Life Transforming Encounter

Scripture Introduction

Exodus 3:1–15 NIV

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘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, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

Introduction

The story of Moses and the burning bush is one of those stories I heard in Sunday School so many times. The teacher had a flannel graph showing all the action. That was high tech back in the day.

You may not realize it, but this incident in Exodus 3 contains the central message of Scripture: God’s plan of salvation

If we cannot see the Gospel message in the Old Testament, we won’t see the full picture of it in the New Testament.

You cannot fully understand the New with out the Old and vice versa

The message of salvation can be found throughout the pages of the Old Testament

Background:

Moses grew up in the court of Pharaoh

As he grew up, he knew that he was Jewish

He couldn’t forget His own people - tried to defend them - killed an Egyptian that was being cruel

Long story short - Moses fled Egypt, for fear of being executed by Pharaoh

He ended up in the wilderness of Midian

In our text, Moses had been there for about 40 years

He had given up any dreams of helping his own people long ago

He was now a simple shepherd tending his father-in-law’s sheep

He went through the motions each day - tending the sheep without much thought of anything else

In 3:1, we find him on the back side of the wilderness, near Mt. Horeb (also known as Mt. Sinai), probably seeking out a good spot for the sheep to graze

Moses was doing the most ordinary thing

It was just an ordinary day, like every other day in his life

SUDDENLY!

He is confronted with an amazing site - a burning bush that is not being consumed

The whole truth of God’s heart for the lost is here in this event

We see mankind - lost, frustrated, cynical

Just making the best of it - trying to be satisfied, but never arriving

That is what sin does to a person

It crushes the soul

Blinds them to any idea of something better

They settle for the humdrum

They settle for dry wilderness, scratching for something that will sustain them

They are down and out

Then SUDDENLY

When they least expect it

They discover that what matters most in this life is not what they do…but what God does and who He is

This is how Salvation barges in on people’s lives

Like a burning bush that isn’t being consumed

They get a revelation of something they didn’t see before

The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to mankind

It reveals the relationship of man to sin

It reveals the relationship of man to God

Humans are created in the image of God, but our sin has separated us from Him

People go on all kinds of quests trying to find the truth or something that satisfies, something that gives them value

It is our nature to search but we search in vain until we have a life-transforming encounter with God - a burning bush experience

We need God’s revelation of Himself to us - the Bible contains that revelation

It reveals that we are in a desperate situation

It reveals that we can do nothing on our own to save ourselves

That’s what it reveals…we may not like it…but that is the revelation of God’s truth

The message of the Gospel is that we can only know God through faith…no other way

Like Moses — you never know when or how God will reveal Himself…but He does

God can and will show up in the most unusual, mysterious, and miraculous ways

As Moses trembled in God’s presence, on holy ground, his thoughts were no longer about sheep and grazing — God’s voice was all he heard

Big Idea: Mysterious and miraculous encounters with God turn your attention to Him instead of yourself

Transition: Since God’s revelation of Himself is found in the Bible, read it and meditate upon it with an expectation of unusual and mysterious truths

THE MYSTERY OF ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD

I have never seen a burning bush - except for in a brush fire, but they burn up to blackened ash

But God has revealed Himself in mysterious and unusual ways in my life

I have had visions and dreams — that is definitely unusual and mysterious

But the place where I find the most mystery — it draws me in and compels me to dig deeper — is God’s Word

Moses was not expecting the burning bush that day

He was expecting the same old thing…searching for a place to graze the sheep

But God revealed Himself in that desolate place

Moses could have ran away in fear…but he was curious to know more about this strange thing

God reveals Himself in unusual places and mysterious ways

Think about how Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, showed up

An infant in swaddling clothes

In a lowly manger where animals would normally be kept

Maybe this is God’s idea of Divine humor

God reveals Himself in ways that do not make sense to the world

1 Corinthians 1:20–25 NIV

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Transition: God reveals Himself in mysterious ways - And everything about God is miraculous to us - beyond our comprehension

THE MIRACLE OF ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD

God’s way is always mysterious and miraculous

Salvation is miraculous from beginning to end

Jesus, born of a virgin - miraculous

The fact that He poured out (set aside) His glorious place in Heaven to be born a human being is miraculous

During Jesus’ 3 plus years of preaching and loving the people…He performed miracle after miracle

The people encountered the miracle of God in the flesh walking among them

His suffering, death, burial, and resurrection make it possible for us to have a miraculous encounter with God when we put our faith in Jesus

Humans want to know more about the miraculous

“I will now go over there and see this great sight - why the bush is not burnt up!”

God knows how to get our attention

Moses was interested in this phenomenon

In our world today, people are always chasing after interesting, paranormal, seemingly miraculous phenomena

Think of Moses that day - exhausted - probably bored with the monotony - he would have naturally been interested in something unusual or miraculous

The current situation in our world today is that humans are exhausted - bored - restless - unhappy

So they search for unusual or interesting phenomena - or at least some kind of cause or a way to stir up the dust of their existence

When people seek truth, God often shows up in unexpected ways

“I will study this curious thing”

BOOM

Moses! Moses!

Here I am!

Before anything could change for Moses, he had to face the reality of God

Take off your shoes…the ground upon which you are standing is holy ground

Before anything can change for us, we have to face the reality of God

What was the very first thing God revealed to Moses?

God spoke first about HIMSELF! (3:6)

“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”

“Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God”

Let’s get that right — God reveals Himself — and when that happens, we are in a position to be transformed through a life-transforming encounter with the living God

APPLICATION

If someone were to ask you about God…how would you respond?

THE ULTIMATE TEST OF A PERSON’S CHRISTIANITY IS WHAT THEY TELL ME ABOUT GOD THE FATHER

If we desire to be the church God has created us to be…we must not forget God and who He is

If we lose sight of Him, all of our methods, programs, activities will be ineffective

When the church forgets about God, the world slides rapidly down a slippery slope because they can’t find the truth anywhere

Yes…everyone wants God’s blessings…but they don’t necessarily want to have an encounter with God

First and foremost we need to be right with God

When we lose interest in God, we forget who He is and what He means to us

When we seek out experiences first, we lose interested in God Himself

When God called out to Moses from the burning bush, the first thing He did was reveal Himself

He didn’t say anything about rescuing the people

He didn’t say anything about Moses and what he would do

He began with “I am the God....”

We must begin with God…what do you know about Him?

Challenge

Mysterious and miraculous encounters with God turn your attention to Him instead of yourself

The whole message of the Gospel is meant to bring people face to face with God

Have you met God?

Do you know Him?

Have you come face to face with Him?

He is the eternal, everlasting, self-existing God

God is pure light - in Him is no darkness at all

The Bible says that God is a consuming fire

Jesus came to reconcile sinful humans with God through His sacrificial death on the Cross — the atonement

We can only understand atonement when we understand the absolute holiness of God

He is so holy, we cannot grasp it

His holiness is the only way we have hope — because the perfect and holy lamb of God paid for our sins.

God said to Moses from out of the burning bush, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people and have heard their cry…I know their sorrows. And I have come down to rescue them”

This is the message of the Good News

God came down to mankind, though we were wretched and sinful. We were in a pitiful situation. And God came down to deliver us

This is the Gospel message

The almighty, holy one, has looked upon you — He sees, hears, feels, and knows your pain, captivity, and despair

Because He sees and knows — He sent His only Son Jesus down amongst us in this world

He came as a babe and lived as a man

He fought the devil and paid for our sin on the Cross

He fulfilled the law so that God placed your sins upon Him

Neither the devil, nor hell, nor anything else can prevent you from knowing the amazing freedom and liberty of becoming a child of God

If you will only believe this message and accept His offer of salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Amen.