his friends and family who have brought him to Jesus. Think of all the times they tried to tell him, “I love you,” but those words fell upon closed, deaf ears. This man’s family has wanted to sing God’s praise with his voice added to their chorus, but his tongue was wrenched and his mouth mute. So, they bring him to Jesus and beg Christ to lay His hand on him, and Jesus acts.
Now, with this healing, please notice first that Christ hears their prayers on behalf of this man whom they love. Dear saints, know that Jesus hears the prayers you pray on behalf of unbelievers who are deaf to God’s Word. Know that without question. But also notice Jesus doesn’t answer their begging and pleas in the way they ask Him to. Jesus doesn’t simply lay His hand upon the deaf man; instead, Jesus does more.
Jesus takes the man away from the crowd. Christ sticks His fingers into those clogged ears, spits, seizes the man’s tongue, and sighs. Actually, the text says that Jesus does more than sigh. Literally, the text says Jesus ‘groans.’ It’s the same word used in Ro. 8:22 where Scripture says that all creation groans as it waits for the revealing of the sons of God. After these things, Jesus speaks one word, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened.”
I’ve seen a picture several times this last week floating around social media. It is Jesus leaning against a tree with His eyes closed. Christ looks exhausted. The caption says, “He must be so tired of the mess we’ve made. Forgive us, Lord, don’t give up on us!” On the one hand, I don’t like the picture combined with the caption because it implies that Jesus didn’t know and is surprised by the mess we’ve made. However, there is something very true with that picture of the weary Jesus.
Jesus is wearied by and suffers because of His interaction with us. You see, Jesus sighs before opening this man’s ears and loosening his tongue because it does take effort from our Lord. This healing is work for Him. We tend to think that performing miracles and healings is just what Jesus does. We tend to think that Jesus can do this without any real effort. Part of the reason we think that way is because most of the time, Christ speaks a word and it is done. We think that is simple, easy-peasy.
However, even the miracles where Jesus simply speaks a word, those miracles and healings are still costly work for him. We see that these miracles cost Jesus effort here when He groans. It isn’t cheap or easy for Christ to do these miracles. It costs Jesus. In every miracle, Jesus is making an exchange. He takes upon Himself the deafness, muteness, sickness, paralysis, blindness, and leprosy. He does this because He is the one who bears our griefs and carries our sorrows (Is. 53:4). And this exchange happens with every miracle.
You see, the miracles that Jesus performs – healing the deaf, blind, and lame, cleansing lepers, and providing miraculous wine and bread – are all costly. He doesn’t just send the devil away. Christ Himself suffers Satan’s abuse and attacks. Just think of His temptation in the wilderness. He gets hungry and thirsty. Jesus comes into our broken world, breathes our poisoned air, suffers our backbiting, ingratitude, and greed. He endures and resists the temptations of Satan and the demons. Christ willingly did all of this knowing full well what it will cost Him. Yet, He does it anyway.
Our Lord does this for those He heals, and He does it for you because He has compassion for you. He looks at you the same way He looked at the deaf man and the same way that we look with pity at people who are suffering. Jesus sees us as having weaknesses and disabilities, as needing help. None of this makes Him angry, but it does hurt and move Him. It causes Him to act on our behalf, to intervene, and to send His holy angels.
Christ always has compassion on those who suffer. Yes, we are certainly sinners, but we are also victims. Jesus sighs in sorrow and frustration over our confusion and self-righteousness. He sighs in grief over our sins and self-inflicted pain. He sighs in anger over that which has been done to us by the devil, by our neighbors, and even by our loved ones.
Jesus knows that getting involved with us means that we will hurt Him, that we will complicate matters, that we will betray Him in a thousand ways – but it doesn’t matter. Christ gets involved anyway. He sticks His finger in our ear. He is dirtied by the interaction. He takes our sorrow, our sin, our blame into Himself in order to heal and save us.
As unconventional as the buildup to this miracle is, the man is healed. His ears are opened, and his tongue is loosened. The crowd responds to this miracle that Jesus, “has done all things well.” But, really, they spook too soon because they hadn’t seen nothin’ [sic.] yet. Jesus has more opening to do.
Those same fingers that became full of the deaf man’s ear wax and seized the man’s tongue are the same fingers that would curl around the nails that pinned Him to the cross. The same mouth of Jesus that spits here will cry out for a drink as Jesus became parched on the tree. The same lungs that exhaled here with a groan are the same lungs that would breathe their last as Jesus gave up His spirit.
And Jesus has done all of this so He can do more than open your deaf ears or loosen your muted tongue. He did this to open to you the way that leads to eternal life with God.
As weird as this miracle is – and it certainly is – Jesus stuck His actual fingers into that man’s ears and mouth. But He comes here now to stick His actual Body and Blood into your mouth. Jesus has been crucified as a ransom for your sins. He has bought you for Himself through His death. And now He is risen and alive for your justification (Ro. 4:25).
Jesus has opened the way to God and invites you now to His table. Jesus comes to you in this holy Supper to remove your doubt that everything He has done is for you. Jesus comes now to drive away all your evil. He comes to you placing His Body into your body. He binds you to Himself. He opens your ears to hear His Word of forgiveness and loosens your tongue so that you can confess Him clearly and be saved.
Oh, Lord Jesus, pull us out of the crowd. Open our ears to hear Your Word and receive Your love. Loosen our tongues to sing Your praise. Jesus, You have done all things well, even loving, forgiving, and saving us. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
To recap the first three Commandments: God has told us to have no other gods than Himself, to not misuse His name, and to keep the Sabbath holy. In those Commandments, God has given and protected for us the gift of Himself as our God, the gift of His name to use in prayer, and the gift of His holy Word which gives us rest in His mercy.
Tonight, we move to the second table of the Law which has to do with love for our neighbor. But before we dive into the Fourth Commandment, it is good for us to briefly consider the order God has given in these Commandments because it is no accident. Turn in your hymnal to p. 23 because it might be helpful for you to see these Commands since I won’t quote them verbatim. Notice, the order: #4 – Honor your parents. #5 – Don’t murder. #6 – Don’t commit adultery. #7 – Don’t steal. #8 – Don’t harm your neighbor’s name or reputation. And for tonight, I’m going to skip over #9 and #10 both for the sake of time and for the fact that the 9thand 10thCommandments bring us back to the 1stCommandment according to Colossians 3:5.
Again, these Commandments, this second table of the Law, have to do with love for our neighbor. If it were up to us to order the Commandments, we might think the most important Commandment about loving our neighbor is to not murder because that is the most unlovingthing we can think of, but God puts the honor of parents as the first Command when it comes to loving our neighbor. Here is why: The 4thCommandment is about setting up and protecting order in creation. Without the gift of order, life is filled with only chaos and anarchy, so the 4thCommandment comes first. The 4thCommandment is the link between our love for God and our love for our neighbor (more on that in a minute). Now, on to…
The 4th Commandment
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not despise our parents and superiors, nor provoke them to anger, but honor, serve, obey, love, and respect them.
This Commandment is unique. Of all the Commandments, only two are positive Commands. By ‘positive’ here, I don’t mean that it makes us feel good or something. Instead, this Command is telling us, “Do this,” just like the 3rdCommand told us, “Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy.” All the others are negative, “Don’t do this.” But the main way this Command is unique is that it is the first Command with a promise (Eph. 6:2), “that your days may be long…” The first three Commands don’t contain a stated promise and blessing, but the 4thdoes.
And notice that God does not command that we love our parents; He commands that we honorthem. To honor someone is a higher command than to love because honor includes love but it also includes service, obedience or submission (more on that word in a minute), and respect. In the 4thCommandment, God puts parents right next to Himself as the most important thing in all creation because parents are a manifestation of God on earth.
Think about it this way: Where does your life come from? It comes from God; He is the Author and Giver of life (Act. 3:15; Ps. 139). But through whom does God give you life? Through your parents – through the role, the office, the vocation of father and mother. In that office and vocation, God has hidden Himself.
When you are (or were) a child God gives you protection, food, clothing, shelter, and education, but He did all of that through your parents. When you grow up (or now that you have grown up), God continues to give you all of those things through your boss and through the authorities over you. No one is ever free from being under authority. Even if both of your parents have died, you are still not free from the requirements of this Commandment because there are still parent figures over you either in your workplace or in the government.Romans 13:1connects the civil authorities to the 4thCommandment when it clearly states that everyone is to be subject to the authorities over us because there is no authority except what God has established.
The home is the foundation of all order in all society. Unfortunately, today we have largely lost sight of this, and cultures around the world are suffering because of that. It is from the home that other institutions get their authority. Parents, God gave your children to you, and your children are your responsibility. It is your responsibility as parents to raise your children in the faith, to educate them, to feed and clothe them, etc. There are times when it is good and right to delegate those responsibilities to someone else. But do not think that because you have delegated those responsibilities that you are free from them either. The further you delegate your responsibilities, the more likely it is that those responsibilities will not be carried out well. I don’t want to get too political here, but this is why socialism will never work. Socialism upends the way God created because it tries to replace the government as the source of order and authority instead of father and mother as the source of order and authority.
So, kids listen up, you are to honor your parents simply because they are your parents. It doesn’t matter if they are good parents or not. Their role or vocation as parents demands honor because God has given you life through them. So, if you want to show love for God, listen to God when He says, “Honor your father and mother.” And parents, listen up. You are to serve in your office as a parent in an honorable way because you are the visible, tangible, manifestation of God for your children to protect and enrich their lives which brings us to…
The 5th Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do our neighbor no bodily harm nor cause him any suffering, but help and befriend him in every need.
God has given you a body and life, and in this Command God protects that body and life because after the order that God established in the 4thCommandment, your body and life are the most important gift God has given you.
I’m going to be brief on this one because I spent so much time on the 4thCommandment (and I could have gone on for hours on the 4thCommandment). The devil has done a very good job of diminishing God’s gift of life in our society. From abortion to euthanasia and assisted suicide in between, the sanctity of life has been lowered.
Because God created human life by joining body and soul to make a living being, all life from womb to tomb is sacred – period. Jesus tells us how serious God is in this Commandment by saying that anger toward another is the same as murder (Mt. 5:21-22).
With regard to both of these Commandments, we see how we have not lived up to God’s requirements of us. We have not honored our parents and the other authorities over us as we should. We have not helped our neighbor when we have had the opportunity to do so. Repent.
Repent and remember that is why the Son of God became flesh. Jesus had parents and was submissive to them (Lk. 2:51). Jesus loved you perfectly by taking on a body just like yours. In that body, Jesus perfectly loved you by taking all your sin into Himself as He suffered the wrath of God against your sin on the cross. Christ has given you His obedience and taken all your sin. Because of His righteousness and His self-sacrifice, you are made right with God. And know that when He returns, He raise up you and all the dead. And He will grant everlasting life – body and soul joined perfectly together – to you and to all who believe in Him. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
I’ve seen a picture several times this last week floating around social media. It is Jesus leaning against a tree with His eyes closed. Christ looks exhausted. The caption says, “He must be so tired of the mess we’ve made. Forgive us, Lord, don’t give up on us!” On the one hand, I don’t like the picture combined with the caption because it implies that Jesus didn’t know and is surprised by the mess we’ve made. However, there is something very true with that picture of the weary Jesus.
He has bought you for Himself through His death. And now He is risen and alive for your justification (Ro. 4:25).
Pastorsamwise 
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