When the Hand of God is on you
Notes
Transcript
When the Hand of God is on you
When the Hand of God is on you
Today’s sermon title might seem a bit odd after finishing up a year in Acts but I think it really transitions us well in a couple ways.
This term, “the Hand of God”, might be familiar to us since we’ve not only read about it in the book of Acts and in other parts of Scripture but we also experience the hand of God in our own lives each day.
When you hear this phrase, what comes to your mind?
Dictionary of Bible Themes 1265 hand of God
A figure of speech which points to God’s sovereign power in creation and in his actions on his people’s behalf, especially in redemption. Also used as a symbol of authority and in taking oaths.
Some instances of “God’s Hand” mentioned in Scripture:
God creates with His hand
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2. Holds the world in His hands
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
3. All creatures are fed from His hand
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
4. Symbolizes His power
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
5. His hand executes judgment
21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me.
6. Saves/redeems
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
7. His hand secures and protects
10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
8. His hand carries out His purposes
6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
And then we see in many instances of Scripture where God’s right hand signifies His authority and that Jesus has been exalted to His right hand.
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
For the next 10 or so minutes we’re gonna focus on two passages but then list through many instances in the Bible of different uses of this phrase.
32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, 38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.
39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.
In this section of Deuteronomy the people of Israel turned from God and worshipped other idols.
They were sinning and they knew it but God didn’t turn and offer the covenant or promise to another nation other than Israel.
He cared for and remained faithful to His people from Abraham to Moses, even when they turned their back.
WHY?!
7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
It is because of the Lord’s everlasting love. not because they deserved it.
God didn’t want His people to obey just to receive blessings or avoid discipline, but because they truly loved Him in their hearts.
When Moses first gave the people of Israel God’s ten commandments in Exodus 20 it was fell on deaf ears and they eventually turned away.
As he is bringing these commandments to the next generation he comes from the angle of the heart.
And the word heart is mentioned over 40 times in Moses speech to His people and we see the height of it in Deut 6.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
As we look back on Israel’s past we can see that the mark of a mature believer is obeying God from our hearts.
Israel had a very unique relationship with the Lord, but what was the purpose of that relationship?
So that they could be redeemed and know personally that the Lord is God alone, to submit to Him and obey Him, to enjoy the covenantal promises that He made with their forefathers.
Deut 4 ends with this phrase:
39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.
‘So that it may go well with you’
This particular phrase occurs 8 times in the book of Deuteronomy and is used to emphasize the motive for obedience.
Proverbs tells us that righteousness extends life but sin shortens it and this is a common theme within the Old Testament.
Next, let’s turn to the book of Hebrews...
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant to God’s people.
He is the true Messiah and the hope of the whole world.
Jesus endured persecution from sinners yet it was all a part of God’s plan.
Jesus was God’s son yet he learned and taught us human obedience through suffering.
This is a weird concept to us because discipline is usually for those prone to wander.
But, we need to understand that Jesus never wandered, and therefore He was never disciplined.
But he did experience human growth from trials.
And if he experienced all of this, how much more should we?
This passage in Hebrews teaches us that in our struggle against sin we will have experiences, events, circumstances, people and other things will cause us pain, not to punish, but to purify us as part of God’s plan.
Share the struggle I had within as I saw the vase glued back together and nothing was said (Dad didn’t have to do that but it served as an example of grace even though I deserved punishment)
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Hebrews 12:5-6 is a quote from Proverbs 3:11-12 and refers to two examples that King Solomon used to how we respond to God’s discipline:
1) To disregard it , make light of it- we could just ignore the things God puts in our lives to train and refine us, and pretend they didn’t happen.
2) To “faint” at His correction- we cave in, over react, push back or rebel against it.
But to avoid both of these scenarios we must face our struggles head on, as something God will use to grow us in our faith and trust in Him.
C.S. Lewis once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Faith is essential.
It helps us endure in the hard times.
It helps us trust God loves us, that He is all powerful and knows us.
And we’ll never understand completely how He works things for His good as Romans 8:28 tells us, but we have to trust that He is.
But we also need to keep in mind that God disciplines those He loves.
Discipline is the mark of a child of God.
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Faith helps us respond to God’s discipline with hope, rather than with despair.
Discipline tells us we are His.
Discipline deepens our spiritual life.
Discipline continues in our life for our benefit.
Discipline, though painful, it is ultimately valuable and worth it.
Jesus endured the greatest pain of all so that we could live in freedom and in relationship with God.
If you have trusted in Christ as your Lord and Savior you have a great hope.
You have a story to tell others and you shouldn’t hide it.
The experiences we go through in life are not only to grow us, but also serve as a platform to share our story with others of the great work God has done in our life.
For the remainder of our time together I want to open up the mic to anyone who wants to put Jesus on a platform, to share the amazing things He’s doing or has done in your life and then I’ll close us in prayer.