God’s Right to Command

MEMORY VERSE: “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” —John 14:15

EXODUS 20:1,2; LEVITICUS 18:1-5; HOSEA 11:1,3,4a; JOHN 14:10,15

GOD, the great Creator of the universe, certainly has the right to command his intelligent creatures, just as he has the right, through laws which he has formed, to govern the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. When God created our first parents, he created them perfect, and in his image, and made abundant provision for their happiness and continued life. But properly he expected them to obey his will.

The first commandment of God recorded in the Bible was given to Adam. This commandment prohibited Adam from partaking of the tree which was in the midst of Eden, which was “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:17) There is always a penalty attached to the disobedience of God’s commands, and this also is proper. The penalty for partaking of the forbidden fruit was death—“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Sin is the disobedience of God’s law, and the Apostle Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death.”—Rom. 6:23

Thus it was that Adam and his race came under condemnation to death—Adam because he willfully disobeyed God’s commandment, and his progeny because they are born in sin and imperfection, and thus come under Adam’s condemnation to death. (I Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:12) The human race in this way also became alienated from God.

But there have always been a few of the human race who by faith have demonstrated their desire to be in harmony with God. One of these was Abraham. The Scriptures inform us that by faith Abraham became the Friend of God. (Jas. 2:23) God made promises to Abraham indicating that his “seed,” or offspring, would be the channel of blessing to all the families of the earth. (Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) These promises applied primarily to Jesus and his followers, but to Jesus and his followers, but nevertheless God loved and dealt with the natural descendants of Abraham, owning them as his people.

There is no record that God gave any commandments to the descendants of Abraham until in connection with their exodus from Egypt and thereafter, when through Moses he entered into a covenant with them. This arrangement gave them an opportunity, through full obedience, to gain life, but they failed. The Lord said, “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.”—Lev. 18:5

Because the Jews failed to live up perfectly to the commandments of the Law they continued to die, although God looked upon them differently than he did upon the unbelieving world. Paul wrote, “Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression.” (Rom. 5:14) Adam’s sin was willful, whereas the sins of his family are due largely to hereditary weaknesses. But the acceptance of the Law of God by the people of Israel made them directly responsible before the Lord, and because they failed to keep it, the curse of the Law came upon them. Paul wrote, “The commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.” (Rom. 7:10) Paul also wrote, “Christ bath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”—Gal. 3:13

The Gentile world was never under the Law given by Moses at Mount Sinai. However, those whose hearts are reached by the Gospel, and who under its influence dedicate themselves to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, are under commandments. These are the commandments of Christ, of which there are many, particularly those set forth in his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus referred to these as his “sayings,” but in reality they are implied commandments which, if observed, make the believer like a man who built his house upon a rock.

In our memory verse we are informed that our love for Jesus, and of course also for his Heavenly Father, is demonstrated by our zeal in obeying his commandments. Jesus referred to one of his commandments as being “new.” He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) This is a high standard. Jesus loved us so much that he laid down his life that we might live. If we have this sort of love for our brethren in Christ we will be glad to lay down our lives for them. John wrote that this is what we ought to do.—I John 3:16

QUESTIONS

Where in the Bible is the first recorded command of God?

What resulted from disobeying that command?

Since that time to whom has God given his commandments?

What are some of the commandments of Jesus which we have the privilege of obeying?

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