Imagine if All Kept the 6th Commandment. (message is from Oct 11)

Five weeks ago, we began a series titled "Imagine If Everyone Kept a Commandment." We started with the First Commandment and explored the profoundly positive impact that even one commandment upheld can have on society. This week, we consider the Sixth Commandment: "You shall not commit murder."

Murder is the intentional taking of a human life. God, the Creator, bestowed life upon humanity, and it is not our place to take that life from another. Human life is sacred because it originates from God, and we are made in His image (Genesis 1:26).

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ deepened our understanding of God's law by emphasizing that its spiritual application extends beyond mere actions. He taught that anyone who is unjustly angry with a brother faces the judgment of murder (Matthew 5:21-22).

Christ revealed that feelings of contempt and disdain can serve as the roots of murder.

Sadly, our world often fails to value life as God does. Each human being is a potential child of God, destined for eternity in His Kingdom. The troubling statistics on murder highlight this lack of understanding. According to a United Nations press release from December 8, 2023, more people were killed by homicide in 2021 than by armed conflict and terrorism combined, with an average of 52 victims every hour worldwide. The United States, unfortunately, has the highest regional homicide rate, with 15 per 100,000 people, totaling 154,000 homicides in 2021. As of October 5, of this year, Chicago alone has recorded 450 homicides.

These numbers are devastating.

If we expand our focus beyond homicide statistics to consider the tragic loss of potential from the lives of unborn children, the negative impact on our world is even more profound. How much human potential has society missed due to what some view as a woman's right to choose? Only God knows the answer.

Imagine if everyone recognized and valued the life given by God and adhered to the Sixth Commandment. Our world would be radically different.

Fortunately, we have hope. There will be future periods where humanity will witness the transformative effects of valuing life, where murder is nonexistent. We celebrate this hopeful future during the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. Isaiah beautifully captures this vision in Isaiah 65:20-22:

20 "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,

Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;

For the child shall die one hundred years old,

But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.

21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;

They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 They shall not build and another inhabit;

They shall not plant and another eat;

For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people" (Isaiah 65:20-22, NKJV).

Right now, we can only imagine a world free of murder. The good news of Christ's return brings us closer to that reality.

As the sun sets tonight, we not only observe the Sabbath but also the fifth annual Holy Day of Atonement, which symbolizes the removal of the Devil--the murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

Praying that all of you have a meaningful Sabbath and a blessed Day of Atonement.

1https://unis.unvinna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2023/uniscp1165.html

2https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/10/07/chicago-homicides-in-2024-5-people-slain-heres-how-that-compares-with-previous-years/