How To Be A Human Being — You Shall be a Particular Kind of Person

This is how to be a human being. You just have to believe what Jesus has said about you. He said you shall be a particular kind of person. You shall have no other Gods. He also said that you’re forgiven. Believe that. This is a message about “shalls” (and it’s probably not what you think). This is what a Christian life shall look like.

Hebrews 12:14-25

“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.

You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”

No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.”

Prayer: Father in heaven, help us to quiet our hearts and our minds so we can hear what You have to say to us today. Speak to us the words and promises of Jesus. AMEN.

When Kim and I were first married, 36 years ago, we lived in the married dorms at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. We had been dating about four years and during that time she had never seen my temper. Funny how that happens. So now we’re married and living in the smallest apartment you can imagine, money is tight and we’re both in college starting our junior year. Probably started dealing with some new pressures we didn’t have before. We started arguing sometimes. 

One day I lost my temper. I have no idea why. Something dumb I imagine. All I remember is that I’m yelling at her and following her down the tiny little hallway that led to our bedroom. I’m flailing my arms and my face is red with veins popping out of my forehead, I looked like some kind of demon—I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror that was on our dresser. Stopped me in my tracks.

I had two thoughts at the same time. I thought, if anyone else tried to talk to my wife the way I was talking to her right now, I would take them out. I wouldn’t let it happen. The other thing I thought was, “who’s going to protect her from me?”

And I knew the answer had to be me. I was the only one who was there. I didn’t have the right to talk to her that way. I didn’t want to be the kind of person who treated someone he loves with anger. 

And that was it. Never happened again. I haven’t lost my temper or raised my voice at Kim since then. 

Fast forward sixteen years. My daughter Von was born. Two years later, my son Angel was born. Adding kids to the mix may have put my temper to the test on occasion. But I have always been careful to not direct my anger toward the kids or anyone else. 

There have been times when the kids have gotten upset about something, started yelling at their mom or being little monsters. It happens, this is why parents have to discipline their kids. If we don’t discipline our kids, the Bible says we don’t love them. It means we’ve given up on them, treating them like they’re not our children. 

Sometimes I’d say something like, “Hey, you don’t talk to my wife like that.” They didn’t like when I didn’t reference Kim as their mother—it was almost like they felt threatened. I wanted them to look in the mirror the way I had all those years ago. I want them to protect their relationship with their mom.

That’s not how you’re going to talk to my wife. That’s not the kind of person you’re going to be. You shall not be disrespectful.

The Bible says that God disciplines us. He treats us as His own beloved children. He adopted us into His family and He tells us the kind of people we’re going to be now. He disciplines us. Sets us on the right path. Our Father wants us to work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life.

In Exodus 19 and 20, we have the story of Moses leading the people to their new freedom that truly began at Mount Sinai. First God saves them and makes them His people, then He leads them to the mountain and gives them what we call the Ten Commandments.

It’s quite a spectacle. The whole mountain is on fire, it’s smoking like a volcano, there’s a thunder and lightning storm with rushing wind and earthquakes. The people are warned to stay back, do not climb the mountain, anyone who tries to climb the mountain is going to die. Not even the animals are allowed to touch it.

Only Moses and Aaron the High Priest were allowed to go to the top. Everyone else had to stand at the bottom of the mountain and look from a distance.

So this is when God gave them what we call the Ten Commandments. I say “what we call” because the Bible never calls them that. The Bible calls them the Ten Words, or the Ten Sayings or the Ten Speeches. 

You probably know this but different people have different ways of ordering them, trying to get ten commands out of this list. Most Protestants split the first commandment into two commandments: You shall have no other Gods and You shall not make any graven images. That’s really the same command—no other Gods. Lutherans and Catholics try to fix it by splitting the last one into two: you shall not covet living things and you shall not covet material things.

No matter how hard you try, you’re only going to find nine commandments in the ten commandments.

That’s why the Jews never called them that. According to them, the first word isn’t a command, it’s a blessing. A reminder of who God is and what He’s done for them. To them, this is the first one: “I Am the LORD your God who saved You from slavery.” A reminder that God is for them. He is with them. And what He has done for them.

Then He describes what kind of people He wants them to be. He saved them for a reason. A purpose. Our Father wants us to work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life. That’s where the nine shalls come in.

We’ll get to those in the coming weeks but first I want to talk about that word “shall.”

It doesn’t mean “must.” These aren’t only commands. They are commands, but they’re also descriptions of who we are and who we are going to be. It’s the Father proclaiming who His children are going to be. Who they’re going to be now, in this life, and more importantly, who they’re going to be in the life to come. For the children of Israel, He was talking about who they would be in the Promised Land. For us, it’s all about how we treat others now and who we will be when Christ returns, when the dead in Christ are raised, in the new heaven and new earth. This is how you shall be, both now because of Jesus, and in the fullness of time because of Jesus.

Notice all this comes after they are rescued from Egypt. They didn’t have to prove themselves first. We don’t earn our salvation, either. Jesus gives it to us for free. We’re God’s beloved children because He took us in. Just like you didn’t earn the right to be born. Angel and Von didn’t have to earn the right to be my children, or to have my name. But that doesn’t mean they get to act like wild hooligans who were raised by monkeys. They shall act like human beings. 

They’re not going to be perfect children. But they’re going to be my children. I’m going to love them and give them my name and my blessing. When they mess up, I’m going to love them anyway, and discipline them to help them get back on the right path.

That’s what the Father has done for us in Jesus.

For Christians, these Ten Words of Sinai can only be understood by putting the phrase “In Christ” in front of all of them.

In Christ, I Am the LORD your God who saved you from slavery. Unless we’re in Christ, He is not our God and we are not saved. Christ gives us His righteousness.

In Christ, you shall be the kind of people who have no other Gods, in Christ you shall honor your father and mother, in Christ you shall be the kind of people who don’t kill, don’t sleep around, don’t covet what you don’t have. Because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, because you are in Christ, this is who you are now, and the kind of people you’re going to be.

But you can’t get there on your own. You’re not going to be perfect children of God. You’re going to suck at being a human being. In fact, everything you try to do on your own is going to lead to death and misery. Everything has to be done in Christ or it’s not going to happen.

Hebrews 12 talks about two mountains. The first one is Mount Sinai, the place of the Ten Commandments, with thunder and lightning and earthquakes, everyone who tries to climb that mountain is going to be terrified and is going to die. But the second mountain is Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The place where we worship God and love people in Spirit and in Truth just like Jesus said. A place of life. A place of joy. Mount Zion is the church, the people of God gathered in Christ—it’s us assembled here this morning. Mount Zion is the church worshiping before the face of God outside of time. The assembly of all of the Father’s children, whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, everyone that came before us and everyone who comes after us, along with you and me. On this invisible mountain, You’ve come to the Father Himself, boldly standing in the presence of God because of the access granted to us by Jesus the Son. It’s not like Sinai, you don’t have to be afraid even though He is the mighty God who is the judge over all things. You don’t have to tremble in fear because you’re one of the righteous ones in heaven who has now been made perfect. This isn’t Sinai. This is Zion. This is Jesus, the one who makes this new covenant between God and His people. This is the blood of Jesus, which speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. The blood of Jesus shed for you that says “forgive them, Father.” 

On Sinai, God spoke the Ten Words and wrote them on two tablets. In Jesus the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus lived up to all those “shalls” that no one else had been able to live up to. He did it for you. He suffered death for everyone who ever tried to climb that mountain on their own. He died for His people, He died for you. But then He rose to a new life, a new beginning, a brand new hope that the world had never seen before. And He offers that new life to you. That’s the Gospel. You just have to receive it by faith. You just have to believe what He says. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.

Jesus is speaking. Jesus is LORD. Jesus is YAHWEH. He is Your God who rescued you from slavery and death.

Rescued you to be fully human. This is what that’s going to look like. This is who you’re going to be now. You shall be a human being. Our Father wants you to work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life.

This is how to be a human being. You just have to believe what Jesus has said about you. He said you’re in Him and He is in you. That means you shall have no other Gods. It also means that you’re forgiven. Believe that.

The rest of Hebrews goes on to summarize the Commandments—what it’s going to look like to live in the Father’s family. Chapter 13 talks about all those things the nine “shalls” talk about in the Ten Words. What a Christian life is going to look like.

The Wise & The Fool Last week we talked about the difference between a wise person and a fool. Here’s how a wise person responds to the Gospel: They repent and believe. They turn away from death and turn toward life. They gather to worship, they come to Mount Zion, they come to Christ, they remember who they are and who they’re supposed to be. A fool makes excuses, looks for loop-holes, argues about everything, blames God and everyone else for their problems, and they won’t change their behavior until God the Father disciples them with consequences. A fool wallows in sin and selfishness and anger and self pity. A fool thinks they can do it on their own. You cannot please God on your own. A fool is like Essau and trades his birthright for a bowl of beans. Throws it all away for momentary pleasure. A fool acts like God isn’t watching them do all the things He told them not to do. A fool is harsh to his wife and kids and then wonders why they don’t respect him. A fool doesn’t live in peace and doesn’t live a holy life. A fool refuses to listen to the One who is speaking.

God is speaking through Christ. Word to the wise, listen to Him. These are the Ten Words. He is the LORD your God who saved you from slavery and death. Jesus is YAHWEH. He is speaking. What God says, He makes happen. This is a new creation. This is what God is causing to happen, through His Word. He has made you holy, He is making you holy, you will see the LORD. He is the Author and perfecter of your faith. He is making all things new. In Christ this is the kind of person you shall be. In Christ, He shall equip you with everything good so that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.