Who is God?

INTRODUCTION

Thanks to Todd for the honor.

“Thanks” to Todd for assigning such a HUGE topic. Hope you’re comfortable for the next four hours.

We could have gone with a number of texts—and could have covered a lot of territory.

We could have spent tonight unpacking Genesis 1—“In the beginning, God…” // Trinity

Throughout history, Christians have written beautiful, careful definitions of God—Creeds, catechisms, confessions. They are true and valuable. But here’s the staggering reality: we don’t have to rely on human definitions alone. God Himself has revealed who He is. He doesn’t leave us guessing.

Here’s the deal—not that these definitions or wrong or that they’re not based on Scripture…God has revealed Himself! He has told us who He is!

Turn/Transition to Exodus 3. God comes down, and in Exodus 3 He tells Moses—and us—exactly who He is.

Exodus 3:1–6 “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”

The first thing God reveals about Himself in this text is that… 1. HE (GOD) IS HOLY

As this text begins, we find Moses doing an ordinary/mundane task. He’s shepherding…probably bored out of his mind. And, then, something unlike anything he had ever seen breaks into the ordinary…and he is stopped DEAD IN HIS TRACKS. This “great sight” draws him further in.

Holiness is not simply an attribute. Holiness is the foundation of everything about who God is.

Holiness is not just an attribute, it is God’s very essence.

R. C. Sproul

Isaiah 6, Revelation 4:8—the only attribute of God repeated 3x.

What is “holy”? Separate (“other” separate from everything else. He’s in a category all to Himself/transcendent above all else) & Pure.

1 John 1:5 “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

He is incomparable.

We see the holiness of God doing three things in this text:

It calls (Moses is called and commissioned // Isaiah, too, Here I am)

God’s grace, though…Moses, a sinful man (murderer) should be consumed by the holiness of God…but the bush is not consumed and neither is Moses.

God calls him by name…invites him.

But, “do not come near…” A constant reminder that HE is God—we are not.

It sanctifies (Moses takes his shoes off)

The very ground that the holy presence of God touches is sanctified.

Demands our reverence

We come to God on HIS terms—not ours

It humbles (Moses hides his face)

His holiness reveals our sin

RC SPROUL—Luke 5:8 — Peter sees Jesus calm the storm and he immediately falls on his face and says “Depart from me, for I’m a sinful man. Jesus, leave. I can’t handle this.” Why? All Jesus did was fill the nets with fish. But you see, in that moment, Peter again realizes he’s come close to the Holy One. And the closer you get to the holy, the more aware you become of your own sinfulness and the more frightened you become of divine judgment. And so, Simon says, “Please leave, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus hadn’t said anything about sin. He hadn’t been preaching. But His presence and the power of His holiness made people want to flee and scatter from His presence.”

Let’s keep reading…

Exodus 3:7–10 “Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.””

2. GOD IS INFINITE & PERSONAL

I want you to notice the repetition of God’s self-revelation of His infinite knowledge and presence (underlined words).

God is not a distant God. Even though His people had been enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years, God never lost track of them. You know, it’s also interesting, here that in the Bible, we don’t have any record of the time between Joseph and Moses. We end Genesis with Jacob’s family coming to Egypt to escape the famine and then the next thing we see is Exodus 1—a new king arose in Egypt that did not know Joseph and who enslaved the family of Jacob. We don’t know what happened during that 400+ years. In fact, we can assume that God was “silent.” It’s like the 400 years of silence between the minor prophets and the birth of Jesus.

Just because God is silent doesn’t mean He doesn’t see. It doesn’t mean that He is unaware of what’s going on.

God is infinite in His knowledge. God is infinite in His presence.

And, yet, he is personal. Look again at the text. “I see.” “I hear.” “I have come to deliver.” “I am sending you to rescue my people.”

The INFINITE God is a PERSONAL God.

Jesus—every hair on your head is numbered (Matthew 10:30).

Look at verse 13…

Exodus 3:13–15 “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 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.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

3. GOD IS ETERNAL

This is one of the most important passages in all of Scripture. It is God revealing His personal name—YHWH. The name encapsulates everything that it means to be God and God alone. It is the answer to the question found all throughout the OT—“Who is like the Lord?” The answer is “no one!” He is YHWH!

“I AM.” I always have been and I always will be.”

But, it’s not just a “forward” understanding of eternality…eternity means never-ending…forever.

He has no beginning.

He is not dependent on anyone or anything for His existence.

He has no end.

Let me be honest—I really thought hard about how to illustrate this…and then after reading this passage again and again, it hit me—God is illustrating this point RIGHT HERE IN THE TEXT. The bush is on fire but it is not being burned.

He is unchangeable. He is unchangeable in His holiness. He is unchangeable in His infiniteness. He is unchangeable in His love. He is unchangeable in His purposes. He is unchangeable in His mercy and His grace. His covenant of grace with His people is unchanging.

RESPONSE

God is Holy

Our own sin—repentance

Our own holiness—be holy just as your Father in heaven is holy

God is Infinite & Personal

Nothing you’re going through escapes His sight.

Nothing you need is outside of His ability to provide.

Jesus—God sees us in our sin and acts.

God is Eternal

No threat to His existence

Unchangeable—in a world that is changing every single day—we can rest and trust.

Our hope is eternal