No Other Gods Have Eternal Life
In answering the devil’s temptation to get glory by serving the devil, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 bibrefdeuteronomy6 bibrefdeuteronomy6v13 about serving the Lord. And right after that, Moses reminded the people that the Lord is a jealous God, who will be angry with those who go after other gods.
This is all true. Worship and serve God alone or there will be trouble.
But the context of the reminder includes more truth. The exhortation to fear and serve and swear by the Lord’s name follows after a list of a bunch of good things that the Lord would give His people.
They were headed into the promised land. They were about to inherit cities they hadn’t built, houses full of things they did not fill, cisterns they did not dig, vineyards they did not plant. And they would eat and drink and be full (Deuteronomy 6:10-11 bibrefdeuteronomy6 bibrefdeuteronomy6v10 bibrefdeuteronomy6v11). And in this context of abounding good they would be tempted to forget the LORD (Deuteronomy 6:12 bibrefdeuteronomy6 bibrefdeuteronomy6v12). He had delivered them from slavery, He was providing them with good.
The Lord gives good things, and we are tempted to forget. The point at this Table is to remember and give thanks and worship and serve our God.
When your kids ask, Why do we need to obey? Because Jesus died and rose again. Why do we have the Lord’s Supper every Sunday? Because the Lord has set us apart in order to feed us and to unite us together in Christ. Why do we sing? Because no other gods have eternal life.