New Tablets, Same Terms, Same Veil
Notes
Transcript
1 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. 2 “So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3 “No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.” 4 So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. 6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.” 10 Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you. 11 “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. 17 “You shall make for yourself no molten gods. 18 “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt. 19 “The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. 20 “You shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed. 21 “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22 “You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 “Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 “For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God. 25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning. 26 “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” 27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. 29 It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35 the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.
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Introduction
Quite a few years ago when I was still a kid I was riding along with my dad down a country road in Northern Minnesota. My dad drove a Geo Tracker, it was a four wheel drive soft top that usually did really well in the winter. It was winter out, and I’ll never forget it: we were driving down a perfectly straight stretch of road and hit a patch of black ice and my dad completely lost control of the car. There was nothing he could do. We ended up in the ditch, and thankfully the snow made for a soft landing, but it made it hard to get out again. Thankfully someone else made it over the black ice and stopped to pull us out. By God’s grace there was someone to help us out, there wasn’t anything wrong with the car, we were both fine and it was a relief just to get back on the road, but of course we hadn’t arrived to our destination yet. We were more than glad to be on the road again but that was tempered a bit because we didn’t know what the road to our destination looked like.
When we look at Exodus 34 you might say Moses has got Israel out of a real ditch. It’s only by God’s grace that the story continues, and as Israel is getting back on the road if you will God’s going to renew His covenant with Israel. And just like every covenant there are two parties and terms of an agreement, and that essentially outlines the passage.
Who Is God?
What Does He Expect of Us?
What is our Condition?
But as we come to the end, you catch a bit of a glimpse of the road ahead. Renewing the covenant (Getting back on the road) doesn’t mean we’ve arrived at our destination. There’s this really interesting interaction between Moses and the people at the end of the chapter, that speaks of the years to come. It’s really a picture of the tabernacle. Moses has to put a veil over his face to cover this reflected glory of God that shines from his face. The people can’t even rightly experience the glory of God reflected in the face of Moses. Even that they need a veil to cover. Not to mention the veils which separate the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. As we look to the road ahead we find ourselves asking, “
4. How Will We Ever Experience His Glory?
How will God ever dwell with people like He did in the garden if they can’t even look at Moses, a mere man, whose been in the presence of God? Even if Israel manages to avoid all the ditches on the road ahead, How will they ever come to experience God’s glory as His people?
We’ll wrestle with that question at the end.
It is only in Christ that we can behold the glory of the Lord, and in beholding that glory we are set free and transformed to worship as we ought.
It is only in Christ that we can behold the glory of the Lord, and in beholding that glory we are set free and transformed to worship as we ought.
Starting out though let’s look at Moses ascending the mountain once again to receive the law, but even before that to see Who God is as He reveals himself.
Who Is God?
Who Is God?
Before Moses even approaches God on the mountain we can see the character of God in His instructions.
He is unchanging and because He is unchanging He is still holy.
Right from verse 1 God states that He will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.
Just because the people of God were unable to fulfill the standards set out before doesn’t mean God has lowered His standards to accommodate. As we will see, God is gracious, He is compassionate and patient, but that does not mean He is willing to compromise. His character is unchanging and therein His standard will be the same as it was before.
Furthermore, the people still remain at a distance because all that God touches he sanctifies. He is Holy such that all that comes near him must be made holy.
There in verse 3 we see an echo of Chapter 19 where God instructed the people to stay off the mountain else they die.
3 “No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.”
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From what we know in our day to day this may sound a bit harsh.
Maybe some of you know the feeling of taking a test in school that was so hard that no one was able to pass. There’s a sense of injustice there isn’t there? The test is supposed to make sure you learned everything that you were taught over the course of the semester, but when everyone fails everyone realizes we clearly weren’t taught this material.
Tests and standards are a way of identifying those who have done well and those who excel. They gives good grades to those who study well. They accept the best candidates into prominent schools. There’s no point to an exam or an application with standards so high that no one can pass right? There may be some common sense to that, but unfortunately we’ve gone so far in many circles so as to blame the system or the standard because there are not enough people passing.
How quick we are at times to blame the standard or change the standard because we find it difficult to attain.
Let’s be careful not apply our understanding of what a standard should look like to God. God is not looking for the best candidates to enter the promised land. “I’m looking for the best 10% so here is the covenant that will assign grades and identify the best among you.” No, God is unchanging and He is holy. Should everyone fail the test and utterly crash into the ditch, God by His grace will restore them to their journey, but God has not changed when they come out of the ditch. A professor who flunks an entire class on the midterm should probably rethink what his final exam looks like, but not God. He is perfect! There’s nothing wrong with the standard. And neither He nor the standard will change.
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So Moses goes up on the mountain with two fresh hewn tablets, ready to receive the law of God once more, but this whole interaction is about more than receiving new tablets. The whole law is more than just a standard to be adhered to. The law is about knowing and worshipping God Himself. Sometimes we might forget the introduction that precedes the Ten Commandments.
1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
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Have you ever thought about that?
The first commandment doesn’t make any sense without the introduction.
“You shall have no other god’s before Me.”
We take it for granted because we know the story, but who’s Me?
We must be able to answer, “Who is God?” If we are to understand the law, else we end up like the Pharisees who miss the intent of the law entirely and miss the Lord of the Sabbath who walks before them. How is it then we understand who God is? It’s by God revealing Himself to us that we can know Him.
God again reveals Himself in name and character before Moses on the mountain for all of Israel to know who their God and deliverer is.
6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
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He begins with his name: Yahweh, Yahweh El… Our English translation includes the article “the”, but it’s really more natural than that. He begins with His name. He wants to be known! God, our God is not some far off deity who cannot be known or doesn’t want to be known. There are so many who are devoted to the idea that God cannot be known. “It’s all just a mystery! There may be a god out there somewhere, but who can really tell?” We can! We know His name. He’s literally introduced Himself to us and told us what He is like with his own words and in His holy law.
He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin...
You’ll notice the attributes of God which He decides to reveal to us first are relational and for our good! There are numerous attributes that would have been appropriate for the LORD to lead with: All-powerful, All-knowing, Eternal, Omni-present, Creator, Ruler, Sovereign, Holy… yet how does he begin with this idolatrous people who’ve just put the car in the ditch by their own rebellion? He begins with compassionate and gracious. He begins with the attributes which give a broken and sinful people hope that they might know and abide with God. Not of their own accord, but because of who he is! All the rest speak of God’s character, but imply a relationship with a broken people. “slow to anger”. He’s patient with His people who He has delivered. He shows His love to thousands and for the everpresent, iniquity, transgression, and sin present among so many. He’s forgiving.
Not only can God be known. He wants to be known and He wants to be known as one who relates with sinful and broken people with love, grace, and forgiveness. That’s good news for Israel! That’s good news for us!
As we look to the journey ahead, if we were Israel we might be inclined to give ourself a little motivational speech. “You got this. You learned your lesson. We’re not doing that again! No more ditches! No more idols.” In truth the only hope of Israel is not who they are who they are going to be by their own resolve. There hope for the road ahead is the character of their gracious God who is willing to extend grace and compassion to stubborn sinners.
It may seem elementary, but when we look at the road ahead and see the temptations and adversity that are waiting for us, do we take the time to ask, “Who is God?” Do we have a theology, an understanding of God who has revealed Himself to us, that can fuel our faith in times of trial and temptation? It doesn’t take time in a seminary, but it does take time being taught by the word of God. As you read your Bible, consider asking that question, “What does God want me to know about Him?” Before we ask, “What do I do?” Let’s makes sure we know God as He intends us to know Him!” “That is to know Him in all His attributes!”
You’ll notice this statement of God’s grace and compassion isn’t the full picture.
7yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
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We can absolutely say that God is patient, gracious and forgiving with sinners, but let’s not mistake his grace for injustice. God in all His compassion and mercy is also just… ensuring that in the end all the debts will be paid! Grace isn’t the work of God ignoring our sin and saying, “I’ll let it slide. Let’s pretend that never happened.” Grace is not the removal of a standard or simply pretending the offense never existed. That’s simply an injustice.
From personal experience I’ve met too many college students who are resting in the false gospel of an unjust God who simply sweeps sin under the rug on judgement day. Their understanding of God’s grace is justice with the real bad ones and acceptance of the better ones. Sound familiar? God’s going to treat me just like my professor does. As long as I’m not in the bottom 10% I’ll pass because there’s a curve on judgement day right? God is not a university professor. No, God is perfect and His justice reflects His perfect and holy character. If there is guilt, there is necessarily a price to be paid. That’s what justice is!
It may seem at this point that God has totally extinguished whatever glimmer of hope Israel had, but if we’re willing to go all the way to the point of desperation we’ll see how God’s perfect justice actually works to the good of Israel. We do need to take this one step further though.
Maybe you’re on board so far, “He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished...” Ok, we can say, “Amen” there, but it seems God’s justice enters a category we may not be so comfortable with.
“visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
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Let’s just admit, at first glance that doesn’t sound like justice. Is it right that a son should suffer for the sins of his father?
I want us to see this in context for just a moment before we seek a resolution to the tension. We might ask a similar question, “Is it right that Israel should be blessed in their sin because of Moses’ righteousness?”
In just two verses the opposite picture is given to us.
9 He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.”
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Moses pleas as he did in the previous chapter that the Lord would bless and pardon the iniquity and sin of Israel based on what, The favor God has toward Moses. “If now I have found favor in Your sight.”
Last week we asked the question, “Who do you know?” Israel was blessed to know Moses for the favor he had with God and the work of intercession he performed on their behalf. There’s the positive sense of the question, “Who do you know who can help you get the job?” We can also ask the question, in a negative sense. Who do you know who could bring you harm and consequence?
From these few verses we ought to recognize the rippling effects of sin at the very least. The next generations of those who rebel against God are likely to follow in their father’s footsteps and they too are going to be found guilty, but I believe God is teaching Israel about the reality of sin more fully. That is what it means to be in Adam. What it means for a sin nature and the consequences of sin to affect those closest to us for generations to come.
If we’re willing to see the greater biblical context I believe we can see in just these three verses , two ways of living. There’s living in Adam and living in Christ. Living in the nature and consequences of all the sinners who’ve gone before you or living in the nature and blessings of one favored mediator who promises changed hearts and eternal life to all who come to him.
Paul explains this idea in his letter to the Romans.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
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You might have recognized the tension that rests there in how God reveals Himself in Exodus. If God is just, ensuring sin receives it’s just and righteous payment, yet he’s willing to forgive and extend grace to the sinner, the question is how? How can God be just and gracious? As God is reminding the people of what it means to be in Adam, to be descendants of sinners, He’s pointing them to the Messiah. The one who will take for them the just punishment for sin. The grace of God extends to many through on Man, One Mediator, Jesus Christ.
God is compassionate and gracious
He is righteous and just
He is also our Mediator and Substitute in Jesus Christ.
Without the Mediator and Substitute we shouldn’t be surprised to find every form of false religion trying to reconcile a God of mercy and justice. Either man gets elevated or God and His law is brought down. The person and work of Jesus Christ rests at the center, the source of all God’s grace and compassion toward us because it’s in Jesus Christ that the wrath and justice of God toward us has been satisfied. He is our substitute! He’s also our Mediator. It’s in God’s favor for the righteous Son that His favor extends to us. If you weren’t with us last week, and even if you were I’d encourage you take another look at John 17 to see the favor of God toward us in Christ our Mediator.
In the end when we come to Scripture asking, “Who is God?” in a desire to know Him and please Him let’s absolutely see all that God has revealed Himself to be from the very beginning in Genesis: Creator, All Powerful, Holy, and Righteous God, but we must look to Jesus Christ, our Substitute and only Mediator if we are ever to really know and experience the lovingkindness, compassion, grace and forgiveness of God as He shows us here.
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I hope that as we move through the rest of the chapter we’ll see there’s nothing really new here. It’s simply a fuller expression of everything we’ve already seen in the character of God in these first 9 verses.
So, what does God expect of Israel? What are the terms of this covenant? Like we’ve said already, they’re the same terms because God hasn’t changed, but they are a summary. A summary with an emphasis.
What Does He Expect of Us?
What Does He Expect of Us?
If I were to summarize the summary, God expects that Israel worship Him exclusively in response to His gracious provision. Exclusive worship in response to gracious provision.
Going back to the Ten Commandments you might recall the preface,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
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The commandments follow God’s gracious provision, but here rather than being retrospective (looking back to Egypt) it’s prospective. It’s looking forward. The LORD is promising he will perform miracles they have never seen before and deliver Israel from all their enemies.
11 “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.
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Much like the commandment given to Adam and Eve. God provides a promised land, a garden, for Adam to keep and to cultivate, any extraordinary and gracious gift, and with that gift comes the commandment.
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
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For Israel, God identifies that same forbidden fruit that they must not touch. That idol which promises blessings which they believe they don’t already have.
14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods.... and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice,
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You can see very clearly the parallel here to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, but again the emphasis here in this summary is on the positive - We know what the worship of God is not, but the heart of the law is not ultimately, “Don’t do this or that” The heart of the holy, “Be holy” “Pursue righteousness”
What is God’s expectation for a positive, proactive pursuit of holiness in Israel’s worship?
It’s the Sabbaths and celebrations.
I’m not going to rehash all the Celebrations here, but I’d like to remind us this morning how all these celebrations orient themselves around the Passover and the Day of Atonement. Two days every year in which God reminded Israel, if you are going to be pleasing to me, you need a perfect substitute in the form of a spotless lamb, and you need a mediator in the form of a Holy priesthood.
My hope here this morning is that we would all have a desire to please the Lord and give Him our best, but let’s not forget the gracious provision necessary for us to fulfill God’s expectations of us.
For Israel God has provided freedom from slavery, deliverance from their enemies, a spotless lamb that spared them from the angel of death, a priesthood who would serve to atone for their sins.
God’s expectations of Israel for their exclusive worship is entirely founded in all that God has provided for them. The whole of their worship in essence is a confession that we are nothing without God! They all together remember in celebration the compassion, grace, and lovingkindness of God extended to them, and yet that is only possible in the satisfaction of His justice through a spotless lamb.
God expects Israel to remember who He is for them in their worship. Who God is, what He has done, and what He will do is the heart of God’s intent for our worship.
The last part there is really important: What He will do. This section begins with promises of what God will do in delivering Israel from the enemies that are before them, but there is one more thing that God must do that becomes apparent here at the end.
If God’s people are going to be the holy worshippers he desires them to be, something must change from the inside. Holy and exclusive worship is more than the external procedure of bringing lambs and offerings to a priest. Holy worship is a work of the whole person. Heart, Mind, and Body.
What Is Our Condition?
What Is Our Condition?
Let’s begin with Israel. Is Israel in the condition to worship God, seeing Him, knowing Him, and responding with the whole of their being in praise and adoration?
Moses walks down the mountain. We’re out of the ditch, we’re on the road again. Moses has some brand new tablets, and his face is shining...
In the 40 days Moses has spent on the mountain, he’s still reflecting the glory of God when he comes down from the mountain.
Maybe some of you have had this experience, but if you ever go camping a nice headlamp really comes in handy. The brighter the better. Flashlights are ok, but sometimes you just need both hands. The downside is you blind everyone you look at and in the middle of the night that can be really annoying. On the highway you get a little heads up when that person with their brights on starts approaching from a half mile away. Not the case with headlamps. It makes it hard to have a conversation really. You can’t look at each other, and it’s almost better in the dark if you’re just trying to talk.
I kind of imagine Aaron having a similar experience but apparently it actually brought fear to their hearts.
30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
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It was so troubling to them in fact that Moses decided to put a veil over his face when he wasn’t speaking to them or speaking with God.
When Moses delivers the law of God to the people his face shines with the reflection of the glory of God, but when he’s not speaking he has a veil over his face. You can imagine how hard it would be for Moses to relate with anyone while there’s a veil over his face all the time.
So, what does this say about Israel’s condition?
If Israel can’t even bear the glory of God reflected in the face of Moses, even that reflection needs a veil to cover it, how much more will they need a veil to cover the presence and glory of God when he comes to dwell among them? In just two chapters the tabernacle is about to be built and this little narrative detail here speaks of its absolute necessity. There must be a separation - a veil - between God and His people because of their condition. It’s the same condition as Adam and Eve. In their sin which corrupted them they hid themselves from the glory of God and were removed from the presence of God. The proclamation of the law here only proves to reveal the problem: there hearts remain unchanged. There is something yet to be desired even here in the delivery of these fresh new tablets. There’s a heart transformation that needs to take place if God’s people are going to see the glory of God, know God Himself, and worship as they were always intended to in the garden.
We come to our final point:
How Will We Ever Experience His Glory?
How Will We Ever Experience His Glory?
How will God’s people ever know the glory of God and worship Him as they ought?
I’d like to look at 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 before we close this morning.
Notice as I read, the description of Israel’s condition and the provision we have in contrast.
12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
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The minds of Israel were hardened and a veil lies over their heart. No amount of reading the law of Moses was going to change that unless that law pointed them to that gracious substitute, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” That is how we see the glory of God. That is how we can boldly approach His throne. That’s the only reason we can know Him, love Him, and worship Him with the whole of our being. Because in turning to Christ in continuing to look to Him in faith, our hearts our changed. Our minds are renewed. The whole of our being is being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. We, ourselves are being sanctified, being made holy, becoming more and more fit for the presence of the glory of God that we may worship Him for all eternity as we were always intended to.
If we’re adding to our list of answers to “Who Is God?” He is our Savior and Sanctifier.
Wherever you are this morning there is a road ahead, a journey to take.
Some of you may have yet to start. Forget going in the ditch, the journey has yet to begin. There is no need remain hiding in the dark from the justice and righteousness of holy God. He’s mercifully provided a substitute - Jesus Christ - to take upon Himself your sin as he died on the cross. In His resurrection He’s graciously provided a mediator to seek the Father’s favor toward you. Turn to Him. Scripture says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved...” Seek his forgiveness, that you too may know His glory, His lovingkindness, and His compassion without fear.
For some others, perhaps there is a ditch you need to come out of or by God’s grace you’ve just come out of. In our hopes to navigate the road ahead, might we consider the law of God to show us where we stand, but our eyes need to be on Jesus. When you read your Bibles, if you’re going to ask, “How am I doing?” Make sure it’s followed by, “What has Christ done for me and promised to do for me?” That’s how we’re transformed. Looking with unveiled faces at the mercy and merits of Christ given to us.
If by God’s grace you’re on that road, walking with the Lord in faith and holiness. Would you maybe consider helping someone else get out of the ditch or avoid the ditches to come. Consider those near you who haven’t even started, those who are still fearful and blind because they haven’t yet met Jesus and seen what He’s done for us. Be an example to those closest to you of what it looks like to look to Jesus in the wilderness and the darker hours. Show us what real worship looks like: A worship from the heart that seeks God’s glory in all we do.
As the body of Christ might we take on the journey ahead together, inviting others to join us and restoring those who wander.
I’ll close with Hebrews 12:1-2. A perfect summary to everything we’ve seen here.
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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If it is our hope to run the race before us we must fix our eyes on who God is for us in the person of Christ: He is our Savior and Sanctifier “the author and perfecter of faith” He endured the cross as our Substitute and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, our Mediator in the presence of the Father.
Let’s Pray.
Prayer of Devotion
Jim Lum
First Light Vandalia - David Starry
