We're starting a new sermon series this morning in the book of Exodus.
Why don't you turn there with me in the Pew Bible.
It's page 45, or if you brought your own Bible, the book of Exodus.
Second book of the Old Testament.
So if you're not quite familiar with the Bible, just start flipping and you'll find it soon.
We're going to jump around the book a little bit this morning.
So it'll be helpful to have it open before you.
This morning what we want to do as we start the series is give an overview of the whole book of Exodus.
If you've ever had the window seat in an airplane, you know that there are some things that you can see and notice and appreciate at 10,000 feet up in the air that you can't quite see or notice or appreciate when you're down on the ground.
So hopefully this morning we'll get the big sense of this great book before we get down into the details in the coming weeks.
Before we do that, let me just say a couple thoughts about why we're studying this book.
Exodus is probably one of the most foundational books in the whole Bible, really.
You might say that the rest of Scripture is sort of just stamped and impressed with the themes of this book.
So this morning if you're exploring Christianity, then I think this book will help you see really who God is according to the Bible and what Scripture, what Christianity really is all about.
I think one of the most spiritually fruitful things you could do is stick around for a few weeks or a few months and get to know some people and see what this book and see who this God is all about for yourself.
If you're already a Christian, then I think this book will hopefully give you not just a deeper sense of the Old Testament, as foundational as it is to the story of the Old Testament or the whole Bible, but really a richer knowledge of God.
I hope what we'll see in the coming weeks is that the book of Exodus helps us to know God better.
And ultimately help us to do that because the book of Exodus ultimately helps us to know Jesus better.
Jesus himself in many ways understood and spoke of himself as the fulfillment of what we are going to find here in the book of Exodus.
In other words, when you get this book, when you really get it, when you see it, then the gospel, who Jesus is and what he's done, will probably start to light up for you and be brilliant and beautiful to you in ways that maybe you've never noticed before.
Now this morning we're going to take our 10,000 foot overview of the book of Exodus in three big steps.
Because the book of Exodus itself sort of falls into three main parts.
We always like that as preachers when things have three main parts.
Helps our sermons have a nice little arc to them.
But I think you'll see, I think you'll appreciate that that is definitely true of the book of Exodus.
There are three main moments, three main movements.
Briefly, what we're going to see first is that God, who is God?
Exodus shows us that God is the God who saves.
He rescues his people when they're helpless to do so themselves.
And then second, what we're going to see is that God is the God who instructs.
He reveals himself and his laws and his ways and he shows his people how to live flourishing lives and good lives.
And then third, we'll see that God is the God who dwells with us.
God chooses to be present with his people in communion with them, dwelling in their midst.
That's the big arc of where we're going.
One pastor put it this way and I thought it was so good, I have to share it with you.
He said, Exodus is about the God who saves, the God who speaks, and the God who stays.
So let's look first then at the God who saves.
We see this in chapters 1 through 18 of Exodus.
That's the first big chunk.
And this part of Exodus is probably the most familiar terrain in the book.
The people of Israel oppressed in slavery under Pharaoh.
The calling of Moses at the burning bush.
The ten plagues.
The parting of the Red Sea.
This is the stuff of Hollywood movies, chapters 1 through 18.
Not always good Hollywood movies, but there you go.
But why don't we pick up with the opening paragraph.
Exodus chapter 1 verses 1 through 7.
And again, if you're kind of new to the Bible, the big numbers are the chapter numbers.
The small numbers are the verse numbers.
So Exodus 1, 1 through 7.
These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household.
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin.
Dan and Naphtali.
Gad and Asher.
All the descendants of Jacob were 70 persons.
Joseph was already in Egypt.
Then Joseph died.
And all his brothers.
And all that generation.
But the people of Israel were fruitful.
And increased greatly.
They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong.
So that the land was filled with them.
Now, what we see here is that the story of Exodus picks up right where the book of Genesis left off.
In Genesis, God had promised to repair and rescue his broken and fallen creation somehow, someway, through Abraham's family.
Through this single family, God's blessing, his favor, his grace, intimacy and relationship with him, righteousness before him.
All of that would come to all people through this single family.
God promised Abraham that he would be a great nation.
That he would give them the land of Canaan.
And then somehow, someway, all peoples would be blessed in his offspring.
And what do we see here as Exodus begins?
Well, we see that this first part of that promise to Abraham is coming true.
No.
This nomadic family of 70 people has now multiplied and grown exceedingly strong, the book of Exodus says.
Now, if you're familiar with the opening chapters of the Bible, you're probably catching an echo there, right?
This is a definite echo of Genesis chapter 1.
In creation, God blessed the man and the woman and told them what?
Be fruitful and multiply.
And here in Exodus, like an act of new creation, in the midst of the old, God's people are fruitful and they're multiplying.
Some of the language there even says that they're swarming, which is creation, which is Genesis 1 language.
As the life that God creates just starts to swarm and burst forth with life.
And it seems that this creation mandate, the creation purpose of God is back on track with the people of Israel.
But then, Pharaoh enters the scene.
And Pharaoh enslaves and oppresses the people.
Which is not just an act of tyranny and cruelty, although it is certainly that.
But seen in the context of this story, what Pharaoh's doing is essentially opposing God.
And opposing God's creative purposes.
It's an anti-God, an anti-creation move on Pharaoh's part.
And so as chapter 1 unfolds, the situation is bad.
Very bad.
God's people seem trapped.
And God's plan to rescue the world seems on the brink of failure.
Right?
The people are far from the land of promise.
They face systematic extinction.
Every male child, Pharaoh commands, throw him into the Nile.
Because then, the only ones who would be left would be women.
And they would intermarry with the Egyptians.
And the whole race would be obliterated in probably a generation or two or less.
But with that scene set, the story of Exodus shows us the God who saves.
And first, we see that God saves with compassion.
Turn to Exodus chapter 2, verses 23 through 25.
This will be a good paragraph to just sort of plant on as we cover this first main movement of the book.
Exodus chapter 2, verses 23 through 25.
Verse 23.
During those many days, the king of Egypt died.
And the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.
Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
And God heard their groaning.
And God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
God saw the people of Israel.
And God knew.
God hears and God knows the suffering of his people.
Their cry and their groan.
It's compassion.
And God remembers his covenant, his binding oath to Abraham.
And so it's as if Exodus is saying there is no chance that God is immune or aloof from the dire straits that his people are in.
And there's no chance of his plan being thwarted.
God has bound himself to them.
His steadfast love has been placed on them.
And he's overflowing with compassion for them.
He sees and he knows.
So God saves with compassion.
And then we see that God saves through judgment.
Starting in chapter 3, God calls Moses, sends him to Pharaoh.
And when Pharaoh refuses to let the people go, what happens?
God's judgment is poured out.
We'll see in a few weeks when we get to chapter 7 through 12, the 10 plagues.
And we'll see that these plagues are not just an act of judgment on Pharaoh.
And they're not just an act of judgment on the Egyptian sort of deity structure.
But they're a massive act of uncreation by the one true God.
It's almost as if the creator God of Genesis is now exercising his judgment in an act of decreation.
God is the creator after all.
And when his creatures rebel against him, God is fully just to give them what they are asking for.
The chaos and desolation and darkness of a world without a creator.
Of creation undone.
And one by one, the plagues intensify until in the tenth and final plague, death comes to all the firstborn sons in Egypt.
Do you remember the creation story?
What was the pinnacle of the creation story?
The creation of humanity.
And now, what's the deepest darkness of uncreation?
The death of humanity.
And it's very interesting, this last plague, unlike all the rest, it actually comes near to the people of Israel as well.
You see, up till now, in the plagues, God made a clear distinction between Israel and Egypt.
When the hail fell on the Egyptians, it didn't fall on the Israelites.
When the plagues came, Israel was safe.
But now, in this last plague, it seems as if the plague is coming near.
That they too are threatened by the destroyer.
But God makes a way to save them through the judgment.
He says,
In the place of your firstborn sons, take a lamb and sacrifice it.
And mark your doorposts with the blood.
And when God sees the blood, he will pass over and let them live.
You see, the lamb functions as a substitute.
In mercy, God lets his judgment fall on the lamb instead of on the son.
And he saves his people through the judgment.
Last thing we see is that God saves in power.
If you flip ahead to chapter 12 and 13, the Israelites depart from Egypt at last.
They go out.
And then in chapter 14, they find themselves hemmed in.
As they flee Egypt, they find themselves hemmed in.
By the Red Sea on one side.
And Pharaoh's armies chasing them on the other side.
And what do they do?
What is God going to do, they say?
They cry out in fear.
They start blaming Moses.
What have you done?
But then, just as God separated the waters in creation, God now, in a redemptive act of new creation, separates the waters of the Red Sea.
And the people escape on dry land.
In power.
In power, God saves his people.
And in power, God delivers them once and all.
Once and for all from their enemies.
The Israelites escape through the sea.
But as Pharaoh's armies go in, they drown as the waters fall back again.
So this opening movement shows us a God who saves in compassion, in judgment, in power.
That is, God saves with perfect love, with perfect justice, and with perfect strength.
So what about us today?
Friends, do you believe in the God who saves?
You know, as I've been thinking about it, I've been thinking of what good news these opening chapters of Genesis are.
On the one hand, we see that God saves us even when the wait seems long.
God saves us even when the wait seems long.
Exodus 2040 tells us that the people of Israel lived in Egypt for 430 years.
430 years!
And most of that time was spent in slavery.
But even though the wait seemed long, unbearably long, at the right time, God rescued them.
I wonder if you have a friend or a family member and you've been praying for their conversion for a long time.
And as the years go by, you start to doubt whether God really is a God who saves.
Or maybe you're stuck in some besetting sin and you keep failing and falling again and again and again.
And you ask, is God really a God who saves?
But Exodus is telling us this morning that even when the wait seems long, God with perfect love, perfect justice, perfect power is a God who saves.
I mean, think about this on a cultural level.
You know, this weekend we're celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, right?
On Monday, who stood up in the name of Christ and opposed injustice and racism in our country for the sake of the gospel.
One of the great heroes of our faith in many ways.
And yet still, we wrestle and we battle with these injustices and with slavery and with racism.
And we think, oh, the wait is so long.
God, are you going to save?
Are you going to rescue us?
But, with perfect love, perfect justice, perfect power, God continues to be a God who saves even though we wait.
Friends, how much greater confidence can we have today than the Old Testament people had today in the fact that God saves?
Even though the wait seems long.
Think about it.
As the story of the Bible continues, the 400 years of slavery and Exodus are then matched at the end of the Old Testament by 400 years of silence.
After the last prophet Malachi spoke of a coming deliverer, 400 years, the people waited and waited and waited.
But then at last, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.
You see, the wait seemed unbearably long, but at last Jesus came and redeemed us.
Redeemed us.
Redemption.
That's Exodus language.
So, friends, for us today, the greatest wait is actually over.
Our sins have been forgiven.
God's Spirit has been poured out.
Even when the wait seems long, God saves.
We also see from this first part of Exodus that God saves even when the way seems impossible.
Even when the way seems impossible.
After all, what chance, what chance did this oppressed group of refugees, the Israelites, have against the greatest empire of that day?
The Egyptians.
What chance did they have when they stood facing the Red Sea?
The way seemed impossible.
Maybe you wonder the same.
If God were to really take stock of your life, if he were to really judge you by your moral efforts,
and how well you've loved him as your creator with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,
and how well you've loved your neighbor as yourself, how would you fare under that examination?
You know, if we took just the last few months of your life,
if we took just the last few months of your life or my life,
and we projected not just your deeds, but we projected your words and your thoughts sort of around the room
in the place of these stained glass windows,
sort of on a running loop so that everyone could see,
that would be an uncomfortable experience to say the least.
You might doubt whether anyone in the room would look at you favorably if they saw all that.
And the people viewing the tape would be flawed and infallible human beings just like you and just like me.
But now, friends, imagine standing before a holy God, your creator,
the God of perfect love, justice, and power,
with your whole life on view before him.
And you think, how could he possibly view me with favor?
How could he possibly accept me,
given how far short I've fallen,
of loving him as he deserves,
and loving my neighbor as myself?
The way seems impossible.
And yet,
just when our way seems lost,
God himself makes a way through the sea.
And when our lives seem lost,
God himself provides a lamb,
a substitute.
Jesus comes and lives the life that we were supposed to live,
and he dies the death that we deserve to die,
so that if we believe in him,
God's judgment might pass us over,
and we might walk safely through the sea,
on the solid ground of Christ's own moral record,
and not our own.
You see, friends,
God saves,
even when the way seems impossible.
But the book of Exodus doesn't end there.
God saves his people from slavery and death,
in chapters 1 through 18.
But what does God save them for?
In chapters 19 through 24,
we see that God is not just the God who saves,
but the God who instructs.
God speaks to his people at Mount Sinai.
He makes a covenant with them.
He gives them his law,
his Torah,
his instruction,
the core of which are the Ten Commandments in chapter 20.
And in so doing,
God makes them a nation.
He makes them a people with a purpose.
Look at Exodus chapter 19,
starting in verse 4.
This will be the sort of paragraph
that we kind of camp on
in this second big section of Exodus.
Exodus 19,
verse 4.
This is God
speaking to the people through Moses.
God says,
God calls them a kingdom of priests,
a royal priesthood,
the whole people.
They're meant to display
God's glory to all the earth.
Having been saved by God's love
and justice and power,
now in response to that saving grace,
they're to embody a whole new way
of being human.
And the way in which they're to order
their life together to do that
is according to God's own instruction.
So friends,
this morning,
do you believe in the God
who instructs?
Do you believe in the God
who speaks?
At 10,000 feet,
let me just highlight two things
in this middle section of Exodus.
And the first thing we see
is that God instructs us
for our good.
God instructs us
for our good.
He instructs us for our good
because the heart of the moral law
shows us how life works best.
If God really is our loving creator
after all,
then certainly God must know
how this human machine
is meant to run.
Just like the software engineer
knows best how the program
she has spent years designing
is meant to run.
Now, to be sure,
some of the rules
and some of the regulations
here in Exodus
are intended for Old Testament Israel
specifically as a nation.
In chapters 21 through 23,
in particular,
we have a big block
of what's sometimes called
case law.
And these are particular laws
that are meant to help
Old Testament Israel
regulate its national life together.
And today,
as we kind of go back
in the story
and read those chapters,
we have to read them
in light of the whole
storyline of the Bible.
Now that Christ has come
and established
his new covenant church,
these sorts of particular laws
are no longer directly applicable
to us
because the fullness
of God's salvation has come
and the church is no longer
a nation state.
It's a multicultural,
transnational,
spiritual family
united in Jesus.
Now, however,
what we're going to see, though,
is that as we come
to those chapters in detail,
that even those case laws
point us down
into principles
of God's loving
and just character.
and then they can point
to us
out some directions
for how God created us
to live today.
But more of that to come.
What we really want to see
this morning
is that God instructs us
for our good.
And if that's true,
then we need not be afraid
that if we heed
God's voice,
if we heed the way
in which he's spoken to us
through his word
and follow his instructions,
we need not worry
that somehow
we'll be missing out.
Sin, friends,
is very deceptive.
It always promises us
life and joy
and happiness
and security.
But sin is like
a computer virus.
On the surface,
it sort of pretends
to be this fun little app
optimizing your user experience
while all the while
it's sort of destroying
your operating system
from the inside out.
Now, of course,
some of God's instructions
might seem a little
counterintuitive at first.
And they will certainly
seem countercultural.
After all,
if God is the God
of all creation,
of all the universe,
the transcendent God
of everyone
and everything,
then every culture
is going to find something
in God's instructions
that seem a little
countercultural
and a little more
uncomfortable.
But they will seem
counterintuitive at first.
After all,
God is God
and we are fallen
human beings.
And yet,
whether it's the command
to worship only one God
exclusively,
or whether it's the command
to have sex
with only one person
exclusively
in the lifelong covenant
of marriage,
or whether it's the command
to be radically just
and generous
to your neighbors,
especially the sojourner
or the widow
or the fatherless
or the immigrant,
all of God's instructions
are for our good.
And because they're
saving God's word for us,
we need not be afraid
that in following them
we'll be missing out.
In fact,
just the opposite.
This is how we live
into our calling
of being a royal priesthood,
of presenting to the world
the whole new way
of being human,
to reflect God's glory
and God's character
the way he created us to.
But God's law
is for our good
in a second sense.
The law is for our good
because it continues
to reveal to us
how much we need a savior.
Now, it is very clear
in the structure of Exodus
that the giving of the law
comes after the salvation
from Egypt.
God doesn't give Israel the law,
so that they might earn
or merit his favor
by keeping it.
That was never the intent
of the law.
God rescues his people
and accepts them
by grace always.
But as much as the law
functions to show us
how to live in light
of God's grace,
it also demonstrates
how much we need
God's grace.
After all,
no one keeps the law perfectly.
In fact,
when Jesus came
and he taught the law,
he didn't minimize it.
He actually pointed
to its deepest implications.
You shall not murder,
Jesus said,
one of those famous
Ten Commandments.
He said,
that's really about your heart.
Do you hold anger,
bitterness,
prejudice,
frustration
against your brother
or sister
or neighbor?
Do you curse them
in your heart?
Do you refuse
to forgive?
If so,
then you've fallen
short of God's design.
You've fallen short
of God's glory.
And you need not
merely try harder.
You need to do more
than just try harder.
You need a redeemer.
You need someone
who's going to give you
a new heart
in place of your old heart
and give you his spirit
to battle your flesh,
your sinful nature.
You know,
I think sometimes
it would do us good
as Christians
to have seasons
when we meditate
on the Ten Commandments
and think through
some of their
deeper implications
for how we're meant
to live.
You know,
Jesus himself
gave the example.
Let's think about
that command
not to murder.
Do you see
how deep down
it's a command
not to hate,
not to be bitter,
not to be angry?
You know,
you might try
taking an exposition
of the Ten Commandments.
The Westminster
Larger Catechism,
something you can find
very easily online,
takes each of these
Ten Commandments
and just blows them out
and shows all the ways
in which they might
have ramifications
for our lives.
It might be good
to take one of those
and do some
spiritual self-examination
to kind of read through it
slowly or prayerfully
before God.
And the point of that
would not be
to just wallow in guilt,
but to see afresh
how desperately
we need a Savior,
how lost we are
without Christ,
and then to come
to a richer appreciation
of how He has lavished
His grace upon us.
In Him,
in Christ,
we have redemption
through His blood,
Ephesians 1-7 says.
Note again
that Exodus language,
redemption.
In Him,
we have redemption
through His blood.
And what is that?
The forgiveness
of our trespasses
according to the riches
of His grace
which He lavished
upon us.
So friends,
God instructs us
for our good.
So God saves
and God instructs,
but there's one
final movement,
one final motion
in Exodus.
God dwells
in our midst.
Chapters 25-40
of Exodus
are taken up
largely
with the detailed
instructions for
and then the building
of the tabernacle.
And you think,
golly,
that's a lot of chapters
on how to just
build a tent.
Now,
what was the tabernacle?
The tabernacle
was essentially
a portable worship site
that the Israelites
could take down
and set up
as God led them
through the wilderness.
But the important thing
to see
about this tabernacle.
And one of the reasons
why there's almost
to us
just an insane amount
of detail
for this thing,
they're almost
sort of enjoying
the fact
that they get
to design
and build
and construct
this tabernacle.
Well, why?
Why are they taking such,
why does Exodus
take such delight
in this thing
to spend so many
chapters on it?
Well,
because that's
the place
where God
promised
to dwell
in the midst
of his people.
Let's look at
Exodus chapter 29,
verse 43.
Exodus 29,
verse 43.
This will be
our third kind of
little set of verses
to just camp on
as we think about
the big themes
of Exodus.
Exodus 29,
43.
Verse 43 says,
There,
there at the
tabernacle,
I will meet
with the people
of Israel
and it shall be
sanctified
by my glory.
I will consecrate
the tent of meeting
in the altar.
Aaron also
and his sons
I will consecrate
to serve me
as priest.
I will dwell
among the people
of Israel
and will be
their God
and they shall
know that I am
the Lord their God
who brought them
out of the land
of Egypt
that I might
dwell among them.
I am the Lord
their God.
Friends,
in the echoes
of the minds
of the ancient
Israelites
and the echoes
of all of our minds
is something
that we've lost.
Way back
in the furthest
reaches of the
human story
there was a garden
and in that garden
God dwelt
in the midst
of us
and we had
an intimate
communion
with him
that was
unceasing
and unchanging.
And now here
in this little tent
in the middle
of a dusty
wilderness
God says
I'm reclaiming
that space
again
and I'm going
to dwell
in the midst
of my people.
The tabernacle
was going to be
the place
where heaven
touched down
to earth
where the
infinite God
condescended
to dwell
in the midst
of the finite
where God
dwelt in the midst
of his people.
You see
God didn't save
them from slavery
merely so they
would just follow
his instructions.
He saved them
from slavery
so that he might
live in constant
communion with them
so that they
might enjoy
his presence
and live in
relationship
with him.
It's hard
for us to grasp
how stunning
that is.
Friends,
what we know
from the whole
Bible is that
the triune
God
exists
and will
exist eternally
in infinite
fullness
of joy
without a
single need
at all
for perfect
happiness.
And that God
who doesn't
need us
one bit
chooses to
condescend
and stoop
to dwell
in our midst
how radically
fascinating
and thrilling
is that?
And again,
I want to just
point out two
applications of
sorts
of this
tabernacle
section of
Exodus.
I think we see
at least two
things at the
big picture level.
First,
God dwells
with us
no matter
where we are.
no matter
where we are.
Essentially,
God is saying
to Israel
at this point,
okay,
you dwell
in tents,
I'll dwell
in a tent.
And then
when they're
settled in
the promised
land,
as the Old
Testament story
goes forward,
he'll say,
you dwell in
houses,
okay,
I'll dwell
in a house.
And the
temple in
Jerusalem
replaces the
tabernacle.
You dwell
in tents,
I'll dwell
in a tent
with you.
You dwell
in a house,
I'll dwell
in a house
with you,
to be with
you.
But it
doesn't even
end there.
In the
New Testament,
we see that
God goes
even further.
In the
Gospel of
John,
chapter 1,
verse 14,
he writes,
and the
word became
flesh and
dwelt among
us,
as if God
said,
you dwell in
flesh,
I'll dwell
in flesh,
to be with
you.
And that
word dwell
in John
is the
same word
for tabernacle
in the Old
Testament Greek
version,
as if God
were saying
the word
became flesh
and tabernacled
among us.
When the
word became
flesh,
when Jesus
walked the
earth,
God literally
dwelt in
our midst.
He was
fulfilling what
that tabernacle
was all about.
The tabernacle
all along was
pointing ahead
to the day
when God
would really
come and
dwell in
our midst.
And note
how John
goes on,
if you're
familiar with
that passage,
you don't
need to
turn there.
He goes
on and
says this,
he says,
the word
became flesh
and dwelt
among us
and we've
seen his
glory.
Glory as
of the
only son
from the
father,
full of
grace and
truth.
You know,
the end of
the book of
Exodus,
the book of
Exodus ends
with God's
glory filling
the tabernacle.
A glory so
heavy,
a glory so
powerful,
a glory so
thick and
weighty that
Moses can't
even enter
the tent.
That same
glory would
come down
on the
temple in
Solomon's
day and
the same
thing would
happen as
if God
was saying,
I'm here
in your
midst.
And John
says in the
New Testament
that the
glory of
God is
found
ultimately
and finally
in Jesus
Christ.
And one
day,
Christ will
return in
glory and
the glory of
God will
cover the
earth like
the waters
cover the
sea.
And the
book of
Revelation
says in
the new
creation,
there's not
going to be
a tent or
a temple
because God
will be there
and we will
be in his
midst.
But you
know,
even now,
even with
Christ ascended
to the right
hand of the
Father,
as we await
that great
day,
his presence
has still
not left
us.
Jesus
has sent
his spirit
to abide
with us.
And because
we're united
to Christ
by faith
and filled
with his
spirit,
God now
dwells in
our midst
no matter
where we
are.
And this
all connects
to that
tabernacle
and temple
storyline of
the Old
Testament.
Do you
not know,
Paul said
to the
church in
1 Corinthians,
do you
not know
that you
yourselves
are God's
temple and
that God's
spirit lives
in you?
It's no
longer a
tent in
the wilderness
or a
temple in
Jerusalem.
Those things
are as
obsolete now
as an
eight-track
tape.
And you're
thinking,
what's an
eight-track
tape?
Exactly!
Because the
risen Lord
Jesus has
ascended to
the Father
and poured
out his
spirit,
no matter
where the
church
gathers,
no matter
where the
individual
Christian
finds herself
or himself,
there God
dwells.
there is
something more
spiritually
powerful and
beautiful and
amazing in a
simple gathering
of Christians
than in the
most elaborate
temple in
all the
world.
Right there,
God takes up
intimate
relationship with
his people,
with you,
if you're in
Christ.
This is why
the earliest
Christians could
sing hymns in
prison cells.
This is why
Christians could
do something as
counterintuitive as
civil disobedience,
because no matter
where they were,
nothing could
separate them from
the love of God,
the presence of God,
the intimate
dwelling of God in
Christ Jesus our
Lord, no matter
where they were,
God was there.
Second thing to
point out is
this, God
dwells with us
not just no
matter where we
are, God
dwells with us in
full knowledge of
who we are.
God dwells with us
in full knowledge of
who we are.
You know, if you've
been keeping track,
you may have
realized that there
are two pretty big
parts of Exodus that
we haven't really
highlighted yet.
The grumbling in
the wilderness of
chapters 16 through
18 and the making
of the golden calf in
chapters 32 and 34.
Now, when you view
the book as a whole,
you notice that each
of these episodes is
preceded, comes right
after, an incredible
display of God's power
and love.
He parts the Red Sea.
He comes down in a
blaze of smoke and
lightning on Mount
Sinai.
And how do we
respond?
After seeing God
split an ocean for
us, we grumble
that he's brought us
into the wilderness
to starve.
After seeing God's
incomprehensible glory
on Sinai, we erect
a golden calf, an idol,
and worship him how we
please.
And in full
knowledge of our
grumbling and our
idolatry, when God
would be right and
just to abandon us to
our own aching stomachs
and our own false
gods, when God ought to
leave us, the end of
Exodus says, God
stays.
When we blamed God for
our hungry stomachs,
and when we traded God
for a false idol, and
when we took God in our
own hands and condemned
him and beat him and
crucified him and mocked
him, still God stayed.
Even on the cross, God
stayed.
In love, God stays to
bear away our sin, to
create a holy people for
himself, and to
magnify the unspeakable
glory of his grace.
God dwells with us in
full knowledge of who we
are.
Let that sink into your
hearts this week,
brothers and sisters, as
you go out into the world,
and as you feel the shame
of your failures and the
dings and bruises and
scrapes and scratches of
trying to live for Christ in
the world, yes, God
dwells with you in full
knowledge of who you are,
and he stays.
And so that's Exodus.
God saves, and he
instructs, and he dwells in
our midst.
And as we've been seeing
throughout, Exodus itself is
an unfinished story.
The last word in our English
translation of Exodus,
anyway, is the word
journeys, which means that
there's still a lot of road
ahead, right?
But where does the story,
where does the journey find
its climax?
It's not in the conquest of
the land in the book of
Joshua.
It's not in the reign of
David in 1 and 2 Samuel.
It's not in the return from
exile in the prophets.
No, the climax goes even
further to Jesus Christ,
because he is the one who has
saved us in compassion
through the judgment of the
cross and the power of his
resurrection.
And he is the one who
instructs us and dwells with
us through his word and
through his spirit.
So if we want to see the
glory of God, the glory of
God of Exodus in its greatest
detail, we look to the face of
Jesus Christ.
Friends, where else can you
find such a God?
You know, perhaps you will find
a religion or a God who
instructs.
Maybe that's your view of God.
God lays down laws and rules
and spiritual principles to
follow.
But you know, at the end of the
day, when you fall short of
those instructions, or when the
spiritual practices don't seem
to satisfy, those kinds of
gods rarely ever save.
Perhaps you have a God who
dwells in your midst, who's
present, who's there.
But often that God is so
nameless and so faceless and so
general that you can't really
have a relationship with it.
It's more of a force to
harness than a person to love.
But look at Exodus, and through
Exodus, look at Jesus Christ and
see the God who saves and who
instructs and who dwells.
And if you see him, worship him.
And in worshiping him, trust him.
And trusting him, love him and
follow him.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Father, we thank you that at the
heart of the scriptures, you
reveal yourself as a God who
saves.
Lord, you saved your people from
the terrible tyranny of Pharaoh
and slavery.
And Father, wonder of wonders, you
have rescued us from the slavery and
the tyranny of sin and death
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh Lord, we pray that our hearts
would be softened by your spirit
to trust you and to love you and to
follow you.
Lord, especially this weekend as we
think about celebrating tomorrow,
we pray that you would make us a
church that in all the ways in
which those who've gone before us,
like Dr. King, have stood up in the
name of Christ to proclaim your
liberty and to want to see that
liberty lived in our midst.
Oh God, give us the courage to
continue that legacy.
Help us to be freedom people, that
in the freedom of Christ, we would
go out and really pray and speak in
love for freedom.
We ask all this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, friends, after we place our
faith in Jesus, then what?
One of the first things that Jesus
tells us to do is to be baptized.
And that is what Abby Stevens and
Fallon Lampert are going to come up
to do today.
Baptism is a sign of what Jesus has
done for us, and it's a sign that
we've been united to him through
faith.
Jesus died and rose again.
And through faith, our sins have been
washed away in his death, and our new
life has begun in resurrection.
And so, baptism...
...