Commandment One no other gods

Exodus 20:2-3 (RSV). I am The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. This commandment is about putting God first in our lives.

Whenever we respond obediently to this Commandment both our inner life and outer life become reordered and gain meaning as we enter into the unknown territory of faith and trust Scriptures in the New Testament that parallel the first Commandment in the Old Testament.

1 Corinthians 8:6 Yet for us there is only one God, The Father, of whom are all things, and we live for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him. 7 However, not all possess this knowledge. Also; Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

The growth pattern of the pathway of the Ten Commandments takes us all the way around to Commandment number ten, and then leads us right onto Commandment number one again (covetousness/idolatry and a disordered culture). Release from Bondage - Exodus 3 :7. The one ‘I am’ speaks the seven ‘I wills’ We only really know freedom when we have known slavery (Our culture of bondage). This next Scripture contains the phrase 'I will' seven times. It is the pronouncement of the Mosaic covenant

Exodus 6 :5-9 I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. (seven times ‘You won’t’)

The commandments showed Israel the need for this change of heart and mind by revealing the sin and disorder in their lives in a very practical and real way. And this was not designed to condemn them, but rather to bring them 'into the light', where God's love and forgiveness was.

The effect of this first commandment therefore was to reveal to Israel their basic flaw of disobedience, their sin, namely, that they could not put God first in their lives. God knew that this was because of their bondage of heart, and therefore the promise of deliverance and freedom is tied to this commandment.

The new covenant is not ‘I will’ but ‘I have’ (Jeremiah 31:31)

Colossians1:13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his beloved Son…T

he most effective means of setting a person free from spiritual captivity is that found in 2 Timothy 2:24-26. (Paul and Silas Acts 16).