Sermon Central
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The God Who Acts
Contributed by Gordon Weatherby on May 6, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: God called Moses to not only deliver the people from bondage, but also to reintroduce them to God. He reveals himself to Moses as a God who is known by his name, his relationships, and his promises.
THE GOD WHO ACTS
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.
