“Thou shalt have no other god’s before me.”
Who is this “Me” of Ex. 20:3? It is God making a plain and simple statement about His authority over not only His creation but His authority over us, His human creation. Only God has the authority to make decisions as to what is right and what is wrong. Every time we sin it is because we have lifted ourselves up to the level of God to make our decisions as to what is right and what is wrong. So, who is “me” that makes these life and death decisions concerning us, His creation?
God made all (Gen. 1:1; John 1:3; Job 38 all). God and Jesus are both God (John 1:1-4). See CSCOG7 Staff Deity for more information about God and Jesus. God is both almighty and sovereign (Rev. 4:8; 16:7; Gen. 17:1). God is eternal (I Tim. 1:17; Deut. 33:27; Pslm. 41:13; 90:2b). God is omnipresent invisible spirit (John 4:24; Pslm. 139:7-10; Jere. 23:24) and no one has ever seen God the Father (John 1:18; I Tim. 1:17). God is Holy (Rev. 4:8; Lev. 19:2; Isa. 6:3; Luke 1:49). God is self-existent, He always has been and always will be (Ex. 3:14). God is all loving (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 1: 4, 7; I John 2:1-2). God is one God (Deut. 6:4; 4:35; 32:39; II Sam. 7:22). God is creator of all (Isa. 42-45, Job 36:26-42:5).
This is the”me” of Ex. 20:3. This is the God we worship. We are to have “no other god’s” before Him. He is so powerful and omnipotent that He alone is God and there is none like Him.
Biblical history shows us Lucifer attacked God in heaven and tried to make himself God. We can read of this in Isa. 14:12-14 and Ezek. 28:13-17. See CSCOG7 Staff Man Satan Sin Death for further details. Lucifer thought so highly of himself that he attacked God’s throne and tried to make himself “like God”. Lucifer wanted to be God. Lucifer’s attitude of self-centeredness and pride is what he uses today to get us to sin. Lucifer wanted to decide what was right and wrong. He wanted to make the decisions only God is qualified to make. Every time we sin it is because we have justified ourselves to our decision as to what is right and what is wrong. This is exactly what Lucifer did, thus God’s very first commandment, “Have no other god’s before me” is a warning to us to obey and keep His commandments. It is God’s commandments and statutes and laws that show us His will as to what is right and wrong. It is not up to us to make decisions of right and wrong. Every time we humans lift ourselves up to decide right from wrong we are following in the footsteps of Satan- we are doing exactly what Satan did. We are raising ourselves up to the level of God as if we are god’s to make decisions. We are worshiping ourselves and our decisions rather than following God and His laws.
The very first human sin recorded in Gen. 3:6 we see Adam and Eve deciding for themselves what is right and what is wrong. The serpent (actually Lucifer) was able to convince them as he had convinced himself to make their own decisions apart from God. This breaking of the first commandment has led to a history of mankind from Genesis through Revelations of horrendous suffering for all mankind. All this sin and suffering because Lucifer persuades us to decide right from wrong for ourselves apart from the wisdom of God.
Sin is the “transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). No matter which commandment of God we break we do so after deciding right from wrong, we always break the first commandment when we sin. Why did God start His ten commandments with “Have no other god’s before me”? Because this was the very first sin of Lucifer. Lucifer wanted to be God himself (Isa. 14 and Ezek. 28 mentioned above). We are not equal with God. Only God is qualified to make the decisions of right from wrong. Following God’s law is the only way not to break the first commandment.
