By way of opening this morning I want us to consider how Scripture portrays the violation of the 10 commandments as being Characteristic of the Devil. Scripture teaches us that God’s Law-Word is the Character of God so we should not be surprised that in are enemy the Devil we find a person whose Character is defined as being the antithesis of what God’s Law-Word establishes.
I open with this because I want us to understand that we either live as Children of God who walk increasingly in His character or we walk as Children of the Devil who walk increasingly in His character. The more we refuse to reflect Christ, who was the incarnation of God’s Law, the more we reflect the Devil who is the antithesis of God’s law.
In the words of the old Bob Dylan song …
“You’re gonna have to serve somebody. Now it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord but you’re going to have to serve somebody.”
1st Word
God said, “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before me
The Devil aspired
Isaiah 14:13 You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;[a]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
2nd Word
God said, “Thou shalt not bow down to worship false gods”
Contrary to God’s explicit word Satan tempted Jesus to fall down and worship him.
Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
3rd Word
God said, “Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”
We learn in Job that Satan’s goal in his affliction of Job was to have Job curse God
Job 1:11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
Further, we find the Devil taking God’s name in vain when he quotes Scripture to Jesus during Jesus temptation. He cites God’s words for his own twisted end, using God’s words to undo God’s authority.
4th Word
5th Word
6th Word
God said, “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
In Scripture we find the Devil as,
John 6:10 — The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 8:44 — “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies
7th word
8th Word
God said, “Thou Shalt Not Steal”
In the parable of the sower it is said of Satan that he steals away the word sown
Elsewhere Jesus said of Satan
John 10:10 — The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Some scholars identify “The Thief” here as “The Devil,” while others identify “the Thief” as the Pharisees but as the Pharisees were directly identified as acting in ways consistent with their Father the Devil, it comes much to the same thing.
Further the whole story of Scripture casts Satan as the one who would steal God’s Glory.
9th Word
God said, “Thou Shalt not bear False Witness
But it is said of Satan
John 8:44 — “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies
10th Word
God said, “Thou Shalt Not Covet”
As we learned earlier on the 1st Commandment, Satan coveted God’s position as God
And we learn that the Sin that he plied in our First parents was coveting.
Fruit in the Garden … the desire to be as God
————-
This opening up of Scripture examines how it is that we reveal ourselves to be either Children of God or children of the Devil. If we are God’s people we will desire to walk in God’s character and confess before God and bring accusation against ourselves when we do not walk in God’s character.
However, it also opens up again our need as Christians for Christ and His Righteousness. We hear God’s law and we see God’s character in His law and we understand the requirement to conform to that character without fault or with the slightest deviation. And when we are honest with ourselves we understand that we must have a obedience to God’s character that comes from outside of us because even on those days we are most obedient in walking in God’s character we also see that it is not good enough. We are, with the Apostle Paul, the Chief of Sinners. And so while we esteem God’s law, we also look to the one who is our Law keeping righteousness that is acceptable before God, our Lord Jesus Christ who is to us our Wisdom, Righteousness and Sanctification.
And so the Law teaches us not only the Character of God that we are to walk in as God’s people, but it also teaches us that Christ’s perfect walk as God’s Covenantal Head for His people is that which we must hold fast to at all times as our only acceptability before God.
Similarly, when we look at Scripture we see the Character of Satan which is the antipode of God’s character and we understand that because we are Children of God, by the work of Christ alone, we are
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
You see, as Christians we are to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God. And where do we learn of the likeness of God that we are to put on?
In Jesus Christ who was the incarnation of God’s ten Words.
And so we are the elect ones, who out of God’s sheer mercy and grace are covered in Christ and so being covered in Christ, and always being acceptable to the Father, we seek ourselves, as led by the Holy Spirit, to be miniature incarnations of God’s law word, increasingly conforming to Christ.
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to have no God but God.
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to not bow down to and serve false gods
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to esteem the name of the Lord our God in vain
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to honor the Sabbath
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to honor our Parents
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to esteem life
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to remain chaste our whole lives
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to promote the advantage of our neighbor in every instance
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to be truth tellers
Like our Elder Brother Christ, it is our delight to be content with what God has appointed unto us
I John 3:8 teaches that Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil. In His death for sinners Christ destroys the accusatory work of the Devil who would bring charges (Romans 8:33) against the Saints. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And in the resurrection life that Christ freely gives to us (Romans 6) Christ destroys the works of the devil in our lives and makes us increasingly walking exemplifiers of God’s character so that we are an attraction to those who are called of God and reviled by those who are of their Father the Devil.
The Church is to be the Character of God. A living embodiment of the reality that the strong man has been bound and God’s people have been set free to walk in newness of life.
Here we see the hope of global Reformation. When God is pleased to grant Reformation, we can expect to see the continuing defeat of Satan’s character at every turn and the establishment of God’s character in its place.
