THE GOD WHO ACTS
Exodus 3:13-20
Dorn Ridge Worship Service at Centennial Park July 15, 2012
(Do not recall if any of this outline was borrowed from another or not.)
INTRODUCTION:
1.) This morning I want us to look at Moses and his famous encounter with God as he received a call to lead God’s people.
2.) There is something else going on we often miss when we read this passage over, and that is what I want us to focus on this morning.
A.) For the most part Jehovah God, the God of Israel, had become largely unknown to the people of Israel.
aa.) He was still there, he was still talked about some, there was still the memory of His dealing with the people of Israel, but Israel had bowed to other gods and goddesses.
aaa.) In the process they had forgotten the only true and living God.
ab.)The people of Israel had lost their relationship with God.
aba.) This is the account of God using Moses to deliver them from bondage, while reintroducing Israel to God.
I. HE IS CHARACTERIZED BY HIS NAME. [VERSES 13-14].
1.) “The God of your Fathers.” (vs. 13)
A.) When I see these words the thing that immediately strikes me is the lack of a personal relationship with God by these people.
B.) What a tragic statement that Moses makes when he says: “The God of Your Fathers”.
ba.) Is It any wonder that at this point God had forsaken them, and allowed these people to be in slavery.
bb.) These people had never learned the name of God.
bba.) And perhaps the reason they had never learned the name of God, is that at this point He was still the God of their Fathers.
bbb.) They had so wandered from God that they were no longer close enough or personal enough to even care what his name was, or to have a relationship with Him.
bbb-1.) The Bible does not tell us if Abraham and the other former generations knew God by His name.
bbb-2.)But as Moses prepares to reintroduce them to God he can only speak of the relationship that their forefathers had known with the great God of the universe.
bbb-2.) He could not speak of their own fellowship or relationship with God.
C.) So God gives to Moses the words he needs to reintroduce His own people to Himself.
2.) His name: “I am who I am.
A.) Verse 14
B.) It was a name which signified he is self-existent; That He has His being in and of Himself.
ba.) We cannot make that claim.
bb.) In fact, there is no other who can make that claim.
C.) That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
D.) That he is incomprehensible; we cannot by searching find him out: this name checks all bold and curious inquiries concerning God.
E.) That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature.
3.) Everything that is implied in these words God gave to Moses, Jesus applied to himself.
A.) John 8:58
B.) John 4 Jesus said “I Am The living Water.”
C.) John 6 Jesus said: “I am the Bread of Life.” (and the manna from heaven)
D.) John 10: Jesus said: “I am the Gate for the Sheep.”
da.) “I am the Good Shepherd.”
E.) John 11: Jesus said: “I am the Resurrection, and The Life.”
F.) John 14: Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
G.) John 15: “I am the true Vine.”
H.) In each of these statements Jesus made He was affirming to the people of God, He was the same one who had spoken to Moses, and who had given that name to Israel.
ha.) When we realize that, it is little wonder the people who did not understand the true identity of |Jesus were so upset at his claims.
II. HE IS CHARACTERIZED IN HIS RELATIONSHIPS [VERSE 15].
1.) He had a relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
A.) As Moses goes to the Israelites he speaks to them of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
B.) The great God of the forefathers Israel was not in the present tense that great in the eyes, minds, and lives of the Israelites.
ba.) The Israelites had been in Egypt for over 400 years.
bb.) For over 400 years they had lived in the pagan land of Egypt, first as welcomed guests, and then more recently as hated slaves.
bc.) Over those years, the people had largely forgotten about the true and Living God.
C.) Before Moses could speak of this great God who acts, Moses in many ways had to reintroduce the nation of Israel back to God.
ca.) To a certain degree there was still the knowledge of God, and of His greatness to the people, yet much of that relationship was a distant past experience of their forefathers.
cb.) You see the people knew of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of the people of that generation, and how they had worshipped this great God.
cba.) But in the present tense, Moses had to bring them back to believe in, trust, in, and have faith in this Great God of their forefathers.
cbb.) Moses had the task of making God so real to these people that they would worship Him, and in worshipping, they would allow the great God of their forefathers become their great God as well.
cbc.) The challenge which Moses had is not that much different than the task we have at hand today for the next generations.
cbc-1.) Today, the church needs to somehow make relevant the message that the God who has appeared in the past in such might ways, is still here, and active, and powerful in this world today.
2.) He had a desire for a relationship from generation to generation.
A.) Verse 15
B.) You see it was a wonderful thing that God had had a relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the God who created this world wanted more than just a relationship with the past generations of the Israelites who now had gone to the grave.
ca.) The relationship that these men of God had experienced with God was wonderful. It was something which had proved to be a great blessing in the lives and families of these men.
cb.) But as great as the relationship had been between Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with God, it was something which was doing very little to benefit the Israelites now in bondage in Egypt.
cba.) The bondage they were in was not just physical.
cbb.) Because they had forgotten God, they were also in spiritual bondage.
cc.) In the same way, the faith that we and our parents have experienced is a blessing to us, and to our families.
cd.) But as great as this blessing is to us, one day we will each one go to a grave unless Christ comes back first.
cda.) At that time, the faith we now have is of no value to the future generations unless that faith is passed on and made real to them.
cdb.) Abraham was a great man of faith. Yet as great as his faith was, and as greatly as God had blessed him, his faith was not a blessing to future generations unless and until they also developed that faith in their own lives.
cdb-1.)Future Generations of the Israelites had not comprehended that truth.
cdb-2.) In fact by the time Jesus came onto this earth, the Jewish people had come to the place of believing that because they could show you a genealogical chart showing that Abraham was their 32nd. Great-Grandfather, they felt they would automatically fall heir to the blessings of Abraham’s faith.
cdb-3.) They did not see that in regards to one’s relationship with God, that the only faith that mattered was one’s own.
cdb-3i.)The faith of their parents would not give them a relationship with God.
cdb-3ii.) See the Bible speaks of Abraham as a servant of God. Elsewhere he is described as being a friend of God.
cdb-3iii.) But if you look through your bibles you will not find a verse of Scripture stating that because of Abraham, his grandchildren or great grandchildren are called friends or servants of God, because of God having a relationship with Abraham.
III. HE IS CHARACTERIZED BY HIS PROMISES.
1.) He had promised to bring them out of Egypt, and out of their misery, into a land flowing with milk and honey.
A.) Verses 16-20
B.) God had promised He would do great things for the Israelites.
ba.) Though the Israelites did not deserve any blessing from God, God himself chose to demonstrate to them that He is their God.
bb.) He would work in powerful ways to convince the Pharaoh, and people of Egypt to free them from slavery.
bc.) God declared He would do things as he had done for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to convince them that He is their God, and to re-establish a relationship with them.
2.) God has also made promises to us to establish a relationship with us.
A.) Through Jesus Christ, He has promised forgiveness of sins.
B.) Through Jesus Christ we are promised the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
ba.) The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, he intercedes for us in our prayers, he is our helper, our comforter, the abiding presence of Christ with us today.
bb.) The Holy Spirit helps us to experience a harvest of spiritual blessings in life; He gives us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
C.) Through Jesus Christ we are given access to God the Father.
ca.) We can go to the throne of God in prayer.
cb.) We can have direct fellowship with God.
D.) Through Jesus Christ we are given a mediator before God.
E.) Through Jesus Christ we are given Not only peace in the present life, but hope for eternity in the presence of God.
F.) You see when we look at and experience the promises of God in our lives, we are experiencing blessings by which God is acting on and in our lives to fill our lives to overflowing with his presence.
CONCLUSION:
1.) As we leave here today, we are reminded of the scary truth that it is possible for a people, even the people of God to get out of contact with God.
2.) What is even sadder is that Israel had turned so far from God, is that Moses had to actually reintroduce them to their God.
3.) Today, if we can learn anything from this event, we need to do all that is within us to maintain a strong and healthy relationship with God.
A.) May we never forget nor take with irreverence our own relationship with God.
B.) May we keep the presence and influence of our relationship with God so real, that future generations will not speak of the “God of your fathers” but will proclaim He is “Our God.”
