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Today's scripture reading is from the book of Exodus, portions of chapters 3 and 12,
as printed in your liturgy.
A reading from the book of Exodus.
Do not come any closer, God said.
Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
Then he said,
I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said,
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.
I know their sufferings, and I have come down.
To deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land,
to a good land, a broad land,
a land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses said to God,
Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them,
The God of your fathers has sent me to you.
And they ask me,
What is his name?
Then what shall I say to them?
God said to Moses,
I am who I am.
This is what you are to say to the Israelites.
I am has sent me to you.
Tell all the congregation of Israel,
that on the tenth day of this month,
every man shall take a lamb,
according to their fathers' houses,
a lamb for a household.
Then they shall take some of the blood,
and put it on the two doorposts,
and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night,
and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
both man and beast.
And on all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgments.
I am the Lord.
The blood shall be a sign for you
on the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood,
I will pass over you,
and no plague will befall you to destroy you.
When I strike the land of Egypt.
When you enter the land
that the Lord will give you as he promised,
observe this ceremony.
And when your children ask you,
what does this ceremony mean to you?
Then tell them,
it is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord
who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt
and spared our homes
when he struck down the Egyptians.
Then the people bowed down and worshipped.
The grass withers and the flowers fade.
But the word of our God stands forever.
Good morning to you all.
I am the better looking pastor Andrew referred to a moment ago.
And my name is Jonathan.
We are going to be starting a new sermon series today
in the book of Exodus
and on the Ten Commandments
over the coming weeks and months.
We are going to go all the way through
all ten of the commands
because the church has historically put these
at the center of her teaching ministry.
Especially for children
and for new believers.
For virtually all of church history.
When people ask,
how do we do discipleship?
How do we teach our kids the Bible?
What do new Christians need to know about the Lord?
The answers have always included
the twelve articles of faith in the creed,
the six petitions in the Lord's Prayer,
and the ten commandments
that we find in the Bible.
And so, basically,
the church has always said,
we need to tell people
who God is, the creed.
We need to tell people
how to talk to Him,
the Lord's Prayer.
And we need to tell them
how to live to please God.
The Ten Commandments.
And you remember
how the Ten Commandments begin,
hopefully.
These are famous words.
It begins,
I am the Lord, your God,
who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.
And we're just going to spend
the next few weeks
on that sentence.
I am the Lord, your God,
who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.
And we're going to try to get
into our heads
and into our hearts
the details of who this God is,
what He did to bring
His covenant people
out of their oppressive bondage
and into freedom.
And as we just sit
in this central story
of redemption
and of deliverance
in the Old Testament,
as we connect
that central story up
with the central story
in the New Testament
of redemption and deliverance
in Jesus Christ,
we hope that
we will begin
to have a fresh appreciation
for this life of freedom
that God intends
for His people.
And that we'll begin
to see these Ten Commandments
that He's given us
not as a burden,
but as a blessing.
Not as a restraint,
but as the pathway
to freedom.
And that we'd see them
not as a cold list
of hard laws
in the abstract,
but rather that we would see
that these are words
given to us
by the lover
of our souls
who wants what's best
for us.
That we'd see them
as the wise
and loving counsel
of one who's redeemed us
and enabled us
to call Him
our Heavenly Father.
We'd see these commands
as the way that God
intends to preserve us
in the freedom
that He's won for us.
So that's where
we're going to be going.
And if you want to,
we just sort of had
to pick up
little bits and pieces
of these passages
this morning,
but if you want to follow
in your pew Bible,
feel free to pull that out.
We're going to be
in Exodus chapter 3
and Moses' encounter
with God
at the burning bush.
And then we're going
to turn to Exodus chapter 12
where we see God's work
of judgment and mercy
in the Passover lamb.
And I may regret
trying to take on
two of the biggest chapters
in the Bible
in one sermon,
but we'll see about that.
We're going to talk about
the God who comes down,
the God who passes over,
and the God
who gives freedom.
Who is this God
of the Bible?
He's the God
who comes down,
He's the God
who passes over,
and He's the God
who gives freedom.
And so let's talk
about the God
who comes down.
Who is this God
who gives the Ten Commandments
from this fiery mountain
in Exodus chapter 20?
He's the same God
who reveals Himself
to Moses
at this fiery bush
in Exodus chapter 3.
And that fire,
which you see
throughout this book
of Exodus,
the fire is a symbol
of the presence of God.
It's a symbol
of the holy presence of God.
And if you just look
at verse 5
in chapter 3,
it says,
Do not come any closer.
Take off your sandals
for the place
where you're standing
is holy ground.
And then He said,
I'm the God
of your father,
the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob.
And at this,
Moses hid his face
because he was afraid
to look at God.
You notice,
first of all,
this is a personal
and relational God.
He's revealing Himself.
He's communicating Himself
to this individual
named Moses
just as He communicated Himself
to Abraham
and to Isaac
and to Jacob
because He's present to them.
He's drawing near to them
and He wants
to be known by them.
He wants to be loved by them
in a personal relationship.
He wants them to know His love.
And yet,
He's a fiery God.
He's a holy God.
He's this absolute
and transcendent,
infinite,
and eternal God.
And that's why this God says,
Moses,
come close,
but don't come any closer.
That's why He says,
Moses,
come.
I want you to be with me,
but you've got to
take off your shoes.
And why does Moses hide his face?
Why is he afraid
to look directly at God?
Because he knows that
I'm a mere creature
and this is the Creator God.
This is the Almighty God
and I depend on Him
for everything,
for my every breath.
But more than that,
what we really need to see
is that Moses knows
this God is holy.
This God is pure.
This God is perfect.
He's righteous
and He's just.
And Moses knows
and we know
that we're not.
That we were made
for this high
and noble purpose
to be the image of God
reflecting all of who God is
into this world.
And yet,
from that high place
we've fallen so low.
From that noble calling,
we've rebelled
so drastically.
And so now,
our condition is that
this image in us
is distorted.
This image is damaged
so that we no longer
perfectly reflect back to God
His purity
and His perfection
and His holiness.
And that's why
Moses hides his face.
The Scriptures tell us
that the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom.
And Moses
has an awe.
He has a respect.
He has a reverence
for who this God
actually is.
And modern people,
I think,
are kind of the opposite
of Moses, right?
We tend to think
that we can just sort of
casually waltz into
the presence of God
and that our being there
with God
is a gift to God.
Right?
And that it's,
we're gracing Him
with our presence.
And the Scriptures
just have the exact
opposite view.
Right?
Jeremiah,
the prophet Jeremiah
said in Jeremiah 10.10,
the Lord is the true
and living God.
He's the eternal King.
Hebrews 12.29
says that our God
is a consuming fire.
And so it's only right,
Moses would tell us
if you're going to come
to God,
it's only right to
humble yourself
before this eternal King
whose blazing glory,
his blazing fire
of His holiness
and His purity
is such that you just,
you can't just come
to Him as you are.
You've got to take
off your shoes.
And we should be rejoicing
that He's even made it
possible for us
to come into His presence.
Look down in verse 13.
Moses enters into
this dialogue with God
and he says to God,
suppose I go to the Israelites
and I say to them,
the God of your fathers
has sent me to you
and they ask me,
what is His name?
Then what shall I tell them?
And God says to Moses,
I am who I am.
This is what you're to say
to the Israelites.
I am has sent me to you.
We can spend the rest
of the sermon on that,
but we won't.
What is my name?
I am who I am.
I am without beginning.
I am without limitation.
I am without equal.
I am dependent on nothing
and all depends on me.
I am the self-existent,
unseen,
unchanging,
dynamic,
living being,
ever-present,
ever-active.
And Moses,
I want you to tell them,
I am over you
and I am right here with you
and I am for you,
all-sufficient
and omni-competent
for your every need.
That's who I am.
That's my name.
Now,
if I give you my name,
okay,
my name is Jonathan Barry St. Clair.
And if I give you my name,
I'm inviting you
into a relationship with me.
I'm admitting a desire
for accessibility
and vulnerability
that I want to be known
and loved by you
and I want to know you
and I want to love you,
right?
If I give you my name.
But if you hear someone
call me Johnny,
not Jonathan Barry St. Clair,
but you hear somebody
call me Johnny
or J
or JB
or Johnny Bravo
or J-Rock
as I was called in college.
There's hundreds of nicknames,
okay?
If you hear someone
call me by those names,
you know that
we're family,
right?
We have the closest
and most intimate
relationship possible
and that's basically
what's happening here.
This holy God
who speaks to Moses
from the burning bush,
he says,
I want you to call me
by my special name.
I want to be
on a first name basis
with you
and I want you
to call me
I am
who I am.
And if you call me
by my special name,
then you know
that we have
this exclusive
and intimate
relationship
with one another.
And what is that
relationship
all about?
Well,
look at verse 7
where God
speaks to Moses
and he says
from this fiery bush
this holy presence,
he says,
I have indeed
seen the misery
of my people in Egypt.
I have heard them
crying out
because of their
slave drivers
and I am concerned
about their suffering.
This eternal,
self-existent,
holy God
is also a compassionate God.
He is also
a caring God
who graciously
identifies himself
with the needs
and the pains
of his people.
He says,
my people are
experiencing misery
and bondage
and oppression
and injustice
and I want you
to know
I see them.
And my people
are crying out
in these agonized
pleas of helpless
victims there
in Egypt
and I want you
to know
I hear them.
He says,
my people
are suffering
because they're
stuck,
they're trapped,
they're bound
and enslaved
and not only
are my eyes
upon them,
not only is my ear
attentive to their cry
but I'm concerned
about them.
I'm touched
and I'm moved
by their suffering.
And that tells us
that this is not
the God of the deists
who is remote
and distant
and unaffected
by our sorrows
and our prayers.
No,
he's emotionally
involved with us.
He is actively
related to us.
And this is not
the God
of pantheism.
It's not the God
of Buddhism
that says
actually your suffering
is an illusion
and somehow
you need to
transcend your suffering.
No.
This is also
not the God
of the materialist
and secularism
that says
your suffering
is just an accident.
It's just a result
of blind,
pitiless indifference.
And it has
no meaning
at all.
In fact,
the only meaning
your suffering
has is the meaning
that you create
and project
onto your suffering.
No,
this is the one
true living God
of the Bible
who sovereignly
initiates
this encounter
with Moses
in order to say
I see the pain
of my people
and I'm entering
into it.
I hear
their grief
and I'm choosing
to participate
in it.
I know
the distress
and the suffering
of my beloved
people
and I'm embracing
it now
as my own.
Friends,
do you know
this God
who sees you
and who hears you
and who is concerned
about you?
Your depression
and your anxiety,
God says,
I see you.
Your loneliness
and your grief,
God says,
I hear you.
Your hurts
from the past,
your addictions
in the present,
your despair
about the future,
God says,
I am concerned
about you.
And here
to these Israelites
who for 80 years
at a minimum
have experienced
genocide,
the genocide
of their children,
they've experienced
miserable servitude,
they've experienced
abuse
after abuse
and they're wondering
why God
is this suffering
so intense
and God
how long
is this suffering
going to
continue
and God
says,
I'm paying
very careful
attention
to you.
I am intensely
and deeply
concerned
about you
and I want
you to know
I have a plan
and I have
a purpose.
And what exactly
is that plan
and that purpose?
We'll look at verse 8.
He says,
so I have come down
to rescue them
from the land,
the hand of the Egyptians
and to bring them up
to that,
out of that land
and into a good
and spacious land,
a land flowing
with milk
and honey.
This is God's
calling card.
This is his brand.
I am the God
who comes down.
I'm the come down
to the rescue
God.
I'm the God
who gets decisively
involved
and who intervenes
and interferes
in your life
and in this world.
I am this holy
yet compassionate
God
and I am not
a powerless
pushover
because I'm
the sovereign
of the universe.
I'm the high king
of heaven
and when he sees
that his people
cannot save themselves,
he comes down
to rescue them
with justice
and mercy.
And if you read
from Exodus 3
to Exodus 12,
you know that
this rescue operation
he's declaring
to them
moves heaven
and earth.
Right?
The creator
is uncreating
his creation
with these 12 plagues
of cosmic justice.
He comes to
turn this world
empire upside
down and inside
out in order
to set
what's wrong
right
and to
destroy
the dark
power that's
destroying his
people.
And what does
this God do
when he comes
down to the
rescue?
Does he
just
unleash a bunch
of plagues
and take them
out into this
howling wilderness,
this chaotic
wasteland
and give them
a bottle of water
and a map
and some matches
and say,
alright guys,
you're on your own.
Good luck.
Hope you find
your way.
No,
he completes
what he begins.
He finishes
what he starts.
He says to them
in verse 8,
see that I'm
coming down
in order to
bring you up.
I'm coming
down in order
that I might
bring you up
into this good
and spacious
place of freedom,
this place
of milk and honey.
I want to bring
you up into
an abundant
life,
a life of
blessing,
a life of
flourishing,
a life of
shalom,
of peace with
God and peace
with each other
and peace
with yourself.
That's what
he's saying.
The God of the
Bible is a God
who comes down
with good news.
He comes down
with a message
of hope,
a message
of redemption,
a message
of peace
and this God,
this I am
who I am
God is the
father of
Jesus Christ.
This is the
God who came
down by the
Holy Spirit
to the womb
of the Virgin
Mary and took
on our human
flesh and our
human nature.
He's the God
who came down
in Jesus Christ
to rescue us
once and for
all.
Not just to
break the grip
of Egyptian
tyrants and
taskmasters.
No, he came
down to break
the grip of
sin and death
in our lives.
He came down
in Jesus Christ
not just to
bring justice
on us but to
bear justice
on his cross.
All the bondage
of our sin
and our shame
and our suffering
and evil
and death,
Jesus took it
on himself.
He came down
to do that
and he came
down in order
that he might
bring us up.
Not just up
into a freedom
in the promised
land but up
into the freedom
of his resurrection
life.
Up so that we
might become
new creatures
in his new
creation.
That's what he
wants to bring
us up and
into.
And the reason
I'm harping
on this is
because if you
don't know
this holy
God,
if you don't
trust this
holy God
who graciously
comes down
to the rescue
then whatever
we have to say
about the moral
law of God,
whatever we have
to say about
the ten commandments
of God,
it's not going
to help you
at all.
Because it's
no use knowing
how this God
wants you to
live unless
you actually
know him.
Unless you
actually have
a relationship
with him.
Unless you've
actually experienced
the rescuing
grace and the
saving power
that he has
to offer you.
That's where
you have to
start.
The God
who comes
down.
But we also
want to talk
not just about
this God
who comes
down,
we want to
talk about
this God
who passes
over.
And this
is turning
to Exodus
chapter 12,
the God
who passes
over.
And remember
we're starting
this sermon
series on
the ten
commandments
that we find
in Exodus
chapter 20.
And so
we're asking
ourselves the
question,
who is giving
those commands?
What is his
name?
What is he
like?
What are his
attributes?
What's his
character?
How does he
relate to us?
What's his
history?
What's his
track record?
What does he
do?
Is he good?
Is he
trustworthy?
And I hope
that you'll be
convinced that
this is a God
that you can
trust.
If this
creator God
designed you
then surely
he knows best
how to help
you live the
life that he
designed.
If this
God has
redeemed you
if he's
come down
to rescue
you then
surely he
has a
purpose and
a plan not
to harm
you or not
to repress
you but to
liberate you
and to bless
you.
Can I
trust this
God enough
to obey
him?
That's the
question.
And it's
sort of like
the question
that Pharaoh
king of
Egypt asked
Moses.
In Exodus
chapter 5 he
says to
Moses he
says who
is the
Lord that
I should
obey him?
That is
like the
question.
Who is
the Lord
that I
should
obey him?
He's
saying Moses
what is so
unique about
your God
and your
faith that
I should
trust him
that I
should embrace
him that I
should follow
him?
And there's
probably no
better answer
to that
question of
what is so
unique about
God than
Exodus
chapter 12
this famous
passage of
the Passover
Passover and
you know
what is so
unique about
God?
What is so
unique about
faith in
this God?
The biblical
vision of
ultimate
spiritual reality
is right here.
Right?
For Jews the
Passover meal
is the central
thing that makes
them who they
are.
And for
Christians a
revised
Passover a
reinterpreted
Passover meal
called the
Lord's Supper
it's the central
act of worship.
We're going to
do it here in
just a moment.
What makes
this God so
unique that I
should obey
him?
And the
answer to the
question is
this.
The bloody
death of a
helpless
victim.
It's at the
very heart of
the Bible.
The bloody
death of a
helpless
victim.
At the
very center
of biblical
faith the
vision of
ultimate
spiritual reality
is the
bloody death
of a
helpless
victim.
Why?
What do we
mean by that?
Well God
called Pharaoh
king of
Egypt over
and over
again to
release the
Hebrews from
their grinding
poverty and
slavery.
And of course
he refused over
and over.
And so God
releases these
ten plagues
of justice.
It's God's
cosmic justice
to dismantle
this dehumanizing
empire.
And he gets
through these
plagues and now
we get to the
tenth and the
final plague.
And it says in
verse 12 on
that same night
Exodus chapter
12 verse 12
on that same
night I
will pass
through Egypt
and strike
down every
firstborn both
people and
animals and I
will bring
judgment on all
the gods of
Egypt.
I am the
Lord.
I am.
God's just
judgment is
coming down
on this empire
that's been
resisting God
and abusing
his people.
people and
it's as if
God is
bringing that
great future
day of divine
judgment forward
into the present
so that on this
one night and
in this one
place there will
be a temporary
and preliminary
day of
devastating
judgment.
And God
says I'm
going to allow
all the things
that I'm
typically holding
back to flood
in.
I'm going to
allow this
destructive chaos
to go through
the greatest
military and
economic power
the world has
ever seen.
And he says
there's only
one thing
that can
protect you.
And what is
that one thing
that can protect
you from the
ultimate power
in the universe?
It's the most
unlikely thing.
It's the most
bizarre and crazy
thing.
It's a lamb.
It's a woolly
quadruped.
It's the weakest
possible creature
you could imagine.
God says the
only way you can
face the ultimate
power in the
universe is a
lamb.
Look at chapter
12 verse 3.
He says tell the
whole community of
Israel that on
the tenth day of
this month each
man is to take a
lamb for his
family one for
each household.
And then he
says in verse 7
then they are to
take some of the
blood and put it
on the sides and
tops of the door
frames of the
houses where they
eat the lambs.
What he's calling
them to is a
public act of
faith.
He's telling
them today in the
next few hours you
have to take a
stand.
You've got to
declare yourself to
be a person and to
be a people that
are under the blood
of the Passover
lamb.
And if you read
the whole of
Exodus 12 one of
the first things that
jumps out is this
principle of
spiritual
egalitarianism.
And what I mean by
that is if you look
at Exodus 12 verse
22 which we didn't
print for you.
Moses goes and he
talks to the elders
of Israel and he
says okay you've got
to put this blood
on the top and the
door frames of your
house and then he
says this he says
none of you shall go
out of the door of
your house until
morning.
And when the Lord
comes through the land
to strike down the
Egyptians he will see
the blood on the top
and sides of the
door frame and he will
pass over that
doorway and he will
not permit the
destroyer to enter
your houses and
strike you down.
And you know what
that means when God
says none of you are
to go outside of your
door or your house
until the morning.
You know what that
means?
That means that
God's justice is not
just for the Egyptians
but that if an
Israelite does not
have the blood of the
lamb over their
lives they're going to
get God's justice
too.
And you say well
wait a minute.
I thought the
Israelites were the
oppressed victims and
Egypt and the
Egyptians were the
oppressing victimizers.
I thought Israel was
worshipping the true
God and I thought
Egypt was worshipping
false idols.
How can this be?
Yet it says that if
any of God's people
were to meet God's
judgment without the
blood of the lamb
they too are going to
be lost.
They're going to be
destroyed.
They're going to be
struck down.
And why is that?
Well what sinful
human being can stand
unsheltered,
unprotected in the
presence of this holy
God who says I am who
I am.
Who can stand without
some sort of protection?
Spiritually speaking the
most doctrinally
orthodox, the most
spiritually engaged,
the most biblically
righteous, the most
morally pure Israelite on
that night was no better
than any Egyptian.
Christian.
And God says if you go
out and you try to meet
God's judgment on your
own and you do not
place yourself by faith
under this blood of the
Passover lamb that I
provided then your SAT
scores and your
athletic trophies and
your fancy degrees and
your resume and all of
your achievements, your
racial identity, your
ethnic heritage, your
doctrinal beliefs, your
ethical behavior, none of
that is going to do you
any good.
None of that's going to
help you and protect you
at all.
You Israelites, you're
going to be just as lost
to the people you
despise, the Egyptians.
But here's another thing
that jumps out in this
passage that not only
this principle of
spiritual egalitarianism
but also this principle
of spiritual
substitutionism.
And what do I mean by
that?
Well, in every single
house that night there
was either a dead
firstborn or a dead
lamb.
Either the people
deserving God's just
judgment died or the
lamb got what they
deserved.
The lamb, you see, is
the substitute, the
blood of the lamb, the
life of the lamb took
your place.
That every Israelite
looked at the lamb on
their table and they
said the sole reason
that I'm not dead is
because that lamb is.
peace.
And every Israelite
realized that night
that God mysteriously
caused his judgment
not to pass through
them but to pass over
them.
That God did not strike
them with his justice.
God sheltered them in his
mercy.
The blood of the lamb
somehow satisfied God's
judgment and gave them
peace.
And here's the thing.
Here's the thing.
Even though God
delivered them that
night, they had to
keep sacrificing
lambs.
If you read the Old
Testament for five
minutes, you know
that this is something
they're doing every day
and every year because
God showed them that's
what they needed to do
because they needed to
realize that they had a
deeper and a bigger
problem that required a
deeper and a bigger
deliverance and salvation.
And that's why when you
finally read through the
Old Testament and you
get to the pages of the
New Testament, you find
John the Baptist there
saying about Jesus Christ,
what does he say?
He says, behold the
Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world.
And that's why when you
fast forward to the end
of the Gospels, you see
Jesus on the night before
his cross.
What does he do?
He gets his disciples
together and they
celebrate what?
They celebrate the
Passover.
And Jesus gets up as the
presider of that meal and
instead of saying, this is
the bread of our affliction,
what does he say?
He says, this bread is my
body.
Instead of saying, this cup
is a reminder of the
promises of God's freedom
and God's redemption, what
does Jesus say?
He says, this cup is the
new covenant in my blood for
the forgiveness of your
sins.
What he's saying, he's
saying, I'm the Lamb.
And my death on the cross is
going to bring about a
Passover, not from physical
or economic or political
bondage.
It's going to bring you
freedom from that deeper
spiritual bondage that you're
in to sin and death.
And if my blood is covering
you, good news, God's
judgment is going to pass
through me so that it can
pass over you.
God's justice is going to
strike me so that it can
shelter you.
Jesus says, I've come to get
God's justice so that you
could get God's mercy and you
can live in God's peace.
God's justice is going to
And so the question for us is,
what do you think is going to
protect you ultimately?
Do you believe that the only
thing that will save you is the
blood of the Lamb?
And are you putting your faith and
your trust in the power of that
blood in your place?
Have you, so to speak, gone out
and put it on the top in the
door frames of your house and
over your life?
Have you gone and sought shelter
there and said, this is the only
place where I can really find
safety and salvation?
Are you making that public?
Everybody could see whether or not
you put that blood over your
house.
Have you made it public?
Are you giving testimony to the
fact that this is actually my
only hope and my only peace?
This is my only righteousness.
This is the only hope of the
whole world is the blood of this
Lamb.
Before we get to this God who
gives ten commandments in Exodus
20, we got to know the God who
comes down in Exodus 3 and the God
who passes over in Exodus 12.
And I just want us to think for a
minute of finally what we're
talking about this God who gives
freedom.
The ten commandments in Exodus 20
begin on this foundation.
I am the Lord your God.
I am the Lord and I'm your God.
And I brought you out of Egypt, out
of the land of slavery.
Everything depends upon and flows
from this starting point.
The logic is this, that because I am
the Lord your God who brought you
out of slavery, therefore you should
have no other gods before me, etc.
The prophet Hosea puts it this way,
I have been the Lord your God ever
since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no savior except me.
Do you see God's logic?
Do you see the logic of the gospel
that exclusive love for and devotion
to the Lord begins with this reality
and this experience of deliverance
from bondage.
And to be set free in Exodus 12
is to go on this journey to Mount
Sinai in Exodus chapter 20 where the
full implications of your salvation are
revealed in those ten commandments.
And they're joyfully accepted
because you say, well this is the way
to live a free and abundant life.
You see the Christian journey is a journey
from the slavery of sin to salvation
to service.
It's a journey from guilt to grace
to gratitude.
And when you experience the reality of this
God who comes down to the rescue
in the flesh and in the person of Jesus Christ,
when you experience this God
who passes through Jesus in justice,
in order to pass over you in mercy,
you begin to fall in love with this God.
You realize, oh my goodness,
this God loves me.
He loves me.
And I think I love him.
See, a Christian is somebody
who's melted by the love of God.
When you fall in love with a person,
guys, listen,
when you fall in love with a girl,
what do you want to do?
Write this down.
You want to figure out what pleases her.
And this is also very important.
You want to figure out what displeases her.
Okay?
Girls,
what do you do when you fall in love with that guy?
You want to figure out
what causes him to feel loved,
what causes him to feel respected,
what causes him to feel honored.
And you write that down.
And you go and do that.
I don't know,
did any of you grow up on the Princess Bride?
That was like the Rosetta Stone
of my entire childhood.
And it, you know,
if you haven't seen this,
repent.
Go see it today.
Princess Buttercup.
She says,
Wesley, you know,
fetch me the pitcher.
Wesley, draw me some water.
Whatever she needs,
whatever she wants.
And how does Wesley respond?
Thank you.
I love this church.
As you wish.
That's what you say
when you fall in love with someone.
When you realize how much they love you,
you say,
as you wish.
You delight to respond to that love
with your own love,
just as you wish.
And when you look at this God
in Exodus 3 and Exodus 12,
and you see what he's like,
and you see how he thinks
about his beloved people,
when you see the lengths
to which he will go
to deliver them
and to set them free,
the only proper response
to this love is what?
As you wish.
It's the only way
to express our gratitude
for what he's done for us.
And my hope is that
as we go through
this sermon series,
we will eventually come
to say the words
that the psalmist says.
When the psalmist,
in Psalm 119,
he says,
Oh, how I love your law.
And that's just another way
of saying,
Oh, how I love you.
And because I love you,
I love your law,
and I want to meditate on it
all day long.
Why?
Because it's the path
to freedom.
It's the path
to abundant life.
Amen?
In the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.