Trust the Person of God
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
As we get into the new year you will hear a lot about trusting God and being obedient to Him in your life. I realize as I began preparing this series that we spend time talking about Jesus and the cross. We spend time talking about you and what you should do as a believer. As pastors and messages go through we spend very little time reminding our congregations of why we should trust and obey God. I could stand here and tell you all of the reasons I think we should trust God. I could tell you all the wonderful things that He has done for me. I think thought he best way to learn about the person of God is to hear directly from Him. Who does God say He is. We live in a world where we think we really know who God is. We think we have the right perception and image. The fact though is that if we truly believed in who God said He was we would live completely different than we do. We lose the ability to live in the fulness of our Faith because we have convinced ourselves that we know who God is.
For fifteen years Jim Fixx, author of the 1978 bestseller, The Complete Book of Running, ran eighty miles a week. He appeared to be in tip-top shape. It didn't seem possible that a man his age could be in better condition. Yet at age fifty-two Fixx died of a massive heart attack while running alone on a Vermont road. His wife, Alice, later said she was certain that Fixx had no idea he suffered from a heart problem. Why? Because he refused to get regular checkups. After Jim Fixx's death, doctors speculated that his heart was so strong he may not have had the telltale chest pains or shortness of breath that usually signal arterial heart disease!
Is your faith living day to day uncertain of what the next challenge will do to it? I pray that today your faith will be strengthened not through what I can tell you about God, not through what you think you know about God, but through what He says about Himself. Turn with me in your Bible this morning to Exodus 34. In this chapter we will find Moses back on the mountain with God. The first time Moses went to the mountain while he was gone the people made an idol out of gold and worshipped it as a false God, when Moses came down he was so infuriated by the sin of the people he threw the tablets and broke them. Moses then interceded for the people with God because God had chosen not to go with them because He said He would consume them if He went with them. Moses asked God to reconsider and God did. God then commanded Moses to cut 2 new stones and to go up to the mountain so God could write the commands on the tablets since Moses broke the first set of tablets. Before God writes on the tablets He displays His glory to Moses. Look with me in Exodus 34: 5-10
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” 10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
In This scripture we will see three aspects of who God says He is. First God says He is the Ultimate. Second God says He is Patient and Steadfast. Third He says that He is Loving.
God is Ultimate
God is Ultimate
Exodus 34:5–6 (ESV)
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Take notice of how God announced Himself. Look again in verse 6.
Exodus 34:6 (ESV)
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
That phrase The Lord, The Lord. This is an emphatic phrase. This is saying the Lord of Lords. There is none greater than this Lord. God declares in this scripture that He is the ultimate that there is none greater than Him.
That phrase The Lord, The Lord. This is an emphatic phrase. This is saying the Lord of Lords. There is none greater than this Lord. God declares in this scripture that He is the ultimate that there is none greater than Him.God is declaring to Moses His great importance. God is telling Moses that in this world there should be nothing greater than Him in the lives of His people because all things are at His feet.
How do you view God? Is He your ultimate?
What Idols have you Justified in your life?
I have to be honest I often times have things in my life that take more of the place of God and I depend on His goodness and patience much like the Israelites did in their history. Is God the ultimate in your life?
In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen retells a tale from ancient India: Four royal brothers decided each to master a special ability. Time went by, and the brothers met to reveal what they had learned.
"I have mastered a science," said the first, "by which I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it."
"I," said the second, "know how to grow that creature's skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones."
The third said, "I am able to create its limbs if I have flesh, the skin, and the hair."
"And I," concluded the fourth, "know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete."
Thereupon the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialities. As fate would have it, the bone they found was a lion's. One added flesh to the bone, the second grew hide and hair, the third completed it with matching limbs, and the fourth gave the lion life. Shaking its mane, the ferocious beast arose and jumped on his creators. He killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle.
We too have the capacity to create what can devour us. Goals and dreams can consume us. Possessions and property can turn and destroy us--unless we first seek God's kingdom and righteousness, and allow Him to breathe into what we make of life.
When I say that God expects to be the most important in our lives that is not my words, that is not the words of some wise theologian. Those are the words of God Himself. God is the ultimate and the first thing He told Moses after He relented in His anger and chose to go with the Israelites is that He was the Lord, the Lord. Not just God a provider, God a healer, God a giver, no He was God of god’s and Lord of Lord’s the ultimate and supreme being to whom all of our devotion and desire should be given. What things are taking the place of God in your life? What success are you trying to reach while overlooking the God who can give you all success if you would only seek Him first.
What does the Scripture say about God being the ultimate?
Psalm 147:5 (ESV)
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
Jeremiah 32:17 (ESV)
17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Exodus 34:14 (ESV)
14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
Deuteronomy 4:24 (ESV)
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 6:15 (ESV)
15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
Exodus 3:14 (ESV)
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
The first thing God told Moses to tell the Israelites was that He was all they would ever need.
Is God all you need? What areas do you need to be more faithful in giving Him all of you?
We know that God wants to be our ultimate. Are you ready to repent from the things you are holding more important than God and to make Him the Ultimate in your life?
There are countless scriptures that give us the understanding that God wants to be the ultimate in our lives. God does not want to come second to anything in our lives and as we make other things more important in our lives we will lose control and will lose the ability to see God bless things in our lives because He will not contend with Idols. Are you living with idols in your life? You can trust God because He is the ultimate and He can and will handle all things in your life if you will trust Him to do so. The promotions, the relationships, all the things we think we need to control. If we will simply trust God and make Him the most important in our live He will handle the other things in our lives. God did not stop at saying that He was the ultimate. He continued on to say He was patient.
God is Patient and Steadfast
God is Patient and Steadfast
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Exodus 34:6 (ESV)
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
When God moves on in His explanation of who He is He then says that He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. In these words God is telling Moses that He is a patient God. God is patient and faithful to His people. God knew the type of people He was dealing with. It was not as if the last couple of weeks were a blur to God or somehow He had forgotten what had happened. God was very aware of the type of people that His creation had become because of the sin nature in them, in us. God declares in this His unwavering patience with us. We can trust God because He is patient. The world and many Christians have this image of God as though He is watching and waiting for you to make a mistake so that He can exact His punishment on you for your wrong doing. The fact is that we open ourselves to the consequences of our sins by not making God the most important in our lives and doing things our way. God though through this remains faithful and ready to restore and revive. God is a patient God. Do you believe in God’s patience in your life? Do you know how much God loves you and wants a relationship with you?
Do you believe that God is patient in your life or looking for you to fail? Why?
How has God shown His patience in your life?
Have you ever watched Forrest Gump? I have watched it a few times in my life. Some people say it is the best movie they have ever seen and I am not quite there in my filmography. I do however think that there are some great values taught in the movie. One of those is patience. Do you remember Jenny in the movie? Jenny was Forrest’s first love and while Forrest loved Jenny and wanted to give her all that he could, she wanted nothing to do with Forrest. She was to enamored with the world and all that the world had to offer to tie down to some small town guy named Forrest. All his life Forrest maintained his love for Jenny. She did all the things she wanted to do and ended up with a disease that was going to kill her. Even with all of this Forrest still loved her and wanted to marry her. She finally told Forrest yes and they married shortly after and shortly after that she dies. Forrest was patient and committed to Jenny.
While this i just a movie and is all made up, the characteristic of that patience and steadfast love is the same that God is explaining in this scripture. You see God is not looking for you to make a mistake, He is not looking for any opportunity to harm or punish you. He is looking for you to ask for rescue and He won’t stop looking and waiting for you to do so. Even if you wait until the last day of your life to make that call He will come in overjoyed and save you! God is a patient and steadfast God. Trust in God begins when we realize His love for us. We do not love God out of fear, love God because He is patient and steadfast with us.
What does steadfast mean to you?
Do you in view of the Scripture see God’s steadfastness in your life?
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:15 (ESV)
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Romans 2:4 (ESV)
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God is patient and slow to anger. We give God so many reasons to destroy us and to walk away from us. Yet like He did with the Israelites He relents in His anger and loves us anyway. We can trust God because the person of God is patient and steadfast. God is the Ultimate, God is patient but God is also Loving
God is Loving and Just
God is Loving and Just
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” 10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
Exodus 34:7–10 (ESV)
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
After declaring that He is the ultimate and that He is patient and steadfast. God tells Moses that His love for his people is constant and persistent and that His love never fails. God tells Moses that in light of all that the people had done instead of destroying them He was going to bless them and to make a covenant with them and do awesome things through them. Think about this for a minute these people who turned to idols, who would later ask for a king in place of God would be the ones who God would deliver the world from sin through. Jesus would be a direct descendent of the Israelites and God would use them to save the world. These people who deserved to be destroyed and these people who in the chapter before God said He would not go with because He would consume them because of their inability to honor Him. What kind of love is that! That same God is the same God that loves you today. God’s love does not end and it relents in its anger. God’s love blesses those who do not deserve to be blessed. God desires that none should perish and every day that our world continues is evidence of His love.
How has God shown His love in your life when you didn’t deserve it?
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God let’s Moses know that He loves His people and puts up with more than He ever should because He loves them. God lets Moses know the even though He knows that His people will not keep His statutes He will love them through that. God does however let Moses know that while He loves He is also just and there will be a day when all will have to answer for their continued sin. God is letting things continue on so that others may come to Him and give their lives to Him. There will be a day though when all this will end and those who chose to ignore the love and grace and mercy of God will have to answer for their sins. God is a just God. However He desires that we will know Him in His love and has provided for us the ability to know Him in His love and not face the Justice that we all deserve to face. God’s love is greater than any love we can give or be examples of. The best we can love and show our love does not come close to the love God has and shows His creation.
Does the type of love God has for us bring you to a place of worship?
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (ESV)
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4:16 (ESV)
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37–39 (ESV)
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:1 (ESV)
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Which will you choose to accept from God, His love or His Justice?
We can trust and Obey God because of who He is. As we continue this month on the path of being obedient and trusting God we will see other aspects of our God that we can hold firm to. We can obey God because we know the love He has for us and we know that if He calls us to do something He will handle things for us if we are faithful.
