WHAT ARE RULES AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT IN SOCIETY?
Q: Imagine
you are playing your favourite game with your friends. What would happen if everybody decided to
change the rules and no one was playing with the same rules?
Q: What
would happen if one person decided not to obey the rules of the game and cheated? How would you feel? Is it fair?
Does it bring true happiness to the person who cheated to win?
Q: Can
you remember the last time Mum or Dad drove you to school? On the road we see lots of traffic signs
that tell Mum when to go, and when to stop.
What might happen if someone decided to ignore the traffic signs?
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Can you list 2 rules you have at home?
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2. _ _ _ _ _ _
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Mum and Dad give you rules because they love you and
want to protect you. God’s rules work
the same way.
God gave us Ten Commandments by which to live our
lives. Living our lives according to
God’s rules means we will lead productive, meaningful and happy lives.
Disobeying or ignoring rules is a form of selfishness
and is harmful.
Rules are there to keep us safe!
GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENTS
God’s Commandments are divided into two groups. The
first group of 4 Commandments teaches us how to love God and is called the First
Great Commandment. The second group of six Commandments teaches us how to
love our neighbour and is called the Second Great Commandment.
There is only One True God. He is the Almighty and the Creator of the heavens, the Earth and all things (see the paper Who is God? (No. CB1)).
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HOW TO LOVE GOD 1.
You shall have no other gods before me. 2.
You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, on earth, or in the waters
beneath to worship and serve. 3.
You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain. 4.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. |
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HOW TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOUR 5.
Honour your father and mother that your days may be
long in the land which the Lord God gives you. 6.
You shall not kill. 7.
You shall not commit adultery. 8.
You shall not murder. 9.
You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbour. 10. You
shall not covet your neighbour’s house, wife, manservant, maidservant, beast
of burden, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. |
Here we are going to learn about God’s First
Commandment.
Exodus 20:2 “I am the Lord your God who has brought you out
of the Egypt out of the land of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before me.”
Write out
God’s First Commandment.
!_ I am the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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When God says we are to have no other gods, He means
that we are not to have anything in our life that is more important than He is
or that replaces Him.
Nothing is more important than God.
God requires that we pray to Him without ceasing, meditate on Him always, give Him reverence and glory beside none other, and continue to realize that He alone is the most important aspect of our lives.
Luke 18:18 Now a certain ruler asked Him,
saying, “Good Teacher
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery’, ‘Do not murder’, ‘Do not steal’, ‘Do not bear false witness’, ‘Honor your father and mother’,” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” So when Jesus heard these things, He
said to him, “You still lack one thing, sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
Q: Did the young ruler break God’s First
Commandment?
!Put a 
in the correct box.
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YES |
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NO |
Q: Circle
and name what was more important to the young ruler than God.
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Q: Can you
think of a few examples of things we may put before God?
Think of how the pictures below could become other
gods.
“Blessed are
those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of
life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:12-14).
Christ told us that whoever hears his word and obeys
is like a wise man who built his house on a rock (Mat. 7:24). The rain came down and the wind blew and
beat on the house, but it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock
(1Cor.10:4).
However, there are people who do not do the things God commands. They are like foolish people who build their house on sand. The rain came down and the wind blew and the house fell over. God wants to be our foundation. He wants us to put Him first in our lives (Mat. 4:10). God wants us to serve Him for our own sake because God knows our needs and wants; He knows everything about us; He knows what makes us happy and sad. He knows that when we put Him first in our lives, we are happier (Prov. 29:18).
Today, we are surrounded by many false gods that are made up by people. Examples are: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Buddha, Krishna, even Christ has been made into a god and an idol termed co-equal and co-eternal with the One True God who is the Father (Isa. 2:8; Jn. 17:3).
THESE ARE ALL EXAMPLES OF FALSE SYSTEMS BASED ON FALSE
MAN- MADE GODS!
The Bible has many examples of people who made up other
gods in their imagination. God destroyed the people who made up the gods and He
destroyed their idols!
Some countries, like Africa, have a lot of false gods.
Tourists think it is fun and harmless to take physical representations of these
gods home with them. The Bible warns that these gods will be destroyed and so
will their owners. Those who make these gods up imagine they have special
powers, when in fact they are powerless (Hos.
4:12; Jon. 2:8).
God is the only living God who can help us in times of
need. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. God has the power to help
us when we need it (Zech. 9:7).
Those who do not keep God’s Commandments and worship
false gods instead of the One True God will be destroyed.
We all make mistakes and sin. Sinning is when we break
God’s Commandments and we cut ourselves off from God (Isa. 59:2; 1Jn. 3:6).
When we sin it is important that we understand what we have done wrong and make
an effort to correct our error. We need to tell God that we have done something
wrong and that we are sorry. This is called repentance.
Ecclesiastes
10:13 “Let us hear the
conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His Commandments, for this is the
whole duty of man.”
Close with prayer.
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