Part 3 - The Fall and the Restoration
The Model of Restoration: Commandment One
The first of the Ten Commandments is recorded in Deuteronomy 5:6-7 which
states, "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."
Here Yahweh identifies Himself as the one who delivered Israel out of
bondage from Egypt. Only the nation of Israel can literally relate to God in
this. This is true also for all four commandments that concern Israel's
relationship to God. The nature of these commandments is preservation. This
is the preservation of a literal nation of God's people who dwell among
nations who do not know God and do not practice His ways. God delivered
Israel out from among them. They literally had been in the land of Egypt, in
a state of bondage. The first four commandments were designed to preserve
them as a separate and special nation belonging to Yahweh.
A spiritual application
The believer however can relate to these commandments in a spiritual
application. The Exodus is a type of redemption in Jesus Christ. This began
with the Passover which is a type of Christ as a sacrifice whose spilled
blood delivers from sin and death. Spiritually Egypt is a type of the fallen
world. The bondage represents the bondage to sin that fallen mankind is held
in. It is the work of Christ that breaks this bondage and translates those
who put their faith in Him into the Kingdom of God. The creation account in
the first book of Genesis is a type of the work of Christ in accomplishing
this deliverance.
It is to those whom Yahweh has delivered that He says "You shall have
no other gods before Me." In the fall of mankind, Adam and Eve rebelled
against God. They removed themselves from that place of submission to Him.
They disobeyed God and chose not to serve God and His purposes. However, the
root of a proper relationship with Yahweh is the acknowledgment that He
alone is absolute Lord and God. He must be the center of one's life. Adam
and Eve put Him off to the side, disobeyed Him, and sought to serve their
own purposes. This forced their separation from Him into "Egypt."
The restoration of Yahweh as all in all
In the restoration that Christ has brought about, it is the repentance
from rebellion that is the first step. This repentance is the putting of
Yahweh back into His rightful place as Lord and God in one's life. In four
simple commandments on a right relationship with God, this is the first.
Yahweh must be in the center of man's heart with no other passion competing
with or taking His place.
To those whom Jesus has saved, this is the primary aspect of a restored
relationship with God. The main reason for the fall of man was the turning
of his heart away from God in rebellion. The model of restoration from the
fall foremost concerns that of the heart. The place of God being all in all
must be restored in the center of man's heart.
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