God - Bedrock Reality

“Building Our Lives on Bedrock” #1 June 30, 2019 GWB “God—Bedrock Reality” - Exodus 34:5-7 - If you can, build on bedrock. There is no firmer foundation, no steadier base. Jesus concluded his Sermon on the Mount warning that to discount his teaching is to be a fool who builds his house on sand. When the storm came, the house collapsed. The wise man heeds Christ’s teaching and thus builds on the rock: “the rain came, the streams rose, and the winds blew, but the house did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” We need bedrock to build our lives on. Storms come—we need to be prepared for hard times. Trials and trouble, pain and suffering are a reality in this world. We need to build our lives on the bedrock of God our Savior—and who he reveals himself to be. Who is God? What is God like? In Exodus 32-34, Israel had made a golden calf, and worshiped it! And this, in the wake of the exodus, the miracle at the Red Sea, and God’s coming down on Mt. Sinai. Would God destroy them? Moses pleaded with God to have mercy, and also to reveal himself and his glory to him (33:19-23). God came down and answered (34:5-7). I. The God of holiness and love Exodus 34:6-7 [Luther called this passage the “sermon on the name of the Lord.” It is frequently quoted in the OT. See Num. 14:18; Deut. 7:9-10; Neh. 9:17, 31; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 111:4; 145:8; Jer. 32:18; Joel 2:13: Jon 4:2; Nahum 1:3.] 1. God came down in a cloud to Moses as he spoke to him (cf. 34:9). What exactly Moses experienced as “he passed in front of him” (6), we do not know. It is mystery. God spoke, proclaiming his name: “Yahweh, Yahweh”—he is the faithful, covenant-keeping, saving God (6). 2. God is love! God exhausts Hebrew vocabulary to describe his grace: compassionate, merciful, gracious, patient, abounding in love and faithfulness (6). Let these words wash over your soul. a. There is a distortion that says that the Old Testament is filled with law and wrath; in the New Testament God reveals his grace. Wrong! The OT is filled with grace—beginning in Eden, going all the way to Malachi. b. Here God emphasizes who he is—a gracious and merciful God who will not destroy Israel in spite of their covenant-breaking idolatry. He forgives! And he will go with them to the Promised Land. 3. God is holy and just. God’s long-suffering goodness is united with holiness and justice: God will not leave the guilty unpunished (7). a. Woe to those who spurn God! It is a terrible thing to refuse God’s grace. When Paul describes the human race he writes, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18). That brings just punishment! b. Ques: Does God punish the children for the sin of the fathers? (7b) 1- A long tradition says he does. A proverb in Israel went: “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Jer. 31:29; Ezk. 18:2). Jesus was asked about this (John 9:2). 2- Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Jesus all corrected this misinterpretation. The formula used in 34:7 goes back to Exod. 20:5, where the full formula includes “of those who hate me.” When children continue their parents’ sin against God, they too are punished (cf. Deut. 7:9-10). 3- God is not unjust—he does not leave the guilty unpunished (Exod. 34:7). See also Deut. 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:1-32. II. The cross: holiness and love Rom. 3:25; 5:8 What is revealed at the cross? God’s holiness and wrath—or his love and mercy? Both. The character of God leads us to the cross. He is the God of love, mercy, and grace—but also the God of holy justice. 1. In the cross, God’s justice is revealed (Rom. 3:24-25). a. Before Paul came to explain the cross in Romans, he had shown the righteous wrath of God against sinful humanity (1:18-3:20). The whole world is guilty! b. God presented Christ as a propitiation, an atoning sacrifice (25). Jesus endured God’s wrath. Why? To demonstrate God’s justice (26)! 2. In the cross, God’s love is revealed (Romans 5:8). a. The cross displays God’s great love for all to see! God himself became man to endure the just penalty of sin, so that in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). b. The old rugged cross—the emblem of suffering and shame. Here we see God’s loves for us—and his holy hatred of sin. Responding to God We build on bedrock—the character of God. He is the God of holy love. How do we respond to God? 1. Love God. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart.” To love God is to live in glad, reverent submission to him as Lord. To love God is to live in joyful obedience (Deut. 7:9; John 14:15). This is bedrock for life. 2. Represent him. We are often imbalanced—we are all kindness or all truth. The Lord Jesus was the perfect embodiment of both—both loving and just, kind and true. “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn 1:17). Let us seek to represent him—being balanced as he was / is. 3. Bear witness. What people experience in eternity depends on their response—“those who love him,” experience his mercy; “those who hate him” experience his justice (Exod. 20:5; Deut. 7:9-10). So we who love him should bear patient witness to the gospel: “God saves us through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus!” We are a people on mission. “Building Our Lives on Bedrock” #1 June 30, 2019 GWB