Hello, and welcome to this week's posting of the Weekend Sermon. Thank you for reading the blog. I hope and pray that everyone is doing well and having a good week.
Where I live, we are having extremely hot and humid weather for this time of the year. It has affected my breathing. I'm hoping that things will cool down just a little pretty soon. My brother took me out to dinner for my birthday this week, and we all had a really good time.
Please pray for me this week as I have a lot going on with work and at home, I feel like I am under a lot of stress right now, and I would appreciated your prayers.
As we go to prayer this week, let us pray for those in the western part of the United States who are in the path of the wildfires. Let us pray that these blazes will soon be extinguished. Let us also remember in prayer those who are still in the hospital following the terrible tragedy in Orlando this week. Pray that these folks might quickly recover. May all these acts of terrorism and violence cease. Continue to pray for peace in the troubled areas of the world.
As we pray for the message of Jesus to spread around the world this week, let's pray for the the nations of Bhutan and Bangladesh. Pray for those suffering persecution because they follow the Lord Jesus.
During these Summer months, we are in two different series of messages alternating back and forth each week. This week, we will continue with our series of messages on the the Ten Commandments focusing on the second commandment which states, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image."
This commandment seems easy enough to understand on face value. No one is supposed to make an idol and worship it. This commandment goes along with the first commandment of not having any god before the True and Living God. God forbade any image of Himself being erected for the purpose of worship.
In the Old Testament, the prophets time and time again warned the people to turn from idol worship because it was displeasing to God. The God of the Bible is the only true God, and He alone is worthy of worship and praise.
While this commandment is easy to understand, there has been quite a bit of controversy over it during the course of church history. Some have interpreted this commandment to mean that human beings should never make any sculpture or painting that depicts an animal or a human being.
I think that it is clear from the entirety of Scripture that this is not what the Lord had in mind when He gave us this commandment. First of all, the Lord commanded Moses in the wilderness to make a serpent and place it on a pole. Also, the Lord instructed that two angels be placed on the Ark of the Covenant when it was constructed. If God had intended us never to make any representations at all, He would not have commanded it to be done in these instances.
At one point in church history, the debate about depicting angels, saints and the Lord Jesus in religious art work and icons became very heated. This was known as the Iconoclastic controversy. Eventually, the consensus was reached that it was not a violation of the second commandment to depict religious scenes in icons, stained-glass windows, etc.
I would agree with this interpretation. I believe that much religious art aids us in worship. We do need to be careful that we don't worship or bow down to any image replacing it with the proper devotion that belongs to Jesus alone.
When I was growing up, our church didn't believe in having any pictures of Jesus in the home or church. I don't see any problem with having a picture of Jesus. The Bible does not tell us what Jesus looked like. All of us have some picture in our minds of Jesus, and there is nothing wrong with that. I personally believe that Jesus looked much different than the way He is often portrayed in Western art.
There is one thing that I do not like in religious art. Sometimes, artists will try to represent God the Father. I don't think that this should be done. I think that this might border on violating the second commandment. Jesus was a man, so He can be represented as such. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. However, I don't think that we should make an image of God the Father.
There is an important aspect of the second commandment that I want to focus on. I believe the main reason that this commandment was given was because nothing can really represent God. When a person makes an image and says this is God, there are in a sense limiting God to that particular representation. The people surrounding the nation of Israel depicted their gods and goddesses as animals or in human form. However, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the one who created the heavens and the earth is far greater and far mightier than any image can contain. We can never define all that God is.
Some place limits on God without making an image of Him. Whenever we think that God cannot do a certain thing or act in a certain situation, we are limiting God and not giving Him the glory do unto His name. God can do anything. He is all knowing and all powerful. We can never know all that there is to know about the God of the universe.
These are just a few of my thoughts on the second commandment. The most important thing that we need to take away from the first two commandments is that God alone is to be worship. He alone is worthy.
Next week, we will continue with our series in learning from the animals. I will post the verses on Monday, and I hope to have a review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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