Who is The LORD?
Notes
Transcript
Lenses
Lenses
You know that saying that someone views life through rose colored glasses? They filter our and ignore the bad in the world in focus of the good.
Tom Davis, Leaders Elevate
We selected from a long list of maybe 50 options, our top 5 core values
We went through a selection process where we selected first the ones we identified with, then narrowed it down to 5, then ordered them. I continued to revisit my list for the following couple of years and eventually ended up with a list I felt was most accurate. Faith, Family, Growth, Service, Stewardship
These 5 core values, we later would uses as lenses. When we’re considering whether or not something aligns with our values, having lenses or filters through which to views the events and decisions in our life helps us understand what is worthy of our limited time and attention.
Intro
Intro
I am Barabbas.
They said that this preacher man Comes from Galilee, Did something so absurd that he deserved to serve my penalty. How can it be?
I know I've done my wrongs, cus’ doing wrong is something I do well. I know the court of law and something like this doesn't ring a bell. How can it be? How can this be?
I am Barabbas, You took upon my cross. I was that prisoner Till you bought my bond with blood. And I can't run away From what my accusers say. I am Barabbas. I am Barabbas your friend.
They made me sit right there As I watched them beat that preacher man. 39 of all them lashes should've been on my own skin. How can it be? How can it be?
I am Barabbas, You took upon my cross. I was that prisoner Till you bought my bond with blood. And I can't run away From what my accusers say. Cus’ I am Barabbas, I am Barabbas your friend.
I'll never understand the Repercussions of my every sins. Is this love? Or is this hatred flowing out from bitterness. How can it be? But he looked at me, And I said I am Barabbas, You took upon my cross. I was that prisoner Till you bought my bond with blood and I can't run away From what my accusers say. Cus’ I am Barabbas. I am Barabbas I am Barabbas your friend.
Not one of us sitting here has done a single thing to earn our salvation. We find ourselves heirs of a covenant salvation. Our bond was bought with the blood of Jesus Christ, our savior. He lived the life of perfect personal obedience that Adam could not. He fulfilled every aspect of the law, and gave himself as an eternal surety of our salvation. Today, we can rejoice in the truth that, by no merit of our own, we can stand before a Holy God, as Barabbas, a sinner deserving the punishment of death, but clothed in the perfect and eternal righteousness of Christ.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
All of scripture is telling one story. God is willing and able to redeem his people. The last few weeks, we have found ourselves in what is a sort of spiritual warfare mini-series. Not that we won’t continue to mention this theme throughout the rest of the book, but today, I want to capstone that point. We talked about the enemy. The embodiment of evil. The one who twisted and perverted the words of God in the Garden, the one who seeks us enslaved to him here in this world. The one who was promised to be crushed in the Garden, and who was crushed on the cross and is defeated forever. The one we see represented here in Pharoah.
We saw touched on the tools that we have to combat this enemy in the armour of God, in prayer, and in spiritual disciplines. Now, I want to pull all of that together by talking about that surety or assurance that we have. First, we can put all of our rest in the fact that no matter what happens in this life, we are assured that if we are those who have professed our faith in the One True God, the One He sent to die for us on the cross, and have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, our bond has been bought with the blood of Christ. To drive home that point, we will see the work of our God, who made a clear distinction between his people and the rest of the world. God brought judgement for those who were not His people, and protected His own. God’s eternal plan, since before the beginning of time, has been to redeem His people. We see echos of this truth throughout all of the Old and New Testament, including here in Exodus 8.
It’s easy to cheer the judgement of Egypt right up until the point when we realize that we, like the Israelites, are equally sinful. The only difference is the fact that God has chosen to set them, and us, apart
God’s Perfect Plan
God’s Perfect Plan
A crucial part of what we see worked out here in this chapter is the perfection and completion of God’s plan. As we read these verses, pay careful attention to how these plagues are not random, but attack the false gods of Egypt in a very specific way. These plagues bring suffering to the land, beasts, and people of Egypt, while setting Israel apart, making a clear distinction between God and His people.
Last week, we ended the chapter with the first of the 10 plagues, or acts of God’s judgement on Egypt. God specifically starts with the Nile because of it’s centrality to the worship system of the Egyptians. God’s message is clear. The false god’s that Egypt worships crumble under the hand of Almighty God.
v.1-7 Frogs
All of those oddly specific location of frogs are a poetic way of implying, everywhere. you could not escape the sight, sound, and smell of these frogs.
In addition to their sheer number, the obvious solution, remove them by force, was complicated by the fact that Egyptians had very strict laws against the killing of certain animals. Frogs were one of them.
The false goddess of fertility was represented by a frog. God is meticulously breaking down the entire worship system of the Egyptians. Something that the Egyptians saw as blessing has been turned into a curse, and their false god has failed them.
v. 8-15 There is no one like Yahweh our God(v. 10)
God has a history of partnering with those who He chooses, no matter how resistant they are to be used by Him. He has given Moses the immeasurable honor of being a representative of God himself, to His chosen people, in addition to the world. It pleases God to include us His plan, and now, God has given us the opportunity to be just as Moses is, and represent Him. We represent God to our families, to each other, here in church. Conversations within the community of believers are edifying to everyone involved. At this specific time, for this specific purpose, God chose to reveal himself to the world in a way that can seem like wrath or judgement. When we hold this passage in light of the biblical theme of God’s grace, we can see the mercy, even in these plagues. Moses pleads on behalf of God, and God withdraws the plague, knowing that Pharoah will harden his heart.
Make sure you read that verse correctly. Pharoah hardened his own heart the last two times. The ability of his magicians to replicate these plagues has him thinking that he and his magicians and false gods are stronger than Yahweh.
v. 16-19 This is the finger of God(v. 19)
This plague goes even a step further than the two previous by attacking the worship of all of Egypts false gods. If gnats were in a temple, it was considered contaminated, and therefore could not be used for their worship until it was purified. Purity was of the highest importance for the Egyptians priests. They would shave their entire bodies and bathe multiple times a day. This plague ensured that there was nothing left clean or pure in all of Egypt.
The two former plagues are replicated by the magicians of Egypt, as well as the signs that God gives to Moses to do before Pharoah. Interesting how they can only, in some small way, replicate the plagues in front of Pharoah. The plague effects all of the land of Egypt, but the magicians replicate on a small scale in front of Pharoah. They could only bring about further suffering, but they could not reverse what God had done. They were small scale imitators of God, but this time, they couldn’t even imitate the work that God had done.
v. 20-24 Oppressed, but set apart
The enemy always has, and will continue to oppress those in the world, especially those who do not serve him. We may be oppressed by an evil one who seeks to water down our faith, but God has always set his people apart, both in blessing and judgement.
What do I mean by set apart in blessing? Well, every human is a recipient of what is called common grace. We have air to breathe and water to drink, food to eat, eyes to see, and all of the things God designed and created for all of humanity to enjoy. All of humanity enjoys that common grace, but not everyone experiences God’s saving grace that comes by grace, through faith is Jesus, as we read in Ephesians 2.
For us, that means we are under the same(or worse) oppression as the rest of the world, but we are set apart by God. We, as those set apart, experience this special or saving grace. Because we know The One created the universe, The One by whose blood we were bought, we know who to praise for all of those extensions of common grace. For the Egyptians they attributed all of these acts of God’s common grace to a whole host of false gods, directing all of their worship to the created thing, and not the creator.
v.25-31 God didn’t compromise, neither can we
God’s plan was uncompromising. The salvation He offers is complete. When the enemy comes asking you to “make a deal,” remember by whose blood you are bought. Remember that when your bond was bought, there was nothing that you did to merit it. God purchased you because it brought Him glory to do so. When we recognize the beauty of the salvation that God offers to us, we need to recognize that our response can be nothing short of a total and complete surrender.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In light of our salvation, and the uncompromising nature of how it was completed and extended to us, we must be uncompromising the walking out of our faith. This isn’t to call you to legalism, or a meritorious salvation that requires you to work to keep it. It’s ours. Now how do we respond? Rejoice. WCF Q1 asks, “What is the chief end of man? A. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Bring glory, enjoy. It’s that simple. When talking about lenses through which we view the bible, or our entire life