NO OTHER gODS

Well, listen, if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do here, let me invite you to turn to Exodus chapter number 20. Exodus chapter number twenty here today. We are beginning a brand new series here today entitled Written in Stone. Entitled written in stone. And over the next 10 weeks, we are going to slowly just look at each one of the ten commandments together.

And I hope that during this series that we can look at each one of them and recognize that they are still relevant for us here today. And uh and that's the goal of this uh of this series. And so today uh we are going to tackle the first uh commandment, but I also want to give a little bit of a an introduction. To the Ten Commandments, as we kind of get started into this series. And so this is taking place in Exodus chapter 20.

This is literally months after the children of Israel were taken by the Lord and delivered from captivity in Egypt.

So they had been in slavery for over 400 years in Egypt, the nation of Israel. And then we know that the ten plagues happened, and God sent all these plagues to Pharaoh. And on that final plague, the death of the firstborn, God led the nation of Israel and delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians. And as they came to the wilderness and they were heading towards this land that God had promised them, the promised land, right? As they're heading there, he gives, this is months after they were delivered out of Egypt, he gives Moses on Mount Sinai, he gives him.

These tablets of stone. And he writes the Ten Commandments with his finger, as we see in the book of Exodus, and he gives them the Ten Commandments.

Now, the Ten Commandments, the phrase Ten Commandments is mentioned three times in Scripture. It's mentioned once in Exodus, and it's mentioned twice in the book of Deuteronomy. If you look up that in the Hebrew, the phrase the Ten Commandments literally means ten words. Words. These are 10 words, if you were, from God to his people.

The Ten Commandments reveal how the designer and the creator designed his. designed to work. And so you have to understand that this is God's design, if you would, for how we are to function in the world that we live in.

Now, when you look at Scripture, you got to realize why the Ten Commandments were needed. In Genesis chapter 1. Or, you know, in Genesis, we see the creation, right? God created the whole world, and He saw that it was good. It was created the way that He needed for it to be created.

And here's what I'll tell you: is that they didn't need the Ten Commandments when He created the world. Because the world was functioning the way that he designed for it to. But in Genesis chapter number three, When Adam and Eve sinned, sin now entered into the world, and now sin has passed upon all men.

So every person that's ever born is now born into sin, and so they go after the flesh, and they want to live according to the flesh. And therefore, God had to send the commandments to kind of show them how his design is supposed to... is supposed to function. And as we get into this, by way of introduction, I wanted to kind of give you a little bit of two historical influence of the Ten Commandments before we dive into Exodus chapter number 20. Because, I mean, Really, the Ten Commandments are without a doubt.

The most influential words that have probably ever affected human society in general. I mean, if you really stop to think about the influence of the Ten Commandments, not just in the local church. Or in the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, these have really rang true. in society and specifically American society in our history. I mean, you could even say this when you look at the influence of the Ten Commandments, that our legal system was formed and rooted upon the words that we are going to read in these 17 verses of Exodus chapter number 20.

These words from God became the guiding doctrine. That would essentially shape society and the nation that we actually. Actually, I live in.

Now, I don't normally get political and stuff like this, so I don't want you to receive this that way. But I'm just as way of introduction as we dive into this series, I want you to see briefly how the influence of the Ten Commandments has really been a part of shaping where we get to live. John Adams, the second president. In a letter to Thomas Jefferson that was written in 1816, he wrote these words: the Ten Commandments. and the Sermon on the Mount contained my religion.

Our fourth president, James Madison, said this: God is the supreme law giver. for the universe. William McKinley, our 25th president, said this: Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers. who will not forsake us so long as we obey. His commandments.

Harry Truman wrote these words at the Attorney General's Conference in 1950. He said this: the fundamental basis, listen to this, the fundamental basis of this nation's laws. was given to Moses on the mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings that we get from Exodus as well as St. Matthew, from Isaiah, and Paul.

Dwight Eisenhower said this: The purpose of a devout and united people was set forth in the pages of the Bible. To live in freedom, number one, number two, to work in a prosperous land, and number three, to obey the commandments. Uh God. You see, the Ten Commandments have not only impacted the church, but they are literally the most influential words. That have ever shaped society in general.

In fact, I thought this was really interesting, and just the irony here, what's interesting to me. In 1980, In the lawsuit, Stone v. Graham, this was when they were deciding to take the Ten Commandments out of schools and classrooms and things like this back in 1980. When they were going through that, the Supreme Court decided, and six people voted, that it was unconstitutional to keep the Ten Commandments in classrooms. And in this, here's what they said.

And I thought this was very interesting. They said this on why they deemed this to be. Um unconstitutional. They said that the posting of the Ten Commandments was clearly religious. and not educational deeming it unconstitutional.

And here's what they said. If they, and I quote, if they were to have any effect at all talking about the Ten Commandments, it would, listen to this, it would encourage the students in these classrooms to read. Meditate upon. And obey. The commandments.

What a terrible thing that would be, right? And that was how they deemed it unconstitutional. I say all this to say, not to make this a political sermon, so please don't receive it that way. My point is, is this, or whatever, is that the Ten Commandments has really shaped society in general. And even though our society and court system.

Are you trying to tear us away from what God has told us and the importance and relevance of the Ten Commandments here in Exodus chapter number 20? I want to remind you, and in the next 10 weeks, I want to remind you that these are God's timeless truths. that are non-negotiable. And also relevant to us today. And if no one else abides by them, The church better abide by them.

Okay. And that's what we have to understand.

So as we see these commandments, I want you to know that they are relevant. And they are timeless. And that they apply to you today, and we must abide by these commandments that we give.

Now, I want to answer one question, then we're going to dive into our text today. I understand that a lot of people would say, do the commandments even apply today? Because aren't we under grace in that New Testament covenant and we're not under the law anymore? Like, do they even apply? Are they even relevant to us today?

Must we learn them? Do they even matter for Christians here today? Because we're under grace and we're not under the Old Testament law. And what you have to understand when we say that, that is true. And fundamentally, that is true.

But here's what you have to understand about the Old Testament law. It's over 600. Law is given in the Old Testament. And you can categorize all of the different laws given in the Old Testament in a number of different ways. You can categorize them in three specific categories, and this is why these matter, and some of the laws don't apply to us today.

Some of the Old Testament laws can be categorized as moral laws. And that's what we have here in Exodus 20.

Some of them can be categorized as ceremonial laws. and some of them can be categorized as dietary laws. And what we find is this, in the New Testament, in Colossians chapter number one, Paul is writing to the church at Colossae about this idea that, hey, we're under grace.

So we're not under the law anymore. What does that look like? Do we just forsake all of the different things God has shown us and all these things that God has written? And what he specifically says in Colossians chapter number one is he tells the church. That they can avoid or not practice.

Some of the ceremonial and dietary laws. In other words, he says that the ceremonial and dietary laws are not. Lawful anymore. In other words, his conclusion was this: you have the freedom to abide by the ceremonial and dietary. In other words, like the Old Testament law had rules like the Jewish feast that we would be required to, you know, participate in and observe and things like that.

They also had dietary restrictions. There were certain foods that they could not eat and different things. The law would forbid them of that. And his conclusion is this: those type of laws in the Old Testament, you have the freedom to abide by them, but you also have the freedom in Christ to not abide by them because Christ has actually overtaken the law. But when it comes to the moral law, what we're going to look at here.

Jesus, not only did he fulfill the law, He actually really went a step further than the law. And what I mean by this is this, is these Old Testament laws that we're going to look at in these 17 verses of Exodus chapter number 20. Jesus, when he came, here's what he would say. The law would say, hey, you're not supposed to commit adultery, right? But he actually goes a step further.

With these moral laws, and he says, I'm going to tell you that as believers and followers of Christ, if you have even lusted upon someone, For the sake of adultery, you've already committed adultery in your heart. He would say about murder. He says, Hey, the law tells us don't murder. But he would go even further on these moral laws, and he would say, This, as believers, as followers of Jesus, if you even have hate. For one another in your heart.

Then you're a murderer. And you are guilty of the commandment of murder.

So when we look at this, and you might say, and you might have people, hey, we're not under the law anymore, well, the moral laws still abide for us today. There's still things that we must listen to and these timeless truths that God gives us. Yes, we're not under the law in the ceremonial law sense where we have to observe the Jewish feast or we have to be under these dietary restrictions, but God's moral law is still for us today as the church to abide by and listen to, and they're still relevant to us today. Everybody understand that? You kind of nod your head.

Give me an amen if you're there, okay? But here's what I'm saying.

So these laws are still relevant to you and to me and to our church.

So let's dive right into it. Here we go. Exodus chapter 20. Here's what it says: Verse 1. And God spake.

all these words saying. I am The Lord thy God. which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Out of the house. Of bondage.

Now remember, they were in bondage for over 400 years.

Okay? And then he says, he begins to give them these, what we would call the Ten Commandments. Remember, the Ten words of God to us here today. And here's the first one that we're going to look at: verse 3: Thou shalt have no other gods. Before me.

Can we all read that verse together? Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Now, Here is why this commandment is so important. Because remember, this is months. after the nation of Israel had been delivered out of Egypt. And what I'll tell you is that as the nation of Israel, they're just removed, they've been in this Egyptian captivity for over 400 years. And while they were in Egypt, they were exposed to a lot of different faults.

gods while they are in Egypt. or while they were in Egypt. And so they were coming out of this. Egypt was what we would call a polytheistic. Culture.

Which is just the worship of a bunch of different gods, that you could worship all these different gods, and that was the culture there in Egypt. And so they were coming out of a polytheistic culture of the worship of many gods, and that had influenced several, you know, many of the Israelites for sure, and many of the Hebrews coming out of that had been impacted and influenced by that type of culture. But now he is leading them. into the land of Canaan. And here's what I'll tell you: as they are coming from a polytheistic culture, they are now going into the land of Canaan, which was also very polytheistic.

And so the worship of many gods and a bunch of different false gods was very common in these cultures and environments that the nation of Israel was kind of they've come from and what they are heading into. And so, right off the bat, as God is giving Moses these words, He's saying, listen up. Hebrews, listen up, nation of Israel. You can have no other. Gods before Maybe.

I am the only one. There is none beside me. There is none above me. I am the only one that you. Can worship.

Now, when we think about this, I want to kind of show you some of the false gods that the nation of Israel was influenced by. And many of you would know. Several of these, and first you have the Canaanite gods of Baal and Asherah. And you would know these two gods. This is the Baal, the male, and Asherah, the female.

But this is what the Canaanites, many of the Canaanites worshiped. And many of the nation of Israel, they were told here: worship the one true God of Israel. And shortly after they received these words from God. written to them. they would fall straight into the worship of of Baal.

They would allow these false gods to kind of infiltrate themselves into the nation of Israel. We know Baal and Asherah, that's the god of sex and the god of fertility. And here we can see, you know, 1 Kings chapter 18, very familiar passage of Scripture. You remember when Elijah. The prophet, he challenged the prophets of Baal.

Do you remember that story? And when he, you know, they're on Mount Carmel, and he's like, you know, he says, hey, build an altar and all this kind of stuff. And he challenges them. He's kind of, you know, being very sarcastic. If that's your gift, then 1 Kings 18 is probably your favorite passage of scripture, okay?

Because he's being very, he's like, maybe your gods are asleep. You know, maybe they're busy. Maybe they're whatever. And he's kind of saying all this different stuff. And in 1 Kings 18, we learn that God obviously is the one true God of Israel, and that the God of Baal was a false God that didn't even exist, and that they were worshiping this God that doesn't exist.

Another one that we would recognize from the Old Testament that was influenced by the nation of Israel was the God Dagon. Uh or Dagon. And this was the Uh Philistine God. And so many in the nation of Israel would allow this God to infiltrate itself through the camp of Israel. And in 1 Samuel chapter 5.

When the Philistines came in and attacked the nation of Israel, You would know this story. They came in and they took something very important from the nation of Israel: they took the Ark of the Covenant. which was so important. And when they took the Ark of the Covenant from the nation of Israel, that was where God's presence would dwell above the Ark of the Covenant there in the Old Testament tabernacle. And so the Philistines, who overtook the nation of Israel, they took the Ark of the Covenant.

And here's what they did. You can read all about this if you forget this story. But in 1 Samuel 5, they take the Ark of the Covenant and they set it in the temple. of Dagon. And so they take, you know, this, the Ark of the Covenant, they set it right next to Dagon.

And here's what's interesting, as you can read about this, but the next morning when all of the Philistines came in to the temple to worship Dagon, here's what the Dagon had fallen down and his arms had broken and all this kind of stuff.

So they put him back up and they try to put him together. And then they come in the next morning and he's fallen again. And so the Philistines, of course, said, well, Dagon. And so he had fallen. You knew it was happening.

I've been waiting all week for that joke to come across. I'm glad you enjoyed that. But they come in the next morning and the same thing happened. Dagon has fallen again. And we would know that the nation of Israel, that God was proving that he is the only God to be worshipped.

That there is none beside him. There is none like him. That he is the only God. And he is the one to be worshiped. Uh Molech was another one that influenced the nation of Israel.

I hate talking about the God of Molech. That's the guy, this is probably the most disgusting God in the Old Testament. This was the Ammonite. God and the influence of the Ammonites in the nation of Israel, Molech was the God of pleasure. And so those who would worship Molech, this false god, they would actually do so by sacrificing their children to him.

And many of the nation of Israel fell into this belief. And they would end up doing some of the same things that those who worship Molech would. And then you have Kamash, which is the Moabite God. That's the God of power. You see that God influencing the nation of Israel.

And then all the way even into the New Testament, you see the Greek God, the God of Mammon, which is the God of money. And you see all of these different gods. And what I'm trying to tell you is this: that the nation of Israel. They were given this very simple command. That they shall not have any other gods before him.

In other words, he is the only God To be worshipped, there is none above him, and there is none beside him. He is the only one to worship.

So the question is: when we read this, thou shalt have no other gods before me, and clearly the nation of Israel struggled with this. What is God commanding us here? What is the relevance for us here today and how we can apply? This first commandment.

Well, the first thing that we can see is this: we must keep God first. In every area. of our lives. We must keep God faithful. First.

In every area. Of our life. You see, the first commandment that we see here written in stone is a requirement. of exclusive Devotion. It is a requirement of exclusive devotion to the one and only.

God.

Now, the exclusiveness here is rooted In God. And him delivering them out of the nation, out of the captivity of Egypt. That's what you read in verse number two. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. out of the house of bondage.

And so therefore he says because of that You should have no other gods before me. You see, this first commandment and really all of the commandments They are rooted in this idea that God is the one who has delivered them. God is the one who has saved them. God is the one who has rescued them. God has a claim on them because of what He has done.

Them. And so, as we look at these commandments, the question is: this: why would you trust? Any other God but me. That's what God is essentially telling them. Why would you trust any other God but me?

Why would you trust the the Ammonites God? Why would you trust all of these false God? They don't even exist. And so God is saying, trust me. I am the one true God.

I am the reason you're out of captivity in Egypt. I am the reason that you've been delivered. I am the reason that you have been rescued. Why on earth would you ever put any other God before me? I am the only one to be worshipped in your life.

I mean, we see this throughout Scripture, that this exclusive devotion is to God and God alone. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 35, the scripture says, The Lord Jehovah, He is God. There is none else beside him. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4 says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 2 Samuel 7, verse 22.

There is none like thee. And there is none beside thee. Isaiah 46, 9. I am God, there is none else. I am God, there is none like me.

Bay.

So he says that we're supposed to worship God and God alone.

So, what does this mean? The question that we have to ask ourselves is this: Have you ever loved? or trusted and something other than God. You see, that was the issue with the nation of Israel. They look to all of these false gods, all the ones like Baal and Ashtra and Dagon and Kamash and all these different gods.

They would look to them to get something from them. In other words, they would trust those gods so that they could receive power. They would trust those gods so that they could receive financial rewards.

Well They would trust those gods so that their family could flourish and that they would have lots of children, so they would trust the gods of fertility. They would trust the gods of all these different things. The point is, they were trusting in all of these things. for these things that God had already promised them. And God is saying, why are you trusting in all of these false God?

Aren't you supposed to trust in me, the one and only God that has delivered you? I am going to bless you. I am going to give you all of these things. Only trust and. Trust in me.

But the nation of Israel, like you and I, They have a problem like us. Here's what the problem is. We look at God as a priority on our list, don't we? In other words, if you were to list all of your priorities, here's what you're going to say: you're going to say God, and of course, you're going to say God first because you're in the church, and then you're going to say your family, and you know, your career. are your scale Or your sports team, or whatever, go all the way down here and stuff.

And kids should be at the t you know, one of those top ones. I forgot them. They were number four after that. I'm sorry. But you should, as you kind of look at this, you kind of get this priority list and you come, and you do have God on your list, which is important.

Okay, but here's the problem. Is that a lot of us we just look at God as the priority on our list? And here's what I'll tell you: God doesn't just want to be a priority for you. He wants to be at the center of all of your priorities. In other words, he wants to be at the center of your career.

He wants to be at the center of your family. He wants to be at the center of your marriage. He wants to be at the center of your school. He wants to be at the center of your family. He wants to be at the center of your ball team.

He wants to be at the center of everything in your life. He doesn't just want to make it on your list. He wants to be at the center of every other thing on your list. And that's what we have because what happens is, God, He might make our list. And for many of you, he's made your list because you're here on a Sunday, and so you think, man, I've done this and stuff.

But no, God wants to impact every day of your life. God wants to be at the center of everything you're going to do from this afternoon all the way through next Sunday when we gather together. He wants to be at the center of it. But instead, you know what we do a lot of times? We worship our career.

We worship our family. We worship our relationships. We worship our sports. We worship these things, right? And what happens is, God is saying, no, no, no, no.

There are no other gods. I am the one and only true God, and I am to be worshipped in your life. above all. Above all.

So we have to worship God and God alone in our life, but number two, We have to We have to, or no, number two, we have to worship God and God alone in our life. And so, what we see here is that the first commandment is personal. The first commandment is personal. And so we see we got to keep God first. in every area of your life.

And then you got to worship him. in every area of your life. Now, I love the first word of this commandment. Because here's what it says. Thou.

Now, I know we don't use that word a lot. I'm sure when you wake up in the morning and you tell your kids to do something, I'm sure you say, thou shalt, right? And stuff. No, you say you. Here's what that means: that's you.

It's me. You got to make this personal. He's saying you. shall have no other gods before me. Me?

Aye. should have no other gods before him. Nothing. It is personal. This is about our personal devotion.

Our personal relationship with Him.

Now, as we see this I I feel like We look sometimes at the nation of Israel in disbelief because of all the different things that they kind of got involved in, like all of these gods, you know, and we kind of look in disbelief, like, how in the world could they ever do such a stupid thing, like bow down to one of these false gods? Kind of Carved out. If you would images, I mean, that seems so far-fetched to us. Like, man, we're way more spiritual than. Then they are Like you might think, wow, I'm doing really good because I don't have a little carved image in my house that I bow down to and that kind of thing.

And you think, wow, I'm doing really good. I must be worshiping God and God alone in my life. Right. But here's what I'll tell you: is that as I was studying this, the gods of the Old Testament. They still exist today.

And I'm not talking about little carved Things and stuff. I know that those still exist, but here's what I'll tell you: they still exist today, they just go by different names. They just are called different Things. You know, you got bail and In Astra, the god of sex, here's what that is called today. Pornography.

It's called sex trafficking. It's called redefining God's gift. of marriage And sex. You see, what happens is the enemy is still trying to attack our society in general, like he always have from the days of the Israelites, the Hebrew people, all the way to today. And what he's doing is he's just changing the name.

He's just changing the name as we go throughout the course of history, and we're just calling it something different, but we still worship those things. Sex is like just, I mean, it's. This huge thing in our society that our nation is worshiping. And that's what we're doing. And it's not just out there.

It's in the churches too. It's things that you might be involved in. That you're worshiping. and that you love and you're devoted to it. You're no different than the children of Israel worshiping to the statue of Baal.

If you're involved in that, how about Molech? You know, that's the God of power, and they would sacrifice their children to that. Unfortunately, our culture, in the name of convenience, is aborting babies. And here's what I'm just going to tell you: is that we are renaming Molech. We are renaming Molech and we're calling it reproductive rights.

Just for the sake of convenience. And, like I said, I'm not trying to get political. All I'm saying is that throughout the course of history, you can see this. How about the God of Mammon, the Greek God? That's the God of money.

This is the obsession with money. We have become obsessed with investments. It's led to addictive gambling in our culture and the almighty dollar, the power of money, the mismanagement of it. It has destroyed families. It has destroyed churches.

It has destroyed ministries. All this kind of stuff. You say, what is that? It's we're worshiping the Greek God of ma'am and we just call it different things. How about the God of Kamash?

That's the God of power. Listen, we all crave power. We crave prestige. Young people crave popularity. And to be accepted by those around them.

And let me tell you this: that's the God of Kamash. It's just called something different. We try to advance our career, and there's nothing wrong with those things, but when we start to worship those things. Then we're no different than the Israelite people. And so, you see, every one of these things, whether it be sex or whether it be money or whether it be power and popularity and all these things, here's what I want you to understand as we kind of land the plane here today: is this, whatever, these things aren't bad in and of themselves.

The problem is, we have placed them as idols in our life, and we have put them in the place of where God belongs. And we're looking to those things to get something from it. And God is saying, no, no, no, no, no. I am the one that is supposed to be on the throne of your heart. I am the one that is supposed to be on the throne of your heart.

And when you put money there, or when you put popularity there, and when you put power there, and you put sex there, and you put relationships there, what happens is you remove God from that, and you have violated the first commandment that God has told us: you should put no other gods before. Yeah. You see the first commandment is exclusive. It is devotion to God and God alone. And if we're going to apply this to our everyday life and make it as relevant to us, it's us literally looking at our life and evaluating and examining our hearts and say, you know what, I am willing.

to dethrone any God in my life. That has taken the place of the one and true. God of Israel. It is looking at your life and saying, hey, if money has become what I worship. I'm going to dethrone that.

So that I can worship God and God alone. If sex has become the thing on my heart, that I'm going to dethrone that.

So that I can worship God and God alone. If power and prestige And advancement has become the driver of my heart, and that's what's sitting on the throne of my heart. I'm gonna dethrone that.

So that I can give God the proper place in it. In my heart. And so, as we see this here today, the problem with the nation of Israel and the problem with us. is that we all are naturally idolatrous people. We all are idolatrous people.

We have elevated creation and those things that have been created over the Creator. It's what the problem is. And as we see this, here's what's amazing to me. And as we kind of wrap this thing up, here's what was awesome. is that this is an exclusive command.

This is exclusive. You can have no other gods before him. He should be on the throne of your life. He should be at the center of every priority on your list. He is it.

He should be on your throne. It's exclusive, but here's what's amazing. It's exclusive, but it has an open invitation. That's what's amazing about our God, is that it is exclusive. And yes, this is exclusive.

And when you look at this, you're like, man. God is a jealous God, and he is, and you're going to see that as we work through Exodus chapter number 20. But here's what I want you to know is this. Yes, it's exclusive, but there's an open invitation for you. Maybe you're in here today and you say, Pastor, I've never trusted in God as my only means of salvation.

Then, this is an exclusive command, but it's an open invitation for every single one of you. The New Testament would say that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You know what's amazing is that we can read this and see the exclusivity of it, but yet we can see throughout Scripture there's an open invitation for you to worship him and him alone. Because all of the gods that we chase after in our everyday life They're not going to get you what you're looking for. We're all looking for safety.

For security and all these things. And here's what God's saying: God's saying, I'm supposed to be all of those things for you. I'm supposed to be every single one of those things for you. but yet you're looking for them in all of the wrong places. And he's saying, put me on the throne of your heart, and you'll have a safety that is better than anything money could ever provide.

Put me on the throne of your heart, and you'll have a safety. That is stronger and more secure than any bit of popularity could ever give you. Put me on the throne of your heart and you'll have a safety and security net that is stronger and more stable than any relationship you could ever chase after. And that's what he's saying. And so the point is, God has always, from the beginning of time, wanted a relationship with you.

That's what this is about. He wants a relationship, he wants you to worship him. Personally, it's personal devotion. And from the beginning, we see that that's the plan. God created us so that we can have a relationship with Him.

And in Genesis 3, when sin entered into the world, the relationship was. was destroyed.

So we can't have a relationship with him because, not because he did anything and because he moved, it's because we sinned. And our sin has driven a wedge between us and a perfect holy God. And so what did God do? God loved you.

So much that he sent his one and only begotten son to live a perfect life worthy of a relationship with him.

Something you could never do in and of yourself. And God sent Jesus The perfect Son of God to become the Lamb of God for you and for me.

So that you could eventually, through his sacrifice, trust in him and experience what it is like to worship God. And got along.

Okay.