RESPONDING TO SAVING GRACE

The first two verses of Exodus 20 reveal the three main reasons why we should obey God.

He Is The Lord
First, he says “I am the LORD...” He is Yahweh. In Exodus 3:14 God appears to Moses at the burning bush and names himself Yahweh. It means the one who just exists. He has no beginning and no end; he never changes in his being because he is absolute being.

He depends on nothing and everything depends on him. This means he has no equal; nothing can stand against him or compete with him. He is creator, sustainer, and God of all things. The earth is his and everything in it. He rules over all and he cannot be removed from that position. No military coup can oust Him, and no political party can form a coalition against him. He reigns on high!

Israel needed to recognise and remember that God had demonstrated this time and time again. Understanding God’s sovereignty; that he is Yahweh, should give us great confidence that there isn’t anything that he can’t handle or deal with.

He Is Our God
He says “I am the LORD your God”. Amazingly the God of the universe called Israel to be his treasured possession. He is their God! He doesn’t just wind up the earth like some biological clock and then sit back and let it slowly unwind. He’s involved with his people. He’s got plans and purposes for men and women. He calls them, equips them, shapes them, fights for them and blesses them. He is their God!

He is our God too. He’s got plans for us, we call it his will, and he wants to be involved in our lives, not as an added extra but number one, more of that in a minute.

He Saved Us
He says, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

It was God who displayed his wonders before pharaoh for all to see; it was God who brought them out of Egypt “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm”. It was God who parted the Red Sea so that the whole of their nation could walk across on dry land and into freedom.

And it was God who now was promising them great favour and blessing if they obeyed his voice and kept his covenant.

Because of Jesus saving work at the cross we have become the people of God and these promises apply to us as well. God, the sovereign ruler of all creation came down from heaven and rescued us from our own Egypt. He saved us from slavery to sin and death.

I’m so grateful for all that God has done for me through Jesus Christ that I want to put him first in my life. How about you? Are you someone who’s always looking for the right kind of excuse to avoid obeying God? Or are you so amazed at his love and grace that you just want to give him everything?

So the grace of God should motivate us to obey Him. But what does that looks like? God lays this out for Israel and us in verses 3-17.