1. God is
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers sent me unto you, and they asked me, what is your name?What am I going to tell them? God, said to Moses, I AM THE ONE I AM. And he said more, Then ye shall say unto the children of Israel, I AM sent unto thee. God said even more to Moses, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, Lord, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, he sent me to others; it’s my name forever, and that’s why I’ll remember from generation to generation (Ex 3:13-15).
- My ultimate goal in the ten chapters of this book is to spread God’s passion for supremacy in all things for the joy of all through Jesus Christ; In other words.
- I want to talk about God the Father and God the Son.
- Through Jesus Christ.
- God the Spirit.
- Then.
- What are you? And thousands of people through you are encouraged to join me in joyfully worshipping our Trinitarian God.
As part of this general objective, my intention is to awaken and reinforce in you a strong conviction that the last thirty years of ministry in the Baptist Church of Bethlehem have been a preparation and not a consumption; or, in other words, I hope to help. you see and feel that my transition as a pastor and preacher in Bethlehem is less a matter of landing than taking off; it’s less about the great things God has done and more about the great things God will do.
So did it seem right, with the encouragement of the Pastoral Team in Bethlehem, to turn our attention to a series on fundamental realities?the last three decades.
The summary of the fundamental truths in this book is like a takeoff rather than a landing: they lead us to seek preparation, rather than thinking about consumption, to take possession of the greatest things to come, rather than looking at the great things of the past. The reason is that these fundamental realities, exposed in each chapter, are extremely indomitable, explosively innumerable and powerful in the creation of the future, not only support the present and explain the past, are alive, active and have the supernatural power to lead this church to what it has not yet dreamed of, in a way that we have not yet dreamed of.
And, before I start taking off with these explosive truths, do I have to say that I have little doubt in my mind?And the little doubt in my mind is not about God, but about God’s lack?That the next stage of Bethlehem’s life will be the greatest we have ever known We all know that many departments have thrived for decades and become important, and then, with a change of direction, things collapse and the impact diminishes, hope disappears and joy is lost, and ministry diminishes. and maybe he’ll even die . . . My deep conviction is that God will not allow this to happen in Bethlehem. In fact, if I had to do that, I’d bet my life on that prediction.
So we return to this series of fundamental realities, these defining truths, those 30-year-old accents, those biblical milestones, which have shaped what Bethlehem is over the past three decades, these realities are extremely indomitable, explosively innumerable, and powerful in creation. the future.
The first theological accent is that God is. Or, to put it as the text says: God is what he is or, to put it more philosophically: God is absolutely. This is the most fundamental and definitive fact, given the billions of facts that exist, this fact is at the base and at the top, it is the basis of all others and the consumption of all other facts, nothing is more fundamental and nothing is more definitive than the fact that God is.
Nothing is more fundamental than: God is. Nothing is more fundamental to your life or marriage, your work, your health, your mind, or your future than the fact that God is. Nothing is more fundamental to the world, or to the solar system, or to the Milky Way or the universe. than the fact that God is. And nothing is more fundamental to the Bible and God’s self-re-unveiling and the glory of Jesus’ gospel than the fact that God is.
The reality that God is absolutely still the central aspect of Exodus 3:13-15. Let me give you the background, for several centuries, the people of Israel?Did God’s chosen people live as foreigners in Egypt. And for a long time they were treated like slaves. Now, the time for God’s deliverance is approaching. A Jewish baby named Moisés. Es was brought from the decree of death by Pharaoh’s daughter and taken to court. As an adult, he defends a Hebrew, ends up killing an Egyptian and flees to the land of Miman. And there God appeared to him in a burning bush, as we read in Exodus 3:6-10:
He said: I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. And the Lord said, I have certainly seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their princes. I know your suffering; therefore, I descended to deliver him from the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring him from that land to a great and good land, a land that flows milk and honey; the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Ferezeu, the Hove and the Jebuseos. For the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I also see the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh to take my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
So Moses is god’s chosen leader to take his people out of slavery and take them to the promised land. However, Moses backs up, how did he do it?Verse 11 😕 Then Moses said to God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and get the children of Israel out of Egypt?”And God says (v. 12):? God said unto him, I will be with thee; and this will be the sign I sent you: after you take the people out of Egypt, will you serve God on this mountain?
And then Moses leads us to one of the most important things God has ever said: here is our text, Exodus 3:13-15:
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers sent me unto you, and they asked me, what is thy name?What am I going to tell them? God, said to Moses, I AM THE ONE I AM. And he said more, Then ye shall say unto the children of Israel, I AM sent unto thee. God said even more to Moses, Then you will say to the children of Israel, The Lord [in Hebrew: Yahweh], the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, sent me to others; it’s my name forever, and so I’ll remember it from the generation. to the generation.
You ask my name, God says, I’ll tell you three things. First (verse 14)? God said to Moses, AM I THE ONE I AM?He didn’t say that was his name. He said, indeed: before you worry about my name, where I have aligned myself with the many gods of Egypt, Babylon or Philistine, and before you think of calling my name, and even before you ask me if I am the God of Abraham. , be amazed by this: “I AM THE ONE I AM”. Absolutely I am. Before you know my name, know my being. That I am what I am that I absolutely am?it is above all fundamental and of infinite importance.
Secondly (verse 14b), “He said, ‘You will say, therefore, to the children of Israel: ‘I AM sent me to you. Here he has not yet given his name to Moses. Build a bridge between your being and your name. Here, God simply puts the declaration of his being instead of his name. He said, Say, “I AM sent me to you. ” The one who is “absolutely” sent me to you.
Third (verse 15), ? God said even more to Moses, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, The Lord [Hebrew:?Yahweh?], Did the God of your parents, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob send Me for you?That’s my name forever [Yahweh]. Finally, he gives us his name, almost always translated by LORD (all in capital letters) into the Portuguese Bible, but would Hebrew be pronounced as?Yahweh? And it’s based on the word “I am. ” So every time we hear the word Yahweh (or the short form Yah, what do you hear every time you sing?Allelu-yah?,? Praise be to the Lord?), Or Every time you see the Lord in the Bible, you must think: it is a proper name (like Peter, James, or John) built from the word “I am,” always reminds us that God is absolutely.
God absolutely is. That’s wonderful. God has given himself a name (used more than 4000 times in the Old Testament) that, when he hears it, leads us to think that He is, that is absolutely the case. That’s absolute.
Is this the first in a series of fundamental realities?Determine truths, thirty-year-old accents, and biblical milestones?They marked bethlehem Baptist Church for three decades. We are motivated by the simple fact that God exists. It’s “He’s who he is. ” Is this the first reality, extremely indomitable, explosively innumerable and powerful to create the future?That we hugged.
A people who are impressed by what God is will be a people to which nothing can resist. Our Trinitarian God likes to appear with grace and power, where people are moved by the fact that he is.
What does it mean that God is what He is? Here are ten points
God’s absolute being means that he never had a beginning. Shake your mind. Each child asks, “Who created God?” And every wise parent says, “No one made God. God just is. Always has been. No beginning? The absolute being of God means that God will never end. If he didn’t come, it can’t be because he did. He is what he is. There is nowhere to go but to be. There is only him. Before creating, that’s it: God. The absolute being of God means that God is an absolute reality. There is no reality in front of him. There is no reality outside of him, unless he wants and does. This is not one of the many realities before creating. It is just there as an absolute reality. He is all that he ever was. Without space, without universe, without emptiness. Only God. Absolutely there. Absolutely everything. The absolute being of God means that God is totally independent. It depends on nothing to make it exist, to support or advise it, or to make it what it is. Words? To be absolute? half. The absolute being of God means that everything that is not God depends entirely on God. Everything that is not God is secondary and dependent. The entire universe is completely secondary. Not primary. He was born for God and depends at all times on God’s decision to keep him alive. The absolute being of God means that the entire universe in relation to God is like nothing. The contingent and dependent reality is for the absolute and independent reality like a shadow for the substance. Like an echo of thunder. Like a bubble in the ocean. Everything we see, everything that amazes us in the world and in the galaxies, is unlike anything in relation to God. “All nations are before him as something that is nothing; Do you see them as less than nothing, as a void? (Isaiah 40,17). The absolute being of God means that God is constant. It is the same yesterday, today and forever. It cannot be improved. It becomes nothing. He is who he is. There is no development in God. No progress. Absolute perfection cannot be beat. God’s absolute being means that he is the absolute standard of truth, goodness, and beauty. There is no law book that you turn to for what is correct. No almanac to establish the facts. Not a guild to determine what is excellent or beautiful. He himself is the standard of what is right, what is true, what is beautiful. The absolute being of God means that God does what he wants and that it is always right and always beautiful and always according to the truth. There are no restrictions from outside of him that can prevent him from doing what he pleases. Every reality that is outside of him, he created, designed and governed as absolute reality. Therefore, you are completely free from any restrictions that are not the result of advice of your own free will. God’s absolute being means that he is the most important and precious reality and the most important and precious person in the universe. It is more worthy of interest, attention, admiration and enjoyment than all other realities, including the entire universe.
God absolutely is! We believe and appreciate that. God is. Is this an extremely indomitable, explosively innumerable and powerful reality to create the future?God is.
Therefore, there is a cosmic indignation that has been enormous billions of times for the fact that God is ignored, treated as insignificant, questioned, criticized, treated almost as if it were nothing and someone on whom people think less than on the carpets of their homes. Homes.
Since God is the most significant reality, nothing is known properly outside of your relationship with Him. It is the source, goal and definition of all beings and all things. Therefore, we will be a people in love with God, to admire him, to make it known as glorious is our motivating passion, it is simply dominant in our consciousness. Everything must be linked to Him, if we exist to spread a passion for God’s supremacy!
With God’s help, we will not blaspheme against Él. No we will blaspheme against the God who absolutely underestimates him, or who makes him peripheral, or who calls him the reason for all things as they are, makes us really happy. We fear stumbling upon criticism of Albert Einstein that Charles Misner wrote twenty years ago:
I see the conception of the universe as an essentially religious subject, in other words, you have to have a kind of respect and admiration for the whole company, it is very beautiful and should not be underestimated, in fact, I think that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although it seems to me that he is basically a very religious man. He must have seen what the preachers were saying about God and felt they were blaspheming. I’d seen much more majesty than you’d ever imagined. , and they simply didn’t talk about the real thing (Quoted in First Things, December 1991, No. 18, 63).
When I read this, I said, “Oh God, never, never let this happen in Bethlehem!”There are thousands of people in this city and billions around the world who are hungry to know the living and true God that He is absolutely. And we have the good news that this God sent his Son into the world to die for God’s private sinners like us, so that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ may know this God and be happy forever, so we know our vocation. We exist to spread a passion for God which is absolutely.
That’s where we went. That’s where we’re going. Random, innumerable and powerful to create future reality. AM I WHO I AM? God absolutely is.