OUR GOD IS THE ONLY GOD

Mark 12:28-34
Key Verse: 12:29

    "'The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: "Hear, O Israel,
     the Lord our God, the Lord is one."'"

     Chapter 12 begins with the most exquisite epic, the historical poem
of Israel. The parable of the tenants (1-12) is indeed remarkable in
its inclusiveness of God's purpose and his people Israel's mission. In
the previous passage, we thought about "Man's basic duty to State and
to God." All sinful human beings are out to make rational excuses or to
justify themselves with sophistry so as to claim to be righteous. This
tendency comes to men when they want to avoid responsibilities. Man is man
when he or she honors basic responsibilities to men as a matter of divine
imperative. We have duty to men and duty to God. But the Pharisees did not
accept it. Then the Sadducees came to Jesus to defeat him verbally and put
him in deep trouble. They did not believe the resurrection. Jesus told
them that those who believe in the resurrection will be like the angels
in heaven (25). They will be like Jesus. Today's passage is mainly Jesus'
conversation with one of the teachers of the law. This teacher of the law
was one who was right in the sight of God. Let's see what kind of teacher
of the law he was, and why Jesus admired him, and what Jesus taught him.

I.  Love the Lord your God (28-30)

First, a genuine teacher of the law (28). Look at verse 28. "One of the
teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had
given them a good answer, he asked him, 'Of all the command ments, which
is the most important?'" For the most part, the teachers of the law, the
Pharisees and Sadducees, were in character political and not spiritual
at all. They were earthbound. But one of the teachers of the law was
genuine and truth-seeking. He had the power of discernment between good
and evil. He had not contracted the cultural diseases of the times. He
was not floating downstream according to the trend of the world. Most
of all, he was a great scholar who could understand the word of truth
from the mouth of Jesus, on hearing Jesus' debating with the Pharisees
and Sadducees. He heard the debating between the Pharisees and Jesus
and between the Saddu cees and Jesus. He learned that Jesus was right by
giving them the word of God. It is indeed surprising that this teacher of
the law kept himself pure in the sight of God in that darkest generation
in history.  Jesus, who was supported by one of the teachers of the law,
was pleased. How could this teacher of the law keep himself pure? This
young teacher reminds us of Psalm 119:9-12. It says, "How can a young
man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with
all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your
word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you,
O Lord; teach me your decrees." He sought God with all his heart. As we
studied in Romans, all human beings are both good and evil. In order
to keep himself pure in the sight of God, the young teacher must have
struggled hard to have the word of God in his heart. Psalm 119:15-16 says,
"I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.  I delight in your
decrees; I will not neglect your word." This young teacher was like a
tree planted by the streams of water (Ps 1:3).

     From time to time, we despair when we look at men and women of
perversion. We despair when we look at men and women with no sense of
honor or sense of shame. They are directed by their sinful feelings. They
are ruled and overruled by their selfishness. They are ashamed of Jesus,
the giver of eternal life, because of their sins.

     However, there are many who are like the young teacher who are
happy to listen to the words of Jesus. There was an American young man
whose family is crowded with many sisters. So he was a very precious son
to his family. His parents loved him more than anybody else because he
was always an all-A student and he was an upright person before God and
men. But he was also a human being. When he grew up he had to overcome
a peer pressure, the great temptation creeping into his heart. Then he
came to UBF and studied the Bible with one who did not understand his
English. But the American young man understood his teachings because he
had a burning desire to know the truth. While he was in the Ph.D. program
in statistics at Harvard University he went from Boston to New York every
weekend, driving 500 miles round trip for two-and-a-half years. It was
to participate in the work of God in New York UBF and to help students
learn basic gospel faith. In this way, he accomplished his goal to keep
himself pure in the sight of God at Harvard. We know how he struggled
to drive such a long distance every weekend. We know how he struggled
to have the word of God in his heart in the midst of Ph.D. study. His
life of faith had been hard. But God blessed him to finish his Ph.D. and
to marry a most beautiful woman of God. Soon he received a professor
position at Penn State University. It is indeed amazing to see such a
person. This American young man is as pure as the young teacher whom
Jesus admired. Sometimes we think American students are all under the
contemporary culture and the future of America is dark. Some compare
American people with the people of Rome at the time of decline due to
their moral corruption. Once Evangelist Billy Graham said, "If God does
not punish America for her sin of immorality, he has to apologize to
the people of Sodom and Gomorrah." But it is not so. We know that the
world is ruled by the Sovereign Ruler God.

     At the time of the prophet Elijah the people of Israel all bowed down
to the god Baal. The prophet Elijah worked hard preaching and terminating
the prophets of Baal in the Kishon Valley (1Ki 18:40). The prophet did not
see his people turning their hearts to God. He com pletely despaired and
cried out, "I have had enough, Lord. Take my life..." (1Ki 19:4). When
he saw his people's ungodly lifestyle and their acts as enemies against
God, the prophet Elijah completely despaired and wanted to die, saying,
"I have had enough, Lord," which meant, "I have suffered enough for
your flock of sheep." But God said to the prophet Elijah sternly, "Yet I
reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to
Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him" (1Ki 19:18). Sometimes we
despair, thinking that there is no one who is pure or righteous before
God. Sometimes we despair, saying, "I have suffered and had enough
hardships to take care of God's sheep under my care. But no one seems
to get better." Many a servant of God says, "I despair and I want to
give up on God's sheep under my care." But we must believe that there
are many pure people before God like the young teacher and the seven
thousand who did not bow down to Baal.  In light of the Bible history,
the Christian history is the history of remnants. Therefore we believe
that God will make America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation! We
are proud of ourselves that we are remnants of God!

     The young teacher asked Jesus, "Of all the commandments, which is
the most important?" (28) It is indeed amazing that he studied the Bible
until he could have a question to know the core of the entire Bible. He
was not a mere student who wanted to get good scores for the credit. But
he wanted to grasp the whole truth of the Bible in one word. He wanted
to obtain the spiritual enlightenment of the Bible. He wanted to know
the secret of the Bible truth. One professor said to his associates,
"You have to love your wife dearly. When I was young I was crazy for
physics study. I had no time to love my wife." The young teacher must
have been like the physics professor. The young teacher studied the Bible
to the degree that he could ask, "Of all the command ments, one by one,
which is the most important?" May God bless each of us to study the
Bible like this young teacher of the law.

Second, the Lord is one (29). Look at verse 29. "'The most important one,'
answered Jesus, 'is this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord
is one."'" Jesus' answer to the young teacher was very short. "The Lord
is one." But this short phrase answers all the questions the teacher
had had. First and last of all, we must know that our God is the one
and only God and there are no other gods. There are ample reasons for
this. But we want to think about a few things.

     In the first place, man-made gods do not talk about creation faith.
Only our God, the Father of Jesus, says in Genesis 1:1, "God created the
heavens and the earth." Our God tells us the first cause, who made man
and the world and where man and the world came from and how the starry
host keeps its course exactly. To the Creator God, the whole world is
nothing but a drop in the bucket, and like dust on the scales (Isa 40:15).

     In the second place, all other gods do not talk about where man came
from and where man goes back to. In other words, they did not explain the
way and the life and the truth (Jn 14:6). But our God gave his one and
only Son Jesus Christ so that man can find the way and the truth and the
life in Jesus. All other gods do not talk about man's eternal life. But
our God made his one and only Son a ransom sacrifice for the sin of the
world. Our God gave eternal life to those who believe in the Son.

     In the third place, our God is the only God because he gave a living
hope in the kingdom of God to those who believe in Jesus. In this world
there is nothing which does not perish, spoil or fade away. No man can
live forever. Everybody dies at the appointed time. In view of history,
many kings and queens felt they were unlucky to become kings and queens
and they were very fatalistic that they were kings and queens and not
ordinary people. They thought that they did not become ordinary people
because God punished them. In this world, even kings and queens feel
great limitation of their lifetimes and become very fatalistic. But
our God gave us living hope in the kingdom of God.  Therefore our God
is the only God. All other gods are no more than the ideas of antique
philosophers who gave no solution to man's fundamental problems.

     In the fourth place, our God is the only God because he gives us the
grace of forgiveness of sin. It is a very familiar story to all of us.
Prince Buddha lived in a palace. But he had no peace in his heart.
Prince Buddha was under the power of sin. The power of sin drove him out
of the palace. The power of sin made him shave his head. As a result,
Prince Buddha adopted as his philosophy that the best life is begging
and suffering, and doing no wrong to others. But our God gave his one
and only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Our God gives us the grace
of forgiveness of sin through his Son's death and resurrec tion. Our God
gives us the peace of God in our hearts. Our God gives us a living hope,
eternal life and the kingdom of God.

Third, love the Lord your God with all your heart (30). Look at verse 30.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength." It is easy to eat
a Big Mac.  It is not so difficult to get a Ph.D. But it is not easy to
love God, who is Spirit and who is invisible. In order to love God we must
have a pure heart through which we can see the living God and the kingdom
of God.  God made man and he wanted to be Father to all men and have all
men be his precious children. It is a Biblical constant that children
obey their parents and are the object of parents' joy. The children love
their father and the father will provide all the necessary things for
them. It is the same with God. When we love the Lord our God with all
our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all
our strength, we can grow in the image of God. We come to know the love
of God. We come to know God, that he is our Everlasting Father. When we
love God with all our hearts we become godly people. Otherwise we become
ungodly and merciless people.

     When we love God, God blesses us and our descendants forever.
This is the reason Exodus 20:5,6 says, "You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the
children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of
those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those
who love me and keep my commandments." On the other hand, when we love
money more than God we must live by our own effort, like communists. They
have no blessing of God. One young man loved a girl more than God. When
he could not grab the girl he left his church and became an agent of
anti-Christians (CAN). We cannot say that he loves God with all his
heart. We cannot say that God would bless him.

II.  Love your neighbor as yourself (31-34)

First, love your neighbor as yourself (31). Look at verse 31a. "The
second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" When we study this
part, love God and love your neighbor are not pieces of advice but they
are precisely the commandments of God. To love God is our ultimate duty
and the key to happiness and universal truth. To love the Lord your God
with all your heart basically means to love our God only. Then we can
love others. This priority is not decided without God's help and much
repentance. It also requires much Bible study until one word of God
touches one's soul. When we have no first priority in God, we are all
restless wanderers like Cain. It also means that our basic principle of
life and standard of life and solution of life should be God Almighty.

     Jesus said, "The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no commandment greater than these."

     God himself showed us how to love his children absolutely.
Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This verse is a comfort
to our souls. God crucified his Son while we were still sinners. It is
easy for us to love our own children or influential servants of God. It
is easy to love those who look pretty like cutie-pies. But it is not
easy for anyone to love sinners whose meditation is how to make use of
others or how to get some benefit from others. It is not easy for us to
love those who are very rebellious and those who mastered in selfishness.
But God sent his one and only Son to die for our sins while we were still
'sinners' in order to show us his divine love. "Love your neighbor"
means to love the one lost in the sight of God.

     In many magazines, there were articles about physical abuse.
Those who hate themselves abuse others without any respect, thinking that
enjoying selfish pleasure is the best thing to do and saying, "I am my
own man." Mostly selfish people do not know how to think of others.
A husband thinks, "I am my own man." The problem is his wife also
thinks, "I am my own woman." Then in a family there are two masters.
There are two savings accounts. One husband, according to one of the
magazine articles, wanted to set the order of the family. He thought
that the husband should be first and the wife should be next. But his
wife did not think so. Then the husband beat her up. But the wife never
yielded to his demand. This happens when there is no God who is love
in a family. UBF people mainly engage in one-to-one Bible study as our
Lord Jesus Christ had done, even during the passion week. It was because
loving one person is the way to please God in the kingdom of God. But to
love others to the end is not easy. One shepherd is a genius in fishing
young students. Maybe he is the best fisher of men. At the same time,
he needs God's strength to help his sheep. After a while, he begins to
ignore his sheep. He loves God. But he does not know how to apply God's
love to other people. Therefore, when we are going to love one another, we
must love them in God's way; we must love God first by repentance. Loving
one another may be the same as to love God only.

Second, the happiness of the young teacher of the law (32-33). When Jesus
taught him the core of the Bible and the heart of God and the grace of
our Lord Jesus by saying, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart,"
and "love your neighbor as yourself," it was the exact answer he wanted
to hear. So he said in verses 32-33, "Well said, teacher. You are right
in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with
all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt
offerings and sacrifices." When we read the reply of the young teacher
of the law repeatedly, we can experience how happy he was to know the
universal truth which makes the world a paradise. In his answer happiness
is overflowing.

Third, "you are not far from the kingdom of God" (34). When Jesus saw the
young teacher of the law, that he was most happy and his soul was dancing
a Russian dance, Jesus said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of
God" (34). When Jesus said, "You are not far from the kingdom of God,"
it does not mean that he drove the circumference of the earth and is near
the kingdom of God. It does not mean that he was launched by a space
rocket and he is near the kingdom of God. It means that he has already
seen the kingdom of God even while on earth. It means that he deserves
to enter the kingdom of God. It means that he experienced the kingdom of
God living among fallen men. He is very different from Nicodemus in John
3. Nicodemus had everything.  He was a member of the Jewish council. He
had great wealth. He had great knowledge. He was a man of standing. But
he was as miserable as Oscar the Grouch. Like Oscar the Grouch he came
out during the night to visit Jesus. He was miserable because he did
not know God or the love of God or the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

     Today we thought about why our God is the only God. Our God is
the only God because he is the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
Our God is the only God because he saves us from our sins. Our God is
the only God because he gives us a living hope, eternal salvation and
the kingdom of God through his Son's death and resurrection. We studied
with the title, "Our God is the only God." How can we prove this? One
young man thinks that he is superior in spirituality and spiritual
insight. But he is going around as a loner all the time. His problem
is that he thinks that he loves God most, but he does not know how to
love others as the expression of loving God. Are you not the man whom I
talked about? May God bless you to know that our God is the only God in
your deep heart. May God bless the young people of this nation to know
that our God is the only God. May God bless you to love God with all
your heart and to love others as the expression of loving God.


STUDY QUESTIONS


1. Read verse 28. What was the attitude of this teacher of the law
   toward Jesus?  Why? What did he ask Jesus? How was he different from
   the previous questioners? What was his attitude toward the Bible? How
   could he keep his heart pure? (Ps 119:9-11; Ps 1:3)

2. Read verses 29. What does this phrase, "the Lord our God, the Lord is
   one" tell us about God? (See Ge 1:1; Isa 40:15; Jn 14:6)  Why is it
   that only the one true living God can give us forgiveness and eternal
   life and hope in his kingdom?

3. Read verse 30. What is the most important commandment? Why? How can
   we love God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength? How does
   obedience to this command preclude idolatry of all kinds, and reveal
   the way of blessing? (Ex 20:5,6)

4. Read verse 31. What is the second great commandment? How is it related
   to the first? How did God demonstrate the meaning of real love (Ro
   5:8)? Why must we love those who don't seem to deserve our love?

5. Read verses 32-33. How did this young teacher respond to Jesus' answer?
   What does his answer reveal about him? Read verse 34. What did Jesus
   say about him? What does this mean? (How was this man different from
   Nicodemus in John 3?)