Sermon Central
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Spiritual Reboot! Series
Contributed by Paul Clemente on Jun 4, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: What was God doing with the Hebrews as they were freed from slavery and how does it relate to Christians?
A few weeks ago, we read in Exodus chapter 12, Pharaoh finally released the Hebrews to be free after God took the life of every firstborn in Egypt as the ultimate judgment on them.And so, as the Israelites were leaving Egypt, God gave special instructions to remember that sacred moment. Open your Bibles to Exodus 13…. Read along with me…
God’s first instruction is in v1-2: every firstborn male, man or animal, is to be consecrated (meaning separate and holy) to the Lord. Why was this important? The answer is in v15…….. What do you think God was trying to say??
God has power over life and the Hebrews were blessed by God!
God can take or bless life!
In v3-16 Moses gives further instructions to commemorate Exodus:
a. Remember and celebrate year after year in the month of Abib
b. Commemorate with 7 days with unleavened (no yeast) bread with a festival on the 7th day
c. Remembering God’s power during Exodus to be passed down from generation to generation
d. Remembrance and God’s Laws are to be like a sign on a hand and reminder on forehead
e. Donkeys were to be redeemed with a lamb! Wow! – more on this later
v17-18: God led the Hebrews and He knew their hearts (they were ready for battle but likely would retreat)
v20-22: God’s constant protection over His people was evident in leading them!
How can we apply all of this to our lives today? How are we like the Hebrews?
Let us again briefly review the history of the Hebrews: God chose a people; God made a covenant (a special relationship) with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These men were sinners like all human beings but grew in their faith with God. God called Jacob Israel. Israel had 12 sons but one, Joseph was specially gifted by God. Joseph’s brothers were jealous and hated him so much they got rid of him and Joseph ended up in Egypt. Because of his godliness, Joseph was blessed in Egypt and he was able to bring Jacob and all the Tribes of Israel to Egypt for care.
After Joseph died, we don’t read much godliness from the Israelites as they multiplied and became slaves to an evil Pharaoh. For over 400 years the Israelites seemed to be comfortable with their lives in Egypt even though they were slaves. Finally, the hardships got to them and they prayed to God for salvation and so God through Moses took the Israelites out of Egypt. That was how God’s Chosen People ended up in Egypt, through the sin of family!
So, with all that history in mind, in general, what was God trying to do with the Israelites as they left Egypt as a free people??
What do you do when your computer crashes??
When your computer crashes, likely overloaded or hit by a virus(a sin in your computer), you “reboot” your computer with all the good stuff saved in the computer! A reboot is a restart with stuff that works! In a similar way, God was “rebooting” His relationship with the Israelites as they were saved from slavery! You know the letters MBR which I had been encouraging you to daily Marvel at God, B is for Bible reading, and R for Revival of our hearts; I didn’t know until Butch told me that in computer language, MBR is Master Boot Record! How cool is that!!! When we reboot our lives spiritually, our lives go back to our Master’s records; we are created in God’s Image!!
All humans are created in the image of God and actually belong to a Holy God. But because all people sin (go against God, allowing a spiritual virus run wild in our lives), all are unholy and unclean which severs the relationship with a Holy God. How does God “reboot” our relationship with Him today??
Did you notice the significance of Exodus 13:13? Donkeys were unclean animals to the Hebrews and so they had to be redeemed, bought and saved, by a lamb! Who is the lamb who takes away the sins of the world??
Because we are all sinners, the only way our relationship with a Holy God can be “rebooted” (restarted and refreshed) is by accepting God’s gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ! If your relationship with God has never been “rebooted”, press the cleanse and restart button in your heart and accept Jesus Christ as your Only Savior and God! Let us say this together: Lord Jesus, you are my Only God and Savior; You suffered and died for my sins but rose from the dead and You will return for me soon!
By the way, every Believer of Jesus Christ has a built in anti-virus program and programmer, He is called the Holy Spirit! Are we yielding to the Holy Spirit or the spiritual viruses of sin which we allow in our lives?
