The Covenant Comes Before the Commandments: When Love Takes the First Step

Think about the last time you had a disagreement with someone you love. Maybe it was a spouse, a parent, or a friend. In those moments, you don’t need a rulebook to know what’s right or wrong — you just know. That’s because every close relationship has its own rhythm: when to speak, when to listen, when to show up, and when to hold back.

Ignore your spouse for days? Tension builds. Lie to a friend? Trust breaks. These aren’t just rules — they’re the heartbeat of healthy relationships.

And that’s exactly how God designed His relationship with us. Before any rules ever came into view, He reached out to establish a connection. The Ten Commandments weren’t meant to weigh us down — they were a gift meant to draw us closer to Him.

Somewhere along the way, we started seeing God’s commands as heavy restrictions instead of invitations to freedom.

But what if obedience isn’t about control — what if it’s about relationship?

What if the commandments were never meant to earn God’s love, but to help us live inside it?

In this message from Exodus 19–20, I explore what it means that the covenant comes before the commandments — that grace always takes the first step.

We’ll look at how God’s rescue comes before His rules, how obedience strengthens rather than replaces relationship, and why we obey better together in community.

💬 As C.S. Lewis said, “Obedience is the road to freedom.”

You can listen to the full message here:

🎧Listen to “The Covenant Comes Before the Commandments” Sermon

Reflection:

What if today you stopped seeing obedience as a duty and started seeing it as a love response?

What might change in your walk with God if you believed — really believed — that His rescue came first?