A New Exodus & A Triune Deliverance

Opening:

3 in 1

The heights of human knowing can’t even scratch the bottom of all that God is. And THAT should comfort us!

In our passage today we see that the triune God is bringing forth a New Exodus in our midst.

Big Idea

NEGATIVELY: If the Father, did not send the Son, and if the Father and the Son did not send the Spirit then we do not have a gospel, and we do not experience redemption or grace. We are not adopted into his family. We are forever lost in slavery to darkness and subjugated to death.

POSITIVELY: Our exodus out of slavery–into sonship–was accomplished by the triune God of all creation.

Only God Can Save Us

*** Undragoning of Eustace Scrubb (he couldn’t do it himself).

We cannot save ourselves. We are born outside of Eden into a wild world, we are raised by rebels who were raised by rebels. Rebellion against God is in our veins. We were deceived by a dragon and have ourselves become dragonish in our minds and hearts. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot undragon ourselves. We must be saved by something outside of ourselves. SomeONE outside of ourselves (because things can’t take initiative). God MUST save us if we are to be saved.

Ok, so only God can save us. Only God can deliver us from bondage. But who is the God who saves? What is he like and how is his saving work accomplished?

A New Exodus & A Triune Deliverance

The grand act of deliverance in the OT is the exodus from Egypt. It is prefigured in Genesis, and then becomes the pattern of deliverance and the controlling metaphor for God’s saving acts throughout the rest of the Bible. The God of the Exodus is the God who will save us.

Let’s recap the exodus:

YHWH made a covenant with Abraham and his offspring, that they would dwell in a special Eden-like land, flowing with milk and honey. But they have been taken captive and enslaved to build the dusty desert kingdom of Pharaoh. YHWH hears the cry of his people and acts on their behalf.

Note that the Angel of YHWH appears throughout the story (burning bush) and the line between YHWH and his Angel is very blurry. (note Numbers 20:16)

YHWH calls his people out of servitude to Pharaoh and into service of himself. עבד !

The blood of the lamb is applied at the passover and God’s people are spared from death.

The “Wind of YHWH” parts the waters and the people are guided out of desert of death and into the life-giving presence of YHWH, their great and everlasting King.

Note how the Ruach appears over the waters of creation, how God creates, and how Jesus creates.

The God of the Exodus is our God, our Deliverer. When he saves us, it has an exodus shape.

Listen to how one Biblical Scholar puts it:

“We were slaves to sin, death, fear, the flesh, and the Devil. But at just the right time, God rescued us. He defeated our enemy and redeemed us through the blood of his Son, taking us through the waters of baptism, uniting us to himself, giving us his Spirit to lead and guide us, and providing us with all we need. He did all this, not so that we could do our own thing, but so we could do his thing. And he is taking us on toward a new creation of resurrection and victory, milk and honey.” (A. Roberts)

Paul, a Jew, knows good and well the story of the Exodus. He was a life-long student of the OT, the exodus story was built into the life and liturgy of the Jewish people. In our passage in Galatians, Paul notes how our New Exodus out of bondage happens: the Father, Son, and Spirit work together to bring us out of the dusty desert of slavery and into the lush land of sonship.

Galatians 4:4–7 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Our deliverance is exodus-shaped, but I want us to note how it is now more obviously Trinitarian. We got a foretaste of this with YHWH, his Angel, and his Wind in the OT.

The Father, filled with love for his people, hearing the cries of despair as they groan in death-bound slavery, sends his only Son to be the conquering, saving King this world so desperately needs! He doesn’t just come and peel off our dragonish nature, he calls rebels to repentance and commands they become allies through allegiance. Jesus doesn’t wipe the slate clean to then leave us on our own, instead he beckons us into relationship. He calls us into his kingdom.

***Like Aslan, sent by his father (the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea) to conquer the White Witch and death itself by dying for his own, so too Jesus, the Reality behind the shadow of Lewis’ Aslan character, is sent by his Father to conquer the powers and principalities of this world, and even death itself by dying for his own.

The Father and the Son have worked together to defeat the tyrant and provide deliverance out of Egypt, but we need the “wind of God” to blow in our hearts. The Spirit causes new birth. The Spirit enables men and women to confess the true identity of King Jesus and worship him (1 Cor 12:3; Phil 3:3; Eph 2:18); he is the source of spiritual life (Gal 5:25; 6:8; Eph 1:13–14); he gives believers insight into divine mysteries, even the depths of God (1 Cor 2:10); he gloriously transforms believers into the image of Christ and makes them the temple of God (2 Cor 3:18; 1 Cor 3:16).

The Father loves us and Sends his son to secure our deliverance, the Father and the Son send the Spirit as the divine active presence in the world, to convict us, guide us, sanctify us, and seal us.

Only God can save us. God is triune. The God of the exodus is Triune. The God of our exodus is triune. Our life in his presence is one that has been ushered into this eternal relationship of love.

Application

The application today is simple. Revel in the Triune God of the gospel! If you are reconciled to God through the Son, now live and walk (every step!) in the power of the Spirit. If you have yet to be reconciled to God and your hands are busy slavishly building the kingdom of this world, heed the Spirit this morning, call out to the Father, and pledge allegiance to his Son, the King of kings.