What does it mean for us that God is God?
We often imagine God as a harsh, distant, or easily disappointed dictator.
But, that picture doesn’t come from God himself. It’s not how his Word reveals him.
In fact, that picture comes from our sin: In the Garden, Satan introduced the idea that God has bad intentions towards us. That is what led Eve to distrust God—and then to eat the fruit.
Martin Luther’s Small Catechism is a short, simple, explanation of the key parts of the Christian faith (The Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, Baptism, Confession, Sacrament, and Christian Vocations).
He begins with the First Commandment because it directly confronts Satan’s first lie, and corrects our picture at the deepest level.
1) For God to be our God means that we trust him
Here’s how the Small Catechism starts:
1 The First Commandment:
You shall have no other gods.2 What is this? — Answer:
We should fear, love, and trustGod above all things.
Notice that Luther doesn’t write “What does this mean?” Because God hasn’t given us his Word as a mystery box puzzle we need to work out.
He writes “What is this?” Because God’s Word needs to be received—heard, believed, and obeyed—not interpreted.
To “fear, love, and trust God above all things” directly comes from the text of the commandment itself. But it’s worth starting with what God says about himself at the beginning of the Ten Commandments:
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. (Exodus 20:2)
In the Garden, Satan said to Eve “Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree?” …framing everything God says in the lie that God’s bad. But, here God frames everything he says in light of his grace and kindness in saving the people of Israel. And now God goes on to give the first commandment:
3 Do not have other gods besides me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; (Exodus 20:3-5)
Then, at the end of this first commandment, God gives a summary of what his Law means. But in the commandment itself, God says three things:
1 Don’t have another god: don’t trust anything above me.
2 Don’t worship another god: don’t love anything above me.
3 Don’t serve another god: don’t fear anything above me.
Here’s how Luther describes what it means for God to be God in the Large Catechism (LC I.1-2):
[1] That is, you are to regard me alone as your God. What does this mean, and how is it to be understood? What does “to have a god” mean, or what is God?
[2] Answer: A “god” is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. As I have often said, it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol.
So, for God to be our God means that we trust him. Today, where do you look for safety or certainty instead of God?
But the commandment means more than this, because the Bible gives us a warning that there are consequences to not trusting God:
2) Not trusting God dehumanises us
Look at these words from Psalm 73:
21 When I became embittered
and my innermost being was wounded,
22 I was stupid and didn’t understand;
I was an unthinking animal toward you.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me up in glory.
25 Who do I have in heaven but you?
And I desire nothing on earth but you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart,
my portion forever.
27 Those far from you will certainly perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, God’s presence is my good.
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
so I can tell about all you do.
See how Asaph, the Psalmist, describes right relationship with God:
v. 25 — he has no-one else in heaven
v. 25 — he desires nothing on earth but God
v. 26 — God is the strength of his heart
v. 28 — God is his refuge
He even says in v. 28:
“God’s presence is my good.”
It is passages like this that led Luther to say:
“it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol”
Luther was just reading the Psalms.
But that comes on the other side with a warning, here’s how Luther puts it in the Large Catechism:
[3] If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true one. Conversely, where your trust is false and wrong, there you do not have the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God. Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.
Asaph uses stark language in Psalm 73:
21 When I became embittered
and my innermost being was wounded,
22 I was stupid and didn’t understand;
I was an unthinking animal toward you.
When we don’t trust God, our trust is self-centred and warped.
If we don’t see God as the source of all good, then deep down we feel like God is holding back our best good.
That was really what drove Eve to eat the fruit from the tree. The serpent had placed this idea in her head that God is against her… …so she can’t trust what God says. She needs to take matters into her own hands, to examine the tree for herself and trust herself, her own insight and thoughts.
Asaph describes what that inner distrust looks like when it comes to the surface and we see it: emotional wounds, feeling hurt, being bitter and angry. We’re actually less human.
Not trusting God dehumanises us. What does Psalm 73 show you that a lack of trust in God look like internally?
3) God is objectively the source of all good
Remember Luther’s very simple exposition of the first commandment:
We should fear, love, and trust God above all things.
This is basically just a summary of exactly how Moses unpacks the commandment in Deuteronomy 10.
In v. 12 he summarises what Israel should do:
12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you except
to fear the LORD your God by walking in all his ways,
to love him, and
to worship the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul?
And in vv. 13-18 he explains why Israel should do this—because they can trust him:
13 Keep the LORD’s commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good. 14 The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the LORD your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the LORD had his heart set on your ancestors and loved them. He chose their descendants after them—he chose you out of all the peoples, as it is today. 16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and don’t be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing.
Moses calls Israel to stop resisting God and trust the good God who has spoken to them, v. 16:
circumcise your hearts and don’t be stiff-necked
And Moses gives Israel three reasons why they can trust God:
v. 13 the commands given in God’s Word are not to restrict you, but
“for your own good“
v. 15 he has specifically chosen to love everyone who trusts in his Word:
“had his heart set on your ancestors and loved them “
v. 17-18 God is objectively good to everyone:
“showing no partiality and taking no bribe“
“justice for the fatherless and the widow“
“loves the resident alien“
Someone asked me this week “What do I do if I’m reading God’s Word, but the feelings I feel about it don’t seem right?”
Moses’ answer is: “Carry on receiving God’s Word, because God’s objectively at work—for good—no matter what you feel.”
He shows no partiality. He does justice even to the weak. He even loves the outsiders who don’t know him.
God is objectively the source of all good
All good comes from God—and what he gives us in his Word is always for our good. His commandments are for our good. His promises are for our good.
Why is it freeing to know that God’s goodness does not depend on our performance or faith strength?
What does it mean for us that God is God?
We’ve looked at this from three angles:
The commandment itself in Exod 20:2-5 shows us that: 1) For God to be our God means that we trust him
Asaph in Psalm 73:21-28 warns us that: 2) Not trusting God dehumanises us
And Moses tells us in Deut 10:12-18 that 3) God is objectively the source of all good, which Luther summarises in the small catechism as:
“We should fear, love, and trust God above all things.”
And as Luther unpacks in the Large Catechism, if we see that God is good, then we can recognise that inside this Law, within this command, is actually Gospel:
So, trust God—not because my trust convinces God to be good to me, but because God is already good to me, I am convinced to trust him.
This post was adapted from an online interactive sermon given to the Confessional Lutheran Church online congregation that meets every Wednesday. If you’d like to join with others to hear more sermons like this, and receive God’s Gospel with others, then why not join with us online: https://lutheran.ch/online-service/
Alternatively, if you live in or near Greater Manchester, Manchester Lutheran Church meets in person every Sunday, 10:45 for coffee, 11:00 for the service: https://mcrlt.ch/sundays/
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