God Is Holy

Ai Transcript

Amen. Thank you, Mark.

If you would, why don't we stay in Isaiah, open your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 6. That's where we'll be this morning. Isaiah chapter 6.

When we kicked off this series a couple weeks back, asked the question, what comes to your mind when you think about God? I said, finish the sentence. God is... We had all sorts of wonderful answers. God is holy. God is love. God is awesome.

said God is infinite. God is merciful. Well, the next day we talked about this same question at my GC. We went around and filled in the blank. God is, and again, a lot of really strong theological answers. God is merciful. God is good. God is consistent. I like that one.

But then we had a couple answers that were raw. I love raw. God is distant. God is small.

God is not my priority. The more I thought about that, that A.W. Tozer quote from a couple of weeks ago, what comes to your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you. I just don't know if I think it's true. The Bible says even the demons have good theology and yet they tremble.

The more I've thought about it, the most important thing about you may be not be what you think, but what you believe deep down in your heart. Like the Christian philosopher James K.A. Smith says, we are not just thinking things. We are not brains on a stick. We are what we love. You are what you love.

you love. So what comes out of your heart when you ponder God that may just be the most important thing about you. Ask yourself that question. I'll give you a minute. Write it down.

Be honest with yourself that this isn't a theology quiz. What comes up out of the depths of your heart in your deepest place? What comes out when you contemplate God?

Is he really good?

Is he near? Is he distant? Can he be trusted?

Is he angry? What comes up from the deepest place within you as you contemplate? And then here's the second question. Is he holy?

Is he holy? How you answer that last question, is God holy, I believe has massive implications for your life.

Jackie Hill Perry goes so far to say this, and I think she's spot on. What is lurking behind our unbelief, so our lack of trust, what is lurking behind our unbelief is the idea that God is not holy. I mean, think about this for a second. If God is holy, if he is holy, well then he cannot sin.

If God cannot sin, he cannot sin against you. And if God cannot sin against you, then can't he be fully trusted? Again, it's so easy when we contemplate God for many of us, especially for those of us who have been hurt by people. We find it hard to trust people. It's quite natural to project that on God.

We may say God is awesome, we may even think it, but in all reality, many of us believe deep down that God is really just maybe a better image of ourselves.

So yeah, in your mind, you might know all the right answers. He is loving, infinite and good. He is self sufficient and self existent. But, sometimes the longest journey is that 18 inches from your head to your heart. My hope this morning is that we would behold a holy God.

And as we behold God in His holiness, we would believe in our deepest place that God is holy, holy, holy. And by the grace of God, as we behold and believe this holy God that we ourselves would become holy.

So if you're not already there, Isaiah 6 is where we will begin this morning. We'll start here in verse 1. And that's my outline for you note takers. Behold, believe, and become. We'll spend most of our time beholding.

Verse one, in the year that King Uzziah died, let's pause here for a minute. I want to give a little context before we jump into what the prophet Isaiah is about to share. He's about to share a lot.

I want to pick up from where we left off last week before we come into the context of King Uzziah and the story of Israel. Last week, if you remember, Moses encountered God, the self-existent one, the one who needs nothing. After Moses sees a bush on fire, yet not burning, as he curiously makes his way over, he's told to take his

sandals off because the place he is standing is holy ground. God is holy. This is where we're headed this morning.

The holiness of God, so buckle up. The holiness of God, wrecked me this week. John Calvin says this, if a preacher is not first preaching to himself, better that he falls on the steps of the pulpit and breaks his neck than preaches that sermon. Friends, I am first preaching to myself this morning.

Well, that's your God revealed to Moses who he is, namely, I am who I am or another way to say God is. Moses goes back to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, out of slavery. The great I am doesn't just talk the talk. He walks.

the walk. He does what he says. And so, yes, God rescues his people. And after they cross the Red Sea, Moses finds himself back at the mountain where he first encountered God at the bush. As God meets Moses on the mountain, this scene is terrifying.

Mount Sinai is trembling, thunder, lightning, dark and threatening clouds, fire, smoke, and the sound of a loud trumpet. This is no ordinary earthquake. The people of God, Israel, are warned to not even touch this mountain because the God that just saved them is utterly holy. Then Moses goes up.

the mountain before this holy God and there the Lord gives Israel his law. This is not basic instruction before leaving earth like how some people understand the BIBLE. No, it is covenantal revelation from the God whose holiness shakes the earth. And this holy God tells Israel that if they obey his covenant, if...

They follow his law. Then they themselves will become God's own holy nation. Later in Moses's life, he's so captivated by the holiness of God that he prays this bold, audacious prayer. Lord, show me your glory. And God's like, yo, Mo.

Can't do that. You can't see my face, for no one can see me and live. But he does set him up in a rock, covers him with his hand, and lets him glimpse just the backside of his glory. Even Moses, the friend of God himself, cannot stand to be fully exposed before the fullness of divine holiness.

Often when Moses would come down from the mountain after meeting with God, his face was radiant, shining brightly with reflected glory. Israel wasn't able to handle it. So Moses would put a veil over his face. That is how weighty, fearsome, holy the presence of God is.

And most of us know how the story of Israel ends up, right? They don't keep the law. They don't live up to the covenant. They don't obey God. They fail and they fail and they fail some more. Fast forward to 1 Samuel after the Ark of God has been captured. Phineas's wife, she gives birth to a child. And on this baby dedication, she names him.

meaning God's glory has departed from Israel.

Well, the glory of God eventually comes back through people like David and his son Solomon. Eventually they build the temple. But again, it's not long before even the kingdom is divided. And apart from a few solid kings who understand God's holiness and call to people and call the people to serve this God, to become...

a holy nation. Most of these kings from the north to the south are just brutal. Brutal. They worship the gods of their surrounding nations. They don't see God as holy and so they do not become God's holy nation. And then this 16 year old cat, Uzziah, shows up on the scene.

I mean, what were you doing at age 16? I was just trying to stay eligible in school so I could play baseball. But even that was hard because I was trying to memorize and play Madden on my PS2 and watch Shaq and Comey dominate the NBA. had too much going on. Not Uzaya. Uzaya at age 16 becomes king. King of Israel.

Back to our passage in the year that King Uzziah died. This was a big deal. King Uzziah probably makes the top five of the list for Israel's greatest kings. So this year that this king died would have thrown this nation into a frenzy.

political turmoil. He reigned over Israel for 52 years. Could you imagine? It's like Queen Elizabeth longevity. Early in his life, he was marked by nothing but godliness. This was a holy man.

zealous for the God of his forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He brought innovation and prosperity to the land of Israel, only second to people like David and Solomon themselves. But unfortunately, his life didn't end the way it began. At the end of his life, he lost sight of the holiness of God.

He decided, I'm a pretty good king. The priest needs some help. Why don't I take the role of what the priest should do? I can go in there. Fearing God simply means to take God at His word, to take God serious.

Proverbs says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. At some point in Uzziah's life, he stopped fearing God. He got too comfortable with God. That's what wrecked me this week. He forgot, and I pray we don't, that God is holy.

And because of that, his final days were marked with shame and disgrace as God struck him with leprosy. A bad end to an otherwise great life. But like Tiger Woods, even with a tragic ending, everyone still remembers who Uzziah once was. And so in his passing, Israel is grieving. And then God shows up to the prophet Isaiah.

in a vision. Look with me at verse one again. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings.

With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew, and one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with...

Smoke.

The prophet Isaiah is given a vision of the Lord high and exalted on his throne. If you were here with us during our revelation series, maybe some of this sounds familiar.

And what this meant to, to Isaiah is that the Lord in verse one, capital L lowercase O R D this is Adonai or the sovereign Lord showing Isaiah and us that even amidst political turmoil, God reigns in majesty over all things.

Then the train of his robe fills the temple. This stresses the overwhelming weight of his glory and his presence. We also see the seraphim standing above him as heavenly attendants, emphasizing that even the most exalted creatures are not self-existent.

They exist to serve this self-existent sovereign king. And as they cover their faces, because even they can't look at God's holiness, it's that bright. God doesn't have light. God is light. And what does one of them do? The only thing you can do in the presence of God. Praise him. Holy.

Holy... Holy...

Then the thresholds shake while the temple fills with smoke. Picture the scene, this vision, showing us loud and clear that Isaiah is standing before the Holy Lord. Verse three, L-O-R-D, all caps. The covenant name of God, Yahweh. Holy, holy.

pastor theologian. This was his wheelhouse and I've listened to many asproul sermons over the years. And though like we said in our first sermon in this God is series, we are not called to rank the attributes of God. Remember, all that is in God is God. But I do love what Dr. R.C. brings out.

There's no other attribute in the Bible that is given this thrice language. Never do we see love, love, love is the Lord God Almighty or justice, justice, justice is the Lord of hosts. But we do have this phrase, holy, holy, holy is the Lord.

Now, if you know me and you get texts from me, if I'm ever excited and want to emphasize something, I may throw down like 50 exclamation marks as my high school teacher rolls over in her grave.

But we have ways to emphasize things in our culture, to say this is important. Maybe for you, you embolden your font, or you use italics, or you begin to speak real slow when you're about to say something.

Well, in ancient Judaism, happens when words get put on repeat. And in big moments of redemptive history, this is what we see. Awake, awake.

Moses, Peace, peace. Abraham, Abraham. If you read in the gospels, you'll see this with Christ Jesus himself. Right, he says, truly.

Truly, it's the Greek word, amen. Jesus is such a good preacher, he's not gonna wait for the crowd to say amen. Real talk, I don't even know if Jesus would get an amen if he preached in this church. Just saying.

So what does he do? He says it prior to the sermon. Amen, amen. What we translate truly, truly. He's saying lock in. Lock in. What I'm about to say is going to transform your life.

But get three repeats. Now this is more than an emphasis. It's the highest amplification. So when we hear holy, holy, holy, we know this is a holiness in which nothing can compare. Now what does holy mean?

Great question. Again, R.C. Sproul says, term holy, as it is used in the Bible to describe God, refers to both his nature and his character. So let's flesh that out. Regarding God's nature, holy, holy, holy refers to his greatness, his transcendence, his otherness.

Regarding his character, holiness refers to his purity, his ethical and moral excellence. Theologian Matthew Barrett says, his holiness is the supreme, highest, greatest good that can be imagined.

And if Anselm is right, which I quoted a couple of weeks back, that God is a being in whom none greater can be conceived. And it's also true that God is a being in which, in whom none holier can be conceived. Holy, holy, holy. This word literally means set apart.

Set apart. Set apart. Set apart.

wife, Holly is the best neighbor. know we have, we know so many of our neighbors because of Holly. Well, this week I got a ring on the doorbell and I opened the door to meet one of my neighbors for the first time, an older gentleman who lives down our street, Terry. He came to drop off his mom's China.

She she she's been passed for some time and though he's never used them, he also has felt weird about selling them to a stranger. So of course, give them to Holly. Now these dishes are no ordinary dishes. I don't know how many times we are going to eat off these plates or drink out of these cups, but let me tell you, it will only be for a special occasion. These dishes are set apart.

Not for Joey to eat his mac and cheese and hot dogs on. Well, God is set apart on a whole nother level. God is holy par excellence. In His transcendence, His holiness is utterly other. Holy, holy, holy. And in His purity, His holiness is moral and ethical perfection.

God is light in him. There is no darkness at all. Holy, holy, holy. And like Mark mentioned last week, when we see God rightly, we begin to see ourselves rightly. And friends, there's nothing that threatens us more than the holiness of God.

But unless you behold God as holy, you can't truly believe deep down in your heart, in your deepest place, that He is holy. Which takes us to our second point. Believe. We behold, then we believe. Look with me at verse five. Isaiah six, verse five.

After Isaiah encounters the Holy God, verse five, I said, woe is me for I am lost. From a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Like I said, nothing threatens us more than the holiness of God.

Because when you encounter this God, holy, holy, holy, you also see how much you fall short of His glory. In His light, our darkness exposed. Do remember when Peter becomes a follower of Christ?

Peter, who becomes this apostle and amazing leader in the early church, he's fishing all night, catches nothing. Then Jesus is on the shore, tells him, put out your net for a catch. Peter, probably so frustrated, like, dude, I fish for a living. You're a rabbi. Are you telling me how to do my job? But like a respectful Jew that Peter was, he says, at your word, rabbi. I'll do it.

And in that moment, if you remember, he catches so many fish that the weight of them causes his boat to begin to sink. But that's not the only thing sinking in this moment. Do you remember what Peter says to Jesus? Jesus, who is the exact imprint of God, holy, holy, holy, like Isaiah before him, Peter says, depart from me.

Leave. Get away from me, for I am a sinful man.

Have you encountered the Holy God?

Have you encountered this holy God? Have you seen God rightly and in doing so see yourself rightly? One of my fears in the American church and is one of its pastors is that so many people sitting in the pews and preaching from the pulpits have never experienced God as holy, holy, holy.

We might have all the right answers as to who God is, but our hearts have not been undone by his holiness. But when we behold God in all his holiness, we begin to believe deep down in our hearts, our deepest place that God is holy.

Holy, and this, changes everything. Which leads to our third point, our application this morning. Become. Look with me at verse six. Become.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin is atoned for. The burning coal is a sign that sinners like Isaiah.

like you, like I cannot survive the holiness of God unless God himself provides atonement. The altar points to sacrifice, the cleansing points to forgiveness, and then this whole scene, is merely a shadow pointing us to the fulfillment that we have in Jesus.

who as the holy, holy, holy Son of God becomes a man, takes on flesh, and by his sinless life and sacrificial death on the cross brings atonement once and for all. Atonement at one.

with God, in other words, making sinful people like you and I stand in the presence of Almighty God.

you

And as we behold God in His holiness and then we believe that God is holy, we become. By faith and faith alone, we become God's holy people.

Be holy as I am holy. That's what Peter says.

Yet that is our application. But the problem, I think, is people see a text like this, pull up their bootstraps, and in their own strength try really, really hard to be holy. And praise God for striving after holiness. The author of Hebrews says, without it, no one will see the Lord.

But we must realize because of the gospel friends, we are already God's holy people. Peter says, you are a holy nation. Paul calls Christians saints, holy ones because of the gospel. have been sanctified. We have been set apart. We are holy.

And yes, we're called to more holiness. We're called to continue to be sanctified. God wants to see radical transformation in all of our lives. By the grace of God, we'll look more like Jesus tomorrow than we did today. But all of this is possible because you are already set apart. You are holy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are spirit-filled saints. Would you look at yourself in the mirror and see? Saint. The call now is to be who we already are in Christ.

Imagine if we lived out our calling as God's holy nation, a church who didn't just know the right things about God, but believed in our hearts that God is holy.

Because of that, he can be taken at his word. He can be trusted. A holy people who rightly fear their holy God. The people who, like the author of Hebrews says, are grateful because we've received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And thus, a people who offered to this holy God.

acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. Let's behold, believe, and become. Amen. Amen. Let me pray.

God Is Self-Existent and Self-Sufficient

AI Transcript

Good morning. It's good to see all the smiling faces.

Last Monday, two weeks ago, I was so looking forward to saying Amen on Easter and then just relaxing. Like, full cards on the table. The last six months have been probably the hardest, the most work I've ever done in ministry. And so after seven weeks of preaching in a row, after going through compelled, after all that, like I was just so looking forward to just...

relaxing and to looking forward to catching up on so many years of my life that I've just let go by the wayside and But God had other plans because after saying amen on Easter on Monday You get that feeling where you're like, oh, I feel like I'm getting sick here, but I ignored it and Got hit. I don't know. I got a hit by the doctor said the flu walking pneumonia, whatever I had a fever for eight days straight. So

I was just laid up in bed like I was like, this going to break? I'm going to break. So that was not awesome at all. And I was so bummed to not be able to join you guys last week as we had baptisms and just to be able to celebrate all that God is doing there. even now, even now as I stand, like it's still there. Like I just, I'm tired. So I might pass out, but.

I tried this week to turn my attention to, okay, what am I preaching on? And as I was beginning to unpack that in very small bits, because I didn't have enough energy to really dig into it, I was just reminded of the gift of sickness, the gift of weakness. We are in this series where we're lifting our eyes and beholding the

the majesty of the person of God. I was reminded this week as we look at this topic, and you can begin to look, go to Exodus 3 is where we're going to be at. But I was reminded in this topic that we're going to look at what theologians call the aseity of God. It simply means this, that God is eternally self-existent and God is eternally self-sufficient.

the weakness of sickness and not being able to get out of bed is just this, contrast there couldn't be more contrasted. Like where I am totally weak, which is true every day, I just don't live like it. God is not. God is eternally self-existent and self-sufficient. And he is the only one who is that. So a couple charts to help you just get that in your head. So the first one here is

What is created? Go to the next slide. So uncreated, only God. What is crea... That should say created, sorry. That's bad theology.

The second one should say, created. I was sick. I need some grace.

What's that? Anathema. know. You should walk out now. All right. So this simple chart, what's uncreated? God. Who made God? No one made God. God is eternally self-examined. What else is created? Everything else. Everything we see in the whole universe. Okay. Let's see if the next chart is wrong. Next one. What is self-sufficient? Only God. What is totally dependent? Every molecule of the cosmos is totally dependent on God's sustaining work.

And so as I was just realizing my weakness, my sickness, I just realized that this is a gift. It is always a gift to realize that we aren't what we think we are. We aren't as strong as we think we are. We're not as capable as we think we are. We're not... In every way, we are limited. And that's a good thing. We are finite. This is kind of a gift. Because most of my days, I live like you live.

with this idea that I'm in control. I decide what's going on. I decide what good things are going to come in my life. And I look through the trie... And I'm like, yeah, I can do some things. Most of my days, I am self-focused and believing I'm in control. It's the air that we breathe, right? Post-enlightenment, post-modern, post-everything world. We have this idea in our culture that...

Well, whatever you say, you can define yourself in any way you want to define yourself. Whatever you want to be, you could be like just go out, put in the work, put in the grind and you can have like, this is the air that we breathe, right? And it sounds like because it's the air we breathe, we're like, yeah, that's right. And true. We got to create our own identity. We got to create our own worth and value and, and, and show the world that we're worthy. And, and on the surface, that sounds good, but, but, but in reality is

It's absolutely exhausting. Like when we are just doing everything we can to make a name for ourselves, doing everything we can to show the world and to show ourselves that we are valuable and worth it. Like to live under that pressure, it's too much pressure. And this is why so many people just feel so burdened. And so it is a gift whenever we can wake up to our finitude, to our weakness. We can't do it all.

There's no one in here that wears a cape even though we think we can. Calvin, at the very beginning of his most famous work, The Institutes, he opens up the work like this. says, nearly all wisdom we possess, that is to say true and sound wisdom, consist of two parts. The knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.

The knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. When we see God clearly and we see ourselves clearly, now we can begin to walk in wisdom. Now we can live as God created us to live. But there's a problem in this world, It is the problem of sin that distorts and twists everything. Augustine had this theology in the city of God and Confessions that Martin Luther later

came along and in Latin it means this, Incurvatus Inse. It means sin is a life curved in on itself. Where your whole focus just starts to become your self. And so we don't love God rightly because we're not related. We don't love others rightly because we're curved in on our self. Incurvatus Inse. And this is a huge problem for us.

If we aren't intentional, we will live life as if the only thing that matters is what I'm dealing with, what I want, what other people will make much of me. Like this is just the default of the sin-filled heart. I want to give a shout out to my wife, her first book of eight, Enough About Me, Finding Lasting Joy in the Age of Self.

The solution, if the problem is curved in on yourself, then we've got to somehow uncurl ourselves, unfocus on ourselves, somehow lift our eyes. This is the path to actual joy, actual life for us. You can take that down, but get the book so I can get some money.

Thanks for writing that book. Many years ago I heard Pastor John Piper use this illustration. I think it's so helpful that helps me understand this incurbitous insight, how we live our lives, and the need to kind of open up. He says it's the difference between a microscope and a telescope. Maybe you've heard this before, a microscope and a telescope. And if you think about it,

What does a microscope do? A microscope takes that which is infinitesimally small and it blows it up. So you can see it. But like when we live our lives oriented towards the microscope, what we're doing is we're looking through the lens and we're seeing the stuff of our lives. The problems, the successes, the challenges, the relations. Like everything just seems massive. Like look how big this problem is. Because we're looking through the microscope.

theology done well is looking through the telescope. The telescope does what? It takes that which is massive, that which is almost incomprehensible, and it brings it into perspective. It helps us order things rightly. so to live rightly, to know who we are, to know who God is, we've got to move away from the microscope.

focusing on our own lives and take some time to look through the telescope. That's what this God is series is about. It's just a, it's an uncurling, it's a beholding who God is. What we need to know is that all theology, all theology you know is a gift from God. But like if you know anything true about God, it's first and foremost because it was a gift from God.

to you. It is God revealing Him. Like God didn't have to reveal anything. And to be sure, God is infinite and we are finite. So as Pastor Rick said last week, there will never be a moment in eternity where we will have arrived at all the knowledge of God. This is the glory of eternity. There will never be a moment where we aren't just filled with more awe, more wonder, more knowledge.

More discovery like this goes on and on and on and on forever. This is the beauty of eternity with God. But God has revealed some things about himself in different ways that we get to study. We get to look through the telescope if you will. And how has God revealed himself? Let me give you some examples through general revelation and special revelation. What is that? So general revelation is God reveals himself to

creation through his creation. This is Romans chapter one for the for since the beginning of the world the things that have been seen point to as a divine nature and eternal nature. So we can behold the heavens declare the glory of God for example Psalm 19. We can see God's providence directing the course of human history. This is another part of general revelation that the conscious that God has given to humans and human nature.

Just that there is some right and there is some wrong. This is what theologians call general revelation. We can know something about God just by observing the world that he's created and put us in. But that general revelation is not sufficient to come to know him personally, to know specifically what it is God like. We needed special revelation for that. So the special revelation is a few things.

God's redemptive acts in the world. So redemptive acts of God where he intervenes into his creation. What we're going to read about one of them in Exodus chapter three. When God reveals his word either by himself or through his prophets or or apostles these are divinely given words that special revelation. So we learn something. Ultimately the way we see who God is we look to Jesus.

in the incarnation as He came and lived among us and loved. Like what is God like? Look to Jesus. This is the whole point of the book of Hebrews. Like He is the exact image of who God is. So as we behold Jesus, we see who God is. And then captured in all that is the Word of God. These 66 books to you and to me and to God's people too.

capture that, to study that. So we as God's people, we as people can look at creation, we can look at special revelation, and we can know something of God. And we should know something of God. We don't know all the things for sure, but God has revealed Himself to us. So if you have your Bible, Exodus chapter three is where we're going to be at today. Exodus chapter three, Genesis, Exodus, the second book of the Bible. Let me set this up here. So at this point,

salvation history. God's people have been enslaved in Egypt. 400 years, their cries are going up to a God that they don't even really know. But we read in chapter 1 that God hears their cries and he begins to move. Well Moses is born, but Moses, you may remember his life is preserved. He grows up as a prince of Egypt.

Though he's Hebrew, he grows up in Pharaoh's household with all the wealth and the prestige and the power that is afforded to that, the most powerful man on the planet at that time with the most powerful army in human history up until this point. But Moses also comes to find out and realizes he's also a Hebrew and he sees this disconnect between his life, his comfortable, opulent life. And then you've got his people just being oppressed.

And so when he's about 40 years old, he sees an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew and he's like, oh, I'm the guy. I've got power. I'm going to take things in my own hand. And he murders the Egyptian, buries him in the sand, and he feels pretty good about himself until he's caught and they seek his life. And he has to run for his life. And he spends the next 40 years in the wilderness, gets married, and for 40 years, from age 40 to 80,

His job is just to look at the backside of sheep all day. I mean, is he's like, how did I go from Prince of Egypt to here? And in Exodus, chapter three, he's on the side of this mountain Mount Horeb or later gets called Mount Sinai. He sees this bush on fire that's not burning up and it catches his attention and he turns to to to see what is going on. And in that he hears God's special revelation.

revealed to him the voice of God. in verse four of chapter three says listen carefully this is God's word says when the Lord saw that he had gone over to look God called to him from within the bush Moses Moses as Moses said here I am he's calling to him but but then verse five do not come any closer God said take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is

holy ground. It's this picture of God who is both transcendent above and beyond everything and imminent close here now. It's this picture of like come close don't come too close. Like this is the tension we have with God right? Come close don't come too close. And so as he comes close God begins to reveal and says I have

I've seen the suffering of my people. And in fact, I'm going to do something about it. It's time to act Moses. And in verse 10, he says to Moses, so now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites out of Egypt. This is, this is crazy, right? You go.

He has this encounter with the living God and he gives Moses this great commission. You're going to go. But Moses does what you and I do. When God calls us to something great, we're like, well, who am I? Don't you know my failures? Don't you know my past? Don't you know my weakness? I can't go, Lord. I know you've given me a commission to go and make disciples, but that's...

That's for the extra credit Christians. That's for other people like not me. I'm too weak. I'm too frail. I'm too broken. I have too much sin. My past. You can't use me. And God's like what do you what are you talking about? You go. And so he asked this question of of God. Verse 11. It's a question we ask. Moses said to God who am I. Who am I. Who am I to do anything for God. Now remember

God is eternally self-existent and self-sufficient. What that means is that God has no needs. So what that means, sometimes people will say stuff to me like, God just really needs me to do this one thing. I'm like, no. God does not need you to do anything. God doesn't need Redemption Parker to do anything. Get that very clear. Sometimes people are like, well, God needs me to No, he does not.

That's blasphemy to think that God has any need, any deficiency. Like sometimes people will be like, well, God created people because he was lonely. No, he has no need. He's eternally self existent and self sufficient. is in the Trinity is perfect unity love like zero need. And so then we have to ask the question, if God has no need, then why does he give us commission?

Because he's inviting us to a life of purpose and meaning to join our story with his eternal story. It's a gift to us to be invited in. It's a gift to Moses to receive this commission. But Moses does what we do. He's in curvidus in say, he's like, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? It's a question of identity.

And the answer to that, God gives, is the answer that He gives throughout Scripture. Verse 12. God said, will be with you. Who am I? Don't worry, I'm with you. Listen, if we understand who God is, the eternally self-existent, eternally self-sufficient, all that God is, when God says, I will be with you, that should be the end of the story. sweet, we're good. Let's go.

But sometimes it takes some growth in our faith, right? It says, will be with you and this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain. It'll be the same place where they receive the law of God. Look how God speaks. He speaks with absolute certainty because why? He stands outside of time. He knows this will happen and this will happen.

We think we know, we live like that, and then I'm going to do this and I'm going to accomplish this, but we don't know. We think we're going to have a great time after Easter and then we're just in bed for eight days. It's just how it is. We don't know, but God knows. So, when God says, will be with you, it is this promise of God for the people of God. God with us, verse 13. 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 asked me what is his name then what shall I tell them so that the question moves on from a question of who am I to someone saying well I'm to be with you then okay well then who are you who are you what am I going to tell them and he's asking for the name of this God now in the ancient Near East he's not just asking to exchange business cards

He's not like, I just need a label. Names were your family heritage. It was your background. It spoke to your capacity and ability, your nature. And so he's like, I need to know who you are. What do I tell these Israelites that I'm going to lead out of Egypt? And this verse, verse 14, becomes the central verse in our understanding of who...

God is throughout the rest of the Bible. In fact, the rest of the Bible is an exposition on verse 14. It explains and unpacks what is verse 14. 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.

Moses' brain blows up a little bit. Like, I was asking for a noun and you gave me a verb. More than that, you gave me a verbal phrase. What do you mean? I'm looking for a label and you gave me a whole theology. I am who I am. It is, am who I am. Or it is the verb to be, I be. It encapsulates past, present, and future. I was.

I am, I will be, I am who I am. And Moses is like, I don't understand what you're saying. This is too much. Let me help explain this. on the next slide, the Hebrew is at the top. The little dots below the Hebrew, so you would read that right to left, the little dots below the Hebrew were added in the sixth century. They're vowels. Hebrew as a language doesn't have vowels.

And so in the sixth century, they're like, well, how do we actually pronounce some things? And so the best they could possibly do is come up with vowels and we transliterate that Y-H-W-H. This would be where we get the words. Some translations say Jehovah. They're adding a whole bunch of vowels in that. Others, sometimes we say, Yahweh. But we don't know. We honestly don't know. This is the I am who I am to be.

You got to understand in the history of God's people how sacred the name is. Like in Hebrew class when we would be reading, we would not say the name out loud. We would take on the the Messianic Jewish tradition where we would replace the name Yahweh with Adonai, a generic name. just we wanted to be sacred with that. If there was a Messianic Jew in our class.

And for whatever reason in a test or something you had to write the divine name in Hebrew. They would take that piece of paper and keep it safe for the rest of their lives. The name is sacred. I don't know what you do with a PowerPoint. I guess I'll keep the USB for the rest of my life. But this name I am who I am is packed with theology. We get I am from.

In your Bibles if you see the word Lord all caps it's the divine name. It's it's this I am sent you. That's who you are to tell him. It's it and it has this Hebrew emphasis again they don't have exclamation points so it's I am who I am. It's emphasizing God's freedom. He alone has absolute freedom in the universe to do whatever he wants. It emphasizes his consistency. I was I am I will be.

forever and ever and ever. There is no changing in who God is. It emphasizes a call to us to complete trust and hope. What is God saying to Moses and by extension to us? He's saying, I am the center of everything. I am running the show. I am the same today, tomorrow and forever. I am the Lord.

everything. am the Lord. I am the owner of everything. I am the creator and sustainer of all life in the universe. I am the Savior. I am more than enough. I am inexhaustible and immeasurable. I am God. That's how he answers Moses question. Well who are you?

And did you notice in answering the second question, who are you? God also answers the first question. Well, who am I? Did you see that in that name? Let me help you. I am not the center of everything. I am not running the show. I am not in control. I am not the solution. I am not the owner of anything.

I am not all powerful. I am not the savior. I am not the Lord. It's important to understand because then we see things rightly. All wisdom begins with knowing who God is and who we are and then living in light of reality. So there are aspects of the character and nature of God that we are called to emulate to.

model to try to become. But then there are other aspects that we are not called to emulate. Theologians break it up in these ways. The communicable and incommunicable attributes of God. We get in trouble when we don't understand which one they are. So let me give you some... let's get... So incommunicable attributes. Only God has these and he does not expect us to in any way try to be these things. We are not infinite.

So embrace your finiteness. We are not, we are comprehensible. God is incomprehensible. God is self-existent. We are not self-existent. God is self-sufficient. We are not self-sufficient. God is eternal. We are not eternal. God is immutable, unchangeable. And we change every day. Every day my eyes get a little worse now.

We are not omnipresent. can't be everywhere. But God is. We are not omniscient. No matter what you think, Jack GPT is telling you. We do not know all things. We are not omnipotent. We do not have all power. God never asks us to be any of these things. In fact, it's when we try to be these things that the world gets broken.

This was the first set that you can be like God if you eat this fruit. You can have power and all authority. It's a lie. We can't but we can be and should be the communicable. We are called to be holy like God is holy. We were called to love imagine if we just leverage our life to love like God loves. We are called to be just and good and merciful and gracious long suffering wise jealous.

for His glory, because He is worthy of all praise, honor, and worship. We are called to be faithful, righteous, truthful. This is why we study these things. We understand this is what the Lord is calling us to and empowering us to do. So God is eternally self-existent and self-sufficient. Throughout this whole series, as we look at God, we should end with this question. So what? What does it mean

that God is eternally self-existent and self-sufficient. What does that mean for us? Here's what it means. And some of you need to hear this. We all need to hear this. It means the pressure's off. The pressure's off. You're not God. And that's a good thing. The world is exhausted trying to define themselves and prove their worth. It's exhausting to always try to show

the world you're worthy. God says you're worthy. I am saying, who said you had to create your own identity? God is the only one who creates his own identity. We don't. We can rest in who he says we are.

So I am not. But here's the beautiful thing in Christ in a relationship with him which by the way you read John's gospel it's a whole exhibition on this. Nine times Jesus says I am in John's gospel. I am the bread of life. I am the way the truth in life. I am I am I am. So I am not. But in Christ I know I am. I am not.

but I get to know I am. This is the beauty of what we're invited into, the story of God. And so it means you're off the hook. You don't have to prove yourself. You don't have to show the world that you're worthy of praise and worth. Here's the thing. Don't take this the wrong way. You and I and everyone in this room, we're average. Your kids are average.

What? Not my kids. We're average. Our marriages are average. Let's just even say you're not average compared to God. We're nothing. We're just here for a very limited time and that's okay. God sees.

Again, I know the call you average is not the way to build a big church in America. The way to build a big church is like, man, you guys are so awesome. You got this. You're going to go out and just absolutely crush it this week. And here's a couple of God pieces for you to help you out. Like, God, some divine CrossFit coach cheering you on. No. No, that's not the way to build a big church. But there's two problems with that. That message of you got this, you're awesome, you're going to crush it.

That becomes crushing to ourselves, first of all. And secondly, it's not true. The message of Bible isn't that you're awesome, you got this, you're going to crush it. The message of the Bible is God is awesome. God's got this. He's crushing it. And He's with us. Amen? Amen. So, what if we were a church that held out before us or looked through the telescope constantly just reminded that God

is self-existent, self-sufficient. What if we didn't expect ourselves or others to be what only God can be in our lives? Man, how much better would your marriage be if you didn't expect your spouse to be God in your life? How much more freedom would you give yourself to be like, man, I am, I'm limited, I'm frail, I don't have it all together. That's okay. I know who does.

I know who does. So theology again is meant to give us freedom, give us peace. It's meant to recalibrate our hearts and our minds and our lives. And so if you got a bulletin on your way and you can see on the back there's just some questions for reflection. Hopefully sometime this week maybe you have a meal with your spouse or with your kids or at your gospel community and just think about these things. In light of who God is, in light of who we are, what does this mean?

Well, I want to pray and then we're going to do communion and then I'm going to come up and give some update on on compelled. But let's just go before the God who is with us, the God who is eternal. Now, what a gift it is that he invites us to this. Let's pray. Amen.

Amen. Well I wanted to celebrate with you. I to give an update if you're just joining us welcome. If you've just been here for a couple of weeks welcome but for six weeks we turned our attention to this idea. What does it look like for a body of Christ to be compelled by the love of Christ. Second Corinthians 4 5 14 where Christ writes where Paul writes

Christ's compels us. As a church at this crossroads moment, what does that mean for us? This two-year discipleship journey. We said it looks like this, and we're just at the beginning of it, but it looks like continuing to go deeper in our love for Christ, our relationship with Christ, spurring one another on, encouraging one another, doing life together. It's just what God has already called us to.

It means going wider on mission with Christ. What would it look like if we together leaned in and sacrificed together to go wider, to reach one more person for Christ, to reach one more generation for Christ, to live in such a way that ten generations are blessed by our faith and our sacrifice here and now. And so many of you have sent so many stories of encouragement and love like

Different parts of this journey have spoken to different people. Some are like, man, I am just compelled for one more. Like Jesus was compelled. Others are like, man, I think it's really important that our youngest image bearers have a place where they can grow up and hear the gospel. And others are like, I've never thought about living a life that 10 generations from now will be blessed by my faith. I'm so encouraged by that. Yeah. And then forward together.

One of the hardest, hardest, hardest things for a church to do is to come from that stage of church plant set up and tear down every week to have a place where they can call home and establish an outpost of light in the kingdom of darkness. And so part of this is just a call. We've bought land. We're going to build a building. But that's incredibly difficult to get to. It's so expensive for...

For a church to get to that point, but we believe that God was calling us to it So, let me just remind you our primary goal was just 100 % engagement that all who in whatever way shape or form called this church your church home That you would lean in Compelled by the love of Christ. And so we we sought the Lord we fasted we prayed And to have absolutely everyone at RP play a role in compelled. We've asked you to lean in

Now, as covenant members, you've already committed to give sacrificially and you've done that. You do that. I just want to say it's such a privilege and honor as we step back to see our people go above and beyond what we've asked. Paul writes, if you remember my last message, compelled by generosity, Paul writes to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 8, that the Macedonians gave not only what they could

up to the limit that they were able to give, but beyond. And that's what you guys have done. Like that's what is just blowing, like the evidences of God's grace are so huge in our midst right now. We should all be encouraged. But engagement is not just something that can be merely quantified. Engagement is something that will continue through the next two years of this initiative.

and is better celebrated as an illustration in the Numbers. So before I get to any Numbers, our team has just done an incredible job of just kind of capturing some of the ways that God has been moving in people's heart as people press on to go deeper, wider, and forward. And so I have a short video that we'll share here with you on

There are moments in the life of a church when God brings his people to a crossroads. These are moments when God calls his people to courageous faith to step forward into what he is doing next. God has brought us to another defining moment because God has exceeded our hopes, grown his church, and is now calling us to take the next step of faith at this crossroads. This moment is not accidental. It is part of a much larger story, God's story, and in this season and in this place,

It is our turn. I would say the culture of RRP is authentic people trying to authentically follow Jesus Christ. It's a place where you can know others deeply and be known and people truly care and see one another on a daily basis. I'm compelled and driven by the need to build a Christian kingdom and community that the next generation can be excited to.

I am compelled to continue to invest in Redemption Parker because of the impact I've already seen it make in the lives of its members and also children specifically. What excites me about the future of RP and this compel specifically for our youth is that you can point to pretty much any person who is a believer and say that at some point someone decided to invest in them. This is a place where you can be seen, known, and loved.

And at the same time, we're pointing them back to the truth and the goodness of the gospel. As I look at Redemption Parker and the next two years in this compelled initiative, I'm definitely convicted on how am I giving? Am I giving sacrificially? Am I giving generously? You know, can I give more? I stirred up some really great conversation with my wife and I, just how do we be more involved and engaged with what we're doing at RP, and how do we dig in just deeper? It's such a delight to see people who love the gospel and love Christ.

But they don't stop at being welcomed in by him. They work hard laying down their lives to welcome in others. And I think that's what's gonna compel us forward.

How I want to grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus is getting baptized and reading the Bible every day. I can be generous by bringing an offering each week. I want to give generously by giving toys away when people have none. I want to give generously by giving money to the church. I want to spread the gospel by teaching people about Jesus and praying for them.

Our compelled commitment means putting down roots where our kids and family will be known and loved and poured into and getting to provide that opportunity for many more families to come. The compelled initiative to us just means a place for us to call home. We've been searching for home and a place for our kids to feel at home. That's what Redemption Parker has been for us. This compelled commitment means to us a place to know and be known, a place to establish roots for our

children and their children and future generations. One year ago, almost to the exact date, we walked into RP not knowing what to expect and we were greeted with an amount of warmth and kindness that compelled us to come back and standing here one year later, we have been compelled to give back to this church hoping that future generations are able to feel the same way that we have felt for the past year.

As we step into this season together, Christ is calling us to go deeper in our discipleship, trusting Him with every part of our lives, to reach wider in our mission, living as sent people for the sake of others, to move forward in faith, building for generations we will never see. We move forward together compelled by the love of Christ. This is God's story, and in this moment and in this place, it is our turn.

All right, let me share some numbers with you, first of all. So let me remind you, if you've been around, know our normal operating budget is about a million dollars a year. So that covers our missions, it covers our staff, it covers renting this facility, it covers everything we normally do. And so that number itself is actually an amazing number. Like you guys have grown in your generosity over the years.

just as a testimony of God's grace. So a million dollars a year is amazing. If you were to do that over two years, you could say like, we would expect to receive about $2 million in operating expenses over the next two years. But we've grown a ton in that. So.

Now it's time to reveal the number, right? Is that the next slide? wait, I didn't tell the households, sorry. I got ahead of myself. I wanna share some numbers here, first of all. So total households and singles who are committed to this compelled journey. So we had 124 households make a compelled commitment. Let's praise God for that. That's huge.

That represents over 412 men, women, and children made in God's image saying, we are leaning in, we're all in on this place. That's an amazing number that, that, cause again, our primary goal was 100 % engagement, the people to lean in. Now of that number of the 124 households, we had some that

for the very first time that it took a step of discipleship and say, yeah, I've never given here before, but I'm going to start giving. was 34 households that first time give it. Let's praise God for that.

Again, that's like over a hundred people that are like, okay, we're in. We're for that. We believe that Christ's love should compel us. So excited for all that God has done in us and through us in this. Again, what we believe God is calling us to is not easy. It takes all of us. And some of you are going to jump in and join us even today. There's still time, right? But for most of us, this has been an incredible journey together as we've seen.

God move in ways we have not seen him do before. But God gets all the glory. Again, our normal budget's a million a year. Over two years, that would be two million. And so, are you ready for our total commitments and expected gifts over the next few years? Go ahead click on that. So we got, in commitments, we got...

Four million. Let's praise the Lord for that.

Just again, like what Paul said about the Macedonians, they gave to what they could give and they gave beyond that. Let me tell you why I'm just so excited about this. This is such an amazing number for a church like us and a stage where I just want to, as your pastor, thank you. Thank you for taking a huge and significant step of faith in partnership with your brothers and sisters, in partnership with the family of God. I cannot wait to see what God will continue to do in us.

and through us as we take bold steps. here's the thing. You might remember our secondary goal for compel was actually 4.5 million over the next two years. But let me just say this. It's a two year journey. There's still time to join us. Others will join us. I think we'll actually probably crush our goal. And I praise God for that. Some of you may join us. In fact, we got a commitment today. I'm like, man.

You can do that even today. You can make a commitment. You can go online. But let me tell you why I'm super, super, super encouraged by this. I have a friend, church in Texas, they were doing an expansion on their church. It's Texas. So they needed 50 million dollars for their expansion. But I know something that the church doesn't know. I know that he's got these connections to these young oil guys and he went off and had a retreat with them and the oil guys committed 50 million dollars.

before the church did anything. I was like, well, that's nice for you. Doesn't take any faith for you, pastor.

Let me tell you why this number is so, so, so, so encouraging. Some of you know like, often times churches are funded by the few. Where 10 % give 90 % of the budget. Where then they make their goal and they have a celebration. That's not our church. Here's why this number is so exciting. Because so many of you are sacrificing so

But there's a question in your mind. There's a question in my mind who sacrificing a lot is if I make this sacrifice will others and the resounding answer for the from your brothers and sisters your fellow covenant church members is yes Yes, they are sacrificing this like like we don't have any very large gifts, but what we have is everyone Holding hands together saying we will do this together. Can we just praise the Lord for that?

Tricia, I'm sorry I'm cutting into your time. me just, let me try to, she's like, yeah, we have no time left. So again, this is just the beginning of the journey. We call it today our first big give. Some of you have already started and have given. If you haven't, now would be a great time to begin to fulfill that commitment. Let me explain why it's so important to start even sooner rather than later. I do want you to know that the elders, all of their families, Jen and I,

Like we're sacrificing more than we've ever sacrificed before. And I only say that to say, hey, we would not ask you to do what we're not willing to do ourselves. We believe that there's a scriptural precedent. We need to lead the way. So Jen and I are going to write the largest check we've ever written before because we believe a couple of things. That giving is not only God's grace through us, it is God's grace to us. Like we get to invest in eternity. We get to reap eternal rewards for that.

gonna give. Now let me give you a quick update on the land, the building, all that stuff. we had hoped to close on the land in December, but then there was a little hang up with the county. They're gonna have a hearing in May, should go through smooth, pray for us. Once that gets closed, we have the money you've already given to pay cash for that. The architects and the builders are working together right now doing the construction documents. That's where they pick the actual like stones and lights and all that stuff and getting bids on all that.

by the end of the summer, we could be breaking ground. Which is praise God for that.

We're dealing with church lenders because again even that doesn't cover all that. But so this is why we say if possible if you're able to give up front just like you going to get a mortgage we want to show the best financials possible to get the best deal possible. So if you could if you have that capacity begin now to do that. So the best response and the reminder from David and everything anything we give is only because God first gave it to us.

Like we don't pat ourselves on the back actually. All the glory goes to God. So I'm going to pray and we're going to worship and we're going have some ice cream. Amen? Amen. Let me pray.

God Is…

AI Transcript

Man, thank you Ryan. Yes, and you guys should sign up for that church history class. I believe Lainey will be teaching that class as a 12 week class at Denver Seminary in the fall. So she's going to do it in four weeks for us. There's no required reading or homework. So you can just come in and hear about the history of our history, our brothers and our sisters, a class on church history. We do have a big...

Institute season ahead we got a theology on the ground. Remember those. They're back starting next week. So we're bringing out the world renowned New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg and he's going to talk about a faith that can answer apologetics in a world of competing truth. Obviously that there's not.

competing truths there is one truth but but but but but this is gonna be a fun time where we can engage this is a time that that you can bring your unbelieving friends and family members skeptics where we walk through apologetics why do we believe what we believe how to give an answer to our faith because we can so mark your calendars for that that's next week from 4 to 6 p.m.

here at the Pace Center and we do have child care for that as well. Well, you can begin making your way to First Corinthians chapter eight. That's where we will be this morning. First Corinthians chapter eight.

God is. How would you finish that sentence? God is. Seriously, what's the first thing that comes into your mind when you think about God? God is. Let's hear it. Good, awesome. Rock. Anyone else? Merciful.

Love, I love it. A.W. Tozer starts off his classic, The Knowledge of the Holy with this line, What comes to mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you. Now the reason I think it's the most important thing about you is because, well, everyone's a theologian. I'm not sure you woke up this morning and looked.

yourself in the mirror and said you my friend are a theologian but you are whether you want to be one or not theology simply means words about God we we all have them you have them your kids have them your your neighbors we all have words about God the Jew the Hindu Muslim the spiritual the the Christian the the atheist we all have words

about God. And how we think about God has massive implications. For sure for all of eternity, and that's a sobering thought. For ourselves, our family, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, the unreached nations. How we finish that sentence, God is, is a matter of eternal life and death. But it's not just about heaven or hell.

Being a good theologian affects your experience of life here and now. For instance, theology is practical. How you understand who God is has massive implications for how you live your life. You are a theologian. Are you a good one?

If you're like me, you're feeling a ton of pressure right now. Man, I better get this figured out, be a good theologian, and you should be. But the cool thing is God has revealed himself to us. In the words of Tim Keller, what you think about God is not nearly as important as what God says about himself. I love that. What you think about God is not nearly as important as what God says about himself.

God has spoken. He has revealed himself to us. So for the next nine weeks, we're going to be doing just that. We're going to be getting our eyes on the one who, in the words of Anselm, there is none greater. The one who is transcendent, utterly other than, has become imminent, made himself known to us.

Now according to Jude 3, Christians are called to confess the faith once delivered to the saints. This is our aim. So we're calling this series God is. God is. And so for the next two months, we're going to do what the psalmist says in Psalm 27. We're going to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. There's a term called theology.

proper and it sounds fancy, it simply means the study of God himself, his nature, his attributes, his character. This series God is, will be all about that. We're going to look at God. We're going to try to figure out who he is. We're going to see some things about him that are nothing like us. And in my prayer is that we would realize how

big this God is, like his sovereignty. Or next week, his self-existence, his presence, his unchanging nature, his incomprehensibility. Often we live as if people are big and our problems are big and God is, well, rather small. My prayer is that during this series, that would get reversed.

that we would experience the total revolution of a big God theology in our lives. And we're gonna see some things about God that at some level we can relate to and yet we also desperately need from Him things like love, wisdom, faithfulness, goodness. My hope is that as we see God's character,

we would be encouraged that our God is not just big, He's good. And He's for you. Our hope is that this series would cause adoration and imitation. Worship and transformation. That we would behold God, And as we behold God, we would become

So that's where we're headed. you're not already there, 1 Corinthians chapter 8 is where we'll begin this morning.

just gonna read verse six.

yet for us, apostle Paul speaking, yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from Him and we exist for Him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through Him and we exist through Him. This is the word of God. Amen.

And if you were to come to my house, may wonder what's on the doorframe of our home. There it is. That's our mezusa. If you know the Shema from Deuteronomy, this is where the mezusa gets its credibility from. So Moses in Deuteronomy says, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

with all your soul, with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be as a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. Well...

When our mezuzah came from Jerusalem, I mean Amazon, me and my oldest opened it up and we found this scroll inside the Shema, Deuteronomy 6 in Hebrew. And then we proceeded to do what would get you expelled for in Jewish school. We wrote on the back of that scroll. And what we wrote is the verse I just read for you out of 1 Corinthians chapter.

This verse is what New Testament scholars called the New Covenant Shema. Maybe you notice some similarities. Yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from Him and we exist for Him. Every faithful Jew will say yes and amen to that. But then the Apostle Paul, this New Covenant Jew, continues. And there is one Lord.

Paul using this word, Lord, or in the Greek, Kyrios is shocking. This would definitely get you thrown out of a synagogue. What's so shocking is that this is the same word that's used when the Hebrew Old Testament is getting translated into Greek. Anytime the Hebrew word Yahweh or Adonai came up, was translated Kyrios, or what we would translate as

Lord, so when you come to first Corinthians 8 6 and Paul says there is one curious one Lord Jesus Christ all things are through him and we exist Through him. Do you see what Paul is doing? Remember Christianity is not some new religion with the coming of Christ Christianity is the fulfillment of what we have from the beginning of

The story from Genesis three online from Genesis three onward. This story has an arc pointing toward a Messiah. I would even challenge you whenever you read the name Jesus Christ in your Bibles substitute Christ for Messiah. Christ is not Jesus's last name rather it's a title Jesus the Christ.

Jesus the Messiah, the King, the anointed one. And whose Messiah? Israel's. Christianity is the fulfillment of God's plan of redemption that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve in the garden, Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Israelites. So when Paul gives this new covenant Shema in first Corinthians eight, he's not changing the oneness of God.

He's not starting some new religion. Yet for us, he says, there is one God, the Father. All things are from Him and we exist for Him and there is one Lord, the Messiah. All things are through Him and we exist through Him. He's saying Jesus, Israel's long anticipated Messiah is also God.

Jesus is Adonai. Jesus is Yahweh Himself. Jesus is the one God we see in both Shema's, Deuteronomy and 1st Corinthians. We'll see from other passages that the Holy Spirit is also God. We have three persons, yet one God.

mystery as we jump into this God is series, it would be wise for us to begin laying down this foundation, the Trinity. Now there's a lot that we could say about the Trinity, but for this sermon this morning, don't miss this. There is one God, one God who exists in three persons, Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit. God isn't made up of parts. In other words, God's not one third father, one third son, and one third Holy Spirit. All the pieces of the pie making one God. No. Rather, the father is fully God. The son is fully God. The Holy Spirit is fully God. And yet there are not three gods, but one God.

We'll stop there. This is not a class on the Trinity. And yet we can't even begin to say God is without defining God. And as we define God as Father, Son, and Spirit, and in the weeks ahead move into who He is as self-existent, love,

faithful, good, sovereign on and on and on. It's vital we understand that God is a being unlike us. God is a being utterly other. We have attributes. In some ways we're made up of parts. Maybe some of you guys right now are doing some parts work in therapy. For instance, some days I have patients.

Other days I don't, I can get quite impatient. have awesome moments of love where I truly feel like I'm walking by the spirit. And yet I easily have these moments of selfishness. In a matter of minutes, I can have wisdom in one decision and the next I can act extremely unwise. Not with God. God doesn't have attributes.

Even good ones like love, goodness, wisdom, justice. We're tempted to think that this way about God because we don't understand he's other worldly. We want to say things like God has justice. God has righteousness. God has faithfulness. But most of all, God has love. We want to rank out his attribute.

But this series is called God is not God has because all that is in God, his attributes is God. Let me say that again. All that is in God is God. For instance, God doesn't have love. First John says God is love. He doesn't have goodness. He

is goodness. doesn't possess faithfulness like you and I might possess it in a given moment. He is faithful. And I know I'm asking you to use your brains this morning, but are you starting to track with me just how great this God is? He is a being in which none greater could be conceived. And if these things are true, that means that all that He is

He is fully. So he's not just love, he's wise, perfect, faithful love. He's not just just, he's loving justice. We can go on and on. I think you get the point. And this God cannot change. Malachi says, I the Lord do not change. James says, he's the one with whom there is no shadow or variation.

due to no variation or shadow due to change. only can God not change, which is very good news to us, but God is also infinite. It's not that God is just love or that God is good, but even that love and that goodness is to a degree that we could never fathom. Infinite.

For all of eternity, we will never plumb the depths of God. In my house, we love Forrest Frank. We play his music all the time. And he's got that song, God is good. And he keeps getting better. And he keeps getting better. That's actually not true. God is. He doesn't change. If he could get better, he would not be

God but I actually don't think the song's wrong. I think what Forrest does mean is that our experience of God as finite creatures means he continues in our experience to get better and better and better and better forever. I hope you're beginning to feel quite small. I think that's a good thing because we are. Imagine if we could

truly and fully understand God. At that point, he wouldn't be a being in which there is none greater. Rather, all we as his creatures can do is fall on our knees and lift up our hands and say like Paul in Romans 11, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways for who has known

the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

John Calvin says all we can really say about God as, as finite creature, speaking of the infinite is mere baby talk. love that baby talk. And yet if you're a parent in here, even our littlest kiddos know us. Joey, my, three year old would not be able to tell you where I'm from. What college I.

went to explain to you my life story, my personality type, but if you ask him who his daddy is, he knows.

And over the course of his life, he'll continue to know me in deeper and deeper ways that the same is true in our relationship with God. And all of this is possible friends, not only because God is, but that God is the gospel. John Piper wrote a book with that title years ago. God is the gospel and in it, his basic argument is simply the gospel.

The good news of Jesus is not just that we get forgiveness of sins, not just that we get eternal life or justification. We can go on and on and on. There are so many benefits of the gospel. But ultimately, the best news of the gospel, the greatest benefit of the gospel, friends, is that we get God Himself. We get God.

Maybe you're in here this morning and you don't know God. You've yet to jump on this journey with Him. Maybe you think, hey, I'm a decent person. I have more good than I have bad. I think God will be just fine with me. Well, if I could add to that Tim Keller quote from earlier, I'd add this. He says, what you think about God is not nearly as important as what God says about Himself. And I'll add,

and what he says about you. We've been talking about what God says about himself, but here's what God says about us. Before we get to the good news that God is the gospel, the bad news is that we are sinners. Born in sin. Our nature is one where we rebel against our

Creator like like Adam and Eve. We don't want to follow God We want to be God We want to be number one Do whatever makes us happy the Bible says there is none who is righteous No, not one that that apart from him our destination is eternal separation from him and yet God shows his love to us in that while

We are still sinners. The Lord, the Kyrios, Jesus, the Messiah died for you. The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity took on flesh, became a man and not just any man, the God man. He came here to live the life that we could not live and die the death that we deserve because of our sin.

So that by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, you can have God himself. Every one of us comes into this world looking for somebody looking for us. We all feel this. At our core, we are created to be known.

And we can spend our entire lives longing to fill this void, sometimes without realizing that because of the gospel, we can have what our souls long for. To be fully seen, to be truly known, to be utterly loved beyond comprehension by the one to whom there is none greater, God himself. Amen.

Amen. So for us, there is one God, the Father. All things are from him and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him and we exist through him. This morning, we've done a little theology. Thanks for rolling your sleeves up with me. We've looked at who God is and for the next eight weeks, we're going to continue to

gaze on the beauty of our Lord. But as we close this morning, have two points of application that are right from this passage here in first Corinthians eight in light of who God is. How then shall we live? Not, not that one. That's bad timing. It's a verse passage. There it is. We exist for him. We

exist through him. First, we exist for God and we exist through God. It sounds simple, but this is the call for all Christians. You exist for God. You belong to him. You're no longer your own. You've been bought with a price. And how do we exist for him? Well, by living.

through him. As we get our eyes on who God is, I hope we see as a church how glorious God is. And it would cause us to worship. Our God is better than we ever dared imagine. And yet we're called not just to adoration, but we're called to imitation. Paul in Ephesians says, imitate God as

beloved children Paul in first Corinthians is gonna say imitate me as I imitate Christ this is now our Calling Church to imitate Jesus so so what does this actually look like existing for him and Existing through him sound sounds great, but but what does this look like on a Monday morning? I'm so glad you asked

There's how I would answer that question. The Holy Spirit dwells in every single Christian. So if you're a follower of Christ in here this morning, God the Spirit lives in you. should just pause on that for a second. The Holy Spirit lives in you. And in a very real way, He unites us to

Jesus we're gonna do our baptisms here shortly and that's what baptism is all about us in Christ Christ in us through our Union with Jesus we die with Jesus We're raised with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit Imagine come Monday morning if we actually believed the power we possess Christ lives in you

with the purpose of making you look like Christ.

I finished an interesting book this year. Only God can judge me. The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur by Jeff Perlman. know Pastor Mark reads great novels like Thew of Golden and I read Tupac. But what's, what's fascinating to me about Tupac that I didn't know was I just figured he was all West coast thug life, but is actually more nuanced than that. Tupac wasn't raised in the streets of LA like his image portrays.

He attended Baltimore school for the arts where he studied acting, poetry and ballet. Let's throw the picture there with his ballet suit on in high school. That's Tupac. But when he got his first acting role in this movie, Jews, he played this character Bishop. Now this dude Bishop was a gangster and getting into the character Bishop changed Tupac's entire persona.

After he finished the movie, he never stopped being bishoped. In his imitation of this made-up character, Tupac goes on to becoming an icon, a rap legend, thug life, his mantra. Now imagine.

Imagine if we realize the role we get to play in what John Calvin calls God's theater, namely our lives here on earth, lived out before our director, God, called to exist for him and through him. Imagine if we actually believe that God is in us.

And by the power of God in us, we can put on Christ. can imitate Jesus. We can walk as Jesus walks.

Imagine what this would mean for you and for your family, for your neighbor and for the nations. Redemption Parker together by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's exist for Him and through Him. Amen. Amen. Let me pray.