The Pillar and Ground of Truth

Old Testament Reading – Isaiah 43:1-11
New Testament Reading – 1 John 4:7-16

The Pillar and Ground of Truth
“What God is Like”
Exodus 11, Hebrews 2-4

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

    Humans of every generation have wrestled with three questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?

   According to Romans 1:19-23, their search always leads to the question of creation: How did the earth get here? Who put the solar system into operation? Who or what keeps the systems of the planet operating? (The “lithosphere” (land), “hydrosphere” (water), “biosphere” (living things), and “atmosphere” (air).

• If this universe was created, there must be a Creator!
• If there is design in creation, there must be a Designer!
• If the systems of creation all work in harmony, there must be a Controller!
• While such knowledge will convince some of the existence of an Almighty God, others will try to find another answer.
• Even if they conclude God exists, not knowing Him fully, they concoct their humanistic formulas of faith, which include their concept of God, but not the Holy God revealed in the Bible.

   In Psalm 8:3-6, David voiced these words to God:

• “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.”
• Everyone who takes the time to “consider the heavens” cannot help but ask these questions: How did that get there? What is it all for? Why hasn’t it changed? What is it telling us? How can it be explained apart from the existence of an all-powerful creative Deity?

   God has not fully revealed Himself to any man.

• The Bible begins with the presupposition, “In beginning, God!”
• God is not obligated to reveal or explain Himself to anyone.
• If a person can look at this whole universe and not see the evidence of a Designer, Creator, and Controller, it isn’t because the evidence is not there; it is because the person does not want to see it, for they would be forced to bow before such a God.
• No man could fully comprehend or bear to examine the complete revelation of God.
• According to 1 Corinthians 13:12, we cannot know God fully because of our sin nature, but God will reveal Himself to us fully when we get to heaven.

   God has revealed Himself to all men in two ways.

• The Bible – Hebrews 1:1 – “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets.”
  • The Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself to man.
  • Our purpose in reading the Bible is to learn as much as we can about this God who loved us enough to provide a way for us to even know Him.
• The Son – Hebrews 1:2 – “In these last days, [God has] spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”
  • Just as the Bible was the divinely inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God; written by humans, and yet without error, Jesus of Nazareth was the divinely sent Son of God, the male child from His mother’s womb, and yet without sin.
  • Jesus is the Personal and Living revelation of God to man.

God revealed Himself to Moses in a special way.

• Moses was a miracle baby – Hebrews 11:23, Exodus 2:1-10
  • Pharaoh decreed that all male babies be killed, but God spared Moses’ life.
  • Rather than throw her baby boy into the Nile River as Pharaoh had demanded, Moses’ mother placed him in “papyrus basket,” and set it afloat in the river.
  • In God’s sovereignty, not only did Pharaoh’s daughter discover the baby floating in the Nile, but she decided to keep the baby for herself and, unknowingly, she selected Moses’ mother to raise the child.
  • Pharaoh’s daughter named the baby “Moses,” which meant “the drawn-out one.”
• Moses was a special man – Exodus 2:11-22
  • Moses killed an Egyptian man who was beating an Israelite, and he fled into the desert of Midian to save his life.
  • His passion for his people was admirable, but Moses had to learn that God’s work cannot be done in the power of the flesh.
  • Moses spent the first 40 years of his life becoming somebody – educated in the Egyptian schools, trained in the art of battle and self-defense.
  • Moses spent the second 40 years of his life in a barren desert called Midian becoming a nobody – where, after being rescued from death by Jethro, he became a herder of sheep.
  • Moses spent the last 40 years of his life as a man God could use, for he had totally abandoned himself unto God.
• Moses had a special ministry – Exodus 3:10
  • Just as God arranged for Moses to be “drawn out” of the Nile River, God would use Moses to “draw out” the Jews from their slavery in Egypt.
  • The Jews had paid the price for their disobedience, God had heard their cry for deliverance, and had planned to send Moses to lead His people out of Egypt and into the promised land.
• Moses had a special calling – Exodus 3:1-4:17
  • In giving Moses this special assignment, God also gave Moses a special revelation of Himself.
  • Moses was allowed to see a vision of the invisible God, giving him a divine revelation of the very character of God.

 Activity:         God’s Character:

• The burning bush – God’s Sovereignty and Grace
• The bush was not destroyed – God’s eternal nature
• God told Moses to come near – God’s holiness
• God said He remembered Moses’ fathers – God’s faithfulness
• God had heard the cry of His people – God’s mercy
• God was aware of their suffering – God’s compassion
• God was going to deliver them to a new land – God’s grace
• God was going to remove six people groups from that land – God’s sovereignty
• God told Moses He would be with Him – Gods’ mighty power
• God said He was Who He was – God’s sufficiency
• God told Moses just to mention His name – God’s omnipotence – He is all-powerful
  • Hebrews called God YAHWEH – God’s personal name
  • Moses referred to God as ELOHIM – The Triunity of God
  • Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob addressed God as EL SHADDAI – the Lord God Almighty
  • God would use His personal name – YAHWEH – to rescue His people – His personal concern for His people
• God changes the rod of Moses – God’s power over creation
• God changes the hand of Moses – God’s power over disease
• God reveals His anger against Moses – God’s justice
• God reminds Moses of who made his mouth – God’s power over all mankind
• God tells Moses his brother is coming to meet him – God’s omniscience – He is all-knowing
• Pharaoh rejects Moses – God sends plagues – God’s power over nature

 There is an eternal difference between…

• Having an awareness of God –
• Having a knowledge about God –
• Having a personal, intimate relationship with God –