Redeemer: God saves us to represent Him to the world around us. Exodus 19-20

Redeemer: God saves us to represent Him to the world around us.

Exodus 19:1-6

[1] n the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. [2] They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, [3] while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: [4] ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. [5] Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; [6] and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

God’s people exist to represent God to the rest of the world.

[4] ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. [5] Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; [6] and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

God redeemed Israel from the Egyptians by His power

Isaiah uses this kind of language to talk about how God works in our lives when we need Him.

God redeemed Israel from the Egyptians and brought them to Himself (they are with Him, and He is with them)

When they came to the mountain they came to Him.

Ancient Jews though of Eden as an elevated garden, and you see throughout history the idea of men trying to go up to God. In Genesis 11 mankind banned together after the flood and established cities and even sought to build a tower in Babel that would make its way into the heavens.

But, God comes down to us… (we see this ultimately in Christ.) And often throughout the history of the world God has come down to a mountain to meet with us. You see this here in Exodus and it continues throughout the history of Israel. Jesus goes up on a mountain and while He is there Moses and Elijah appear and Jesus transfigures Himself so that three disciples, and Moses and Elijah seem him in His glory.

God meets with Moses on the mountain, and then later God has them build the tent/tabernacle for Him to be among them. The tent has the Holy of Holies, which represents Eden and has a wall of separation between God and men.

God redeemed Israel to bring them to himself, into proximity and relationship with Him… and it was for their benefit, and for the benefit of the whole world.

God’s purpose for Israel is that they would represent Him to the rest of the World.

“To be a treasured possession among all people.”

God called Israel to himself, but he did not call them out of the world. I think there are times when we read and consider God’s relationship with Israel as one of isolation. There is a wrong idea that God wanted Israel to live as some kind of compound out of the view of everyone else.

Instead we see here that God acknowledges Israel belongs to Him, but that the whole earth is his, and this means that all nations are under Him. So, Israel isn’t supposed to be separate in a way that others cannot see… no Israel’s purpose is to live with God and for God in a way that represents God to the rest of the world.

God’s plan for Israel was that they live fully devoted to Him by ordering every sphere of their life around Him.

This is the purpose of the 10 commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. .

Exodus 20:3

“No other gods…”

No other gods means nothing else, no one else… not even ourselves, not our closest family members, or our closest of friends. God holds a place in our lives that requires that we order everything else around Him. But, not in hopes of earning his love, no we order our lives around Him because of His love, because of what he has done for us.

This first law sets the tone for everything else that follows. It is built on the foundation of God’s redeeming work. it is only because they belong to Him that they are told to live in this way.

The 10 commandments are not how we become good enough for God; instead they teach us what it looks like to live fully devoted to the One who has redeemed us.

Fulfilling God’s purpose requires obedience to His Word… so He gives them the law, the 10 commandments so they would know what it looks like to live fully devoted to Him. They can only fulfill God’s purpose because they have been redeemed by God’s power.

The law shows us what it looks like to be fully devoted to God; and also teaches us how we relate to one another if we are fully devoted to God.

The 10 commandments show us God’s character, and how we can reflect His character to one another and the world around us.

Representing God to the world around us is more than sharing the message, it’s also showing His character.

This is not just the message of the OT, it is also the message of the NT… and it’s the message of the NT because the OT is the foundation of our understanding of everything we know in the NT. Just like Israel is called to represent God to the world, the church is also called to do the same. Let’s look at 1 Peter 2 to see how clearly Exodus serves as a primary illustration for understanding the Gospel in the NT:

1 Peter 2:1-5 says, “[1] So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. [2] Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—[3] if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. [4] As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, [5] you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

When you see this you see the OT pattern perfectly fulfilled in Jesus!

Jesus was rejected by men, the leaders of Israel… but according to 1 Peter 2:4

Jesus is the true treasure sent to represent God to the world.

Colossians tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible, because Jesus is God… which is why he is the perfect representation.

In John 14 Jesus said if you have seen him you have seen the Father.

Jesus perfectly followed the law and showed us what true loving obedience looks like.

And, it didn’t look like people thought it would look. Jesus was constantly offending the religious Jews of the day. He was with the wrong people, they were all doing the wrong things, and as a result he wasn’t respected or revered because instead of revering the leadership of the Jews, he loved those who would accept Him.

Even though Jesus perfectly followed the law, He was simultaneously considered to be gracious and loving by one crowd, and an unrighteous blasphemer by others.

Those who knew their sinfulness considered Jesus to be loving and granted

Those who thought too highly of themselves were offended by Jesus and eventually crucified Him.

Jesus is the true High priest that represents God to us… which is why our current plan is to move from Exodus into the book of Hebrews after the first of the year. I put Exodus in front of our pastors to pray about this past summer. You see the NT uses the events of the Exodus as one of the primary illustrations to explain what Christ has done for us, and to help us understand the purpose and mission of the church. So, the goal is to see God as the Redeemer who saves us and sets us apart the way He did Israel.

Jesus is the true High priest that represents God to us, and like Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests and represent God to the nations, we, the church are called to be a holy priesthood and represent God to everyone who doesn’t know Christ around us.

The church is called to live for God in a way that represents God to the rest of the world.

Just like the priests represented God to Israel, and the Israel was God’s nation of priests to represent Him to the world… Jesus represents God perfectly to us, and then saves us to represent Him to the world.

Jesus made a perfect sacrifice with His life… and Peter says that as a royal priesthood, we also make an acceptable sacrifice.

We are saved by believing in Jesus as the only perfect, eternal, and acceptable sacrifice to God. And, Peter then aims the church to consider it’s way of life as the daily sacrifice it makes in response to Jesus’ salvation.

A life of loving obedience is the sacrifice that is acceptable to God.

Israel was redeemed by the sacrifice of the lambs in Egypt. Then they were called to live according to God’s law in the world. God never calls us to obey Him as robots… he calls us to obey in the context of a relationship with Him… the relationship comes through his redeeming work… it’s always been this way. Obedience is not blind, it is the response of the heart that loves God more than it loves anyone or anything else. This is why God tells us in the OT and the NT to love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Christians, the church, are redeemed by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God (Jesus) and are called to live according to God’s Word in the world.

Romans 12:1-2 says, “[1] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

God gave the 10 commandments to Israel so that they would not be conformed to the world, but instead they would live according to His ways and His Word.

Christians don’t conform to the world, but instead live a transformed life in obedience to the Word and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

What does it look like to not conform?

The transformed life is when every sphere of your life is ordered around God.

Conforming to the world is when any or all of your life is ordered around you and others instead of God’s Word and His Spirit.

God has given us the Word and the Holy Spirit so that we will live different from the world

And the heart that lovingly obeys God, also loves the rest of the family of faith.

Jesus said that the world will know that we are His by the love we have for one another.

The truth of our love for God is seen through the way that we love one another.

Jesus said in John 13:34-35, [34] A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. [35] By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The example of what it means to love one another is Jesus. In John 13 He washes the disciples feet as foreshadowing of the cleansing effect of His blood He would shed on the cross. Loving one another is an act not just words, and it means putting one another first, not being self-seeking, and ultimately not being like the world.

Loving one another flows from being loved by God and loving Him back… Loving one another is a part of the Great Commission. You might wonder how that’s the case? Maybe even wondering how even obeying God is part of our mission work. But’s it’s not just that sharing the gospel is an act of obedience.

Sharing the gospel and making disciples is the act of calling people into a life of loving obedience to Jesus.

When we reach people and disciple them we are not just to tell them of God’s love and the plan of salvation… we are to teach them everything that Jesus commanded. Why? Because God saves us from our sins to live for Him among those who don’t know Him.

Christians exist to represent God to those who don’t follow Jesus.

Missions exists because worship doesn’t.