This is the First and Great Commandment

2015-11-08

As Christian men, we have been given a wide range of responsibilities, regardless of who we are and what our background is. These include our relationship with God, our wives, our children, our jobs and our Christian service. Let us look at some of these responsibilities.

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38)

Without fellowship with God, we really have no foundation to go further. That is why this is the first and great commandment. If you put your family or your job before God, you will actually love your family less and do your job worse than if you would have put God first! Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and walking in the Christian life is a prerequisite to any other duty we may have.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8)

Walking in humility with God is recognizing that God knows better than we do, and that He is the Almighty master over all things. We recognize that by not doing right and loving others, we are walking contrary to God and we will see the consequences of our rebellion. Proverbs 16:25 tells us, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” God was kind enough to say this twice (see Proverbs 14:12)!

Let us look at the husband-wife relationship:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. (Ephesians 5:22-33)

If we are to love our wives as Christ loved the church, then we realize that we are to love and sacrifice for them even to death. God created marriage as a picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ would do for the church. As husbands, we are the spiritual leader, entrusted with God’s Word. Leaving our old family of origin behind to a degree, we now are joined to our wives.

It is also interesting to note there is much more discussion of husbands loving their wives than wives reverencing their husbands. Think about the analogy: Christ did everything to secure our salvation; all that was left for us to do is worship and thank Him. It is similar with husbands and wives. If a man truly lays down his life for his wife in every sense of the word, this love will elicit the reverence from his wife.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. (Psalm 127:3)

This psalm was written for Solomon, according the psalm title. The first two verses explain that though one may have a part in building and protecting a city, it is ultimately up to God to establish and protect it. All work we do must ultimately come from God, or it is in vain.

So when we do the Lord’s work, what is one way God rewards us? By giving us children (Psalm 127:3). They bring honor to the family (Psalm 127:4-5).

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

So when we are blessed with children, they do not become ones who honor God automatically. Born in our sinful likeness, they must be trained... early. As fathers we must provide education in the Word to our children. It is dire.

First, they must be instructed in the gospel so they can be saved. Their eternity depends a lot on us and our teaching them the Word. Second, we do not just want them to be saved, but also to be servants of God. They need to live holy lives, and walk in wisdom. It is easier to start teaching them young, then trying when they are older, when they have to unlearn all of their bad habits! If they are solidified in Spiritual truths young, they will not be moved when they are grown men and women.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate (Titus 1:5-8)

So the original context of this is the qualifications of an elder, but these should all be things that we desire. Having a good home is indicative of who we really are. How our children turn out show the world something about how we raised them, and what is important to us. The company we keep and the hospitality we offer shows how we interact with others. All of the things mentioned here expose us for who we really are since others cannot see our inward man! Every Christian man, not just the elder candidate, should pursue Christ to the level that we exhibit personal holiness.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6-11)

There are way too many things to do this side of heaven to be lazy. There is our family for which we must provide. There are children that must be raised. There is a Christian testimony that the world must see. Here, we see that if we do not work hard, we will be in poverty, and we would have failed in all of these things. If we fail to provide for our family, we read the following:

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1 Timothy 5:8)

This is in the context of widows who need help from their own family, but the principle is the same for us.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

In the end, our faith in Christ, how we run our households, and how we operate in this world as Christians is a testimony to Christ and an opportunity to share the Gospel with others. Our sharing the Gospel begins in our home with our children, but it continues as we sojourn in the world.

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

We also have a role to help those brothers who have rebelled against God. We are ambassadors for Christ, appealing to them for the need to be right with God in these last days.