The Beautiful Ten Commandments

I've just started a sermon mini-series on Deuteronomy 5-7. You can listen here

Since I preached on Sunday, most of the comments that I've had from people were about the newness of the idea that the Law is beautiful.

I think people generally knew the idea that the law points us to our need for Christ, but therefore see the law as only negative. Whereas, when we see the Ten Commandments as a reflection of God's character (admittedly embedded within the Old Covenental framework of Exodus, Land, And Sabbath) then they are beautiful.

Also, the way in which we are condemned by the law is all the more powerful.

The law reveals God's goodness, and in doing so it reveals our sinfulness.

1) The Lord loves undivided hearts that worship him alone
We love to worship things that he has made
2) The Lord loves right worship
We love to think that we know better than God even as to how we would approach him.
3) The Lord Loves the honour of his name
We love only that we are honoured, and talk casually about Him as if he were merely a man.
4) The Lord loves to provide rest for us
We love to work ourselves into the ground as if this world were all there was.
5) The Lord loves to hold out authority to us
We love only our own authority.
6) the Lord loves life
We see other people as if there were just there to serve us
7) The Lord loves marriage
We cling onto the adultery of our hearts
8) The Lord loves his own providential distribution of wealth
We love to grab whatever we can
9) The Lord loves truth and justice
We love whatever puts ourselves in the best possible light
10) The Lord loves contentment
We love to imagine what we could be if we had different things, different gifts, differently behaved families.