Exodus 20:13
This verse helps us understand the sixth commandment: Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
What is the Sixth Commandment?
Exodus 20:13
You shall not murder.
Jesus, the Giver of Life
Physical Life
The reason your heart is beating is because Jesus gave you this life. (See John 1:3.) “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).
Spiritual Life
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6). Christians are not just nice people, trying to do better. They are new creatures who have been regenerated by Christ.
Eternal Life
Jesus speaks of those who believe in Him: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).
Satan, the Thief and Murderer
Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44a).
Why does Satan hate life? Because he hates man. Man is made in the image of God, and Satan hates God. He cannot get at God, so he tries to get at man.
This sixth commandment which says, “You shall not murder,” is another way of saying that we must reject Satan—we must choose life.
Choose Life
After Moses gave Israel the Ten Commandments, he said:
Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live… (Emphasis added.)
Be a family that chooses life.
Fathers—your wife and children have three kinds of life: have physical life, life of the soul, and spiritual life. They were made that way by Almighty God, and it is your job to protect that life.
“You Shall Not Murder”
There are many forms of unlawful killing.
Homicide
People are gunned down in our streets every day, and their blood cries from the ground. One day the God who said, “thou shalt not murder,” will judge.
Suicide
We should be alarmed at the rise of teenage suicide. No human being has the right to take his own life. It is never his life—it belongs to God.
In any trial or sorrow, God will make a way.
Abortion & Infanticide
Something is very wrong in America when we protect spotted owls and whales and eagles, and have made a mother’s womb perhaps the most dangerous place. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you” (Jeremiah 1:5).
Hatred
Our Lord said, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). According to Jesus, that hate sends you to Hell.
Live Life to the Fullest
Fathers, protect physical life. Provide for your family’s social life (that is, the life of the soul). Make home the happiest place on Earth.
And fathers, present spiritual life to your children. Lead your children to Jesus. Build a spiritual “wall of protection” around your home, lest your children fall. You are responsible for them. (See Deuteronomy 22:8.) Protect their bodies, provide for their souls, and pray for their spiritual life.