Why God Gives Us Commands

## Introduction

Well, today we begin a new 7-week summer series that both connects to the book of Ecclesiastes and our theme for the year and we are titling this series "Love the Commandment." Today is an introduction message to the series so it's more conceptual in nature.

Here's how our new summer series ties into the book of Ecclesiastes. If you back out and just look at the man Solomon, you really have to admire him. He was serious about being happy. He was willing to work to be happy. I mean, he wanted it! He was on a quest. And you read the book of Ecclesiastes and you realize, this guy tried everything. He spends his entire life pursuing wisdom and knowledge, women and sexual experience, money and power, parties and feasting, music, buildings, and projects. He tried it all. And all along the way, he's journaling, meticulously and honestly observing the impact of his decisions. He's letting us know the results of his happiness experimentation.

And the reason this is so incredibly helpful for us 3500 years later is that just like Solomon we are all born with the same fundamental mission. We too are wired to be happy, and we can learn from his dead-end pursuits. If we are wise, we can leverage all his hedonism experiments and get the shortcut. And this is a massive, significant advantage over starting from scratch. Let me explain by way of analogy.

My wife Lisa likes shopping at World Market. And every once in while they have this game where they hide five little golden bells somewhere in the store and your job is to basically go in and find those hidden bells and if you do you get a gift card of some amount. So I went in with her one day to help her look for one which should be worth several thousand husband points. And I go into the store and there are literally 70 million items in this store. I can't even believe my eyes how many nick-nacks there are. Plates, canisters, wine, chocolate, kids toys, baskets, furniture, and random food items. So I just start looking. Maybe it's under this pot, nope. One down, 69,999,999 items to go. Maybe it's under this rug. Surprise. Not here either. And I instantly just get so discouraged.

Well, imagine if an employee came up to me and said, "I'll give you a hint. All 5 bells are hidden right here in the porcelain section." Now that's massively helpful. Here's someone who knows that the prize isn't found where everyone else is looking; instead, it's right here in this tiny little section.

This is what Solomon is doing for us. He's saying, life is like a store filled with millions and millions of trinkets all calling out to you. Come, here. Happiness might be found here! And in order to verify that the prize of happiness is not found in those trinkets, you have to pick it up and handle it and test it. And that takes time and there are just too many things in life to try. There's not enough time in life to try all the things that claim to make you happy.

That's why Ecclesiastes is such a goldmine. Solomon gives us a shortcut. He's the employee telling us where to look. He tried with more passion, energy, and resource than anyone else I can think of, and at the end of his life-long hedonism experiment, he claims to have finally found it. He says, let me just save you some heartache and a lot of time. And his summary is short and so easy: it's what Kirk preached on so helpfully last week. He gives us the end of the matter.

Fear God and keep his commandments.

I'm going to argue that this is the same thing as saying, love God and love his Commandments. It's just looking at it from a different angle.

We used the analogy a few weeks ago of an electric car battery to describe the type of fear we are to have for God. A 300volt DC battery is so dangerous. It could kill you instantly if you cross it in the wrong way. But it is so powerful if you follow and respect the design. It can power you down the road for hundreds of miles, control the temperature inside the car, give you music to listen to, etc.

So you fear the battery and keep the commandments. Why?

Because you recognize that the battery makes the rules and sets the laws for how to receive its benefits. You love all the benefits, but you are in no position to tell that battery how it should give you those benefits.

So you fear the battery and obey the rules is another way of saying, you love the benefits of the battery.

After all of Solomon's hedonism experimentation, you know what he said, "God's way can't be improved upon. You are in no position to tell God how he ought to dispense his benefits. You need to fear a God who has told you the way those benefits are to be experienced."

If I want the benefits of an all-powerful God on my side, I have to keep his commandments. And it is because I love God and want to be in a right relationship with this loving God that I love the commandments of God.

So that's where the title of the series comes from. Love the Commandments of God. And this morning, we have one goal with four points. The goal is for you to realize that you have very likely been thinking about the commandments of God in the wrong way.

What's being referenced here is motive. Why are commands given? Whose interest does the command giver have in mind? Most people think of God as a cosmic kill-joy. They think of him saying, "I've got the power to inflict misery. I'm bigger and stronger than they are. Let's see how miserable can I make these people."

Now to be sure, we can certainly conceptualize a category of commands designed to benefit. Parents will often give commands to their kids to protect them.

- Don't touch the fire, stove, outlet
- Don't play too many video games
- Don't be late for your interview

These commands are given not to restrict and inhibit freedom, but to enhance freedom. There is a recognition that forces exist in the world that will innocently draw them in a direction that will result in their harm.

- Without commands, the human gift of curiosity will result in getting burned or shocked.
- Without commands, the human desire to be loved and accepted will result in being corrupted by bad friends.
- Without commands, the gift of rest and entertainment will result in indolence and sloth.

So these are all commands issued for the good of the child. These kinds of commands are given to protect us from certain aspects of our human composition being exploited to our harm and detriment.

So we can certainly conceptualize a type of joy that would be selfless.

## Selfish Commands

But that's not always why commands are given. Some commands are given with an entirely different motive all-together. I recently purchased a little box of chocolates and I put it on top of the fridge and I said, "Nobody touch these chocolates. These are dad's chocolates." Now I said that because for the past 6 months I watched my children descend like locust upon any and all food and especially chocolate. Not cool.

So this command was not given for their good. It was given for my good. I was restricting them from the joy of chocolate so I could experience the joy of chocolate. They knew that and so they promptly ignored my command and I came home to a box with two chocolates left.

Here's the point. From the perspective of my kids, both commands feel restrictive. Sometimes the commands are given for my good. Sometimes the commands are given for their good. And sometimes it is both. We have experience with both types of commands.

Now here's the million-dollar question: when God gives a command, what type of command is it?

Isn't this the crux of it all? You cannot get any more central to the problem of the human condition than this. This is the grand problem, the greatest problem of all. If you can crack this nut, you've solved the matrix. You've discovered the theological Higgs Boson. You've developed a cure for theological cancer. When God gives a command, what's his motive?

Think back to the garden. God told them the reason he was giving them a command.

God said, "Don't eat of this fruit, because in the day you eat of it you will die." God tells Adam and Eve what his motive was. He doesn't say, obey me because I told you so. He says, "I'm giving you this command because I don't want you to die. I want you to live. I want you to flourish. I want you to have freedom and joy and happiness. And if you eat, all these good things will be taken away."

And Satan slithered up and slyly said, "God doesn't care about your happiness. That's just a smokescreen. God's hiding chocolate from you because he's selfish."

Now that thought had never crossed their mind. Which is it? Is that forbidden fruit chocolate or poison? Is the motive behind the command selfish or selfless?

Well, God tells us over and over again in his word that the reason he gives us commandments is that we might have life!

This verse will blow your mind. If happiness for the creature is knowing the creator...if you agree with that premise, then this verse will blow your mind.

In other words, the commandments form you into a shape where you can receive the blessing of God himself. Wow. That's powerful. That's not designed to kill your joy. That's designed to create joy!

God's commandments are designed for your joy.

Why do we need all these commandments? Aren't there a few extras? Why so many?
God tells us in that his word, which in Psalm 119 is a synonym for command, statues, etc., the law is a lamp.

Commands exist to illuminate a dark world. God tells us that his commands are like a map to help us navigate in a world where the direction is not immediately apparent.

Here's an example. If I was to drop you off in the middle of a giant city and tell you to walk until you find the airport, you might try to deduce where the airport was based on your experience in other cities, but it would only be slightly educated. You could easily be dead wrong. It's very likely you'd have some reason for why you chose a certain direction and it could be a good deduction, but you could easily be going in the exact opposite direction. But if you found a sign with an arrow, there would be no doubt.

A sign is like a command. A sign tells you the destination is not here, here, here, or here. It's here. If you want to end up at the airport then I am going to massively restrict you. You can't go in any other direction.

- Here is the way, the direction, and the path.
- No man can come to the airport except through this path.
- There is no direction under heaven whereby men might find the airport other than this direction.

A command is a pointer to human flourishing and fulfillment, which, after all, is what we are all after. Is that not what Solomon was trying to find? Solomon was trying to find happiness. Solomon was after human flourishing. He was this lusty stallion that wanted it all. And at the end of his life, he gives us his conclusion. Keep the commandments of God.

This is a huge help in understanding the heart behind David's authoring of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is this long poem about how much David just loves the law of God. Here's just a three verse sample!

It's the longest Psalm in the Bible and it's just this non-stop gushing, emotive, outpouring of praise for how much he loves the law of God. I remember when I was younger reading Psalm 119 and thinking, man, there's no way he really believes that. He's just saying that because he has to. He's just giving lip service so that God will be pleased with him, but I bet in his heart of hearts he really wishes those laws didn't exist.

But now I understand. David needs that map. David needs that light. And so do we.

Without God's map, we are left in darkness. We are hopelessly lost as to what you live for. If you feel lost in life, maybe it's because you haven't been looking at the map. Maybe it's because you haven't been obedient to the commandments.

I love the commands of God. I believe them with all my heart.

- There is safety in those commands.
- There is protection in those commands.
- There is freedom in those commands.
- There are direction and purpose in those commands.

Now I'm going to take a wild stab at something here. I'm going to guess that you don't think of all of God's rules in this way. Sure, you can concede some of the commands of God are for my good, "Don't kill your neighbor." I can see that one. I'm not sure whimsical murder would be good for our society. But there are other commands that you have a harder time loving. "Don't love money?" We hear that one and we think, "God, I think you might be hiding chocolate from me."

I'm just going to go out on limb and conjecture that you don't love all of God's rules and laws and commandments the way David describes in Psalm 119. I'm guessing you don't think of God's rules as nectar sweeter than the honeycomb.

Now listen carefully. This is such a vital connection to make in your mind. If you don't believe that God's laws are honey, there is only one reason you think that. You don't love that rule because you really do believe that God is trying to restrict your freedom and joy. You think God's hiding chocolate from you.

Now the purpose of this message today is to inspire you. I mean to massively inspire you. What if you changed your perspective and changed what you love? Instead of chafing at the commands of God or being indifferent toward them. What if you began to love the commandment?

What if you saw the commands of God not as restrictors of joy but signs which point to your eternal joy which happens to also be God's eternal glory?

That's Solomon's conclusion: fear God and keep his commandments. God is worth loving so love the commands that get you to him. Love God's law.

It's my guess that you don't thirst after God's rules as you should. Picture it this way. If you were trying to speed to the airport to catch a flight, wouldn't you be just so attentive to every arrow you could find along the way? Wouldn't you just thirst and hunger and instinctively long for hints that pointed you away from wrong directions and toward the right direction? How many miles? Which road do I take?

Do you approach the law of God like that? Or are you inconvenienced when you are happily traveling along and you see a sign that alerts you to your wrong trajectory and you are annoyed? I kind of like this other trajectory.

Have you ever typed in an address on your phone and it starts giving you audible prompts on where to turn? And you don't mind those prompts until all of a sudden you decide along the way that you are going to make a detour. And then the phone just goes wild trying to reroute you.

- At the light, make a U-TURN.
- In 1/4 mile turn left.
- You are going the wrong way.
- You're an idiot.
- What are you doing?

And it won't stop talking. And you feel like yelling at your phone. I'm not interested in that destination right now!

Is that how you feel toward the directions that God gives you? When we read God's Word and listen to the voice prompts and directions that come out of it and you realize you are off course, does it annoy you? Yeah, I know I'm off course and I don't care. I'm not interested in the destination that this command takes me. Stop annoying me with it.

Or are you more like the man who is straining with all his might trying to get to the airport as fast as he possibly can and welcomes any direction that gets him there sooner?

Let me just put a thought experiment in your mind. What if you tried to follow all God's commands with that sort of intensity? What would that do for your life? What if you put down everything in your life and reevaluate what you are doing with only these directions in mind?

- Rejoice, Praise, Worship.
- Do Not Be Afraid.
- Do Not Be Anxious
- Give Thanks.

Here's the hope for this short summer series. The hope is that with the Spirit of God working through his Word, you would believe for perhaps the first time, that God’s plain path, this path you’ve been taught your entire life, the path you’ve walked by every day, is a path that you have never seriously tried.

The hope would be for you to admit, I've never really loved the commands of God and because of that, I've never really obeyed the commands of God. I've been a half-hearted creature toying around with obedience. I kind of read my Bible but only because I have to. I don't see it as the path to life. I've been wandering around reluctantly stumbling into arrows but if I'm honest, I kind of get disappointed when I discover an arrow pointing in a direction different than I'm traveling because I like my direction. I certainly have not been following arrows. What if I realized that the commands are all arrows that point to Jesus Christ, the one thing that will satisfy the deepest needs of my heart? Fear God and keep his commandments.

Maybe you just think you've tried, but be honest, have you?

Every year, millions and millions of people visit the Grand Canyon. And they peer over the edge, snap a selfie or two, and zoom off. And if you ask one of these drive-by tourists if they have seen the Grand Canyon, they will respond with confidence: “Absolutely. You should definitely go; it’s worth a peek. I’d maybe budget 30 minutes or so. It’s cool, but there’s really not much to do.”

This is how many approach the living God. Yeah, I’ve read the Bible. I’ve peered over the rim and yeah, it’s amazing. Deep stuff. I know it’s great and all, but don’t get you’re your hopes up, there’s not a ton to see. Sure, if I’m in the area, I’ll swing by and peek over the rim but prepare yourself to get quickly bored.

Their lack of interest is a function of their failure to invest the energy to descend into the depths. They know there is probably more to see if they were to hike to the bottom, but man, that sounds like a lot of work. They think they know what it's like. They imagine it in their head and their mental conception of what it's like is just not worth the energy.

And so they snap the selfie, post it to Instagram, and never drink from the life-giving springs on the canyon floor, springs they never in a million years even dreamed existed. They leave robbed of the thrill of discovery for those who walk the path of life. They drive away longing for and seeking vitality. How sad that it was right beneath their nose. The whitewater thrill of shooting through the belly of the earth and the jaw-dropping, ever-changing beauty of the hundreds of thousands of polished sandstone cathedrals could have been theirs but instead, all they got was a view they had already seen a thousand times before through other people's pictures.

The goal of this series is to surprise you by the obvious – to get you excited about investing in truth tested by time. Are you ready for an adventure in the obvious?

- Are you ready to walk down a trail you think you know well, but in truth, you have never really tried? Do you thirst to obey God?
- Are you ready to press truths of God’s Word into your daily affairs and experience never-before tasted rich joys? Are you longing for further direction on the path of joy?
- Are you ready to experience God himself by choosing him? Let’s go!

What are the commands of God? These are easily determined by looking at a special tense in the Greek language called the imperative tense. The imperative tense is the tense that appeals to the volition and asks you as the reader to bend your will to the will of another. It’s the tense that asks you to conform to another and surrender decision making power into their care. Every child instinctively feels the force of the imperative as he looks upon the unbending, pointed finger of a parent that says, “Take out the trash.”

Let’s do a software search on all imperatives in the Greek New Testament where God is speaking to man. Boom, that was easy. In seconds, that spun out over 1700 results. Thank you, Logos Bible Software; you just saved me about 100 hours! Now with a highlighter and a pencil, let’s begin examining the results.

I'm working on a bigger project in this regard, so I literally did this work.

So I got out my pencil and the first imperative in the New Testament is Matthew 1:20, ‘Behold’ as in "Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Mary." This isn’t God talking to us directly. It’s the angel in the midst of a narrative commanding Mary.

It can be a bit intimidating to think about obeying all the commandments of God. Wow, there are hundreds of them. I get a little lost. It's a bit overwhelming. So what I tried to do was look for patterns and groupings in the commands. Are there headings beneath which these commands fit? And I discovered something that for me was very helpful.

Rather than thinking of commands as individual things that need to be remembered and obeyed, think of the commandments of God as dispositions of the heart. Think of these commandments as ways in which the heart leans.

Jesus summarized all the commands of the OT as fitting under the heading, "Love God and love men." Well, that's helpful.

So we want to do a similar sort of thing. When we read the NT, there are hundreds and hundreds of commands. There are ways in which we can group those commands.

In the following weeks, we are going to look at four dispositions of the heart, disposition that capture all the commands of the Bible.

You can think of the commands of the Bible as fitting beneath these four headings.

1. Believe/Repent. These commands have to do with what you believe to be true. They have to do with your worldview, nature of reality, presuppositions, assumptions, and expectations. These are direction commands.

2. Seek/Guard. These are movement commands. Because you believe that happiness and fulfillment are to be found there, you are not there and so it's time to move. You're going there and because you want to go there so badly, you are guarding against things that might prevent you from getting there.

3. Serve. These are saturation and cultivation commands. A seed will one day provide you with a meal, but in order for it to do so, you have to cultivate it. And similarly, Christ will provide you with joy, but you have to serve him for that to happen over time. There is work that is done in the heart as you serve him that shaped you into a container for the joy of God.

4. Consider. There is a giant set of commands in Scripture to help you evaluate your experience in light of the truth you've believed, sought, and served. Because much of our joy in life is future, it can be easy to get discouraged so God often reminds, helps us to evaluate and look beyond the present.

So that's the subject of the next four weeks.

## Choose Your Own Adventure.

I want to leave you with a thought. Did you ever read those choose your own adventure books? You'd read along and then it would say, "Do you run for your life or stay and fight?"

I want you to think of the imperatives of the New Testament as choose your own adventure. You get to the commands that say, be anxious for nothing, do not love the world, rejoice. What you do with those commands, in a very real way, determines your very destiny.

I'm going to end on a bit of a technical note. There's another aspect to the imperative tense that's important to consider. There's a really well know Greek Grammar written by Dana and Mantey and they describe the imperative tense this way:

This is so helpful! When God issues imperatives it’s an appeal of his will to our will but it is very far removed from reality since there is no guarantee that we will obey the command. Will I submit my will to his, trusting that God will reward me for doing so?

Here's the point: your reality is determined by whether or not you obey the commands. If you bend your will to the commands of God you experience one reality, and if you don't, you experience a different reality. If you are not experiencing soul satisfaction in life, there's an explanation.

Change your attitude toward God's commands! To love those commands like a man straining to get to the airport as soon as possible.

To choose to love God is to choose to obey him. All of God's children should love his commandments. In fact, John says it is evidence of whether or not you are his child at all.

The logic here is so simple. How can you say, "I really want to get to the airport," and then ignore a sign that tells you where the airport is? You don't want to get to the airport.

And similarly, if you say, "I want to be a follower of Jesus," and then hear a command of Jesus and say, "Nah, I don't want to do that." Well then, you don't want to follow Jesus.

That's why Jesus said,

Do you see how the words "Fear God and keep his commandments," from Solomon relates to "Love God and love his commandments," from the apostle John?